Reviews with content warning for Rape - A Girl Like Her

I just adore the way Talia Hibbert crafts her stories. The third-act conflict in this book was not a romantic one but a personal one. That not only made sense, but it also was amazing to see the main character overcome it and show her growth.

The romance between Ruth and Evan in this was adorable, I liked their friendship and how Ruth got more and more comfortable with him resulting into fun banter between them. That was a great base for them to grow into a romantic relationship, based on pure trust, willingness to give grace and understanding.

CW: ableist language; domestic abuse; toxic relationship; rape (past, non-graphic); cancer (side character)

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weelasswithabook's review

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

CW: Racial microaggressions, cancer, palliative care, death of a parent, ableism, slut shaming, grief, implied rape, previous àbúsívé relationship, harassment/stalking

⭐ Friends to lovers
⭐ Cinnamon roll hero
⭐ Interracial romance

🌈 Black FMC
🌈 ASD representation

Oh. My. God. I absolutely adored this 😭 Cinnamon roll heroes and prickly heroines are like catnip. I couldn't get enough of this, genuinely.

This was just so wholesome to watch unfold, although the darker aspects came as a surprise. Ruth is recovering from an abusive relationship, which has led to struggles with trust and the ability to make herself vulnerable.

We see through her flashbacks, racial microaggressions and ableism from others, so people around her (aside from her sister and her mum) have had a hugely negative impact on her sense of self and her self esteem. This is slowly chipped away at throughout the course of the book and we see her defense mechanisms start to falter as she realises that she's actually managed to meet a good person who wants to spend time with her as a person, as opposed to just a potential sexual partner.

Evan is struggling with grief and trauma from his mum passing away, this manifests itself as him wanting to do everything for everyone else, and just being a pure and wholesome angel. We get to see the impact that palliative care can have on the loved ones of those in palliative care and how it can affect their future interpersonal relationships.

I was 100% invested in these two, adored them both. I loved the sisterly bond between Ruth and her sister, especially the protectiveness from her sister which doesn't veer onto controlling, but remains solidly at concern.

I genuinely believe, if you're looking for something sweet, with a sprinkling of spice, then this is 100% the book for you. As far as my experience goes up until this point, Talia Hibbert has never missed yet, so yeah, pick this up.

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