Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey

9 reviews

abicaro17's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

Julian and Hallie were so sweet! I really enjoyed how their dynamic worked within the semi slow burn. I think the plot was cute and i'm glad they worked out their issues. My problem with the book was first off was the lack of details on important plot stuff (post fire Dad plot, what happened to Hallie grandma, what happened to uncorked?) and the immediate apology acceptance after all the lying Hallie did. Like I get that he thought it was her anyways but she still lied?? It was a good book but not the best Tessa Bailey i've read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Cursing, and Death

carefulfearanddeaddevotion's review

emotional lighthearted

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

2.25

didnt realize this book was X rated when I picked it up, and it's the first of its kind ive read so maybe im just not familiar with the genre, but the writing and characters (especially Julian) were really...weird? idk how to describe it, very stilted, immature, and oftentimes difficult to like. the best character was by far Natalie, so even though im not sure i liked this book or Tessa's writing, i might read hers just to spend more time with her (plus it has my favorite trope: fake relationship). maybe the author was just unsuccessful at portraying someone with anxiety/panic attacks/ptsd? idk. 

i also hated the lack of communication. like i get miscommunication is a big trope in romance, but this was a bit much. like?? you're 30 years old, it's very clear you're into each other (especially after the

mutual masturbation

like hello???) just make an effort to say like one (1) sentence instead of...walking away?? hard to believe they'll last with those kinds of communication skills. 

also, and i've tried to think of a better way to word it, but it's just this: Julian gave me the ick SO often. Just when i was like "heheh cute" he'd be like "the world will end if i dont see an Hallie Smile tm" and i'd need to go rushing to the nearest trash can. nasty. like just so weird. the constant simultaneous infantilization and objectification of Hallie was a bit much. but maybe im the weird one idk.

edit: the secret admirer letters are so marginally relevant to the story that i even forgot to include them in this review. Hallie, as the secret admirer, writes a total of 3 letters. Julian responds once. And im supposed to believe that it's a central part of story? it's not. they got to know each other wayyyyyyyy more in person than they did through the letters. the only purpose they served was the, frankly senseless, final conflict.

like getting Hallie out of the house to have Julian have a panic attack over it could have been accomplished by any other mean

.

ALSO! and this is a small thing but

Hallie barelyyyy knows Natalie, she had no right to offhandedly tell her to get her drinking and sleeping in under control?? especially in context.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism

kyrstin_p1989's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

4.0

Cute and sassy. Loved the characters. I don’t love a miscommunication trope but the second chance romance bit was done well. It’s also a bit of a grumpy sunshine kind of book, which is always heartwarming to me. The amount of spice was limited but what was there was definitely steamy. Looking forward to the second book in this duology. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Dysphoria, and Sexual content

lakinglaze's review

lighthearted slow-paced

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

1.0

This book was not my cup of tea. I had problems with the characters, the characters’ actions, and the ideals presented in this story. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Sexism

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, Stalking, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, and Cursing

dianaschmidty's review against another edition

funny lighthearted 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Grief, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

gracehannahh's review

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Panic attacks/disorders

nina_readsbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Grief, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

roget's review

slow-paced

• Strong character development? No

2.0

“About a starchy professor and the bubbly neighbor he clashes with at every turn,” the blurb says.
Eh…
More like twice. Ish?

Look, that’s not where my issues originate here. I don’t mind a short “grumpy” arch in a grumpyXsunshine style ship, though I think this story would’ve benefitted from keeping Julian distant for longer.

This book follows Julian, an exacting Stanford professor home on some sort of sabbatical to write a novel, and Hallie, a landscaper who’s feeling unmoored since the loss of her grandmother. She’s had a crush on Julian since high school, but he doesn’t remember her. They have a spark, though, and the story follows them as they try to see if it can be cultivated into something more.

Both characters had strong and promising backstories, but the plot fell quite flat. With all the room for real conflict and real development, the turns the book took often felt contrived and boring.

I wanted more about Julian’s anxiety. I wanted him to actually come into serious conflict with Hallie’s way of managing her time. In real life, that would’ve happened, and it might’ve been enough to sink them as a couple. But instead, Julian seems to constantly sugar coat even her most destructive or unhealthy behaviors (pointless theft?). He doesn’t need to lecture her or criticize her, but his constant internal insistence that she has no flaws rang more and more false with his every repetition. It made the relationship feel grounded in an unreality that will capsize because Julian does not truly know or accept her. He has not yet been truly inconvenienced by her. Their love wasn’t tested.

And that makes this a sort of flimsy romance story.

This wasn’t helped by the lack of clear reasons for Julian to be interested in Hallie, beyond his physical attraction. Look, spice isn’t my thing, but usually Bailey’s books have an interesting love story between those parts.

Most of Julian’s reflections were just him drooling over Hallie’s body. There was very little development given to his relationship with her internal characteristics.

And his anxiety was left pretty underdeveloped. We were told some things there, near the end, but most of the story sort of sidelined it, and the reader is left with the understanding that for the most part, Julian’s symptoms go away when he’s with Hallie because he’s too distracted by his attraction for her. (I am not a fan of that take.) I was glad to see that it wasn’t magically cured, but I feel the development there was unclear and didn’t quite ring true to me, personally. (Of course, others may disagree!)

I don’t know. :/ I wanted to enjoy this one, but it fell a bit flat for me, unfortunately.

Tldr: Physical attraction doesn’t cure anxiety. Pretending your partner is flawless to avoid conflict is a recipe for burnout, poor conflict management, and eventual hurt feelings.
**Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for an ARC copy in exchange for my honest feedback.**

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Grief and Death

purplepenning's review

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Sexism

So, I had a few issues, and they're all spoilery content warnings, so:

one character has internalized fatphobia, alcoholism of a secondary character is barely addressed, one main character exhibits stalkerish obsession, one main character overly sexualizes a women who is just doing her job and also indulges sexist sexual fantasies about her, the "first time" virginity trope is used, anxiety attacks feel more like a plot device than a thoughtful character development, BUT there is some character growth to partially address some of these issues and there's some positive therapy rep (or at least the declared intention)