Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - This Could Be Us

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan

43 reviews

louisekf's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

This Could Be Us is a story of resilience. It follows Soledad through a massive betrayal by her husband, as she learns to support herself and her three daughters. She has a great support network, as she works through this life-changing situation: two fabulous long-time friends, Yasmen and Hendricks;, her two sisters; and even her daughters, who also need to come to terms with their father’s behavior.

Soledad’s husband had been acting oddly for a while, and eventually the truth came out, upending her life. She was happy being a stay-at-home mother, hosting parties, shuttling her three daughters to school and activities, etc. Now she has to figure out how to support herself and her daughters, how to keep their roof over their heads.

At the same time, she has to learn to love herself. Her husband’s betrayal has also upended how she thought about herself! She finds a book in her recently deceased mother’s things, called All About Love by bell hooks (a real book that was published in 1999). This turns out to be a resource that Soledad turns to over and over again on her journey to self-reliance.

The characters are great. They are strong women who come from a variety of backgrounds (Soledad, for example, has Puerto Rican and black heritage). Each daughter has her own personality and reaction to their new situation. Judah, who eventually becomes Soledad’s new love interest, has two sons on the autism spectrum and has a wonderful relationship with his ex-wife. I learned so much about autism by reading about Aaron and Adam. There was one particularly affecting scene at a store, when Aaron had a breakdown over a coveted item that was sold out.

I really loved the book, but the repetition about self-partnering and self-love became a bit tiresome. The whole influencer thing was interesting. Chapters are told from either Soledad’s point of view or Judah’s.

Be aware that there are several very explicit spicy scenes and frank conversation about s*x among the three women friends.

This is the second in a series that looks to be at least three books. It’s helpful but not necessary to read the first one before this: Before I Let Go, which follows Yasmen.

I was surprised and delighted to find some recipes at the end of the book but was a bit disappointed that it didn’t include Soledad’s “viral” vinaigrette.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

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stephrand's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring tense fast-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

4.5

If you enjoyed Before I Let Go, you’ll enjoy this just as much! It’s dramatic, entertaining, spicy, emotional and everything in between. Loved all of the different storylines that came up including learning more about ASD, infidelity, family drama, embezzlement and more. Both Soledad and Jonah’s kids were such great characters. Looking forward to Skyland #3 next year!

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rachellbc's review against another edition

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funny inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.5

The first half or so was really good but slow. I feel there isn’t enough relationship building to Judah & Soledad’s relationship. Judah seems to just be sexually obsessed with her and it’s weird he masturbates to thoughts of her after basically just meeting. Some parts where there could’ve been a meaningful convo between the two, his character seems to just dive into sex with her. I don’t know how many times I had to read him describe her curves, her curls, and her jasmine scent. I liked the inclusion of autism, stay at home dad, and influencer career. But I can’t help but feel their relationship was based off of just sex and the whole wishy washy FWB trope. I hated how he legit knew everything about her and she wasn’t ever creeped out, just made jokes about him stalking her *tehe so funny you show up around and know my schedule and watch all my content*!!! I don’t know- maybe just too much spice for me and not enough romance substance. ALSO something grossed me out was her not wearing underwear in HER DAUGHTERS SWEATPANTS before having sex!!! I’m a germaphobe so if I were that daughter and I somehow knew, you can keep those pants mama. Overall, not a terrible book but I just expected more and could’ve done with a whole lot less of the repetitive “I’m an independent girl boss” and spice themes.

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rdebner's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? No

4.5

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author2223's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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tragland24's review against another edition

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5.0

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100_pages_hr's review against another edition

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4.5

The romance in this book was amazing, but the true beauty of this book was autism representation. I absolutely scored how Adam and Aaron were written. As a teacher it was beautiful to see these boys shine in their own ways. I loved how unique they were. I also loved how often Judah admitted to some of the same tendencies as his boys. I loved how he ran with them, how he sacrificed so much for them, and how he coparented them.

I loved Sol too. Her tenacity was impressive. I found myself cheering for her and even though she had some understandably emotional reactions in the book she was one of the most level headed moms ever. I loved her sacrifices for her kids too. But I also respected the things that she did for herself to heal. Very impressive.

I really appreciated the timeline of the romance in this book. I loved that it wasn't rushed into. I loved that Judah and Sol found happiness without sacrificing their relationships with their kids.

I highly recommend this book but do appreciate the author's warning that there is past mention of death of a parent to cancer. I didn't lose my mom to cancer but it was a prolonged illness so I appreciated the warning.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

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bookfulthoughts's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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

4.75

✨Inspirational and full of love✨🩵

“When are we ever done working on ourselves? I believe wholeness is not a destination, but a lifetime process. Something that instead of waiting for, you could be living for.”

I loved Soledad and Judah’s story! This book had me through the wringer with emotions. I was all over the place at the beginning of the book I got whiplash! The plot with Edward and Soledad had me sitting on the edge of my seat! It grounded me to my spot and I was flying through pages. The complexity of all of the characters and their families ran DEEP in this book. I have so much appreciation for the way Ms. Kennedy can write well-rounded characters. Soledad’s journey of self-love was a beautiful thing to read about. The way she was expressing her wants and concerns and proactively making choices to move in the direction of growth was admirable. Her fealty to her family and determination to hustle and make things happen had me cheering on from the sidelines. This book wasn’t just about the typical romance between partners; it was about the love and affection one can have with themselves. The ever-lasting love you cherish with your tribe of friends.

Judah is a beautiful soul who cherished people whom he held dear, who loved hard and unconditionally, and who feels with every fiber of his being unwavering. The relationship shown with his sons was so breathtakingly beautiful. I’m so happy that Soledad got someone like Judah and vice versa. The only reason I took off points was for the plain fact that I wanted to see the aftermath of Edward leaving prison. The mess of it all was just so good in the beginning that I just wanted a juicy ending as well. I’m not going to lie I did feel slightly disappointed for this reason. I believe that would put this book on top. I loved it either way and I can’t WAIT for Hendrix's book 🩵.

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allysonw_'s review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I adored This Could Be Us! It was a great follow-up to Before I Let Go (although I liked that novel a teensy bit more). I love how Kennedy Ryan writes complex love stories that are rooted in community. Resiliency seemed to be a major theme of this book, and Soledad is probably one of the most resilient characters I've come across. I appreciate how Ryan showed that Soledad went through the stages of grief in the lead-up to her divorce (it's f*** Edward over here!!) and didn't shy away from the sadness and anger that comes with betrayal. Also, the representation in this book in terms of race, blended families, and autism was done very well. You can tell Ryan took her time creating these characters and her stories. Another big plus for me was of course, Judah. I LOVE how Ryan writes Black men. She never portrays them as being one thing, which I feel a lot of writers are susceptible to doing. Judah's tender love for his sons Aaron and Adam was so refreshing to read and the respect he had for his ex-wife and their approach to co-parenting made me treasure this book even more. Like I said, I may like Before I Let Go a smidge more but This Could Be Us is an absolute gem I'll be sure to recommend to others.

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caitmayi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

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