Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone

3 reviews

fanboyriot's review against another edition

challenging fast-paced

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

Read For:

😬 Insta Love

☃️ Holiday Theme

🫠 Annoying Characters

🎄Christmas Movie Filming 

🤢 Overuse of Holiday Lotion

I bought the book on accident (confusing it for a different book with a similar cover) I didn’t notice until I was home and live too far from the bookstore to return it.  So this was a spite read if I’m being honest… and I hated this book.  Where was the “Meet Cute” in this book because don’t remember reading one?  It wasn’t even a Christmas book either it was like the whole title was a lie or joke or something.

Merry ❌

Little (418 pages) ❌

Meet Cute ❌

It was so cheesy and the characters gave off that whiny YA kind of vibe even though it wasn’t a young adult book.  The first person point of view made it feel so one dimensional and flat.  It was really difficult to care about what happened.  I hated everyone the longer I read. 

I have never read good fat rep in a book so I didn’t think this would be the exception.  You want to normalize fat characters then please stop bringing up all the fat talk, mention it and move on.  You don’t need to bring it up all the time.  As a fat person it’s super annoying to read about it as if these characters aren’t just normal people at the end of the day.  I’m here for the inclusion but my gosh you don’t have to make it their only personality point.

I have no idea how this was 418 pages because it takes half the book for anything slightly interesting to happen, and even then it’s pretty boring.  It dragged out for no reason, but I’m so happy to note all the times the one character jerked off with gingerbread lotion so thanks for ruining that holiday scent for me.  And don’t get me started on who uses lotion in the damn shower?!  That should be a crime.

On that note it was super weird that Bee was way too over sexualized to the point Nolan kept using her porn name in his head all day the time.  It like she was just an object the entire time.

“You can take the girl out of the sex work, but you can’t take the sex work out of the girl.”  - (Chapter 18, Page 249) 

Like what did I just read?  

Nolan was so damn annoying and there was more chemistry between Bee and a random stripper than him if I’m being honest.  They were just horny.  There was zero romance and I’m not sure how the authors thought romance and sex are that same thing but here we are.

Sure there were things like mental health rep, LGBTQIA+ rep, body and sex positivity, sex work and each of these were written so poorly.  For example when Bee was bisexual and in the porn business.  News flash most people in porn are bi (or gay for pay), why is this so shocking??  Girl on girl is literally fetishized all the time and it’s treated like Bee is the only bisexual porn star.

How was the done so badly?!  I knew I wouldn’t like it because it seems very heterosexual (even with bi characters) but my gods, this was so much worse.

So in conclusion this book was awful and felt like banging my head against a concrete wall.

Release Date: 20, September 2022

POV: Dual, First Person

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (mentioned nearly every page)

Rep:  Bi (MCs), Trans (SC), Bipolar (SC)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Cursing, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Biphobia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use

Minor: Grief, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Homophobia

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

I totally judged this book by its cover, just expecting another fluffy Hallmark Christmas story and I was very surprised when I learned the plot. A former boy band bad boy and a porn star have to convey a sweet and family friendly image while filming a Hallmark type Christmas movie. Such a fun idea, I love it. Bee is amazing, I adore her confidence, her personality and drive and I love that she is a proud plus sized woman who is gorgeous and unapologetically herself. I’m however not Nolan’s biggest fan, I didn’t think his plot line made sense and I just think he was cheesy. I get that he was a big fan of her work but I felt like he was living in the fantasy of her and not really her. I didn’t find their love believable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Drug use

kristakp's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Great story. The stakes felt appropriately high, but nonetheless the plot was easygoing and entertaining regardless. I was annoyed by some of Nolan's logic and reactions but not annoyed enough to really disrupt my enjoyment of the novel and the main relationship.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Biphobia

Minor: Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Stalking