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theotherboleyn's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child abuse, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Racism
zabeishumanish's review
- 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
4.75
Check trigger warnings! There are some super heavy themes here, personally, I think they were all handled responsibly and with care.
This isn’t a great escapism book, or it wasn’t for me, just because of how emotionally heavy parts of it can be a lot. While I wouldn’t call it great for escapism it hits the spot in a whole other delightful way. Still has that big romance HEA, just with a kick-ass bit of social justice on the side.
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual violence
Minor: Violence and Alcohol
aliciachauhan_'s review against another edition
- 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
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
brokenbodybitch's review against another edition
4.25
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
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
readergonewilde's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcohol
100_pages_hr's review
4.0
This book has some pretty strong triggers so check into those before you read, but I thought they were ha fled well and in a way that gives representation. I truly admired how strong Liya was. I loved her core group of friends.
Jay was absolutely amazing. I felt like his character had so much depth because he was just himself. True to himself in the good and bad. I appreciated how vulnerable he was at times. I also loved how he stood up for Liya multiple times and in multiple ways.
Own voices books are truly my favorite because the author's culture shines through. I love the glimpses into family life, food, weddings, and relationships. I love how this book included traditional culture but also a more modern view on committed relationship.
Graphic: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Minor: Blood, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Medical trauma