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hrtlss_grl's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Bullying
Moderate: Cancer, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, and Sexual content
Very cute fade to black romance with diverse characters and a plot straight out of a rom-com movie. A nod to all the greats. :) Narrator was a little slow, but otherwise great at making characters stand out from each other.samchase112's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A short, sweet, heartwarming rom-com about finding your family. This one definitely grew on me — I was put off by the juvenile writing at first, but Leah’s journey really drew me in by the end, especially helped along by adorable Eli and the supportive circle of friends she finds. As everyone mentions, Eli’s infatuation/fixation on Victoria lasts completely too long for the situation, but honestly it’s not even a huge deal because I think the author explained it away fairly well. I was much more interested in Leah coming to terms with her new community, struggles with accepting support, and dealing with the grief she feels after losing her foster mother. Anyway...this one was cute, if largely forgettable outside of Leah’s character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent and Medical content
Minor: Sexual content
thesmutsister_emma's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is an Advanced Review Copy I received to give an honest review
Shoulda Had Duckie
So for starters, this was a pretty decent book. With that being said, I have opinions.
The first 35-40% of the book felt very slow to me. We were consistently shown that Eli was trying to get his ex back and that his friends deemed he had to jump through all of these hoops to be able to do so. That chunk of this book was simply used to show us Eli doing these things. There of course were some interactions with Leah, but one of them felt substantial.
Around the 40% mark, things picked up to be more of my speed. We saw more one on one time with Leah and Eli and saw more of their interactions outside of the group and it was adorable. I flew through this part of the book. From here until about the 75% part, I loved the book. It was so much fun and was so cute.
Yet, around the 75% mark, it started getting stale again. We were having the same issues over and over as well as just feeling like the book was droning on. I also felt like Leah and Eli had a stronger bond than to be having the issues they were having at this point in the book.
The last 10% of the book was pretty solid despite all of this.
The Final Verdict
I feel like this is a pretty decent book for the most part and I will definitely be recommending it to people who I know like these types of tropes within a book.
Shoulda Had Duckie
So for starters, this was a pretty decent book. With that being said, I have opinions.
The first 35-40% of the book felt very slow to me. We were consistently shown that Eli was trying to get his ex back and that his friends deemed he had to jump through all of these hoops to be able to do so. That chunk of this book was simply used to show us Eli doing these things. There of course were some interactions with Leah, but one of them felt substantial.
Around the 40% mark, things picked up to be more of my speed. We saw more one on one time with Leah and Eli and saw more of their interactions outside of the group and it was adorable. I flew through this part of the book. From here until about the 75% part, I loved the book. It was so much fun and was so cute.
Yet, around the 75% mark, it started getting stale again. We were having the same issues over and over as well as just feeling like the book was droning on. I also felt like Leah and Eli had a stronger bond than to be having the issues they were having at this point in the book.
The last 10% of the book was pretty solid despite all of this.
The Final Verdict
I feel like this is a pretty decent book for the most part and I will definitely be recommending it to people who I know like these types of tropes within a book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Cancer, and Death of parent
patelyne's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Eli is head over heels for Victoria. Why else would he propose four months into their relationship, right before she’s leaving for a nearly year long sabbatical to Italy? Unfortunately for him, she is not in the same place.
The split propels him into full depression/hermit mode, and his sister and friends are desperate to get him back to the land of the living. Since he is obsessed with getting her back, they’ve decided to help him turn into a guy she would want to settle down with. So starts Project Make Eli Over.
Leah feels trapped and alone. She came back to care for her dying foster mother. After she passes Leah wants nothing more than to save enough money to get out and move on. Why else would she be working at nearly every place in town with a few hours work she can do?
Leah isn’t trying to change Eli. Really. She thinks he’s fine the way he is! But his friends are. And them bringing her in is like having friends herself. Now that she’s started to feel like she belongs … is leaving really what she wants?
Along the way she realizes she really doesn’t want to make him ‘good enough’ for Victoria, maybe she wants to keep him for herself. And he’s realizing that he’s not so sure he wants to go after Victoria anymore himself.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but fair warning - the amount of times I wanted to tell Eli ‘Dude. She is not that into you’ about Victoria is… a lot. And Patrick - her foster mother’s son - without spoilers I’m just going to say that I had some Thoughts and Words that I would very much have liked to share with him if he were, you know, real. When all is said and done though, the way things wrapped up was as close to perfect as I think you could get. Very satisfying.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Medical content
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