Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Long Shot

I love this book, but also finding myself wanting to chuck it against the wall. I don’t think this is a Romance book. The first half the book is spent showing how Iris and August are living separate lives and come together at different points with a deep connection and tension between them. Theirs is a love story. It’s heartbreaking and for Iris, tragic, but ultimately this is not a romance novel.

There is no happy ending or happy for now for both characters before the epilogue. There’s certainly resolution of a major plot point for the MMCs.

But really, this is a contemporary sports fiction novel with romantic elements and an emotional love story between the main characters at the heart.

I never felt - from the start of the book - that Iris was in love with Caleb.

I also never understood why her character would willingly choose to have a baby with a man who, for all intents and purposes in this book, sounds like he sabotaged their contraceptives. For all her grandstanding to August about what an independent woman she was she caved when she found out she was pregnant with someone who she barely liked.

There are descriptive depictions of physical and emotional abuse, rape, and sodomy against the FMC. Yes, there is a trigger warning at the start of the book about intimate partner violence but, this was hard to read and, admittedly I skipped those parts of the book to finish the book and intermittently went back to read/skim for context.

I’m bothered that the real love story for Iris and August, where they can truly be together and with each other is comprised of 144 pages (prior to the Epilogue) while 264 pages are dedicated to detailing Iris’ toxic relationship with Caleb, including detailed pages of the intimate partner violence Iris suffers, and August’s pining for Iris while seeking physical pleasure with other women. 36 pages are dedicated to the epilogue and bonus epilogue where the HEA/HFN happen.

Again, I loved the writing and story telling in the book. I kept turning each page because I had to know what was happening. But I just wish this would have been a duet rather than this all-in one story.

Content Warnings

bribreez's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

*Check Trigger Warnings Before Reading!

5⭐️/ 3-4🌶️

Kennedy Ryan has a way of writing her stories in a way I haven’t read before. Combining the beauty of falling in love as well as the difficulties relationships face, this story followed, Iris and August as they met one night and how it irrevocably changed them. A sports (basketball) romance that was a mix of Iris and August falling for one another, but also how certain aspects of their lives became obstacles they needed to overcome. This wasn’t by any means a “lighthearted” romance, some of the subject matter in this book was heartbreaking and emotionally painful so please be aware of that before reading. Other than that, I was really curious about this story, and wanting to read more books from Kennedy Ryan.

I have been wanting to read more of Kennedy Ryan’s books after I read her “Kingmakers” books so, with this book it was the next that caught my attention. Something about the premise of August and Iris meeting when they were college hopefuls dreaming of their respective futures while sharing an instantaneous connection really hooked me from the beginning. Both, Iris and August were determined and motivated to make their dreams possible, which I found to be inspiring. From the moment Iris and August met to the conversations they had over the course of time, I could tell the sparks were flying between them. Kennedy did such a phenomenal job to illustrating Iris and August’s connection, and I’m saying even from the first few chapters, I felt hopeful and optimistic about them.

If there is one thing I urge you to do if you decide to read this book, CHECK THE TRIGGER WARNINGS! (Sigh) my heart was absolutely shattered and devastated at what I read in this book. Even just thinking about what I read makes me want to cry…the subject matter in this book is heavy and unsettling. Iris was stuck in a difficult situation, where she was boxed in, and controlled by Caleb. Caleb is the scum of the earth and deserves every once of punishment the world gives him, I hate the piece of garbage! Ugh! Makes me so mad! I haven’t read a book this heavy from reading about the sexual assault and physical abuse Iris suffered from. So please, if you decide to read this book, don’t expect a sunshine, cute romance, it is in fact a romance that deals with HEAVY subject matter that may not be suitable for everyone.

Based off the few books I’ve so far from Kennedy Ryan, I’ve realized she always manages to shed light on topics that most people either don’t take enough about or informs people of various tough topics. In this instance, with Iris’s part of the story, it illustrated not just the brutality that she suffered from the hands of Caleb, but also how it isn’t easy to leave the king of situation Iris found herself in. There was a part in the book where two women were talking to Iris about another WAG NBA player who based off their gossip were aware that woman was being abused by her husband. The women then go on to say that if they were in that situation they would easily leave, and other ignorant comments. In Iris’s case, she was living in constant hell, she couldn’t just up and leave Caleb because, with his manipulation, lies, and various acts of abuse, he planned out ways to keep Iris from ever leaving him. There was also the matter of Iris’s daughter which furthered complicated things. Seeing things from Iris’s perspective, we got to see that things weren’t simple, this showed the ways in which the abuser (Caleb) took away every means possible from his victim (Iris) to leave him, and make her dependent on him. Iris was living her worst nightmare, and again my heart was devastated over and over at what I saw she had suffered.

With all that Iris went through, when the time came that she sought a way, I was relieved. Iris didn’t automatically have a “happy” ending when she left her abusive boyfriend, that trauma still lingered in her mind and body, but with her cousin/bff, Lo (Lotus) and her great-grandmother, MiMi, Iris had a support system around her. Seeing Iris a year later showed that even though she was living a much calmer life, she wasn’t truly living. There was still that lingering fear of Caleb coming after her and Sarai, but also the fact that she hadn’t fulfilled her dreams as she once anticipated after college. So, when it came to that moment where Iris was ready to take the reins of her life once again, it was a great moment to see, as well as how it came full circle to bringing her back to the man she still thought about, August.

Now, I’ve been talking a lot about the difficulties and trauma that Iris faced, but let’s also talk about some of the lighter aspects to this story such as, THE ROMANCE BETWEEN IRIS AND AUGUST! August fell hard for Iris from the moment he met her. Over the course of years, there was that significant spark that never duller, but only grew stronger with the way that August and Iris shared, and it was honestly beautiful to watch unfold. I also loved how once the romance between August and Iris started switching into high gear it was swoon worthy and honest to hot made me love August even more! This man straight up said no to a forty-five million dollar deal to join a famously known, on their way to championship basketball team all for the sake of finally taking his shot at being with Iris! (Sigh) August West was truly a beautiful man inside and out!

This was a heavy, emotional journey for both Iris and August, but they finally got there happily ever after. This was by far the most difficult, harrowing, and emotional book I’ve read to date. Iris was faced with such a complicated situation where she couldn’t easily get out especially with the system working against her instead of helping her. Iris was by far one of the strongest female characters I’ve read in a while, and throughout the book I repeatedly wanted to hug her profusely, and protect her at all costs. Kennedy Ryan didn’t hold back in the depictions of abuse and assault that Iris experienced first hand, but it was done for the purpose of showing us readers how harrowing and painful it was for Iris, and women like her. This is the kind of book I won’t stop thinking about for multiple reasons, but among the hardships Iris experienced, there was also the love she and August had together. August was truly amazing, he was not only loving, protective, sweet, and thoughtful, but also understanding of how Iris wanted their relationship to go (taking it slow at first). This book legitimately had me anxious, on edge, and truly devastated me, but it was all worth it to see Iris and August coming out on top. The epilogues truly highlighted the love, happiness, and joy that Iris and August deserved, and it brought me to tears seeing them together. The title truly is significant in the long shot, the time it took for Iris and August to finally have their shot at being together, and it was beautiful to see their story end the way that it did.

Content Warnings

humelo's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.0

The only reason I'm giving it any stars is for the second half.
I understand this book takes on a difficult topic, but it absolutely should not be marketed as a romance novel. The absolutely atrocious amount of details of the abuse was very unnecessary and didn't bring anything of value to the book. The warnings should be much more drastic, and the plot description should reflect the severety of the DETAILED abuse. I had to skip majority of the second quarter of it because the descriptions made me sick. I doubt anyone starting this book was expecting to read scenes where FMCs boyfriend brutally violates and physically abuses her. Repeatedly. Also the way the book just absolutely skips over abortion being a viable possibility for the FMC enraged me. She didn't love him, she didn't want to have a baby, they weren't even married and she already knew she would be dependant on him. Abortion is motioned in one sentence. Honestly tragic.

Content Warnings

sarahowusu's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

taliaalongi's review

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challenging emotional sad 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? No

3.75

Read trigger warnings!! Incredibly graphic DV and r*** scenes. I barely made it through. The writing is beautiful and the character development well done.

Content Warnings