Scan barcode
huevo181's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Suicide
krhart's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-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
5.0
I am still processing. This book. I'm broken ššOmg. This book. River and Ciarain. Enemies to...what?! Lovers? Hearts? It's not able to be defined. River is the college quarterback. A new receiver comes to the team, and he's a true star. The two of them have instant "love to hate you" energy and it can't be reigned in.
River is outwardly and comfortably bi. Ciarain is not. Ciarain has deep, dark secrets and trauma that molded him into who he is today. No matter how much they fight, their chemistry can't be ignored.
After a major blow up, they are sent to the mountains for a 5 week getaway to force their relationship to mend and become something other than hate. Sparks fly, tears fall, secrets are revealed and things change. But not necessarily for the better.
The book ends on a cliffhanger. Be ready. I am just really really glad the next one (After Rain Falls) is already queued up and ready to go.
High angst
Enemies to lovers (maybe)
Many other triggers
River is outwardly and comfortably bi. Ciarain is not. Ciarain has deep, dark secrets and trauma that molded him into who he is today. No matter how much they fight, their chemistry can't be ignored.
After a major blow up, they are sent to the mountains for a 5 week getaway to force their relationship to mend and become something other than hate. Sparks fly, tears fall, secrets are revealed and things change. But not necessarily for the better.
The book ends on a cliffhanger. Be ready. I am just really really glad the next one (After Rain Falls) is already queued up and ready to go.
High angst
Enemies to lovers (maybe)
Many other triggers
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Biphobia
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual violence
friends2lovers's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Biphobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Cursing, Homophobia, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Drug abuse, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
madscientistcat's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.0
Trigger warnings should be up front in this book. Itās not appropriate to hide them because of āspoilersā especially when they have the magnitude, gravity, and explicitness that these scenes have in here. I donāt read or care personally about CWs for myself, but I know itās important to many people to include them, and their absence here is unnecessary and, frankly, appalling.
Iām torn on rating the book because of the thoughtlessness of the CW situation, but I decided to rate it as just the contents of the story and settle for leaving appropriate CWs on here and the mini-rant above.
This book ripped my heart right out. Devastating and emotional, full of pain and angst but also discovery and joy. Be prepared to read both books of this duology together as this book ends on a cliffhanger with no HEA/HFN. The next book does pick up right from the scene at the end. The writing is a little odd at times, and learning this was the authorās debut makes that make sense. The vibes are perfect though. For this book. The next oneā¦. well. Itās *weird.* Iāll deal with that later thoughā¦
Iām torn on rating the book because of the thoughtlessness of the CW situation, but I decided to rate it as just the contents of the story and settle for leaving appropriate CWs on here and the mini-rant above.
This book ripped my heart right out. Devastating and emotional, full of pain and angst but also discovery and joy. Be prepared to read both books of this duology together as this book ends on a cliffhanger with no HEA/HFN. The next book does pick up right from the scene at the end. The writing is a little odd at times, and learning this was the authorās debut makes that make sense. The vibes are perfect though. For this book. The next oneā¦. well. Itās *weird.* Iāll deal with that later thoughā¦
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Blood, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Abandonment, Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Rape, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use
queen21's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Biphobia, Child abuse, Mental illness, Death, Bullying, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual harassment, Child death, Blood, and Homophobia
Minor: Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Rape, and Drug use
thassia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Rape, Sexual violence, Self harm, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
galaxy_full_of_wildflowers's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
wilder's review against another edition
dark
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
2.0
2 / 5
TW: mentions of SA in this review.
Honestly, I shouldāve DNFād this book. It was not good - I just canāt bring myself to DNF books a lot of the time. Well, now that Iāve finished it, I have to see it through to the end of the sequel and read another 400 pages of this Wattpad-esque angst. Because unfortunately, thatās how my brain works - I need to see everything to itās end, even train wrecks.
Follow the River by C.E. Ricci was kind of all over the place. After just reading Donāt You Dare by the same author, I had decently high hopes going into this one - especially after seeing some hype for this duology. However, the characters were sooo wishy washy for most of the book. They both are wildly unlikable for reasons that were not on purpose. Intentional angst and toxicity aside, these two were just damn near unredeemable characters who never faced consequences for their actions & we are expected to root for them.
Spoilery thoughts ahead but PLEASE see trigger warnings if you are someone who needs them.
Iām a big supporter of āwrite whatever you wantā and this absolutely applies here too. However, you have to take SOME care with what youāre writing when publishing it to the masses. I donāt like how certain themes of SA were portrayed here and then forgiven almost immediately or glossed over, then in the literal next sentence the characters talk about deeply traumatic child SA. Then have sex. I justā¦ it didnāt feel like anything was handled with care, and itās very hard not to compare how it was handled here against a book like A Little Life or even All for the Game (didnāt think Iād be comparing those two in my lifetimeā¦). One main character sexually assaults the other and never apologizes or feels regret. The other brutally rapes the first and that barely causes ripples in their relationship in the long run. Again - write what you want, it isnāt the acts in the fiction that bothers me, itās how the rest of the story shapes around the acts that does.
I guess the best thing I got out of reading this was seeing how C.E. Ricci has improved between this book and her newest release, Donāt You Dare. I enjoyed her writing in that book, and will likely keep trying to pick up her works but this one was a disappointment. Hopefully the sequel is better?
TW: mentions of SA in this review.
Honestly, I shouldāve DNFād this book. It was not good - I just canāt bring myself to DNF books a lot of the time. Well, now that Iāve finished it, I have to see it through to the end of the sequel and read another 400 pages of this Wattpad-esque angst. Because unfortunately, thatās how my brain works - I need to see everything to itās end, even train wrecks.
Follow the River by C.E. Ricci was kind of all over the place. After just reading Donāt You Dare by the same author, I had decently high hopes going into this one - especially after seeing some hype for this duology. However, the characters were sooo wishy washy for most of the book. They both are wildly unlikable for reasons that were not on purpose. Intentional angst and toxicity aside, these two were just damn near unredeemable characters who never faced consequences for their actions & we are expected to root for them.
Spoilery thoughts ahead but PLEASE see trigger warnings if you are someone who needs them.
I guess the best thing I got out of reading this was seeing how C.E. Ricci has improved between this book and her newest release, Donāt You Dare. I enjoyed her writing in that book, and will likely keep trying to pick up her works but this one was a disappointment. Hopefully the sequel is better?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
tankytoon's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What an emotional roller-coaster! This book is not your usual enemies-to-lovers romance as it is packed with so much pain and revelation that you can help but feel for the characters.
The sizzling chemistry between Rain and River is palpable from the get-go but one of them is fighting it, so much it turned into physical aggression that their Football coach had to intervene and send them both to a month's worth exile in order to bond. And bond they did.
There's so much heat, passion, hatred, submission, suffering, affection, confusing feelings to be unpacked by both Rain and River that it's a wonder if they will ever survive being together or being without.
This book has so much angst to get through that can leave the reader emotionally exhausted or overwhelmed, especially if one is sensitive to trigger content. But it's such a beautiful and heart-rending story that, if one can get past some of the traumatic passages, this book will give you a realistic narrative about how broken people can survive so much hate, and still manage to live through it. Or do they?
Author does not want to specify triggers but I do think it's warranted as I wasn't prepared for what I read and in some ways it's good, but it was difficult even for me who has read other deeply jarring books.
The sizzling chemistry between Rain and River is palpable from the get-go but one of them is fighting it, so much it turned into physical aggression that their Football coach had to intervene and send them both to a month's worth exile in order to bond. And bond they did.
There's so much heat, passion, hatred, submission, suffering, affection, confusing feelings to be unpacked by both Rain and River that it's a wonder if they will ever survive being together or being without.
This book has so much angst to get through that can leave the reader emotionally exhausted or overwhelmed, especially if one is sensitive to trigger content. But it's such a beautiful and heart-rending story that, if one can get past some of the traumatic passages, this book will give you a realistic narrative about how broken people can survive so much hate, and still manage to live through it. Or do they?
Author does not want to specify triggers but I do think it's warranted as I wasn't prepared for what I read and in some ways it's good, but it was difficult even for me who has read other deeply jarring books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Rape, Sexual content, Homophobia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Biphobia, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Drug use, Vomit, Drug abuse, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders
More...