Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Accidentally Engaged

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron

21 reviews

cdori's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful 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

Content Warnings

taroroot's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

this book was okay. i liked Kamila Knows Best so much better. i enjoyed learning about the East African, Indian, Muslim community and their history and food but other than that i felt that the representation was a bit suspect and lackluster. while i found some parts of Reena's story and character relatable, i still found this story to be quite confusing. there were a lot of secrets and i felt like a lot of plotlines never got resolved and instead were just brushed away by her sudden 'development'. Nadim never felt fleshed out as a character other than that he had a 'strange' past and has a foot fetish. which like okay congrats i guess? but he never feels real. i liked Reena's relationships with Amira and Saira better.

Content Warnings

nickoliver's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

dominic_t's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

The end of the book was so good that I teared up a bit. "You're crying over the foot fetish book?" my wife asked.

Yes, this is a romance novel with recurring references to a foot fetish. Feet are frequently lovingly described, but the related sexual content is alluded to, not described. I don't know if anyone was asking for good representation for foot fetishists, but they sure got it.

This was an absolutely beautiful book. The romantic love story unfolded in a way that I found really sweet and believable. I also really liked that each conflict between different characters was new; so many books rely on the characters having the same fight 4 different times before the happy ending. The main couple, Reena and Nadim, were so well-developed and sympathetic, and it was easy to root for their love story. I also loved the plot device of the cooking competition. Is it realistic? No. But it was a great device for moving the plot forward, and the scenes were so vivid and charming. It added so many interesting scenes, and it gave me something to look forward to other than the love story.

I am also a sucker for romance novels that explore love stories outside of the romantic relationship. I absolutely loved watching two other love stories unfolding: the love story between Reena and her family and the love story between Reena and...herself. Reena spends the book learning to intrinsically value herself instead of seeking external validation through accomplishments and the approval of others.

And part of that is learning to physically take care of herself. At the end of the book, she quit drinking because she realized she was using alcohol to stop feeling pain, and she didn't want to use it as a coping mechanism anymore.

Her family is also super dysfunctional, and they are all keeping secrets from each other. Reena feels like none of them know her or value her outside of her accomplishments; she doesn't trust them to love her and truly support her if she doesn't live up to their version of material success. She has a bitter rivalry with her sister and is completely antagonistic towards her parents. Over the course of the book, they build trust with one another and learn to bring out the best in each other. It is truly beautiful to see, and it is just as rewarding as the romantic plot.

She and her sister each have food related side hustles. They go from actively opposing one another to partnering with each other to open a restaurant and write a cookbook. It might seem a but unrealistic, but they were rebuilding their relationship for most of the book. It felt like a well-earned payoff to me.

This book is just great. I highly recommend it. I'm giving it a 10 out of 10--one for each toe.

Content Warnings

jenn_reads's review

Go to review page

emotional funny 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

3.5

Content Warnings

unwise_samwise's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional 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

5.0

Don't read when you are hunggry but this will make you hungry

Content Warnings

hanz's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional 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? No

3.0

Content Warnings

kingrosereads's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

4.0

A very cute and fun Indian-Canadian love story. I loved Nadim and Reena from the start and loved their dorkiest. I hated the secrets and part of me worried about how healthy their relationship was and if it would work with so much deception and omission from the start.

I am glad they were honest and plan to work on their relationship after they were married.

I thought the book was wholesome and informative. I learned a lot about the Indian diaspora and relationship dynamics between siblings and parents, as well as mental illness. The food sounded AMAZING and I wish I could have everything Reena made and ate. Just a great, fun, sexy book.

Content Warnings

100_pages_hr's review

Go to review page

hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

I've really enjoyed reading more Own Voices lately. This glimpse into Indian culture was a treat. I loved learning more about their family customs and food.

The meet cute in this book was such a fun start and I really enjoyed watching Nadim and Reena get to know each other. I love books with strong friendships.

This book is full of secrets and that made it a little hard for me to love it.

I didn't realistic at first that this was teach a book 2 so I'm looking forward to going back and reading the first one.

Content Warnings

marissasbooks's review

Go to review page

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

3.75

Content Warnings

More...