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venetiana's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Also, I really didn't appreciate how some heavy and violent stuff was only dealt with and "solved" in passing, like the topic wasn't serious.
Still, some good/cute things inbetween.
A smaller but real bummer: there did not need to be any H*rry P*tter mentions in this book (why do we need to reference a transphobe's work??!!), and there were several. No thank youuu.
Graphic: Violence, Medical content, and Gun violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Sexual content, and Torture
Minor: Blood, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Stalking, Transphobia, Grief, Outing, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Vomit, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia
fanboyriot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Read for:
♡ Idiots in Love
♡ Crime Family
♡ Only One Bed
♡ Forbidden Romance
♡ Angst with a Happy Ending
I enjoyed this book. It was a simple and cute story with forbidden romance vibes. The main characters were cute together.
However, it did kinda feel like it was missing something. There was little backstories and I think parts just kinda felt bland; not to mention the dialogue felt a bit forced at times.
It's a good book to binge read. The angst is light and there were way more wholesome vibes than I was expecting. And so many music and movie mentions, which I always appreciate.
Spice: 🌶
(First Person POV)
Rep: Gay MC, Gay LI
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, Homophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, and War
evbyrd's review
3.0
Graphic: Gaslighting
elwirax's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
What initially interested me in the synopsis of this book was the mention of criminals and mobsters as I'm an absolute sucker for such premises. I quite liked the Romeo and Juliet- esque dynamics what with the family rivalry and thought the m/m romance was a nice twist to the traditional trope. Truthfully , I was wanting a bit more of the criminal aspects. Much of this was overshadowed by the romance (which i thought was a wee bit insta lovey and didn't have enough substance to have me convinced). That being said, although I didn't really care for any of the main characters I did like Luke as he seemed to be the only character that had any decent depth.
I hate to say that the ultimate downfall of this book was the writing. It felt unrefined and rather juvenile especially the dialogue which didn't come naturally at all. However, I think Cale Dietrich has potential and I definitely think their writing will develop in future works.
As a whole, I think this book had so much potential but the execution fell flat. Really quite dissapointing.
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Violence
frantic_vampire's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
Death of a parent is referring to Matt’s mom, who passed away. They do talk about her dying in an accident. The gaslighting is referring to Jason’s behavior with trying to get Matt to talk about his family and the family business.