Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The Fastest Way to Fall

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Fastest Way to Fall by Denise Williams

14 reviews

itsinthewords's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

4.75

Denise Williams delivers a very thoughtful portrayal of entering the fitness world as a fat woman, and looks at the way society views exercise as a weight-loss tool rather than as something that can feel good for a person. Britta faces many judgmental folks who make all kinds of assumptions about her and her exercise journey, but I was very impressed with how gently Williams treats this topic. Britta never once feels she needs to lose weight or prove herself to anyone, and the fatphobia she encounters is always from someone we know is not worthy of her. Williams always seems to know how to treat darker subjects with a tenderness that makes it feel like she is holding your hand through it when things get rough. I never once felt overwhelmed or like I needed to tap out. I could just enjoy these characters!

There is some lying by omission in this, and sometimes that is not something I can handle. Even so, I still really really loved this book! The characters felt humanly flawed, with anxieties and fears I recognized, and I felt like the HEA was deeply earned by both MCs. They had their own issues to sort out outside of their relationship in order to make it work, and I deeply appreciate when an author does that for us!

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caitlinemccann's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense 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? Yes

3.0

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savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-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

5.0

Rating: 5/5 stars

Britta begins a writing project about a fitness app called FitMi—only to unexpectedly fall for her coach (and FitMi CEO) Wes.

Let me start off this review by saying I am a fat woman (and to be clear, “fat” is a descriptor and has nothing to do with my value—owning that the word fat describes me is not me being derogatory about myself in *any* way). And while I absolutely read and love romance novels about people of all sizes and body types, I have to be honest: reading a book where a beautiful and unapologetically fat woman who loves her body not only gets the true love and the HEA but gets it WITH THE HOT MUSCLY FIT GUY?????? This is the book I never knew I always needed and I loved it SO MUCH.

Wes was everything a book boyfriend should be—sweet, caring, supportive, and absolutely in awe of his brilliant beautiful woman without ever batting an eye at her body type. Britta was confident, brave, and owned her (extremely relatable) baggage surrounding her weight. Their story was adorable and swoony and slow-burn and perfect. Honestly I don’t think I have any complaints at all except that it’s over and I never want to stop reading about these two.

To Denise Williams: thank you, SO MUCH, for writing this one.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: only one bed; he-falls-first; workplace-ish romance

CW: fatphobia/body shaming; addiction/overdose; some misogyny/sexism; eating disorders/body image struggles

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chronicallybookish's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.75

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bookgurl488's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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thereaderfriend's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

Okay I read this with high expectations and was slightly disappointed 😞 I really liked it up until this "fight" between the two mc's bc Wes made a shitty decision that was addressed but not met with any reparations. I do see how it happens but I don't like how it went and how Wes turned out to be. I still love him though. Not enough smut for my taste. Also felt kinda slow.

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livlamentloathe's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

3.5

Sweet and romantic. Very candid and body-positive too. I appreciated the darker subjects surrounding the main characters and how they dealt with and learned from them.

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irenei's review against another edition

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funny informative reflective fast-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

4.0

I really liked this book. Some on TikTok recommended it to my and I read it in 24 hours.

I'm so glad the goal of the main character was not to loose weight. But for a book that wasn't about loosing weight to be accepted by society it talked about it a lot. Like sure it's good that she wants to be more physical and stuff but that's all the characters talked about. Her relationship with the coach was really cute but relationships that start off because of lying is never gonna end up working out unless there's a lot of trust building. I did feel like the ending drama was rushed. And I wish they discussed how unprofessional it was for the coach to meet her and how there relationship progressed. Like it would have been better if she signed up for in person coaching too so they meet bc of that. Him being the CEO and breaking privacy laws to get to her was too much even thought it seemed like he needed to because she was in trouble. Also I kinda hated that CEO dude kinda feel in love with her over text. Obviously it didn't matter to him wat she looked like but as a fat person I think it would be better if they had meet and he knew what she looked like before falling in love w her. Also also dude really sucked at his job if he has read a single article she wrote during the whole thing he would have realized it's her and they could have sorted out the issue before it blow up online.

Hmm it feels like I'm writing mostly about the things I didn't like about it but to be honest that's usually the things that stick with me. This book is really good for what it is. It's a fat love story and I love that. I just kinda wanna read fat love stories where working out and logging her food intake is not a big part of the book.

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mandaraffe's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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

4.5

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unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

3.75

There are so many things to love about this book, even though the plot balances on one of my *least* favorite tropes: lying. Wes and Britta don’t miss a single opportunity to not come clean about their real identities for most of the story. Gang. This bothers me. It makes me so anxious for the inevitable conflict when the couple finds out the lie and it laces every interaction with an uncomfortable power imbalance that makes it so hard for me to swoon as hard as I want to. I needed about 20% less lying and 20% more banging, but here we are.

That said, I loved Britta. And Wes! And Britta’s friends! The wedding scene in this book is super swoony, and following Britta fall in love with exercise and herself was really great. Britt’s is supremely likable and relatable. Love love love her. Can we have more heroines like this please? Can we have more heroines who enjoy exercise at all sizes too? There is a trope where FMCs just don’t like working out and I’m here for a lazy day, but there are so many benefits to exercise beyond what you look like and I want more of that represented.

Denise Williams can write a toxic ex!!!! Wow. Kelsey?! 😤 This is after putting one of the worst fictional men into the universe in How to Fail at Flirting: Davis. This book is teeming with superbly unlikeable jerks. We have Ben, the toxic hipster, Mason the douche-y marketer (who totally redeems himself!), and Wes’s mom, who more than anything is sad, but woof, also brutally difficult to deal with (great redemption arc here, too!)

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