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lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition
At 70 pages in, I could not believe how much I disliked the hero. He was sexist, rude, heartless, egotistical and has a job that I morally couldn't get behind. He and the heroine were having weird convos in front of other people, and it's confusing. Is the other person just pretending not to hear them? The blocking got kind of weird for the scenes. Apparently later in the book he betrays the heroine quite badly and I am glad to dodge that. I had been looking forward to this one, so it's a bummer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Sexism
claire_fitzgibbon13's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
fast-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
4.25
Loved it. It was fun and flirty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Domestic abuse, and Car accident
Minor: Alcoholism and Vomit
amotoquinha's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Vomit
Moderate: Blood and Domestic abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Car accident
angelfireeast24's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Drug use
sweetchocolatez's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Grief, and Medical content
Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Sexism, Vomit, Violence, and Misogyny
Minor: Emotional abuse
shector1's review
challenging
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Domestic abuse, Death, and Toxic relationship
starklinqs's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
1.0
I just know Sam listens to Andrew Tate.
I really wanted to like this. I love reading books from other desi authors and I LOVE cheesy romcom books. But there was way too much I thought was…super gross while reading this:
I really wanted to like this. I love reading books from other desi authors and I LOVE cheesy romcom books. But there was way too much I thought was…super gross while reading this:
- My biggest issue: Sam is just super misogynistic and kind of creepy the entire book. If this was something he actually grew from, that would be great! But while Layla rightfully calls him out at the climax of the book, he doesn’t actually change his behavior. He’s “overprotective” of Layla to the point that he’s causing fights, or almost getting into fights, with every possible suitor he meets (and he barely knows Layla at this point!). He says misogynistic shit like “the man should drive” (????) and at the end still holds onto this stuff and says the man should propose. He has HORRIBLE friends except for John (who tbh, I started shipping with Layla more lmao. Sam’s ass deserved to get dumped) but despite all his friends being terrible people they continue to be in his life. Not to mention the climax of the book gets brushed over remarkably fast - Layla’s parents weren’t too keen on Sam BEFORE that climax, and I don’t know how what happened after didn’t completely sever any form of reconciliation.
- Sam’s protectiveness is just dressed up possessiveness, this dude is just covered in red flags but I guess I’m supposed to root for him because he’s hot and has a tragic backstory (which isn’t even his, it’s his sister’s, and even after being called out about trying to get Justice without seeing what she wants he….still does that). It’s just really weird to me, that in a book that specifically calls out the sexism of the suitors and the abuse of another character, that the love interest is then consistently misogynistic and displays weird, creepy behavior throughout the book.
- The objectification. I love seeing characters attracted to each other but this was so much and so often. I don’t need to read Layla’s “breasts bounced gently under her filmy blouse”. There were so many lines that drew me out of the book that I looked back at the author because it felt so much like it was written from a man who sees women as sex objects (I guess kudos to Desai on that since it’s from Sam’s POV). Sam himself is borderline sexually harassed by a character in the book and it’s treated as a quirky funny thing, because he’s sooo hot that these things just happen.
- So. Much. Miscommunication. About the viral video. About the dating. About the design papers. About the dating again. Characters don’t have to be completely mature all the time but Jesus Christ.
There were also little things that bothered me - her dad apparently knows her the best out of everyone but then sets her up with objectively horrendous men (like an ex gang member slash current criminal? Seriously? That made it into his list of yes-es?), the need to explain just about everything (like not just Indian things, at some point the book explained who Gordon Ramsey was), the weird entitled behavior Daisy and Layla had when they first used the office - even if I hate Sam, that whole thing was super weird on their part.
This book ultimately reads about a woman who’s had horrible relationship after horrible relationship and then ends up with a walking red flag.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Misogyny
Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Infidelity
jennabenna's review against another edition
1.5
Read this book if you like toxic masculinity. The love-interest, Sam, full-on only every wants to sleep with or "protect" women, and punch other men. He is emotionally stunted, estranged from his family, possessive of his sister. He literally gets in bloody bar fights against his friend, randomly threatens people for no reason, is a total jerk at work, and has self-absorbed bullies as friends and coworkers. His behavior is WAY out of line in the climax of the book attending a cocaine and stripper filled party instead of meeting Layla's family, and then defending his decision to evict Laylas family from their restaurant and yet somehow Layla is the one making a grand gesture to win him back?
Also, most of the banter between the two leads is in front of other people in a way that is really awkward. And the pacing of the book is off as well.
Plus, TONS of trigger warnings (in addition to the violent toxic masculinity). A bunch of stuff happens that should be really
upsetting to the characters, but is just casually presented in a cluncky way to move the plot along and doesnt get the attention it deserved just to name a few, her parents are losing their restaurant, her brother died, her dad has a heart attack and is comatose in the hospital, the leads get in a car accident, one of her suitors beats up his female Employee within earshot of Layla, Sam's sister was pushed down the stairs by her abusive husband and is now wheelchair bound, Layla has a coworker with a girlfriend who is constantly sexually harassing her, including rubbing her body against his boner when she asks him to stop and thats not even all of the intense or misogynistic stuff that is presented casually in the story. I would have given a lower star rating, but the Indian representation was nice, and her dad was sweet. Overall, Do not recommend.
Also, most of the banter between the two leads is in front of other people in a way that is really awkward. And the pacing of the book is off as well.
Plus, TONS of trigger warnings (in addition to the violent toxic masculinity). A bunch of stuff happens that should be really
upsetting to the characters, but is just casually presented in a cluncky way to move the plot along and doesnt get the attention it deserved
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, and Grief
rensreading's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
a cheesy rom-com
i don’t mind cheesy rom-coms in the least. so that’s not the reason i didn’t really like this.
i hated the love interest. i hated all the undealt with misogyny. i hated the way the author wrote when in sam’s pov and didn’t seem to find a problem with what they were writing.
the plot was fine. the story was okay. layla was underwhelmingly average and sam was awful. i liked royce better than i did him and that says a LOT.
i did understand sam’s need to get justice for his sister though. i think others calling him selfish for putting his sister first is also misogynistic and stupid. its wrong of him to quit being a doctor and get his sister’s ex-husband in jail for what he did to her simply bc he isn’t fulfilling every poc parents’ dream by being a doctor? bullshit.
all in all, i’d give this 3 stars and 2 🌶🌶 as well.
i don’t mind cheesy rom-coms in the least. so that’s not the reason i didn’t really like this.
i hated the love interest. i hated all the undealt with misogyny. i hated the way the author wrote when in sam’s pov and didn’t seem to find a problem with what they were writing.
the plot was fine. the story was okay. layla was underwhelmingly average and sam was awful. i liked royce better than i did him and that says a LOT.
i did understand sam’s need to get justice for his sister though. i think others calling him selfish for putting his sister first is also misogynistic and stupid. its wrong of him to quit being a doctor and get his sister’s ex-husband in jail for what he did to her simply bc he isn’t fulfilling every poc parents’ dream by being a doctor? bullshit.
all in all, i’d give this 3 stars and 2 🌶🌶 as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Vomit, Sexual assault, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Car accident, and Death
the main characters do get in a car accident but don’t die. the death tag is related to an off-screen death that happened years before the events in the book.prrttyodd's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-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
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Domestic abuse