Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - The roomate

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The roomate by Rosie Danan

10 reviews

klsreads's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book said, "I'm gonna be a smutty Hallmark movie" and held to that level of plot and character development. I didn't find the MCs 100% believable, and they changed their minds so quickly it gave me whiplash. Because of the surface-level development, I wasn't sold on their attraction (sex worker that is now disgusted at the thought of touching other women? Trust-fund socialite that immediately forgets about her lifelong flame?).That being said, the male MC is genuinely sweet, caring, and consent-focused.

There was a lot of bizarrely intro-level sex-positive feminism, including some sections that read as ignorantly anti-kink. Don't go here for nuanced discussions about sex, gender, or class. I don't want to yuck somebody's development, though. This COULD be a good intro for people trying to reckon with negative assumptions about sex work, female pleasure, and porn. I wouldn't recommend it for folks who have done deeper work around sex positivity.

This was a good brain break, and some of the writing was really nice and occasionally funny, but you get what you see (or less?).

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annahamburger's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

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ashleycmms's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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hannibanani29's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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cassie12_21's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Solidly okay. Straight up contemporary romance isn't really my preference but this book had lots of yearning and pining to make up for it.

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lea_talisa's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I enjoyed The Roommate way more than I thought. After reading some reviews I was concerned that it would be boring and I wouldn’t like it but that wasn’t the case for even one second.

I liked the sex positivity and how they dealt with sex in general in this book. The typical cliches were featured but they also went deeper with the prejudices with working in the porn industry.

-> “Everyone thought it was the jealousy thing you had to worry about when trying to date in his line of work, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. Jealousy assumed that nonindustry people accepted the moral and social implications of his profession. That they wouldn’t mind introducing someone who made porn to friends and parents.”

-> “How many times had people laughed when they heard his profession? Or stammered and refused to meet his eyes? How many people had called him disgusting?“

After their first time I was hoping for a bit more aftercare seeing them cuddle and reassuring each other. Especially with all the talk about sex and the profession of Josh I just expected not only great sex but also great aftercare.

Also the ending was pretty rushed and I would’ve liked to see more about the process of Shameless, Josh and Clara’s relationship and their respective relationships with their parents.
Apart from that I can’t think of any other flaws in this book.

All in all I was surprised by how much I liked it and would definitely recommend it!

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lh_reads's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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kfmcf's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Okay first off - this book has a lot of spice BUT I do want to preface this warning by saying that it is strongly connected to the plot. If you have read The Kiss Quotient, you will most likely understand the sentiment.

I have been waiting to read this book for awhile. I had it on digital hold for months before apparently my library lost its license to the ebook or something and I couldn't get it. Then I put it on hold for a physical copy and got it a little bit ago. With my Neverending list of holds, I finally got a chance to read it and I'm so glad I did and that that wait was worth it. This book shines a glaring spotlight on both the stigma and the treatment of adult film workers in and outside of the industry. It doesn't shy around touchy subjects of many kinds and I greatly appreciate its grit.

The leads of this book are great, though I will say that Josh is written slightly better than Clara. Clara's character development does seem a *tiny* bit stark also, but not egregiously so. They're path to relationship is intriguing and fiery and I definitely rooted for them. I also appreciated the side characters of the story and the depth they added (super excited for Naomi's lead turn in the sequel!)

I also want to call attention to the epilogue of this book. It is around three pages, short and sweet, and shows just a glimpse of the future. That's all an epilogue needs. I know u get super salty about epilogues but I am passionate about it and will die on this literary soapbox.

Overall, if you're looking for a thought-provoking medium burn with a heckin' lot of spice - this is one for you.

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lexizee's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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