Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Dear Ava

Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Dear Ava by Ilsa Madden-Mills

7 reviews

madlove02's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional tense medium-paced

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? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

kjenae's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

wow.
Enchanted- taylor swift (their song)

Ava and Knox’s relationship from the very beginning was very heartbreaking and complex. from the first moment i got to see them interact, i could tell that the chemistry was there. they were truly bound to fall in love. i truly believe that they’d meet and fall in love in every book universe.

• what happened to Ava that tragic night was absolutely heartbreaking and it was extremely infuriating to see the response that she got back from what she went through. no one really knows unless they’ve been in her position, but for Ava to be so strong and come back with a vengeance was so inspiring. and the way she cares so deeply for her brother, Tyler…she’s a great character

• Knox is also a very complex character. him, his brother and his dad have been through HELL. family means everything to him and it was beautiful to read about (although it was still heartbreaking w/ Dane and all). He desperately needed someone else in his corner, that being Ava. He was finally able to express how he felt about her even though he was scared because of what was happening with him and his family.

they were both broken and found something within each other, came back stronger individually and together

Content Warnings

baileyt2424's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

Content Warnings

romancejunkie's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious sad slow-paced

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

1.0

Welp, I’m mad I finished this book. Especially when I didn’t click with Mills’ storytelling (emphasis on the telling) style. “He said this and then I said that and then he said this and I replied with this other thing and then we walked over here and he opened the door and then we sat down and then he asked me about something dumb and I replied with something even dumber and then we ate our food and then…”

LEGITIMATELY that is how a solid 30% of this book went. Grates on my damn nerves.

Also grating on my nerves is the bait and switch of an “enemies to lovers” where they’re actually not enemies at all. I missed the banter and the fun back and forth. And MY GOD, the amount of ridiculous mean girl shit in this was, well, ridiculous. The pacing was off—the secrets coming out too early and too late. And then the random shit thrown in for no other reason than drama??

Specifically, his dad buying her off to leave and her mom showing up for money. SERIOUSLY. What was the point of her mom???? Absofuckinglutely nothing. And Knox keeping shit from her just to kick off that uncertainty?

Manufactured drama.

And THEN, let’s move forward two years and suddenly both of them are unrecognizable?! HE HAS A SCAR ON HIS FACE and suddenly you don’t know who he is?

This wasn’t a romance. This focused way too fucking much on her assault and finding the attacker, and if as much emphasis had been placed on the actual love story between Ava and Knox, this may have been redeemable. And though I initially rated this two stars, I got more irritated as I wrote this review, so down you go.

Content Warnings