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casey_sunshine's review
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
It fades to black, which they should have to tell you up front.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Misogyny, Death of parent, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Medical trauma
mikaela_martinez's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
Moderate: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
scampbell1290's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Rape, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
aliciachauhan_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
5.0
what can I say about this book? this was the first time reading a book where South Asians were the maim characters specifically Hindu gujarati therefore I felt like i could really relate to it. it was incredibly great to read about things I could specifically relate to such as traditions and beliefs so I felt a lot more connected to the characters than ever. I strongly felt a connection towards Liya as she has the same view as me on marriage and children within an Indian household and wider society. I just hope one day I would would able to experience this type of love in real life because this book was truly beautiful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Medical content, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
aiyam's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual assault and Child abuse
brokenbodybitch's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.25
I did enjoy the book, however I do want to put a warning in here that it is a much heavier book then I was anticipating and the content warnings shouldn’t be taken lightly.
The romance in this book is pretty good, the chemistry between the characters is definitely well written and at times, they do questionable things but generally there is some reasoning (in this book the reason is very often a trauma response or something related to fears and trauma) that makes it so you can still root for the MC or LI. I really enjoy how you can tell their upbringing and what they went through up till now really motivated their actions and often times, you can see the bouncing ball of oh well this is because of this and stuff like that you aren’t left wondering what possessed them to do whatever they did.
I am not south Asian so I can’t speak on the accuracy or quality of the rep but I think the family dynamics in this book were really well done, yes don’t get me wrong a lot of the family was just straight up insufferable and I would gladly like to clock her dad in the face, however the dynamics and relationships between characters felt very real and they stayed true throught the book. I find when some authors try to write family dynamics with generational trauma and abuse and heavier more complicated things like that they will sometimes have these happy endings that while nice, ultimately don’t seem all that realistic, where as in this book her father is vile her entire childhood (for whatever reasons) and he didn’t have this seemingly instant magical turn around, his actions lined up with how his character had been set up from the beginning, and that was with all the characters I can think of.
I really enjoyed this book, yes it is a romance but it also deals with trauma from many many different angles as well as having South Asian representation. At times it reads a little more like a YA/NA romance but all in all, the characters have clear and developed backstories and it deals with trauma from so many sides that it felt like it had another purpose beyond the romance.
Extra CW/TW:
The biggest ones to be aware of are SA between an adult and minor, being told you are lying about it and other horrible things along those lines by many people but especially parental figures, and the trauma that goes along with SA, in particular childhood SA. It is handled fairly well by the end of the book and does have a positive ending but it can be very heavy at times; and I can’t speak on childhood SA but from a general SA trauma perspective it was pretty accurately portrayed. Again I’m not the authority on this, but I don’t think it is harmful rep by any means just very possibly triggering for someone with those potential triggers. It’s not a bad book I don’t think, just be very cautious going into it
The romance in this book is pretty good, the chemistry between the characters is definitely well written and at times, they do questionable things but generally there is some reasoning (in this book the reason is very often a trauma response or something related to fears and trauma) that makes it so you can still root for the MC or LI. I really enjoy how you can tell their upbringing and what they went through up till now really motivated their actions and often times, you can see the bouncing ball of oh well this is because of this and stuff like that you aren’t left wondering what possessed them to do whatever they did.
I am not south Asian so I can’t speak on the accuracy or quality of the rep but I think the family dynamics in this book were really well done, yes don’t get me wrong a lot of the family was just straight up insufferable and I would gladly like to clock her dad in the face, however the dynamics and relationships between characters felt very real and they stayed true throught the book. I find when some authors try to write family dynamics with generational trauma and abuse and heavier more complicated things like that they will sometimes have these happy endings that while nice, ultimately don’t seem all that realistic, where as in this book her father is vile her entire childhood (for whatever reasons) and he didn’t have this seemingly instant magical turn around, his actions lined up with how his character had been set up from the beginning, and that was with all the characters I can think of.
I really enjoyed this book, yes it is a romance but it also deals with trauma from many many different angles as well as having South Asian representation. At times it reads a little more like a YA/NA romance but all in all, the characters have clear and developed backstories and it deals with trauma from so many sides that it felt like it had another purpose beyond the romance.
Extra CW/TW:
The biggest ones to be aware of are SA between an adult and minor, being told you are lying about it and other horrible things along those lines by many people but especially parental figures, and the trauma that goes along with SA, in particular childhood SA. It is handled fairly well by the end of the book and does have a positive ending but it can be very heavy at times; and I can’t speak on childhood SA but from a general SA trauma perspective it was pretty accurately portrayed. Again I’m not the authority on this, but I don’t think it is harmful rep by any means just very possibly triggering for someone with those potential triggers. It’s not a bad book I don’t think, just be very cautious going into it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Alcohol and Domestic abuse
lesliehirgelt's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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
I was looking for something lighthearted, quick, and easy to read, and this did meet those criteria. However, I felt the writing style was more appropriate to a story about high school-age characters, maybe even younger. For a story about adults, presumably in their mid-20s (ish) and into professional careers, the language choice was often eyebrow-raising (saying things like "crap" instead of "shit"; calling someone of the parents' generation "old man," etc.) and felt immature. I kept reading because I became invested in the story and liked the characters, but the juxtaposition of adult characters with immature language choice made it difficult.
Content Warnings
Minor: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Medical trauma
hannnahk's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
nicolesreadingbooks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Love the pining and angst what a bop
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
nerdynatreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
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5 by 5: Enemies to Lovers Trope -- Round 2!
3.5 stars~
So, this story started out a lot heavier than I was anticipating. I thought this was much more rom-com-y, but this has lots of angst that isn’t romantic.
Liya is a strong, independent woman and she will let you know that, but she’s definitely got some trauma that she should be working through in therapy, while Jai seems to be an actually sweet guy dealing with a few inner demons of his own.
I noticed that it seemed like the personalities we would see from the characters would differ depending on whose POV we were in. Liya seemed much more assertive in her own POV, and Jai seemed much cockier in Liya’s POV than in his own. This shift just felt a little odd and made it difficult to get a strong feel for the character’s personalities.
I really like when our two mcs interact. They push each other's buttons and bicker constantly, but also acknowledge that the other is attractive, which is always entertaining. I think I enjoyed the flirty enemy stage of the relationship more than the lovers aspect and I feel bad about it? When they weren’t arguing they were... kind of boring? It felt as though the chemistry had dissipated when they were happy, so I just felt kind of meh about their relationship. I’m also surprised that given the number of discussions around sex and Liya’s impurity in this book, the spice level was maybe half a chile pepper?
The cultural aspect of this story is interesting because you can see from side characters that there are some who are trying to stick to the traditional ways and others who are more progressive and blending tradition with American customs, then Liya, who is almost trying to separate herself from her culture completely. That being said, I’m not Indian or Hindi and have seen some desi reviewers saying that this isn’t the best example of an Indian American lifestyle, so maybe check out ownvoices reviews.
The feminism in this story is also so hamfisted and comes off as preachy, particularly if it’s a piece of dialogue, it’ll come across as unrealistic that anyone would talk in that sort of way. It’s cringey. It eventually calm down ****because the narrative around Liya shifted as we learned more about her past. We had a final confrontation which did give her some closure and felt much more natural. Plus, we know I love serious issues being brought up in my romances.
The third act drama made sense for the story and the characters, thankfully was not terribly drawn out, and ca
5 by 5: Enemies to Lovers Trope -- Round 2!
3.5 stars~
So, this story started out a lot heavier than I was anticipating. I thought this was much more rom-com-y, but this has lots of angst that isn’t romantic.
Liya is a strong, independent woman and she will let you know that, but she’s definitely got some trauma that she should be working through in therapy, while Jai seems to be an actually sweet guy dealing with a few inner demons of his own.
I noticed that it seemed like the personalities we would see from the characters would differ depending on whose POV we were in. Liya seemed much more assertive in her own POV, and Jai seemed much cockier in Liya’s POV than in his own. This shift just felt a little odd and made it difficult to get a strong feel for the character’s personalities.
I really like when our two mcs interact. They push each other's buttons and bicker constantly, but also acknowledge that the other is attractive, which is always entertaining. I think I enjoyed the flirty enemy stage of the relationship more than the lovers aspect and I feel bad about it? When they weren’t arguing they were... kind of boring? It felt as though the chemistry had dissipated when they were happy, so I just felt kind of meh about their relationship. I’m also surprised that given the number of discussions around sex and Liya’s impurity in this book, the spice level was maybe half a chile pepper?
The cultural aspect of this story is interesting because you can see from side characters that there are some who are trying to stick to the traditional ways and others who are more progressive and blending tradition with American customs, then Liya, who is almost trying to separate herself from her culture completely. That being said, I’m not Indian or Hindi and have seen some desi reviewers saying that this isn’t the best example of an Indian American lifestyle, so maybe check out ownvoices reviews.
The feminism in this story is also so hamfisted and comes off as preachy, particularly if it’s a piece of dialogue, it’ll come across as unrealistic that anyone would talk in that sort of way. It’s cringey. It eventually calm down ****because the narrative around Liya shifted as we learned more about her past. We had a final confrontation which did give her some closure and felt much more natural. Plus, we know I love serious issues being brought up in my romances.
The third act drama made sense for the story and the characters, thankfully was not terribly drawn out, and ca
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Toxic relationship