Reviews with content warning for Rape - Love and Other Words

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

98 reviews

kate_not_kate's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

Hab zu viel geweint, besonders die letzten 30%, die ich bis 3 Uhr morgens gelesen hab. Warum kann ich nicht aufhören zu weinen. Bin zu emotional. Ich liebe einfach die Charakteren. Ich liebe die Geschichte. Ich hasse Autos verdammt so stark. Und Emma gibt mir Hannah vibes aus echtem Leben… omg. Ich bin zu emotional geworden. So ein gutes Buch. Bin so froh, dass ich das mit dem Lesen verschoben hab. Genau jetzt war der richtige Zeitpunkt für dieses Buch

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elliott_the_clementine's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

1.75

I wanted to love this book so badly! Besides having a dreamy, bookish hero named Elliot (though his name ought to have had two T’s), Love and Other Words did an excellent job of telling a story across time and space. Despite pacing issues, Macy and Elliot fall in love so sweetly and believably that it is impossible not to root for them. Until the end, I thought that this book would receive a rave review from me.

However, a significant issue in plot, explained briefly in the spoiler below, significantly upset me, and it may upset others. More seriously, it would have been easily rectifiable.

I do not recommend this book.

Trigger warning for sexual assault and rape. I could not love the book because of a horrible error (though that may be too small of a word) on behalf of the authors. It is revealed that Elliot experienced sexual assault

(a young woman who may or may not have been inebriated raped him while he was so drunk he thought that she was Macy)

which ultimately ended his and Macy’s relationship because Macy thought that Elliot had cheated, and it is not discussed thoughtfully or treated as sexual assault.

For a book that is so emotional and thoughtful in many ways, this “storyline” was wildly upsetting. It could have been treated or discussed meaningfully, as assault, but instead the blame is still placed on Elliot. Victim-blaming is NEVER okay. Moreover, Elliot experienced a significant trauma that was brushed off as a step towards romance. Not. Okay. Assault is not a plot device for character growth. It doesn’t make a person more interesting or their love for another person stronger (especially since it is sort of portrayed like Elliot is only able to be touched by Macy, who he loves so much, which is super weird in context of the assault, as other reviewers have explained much more eloquently). I am extremely disappointed and angry. Elliot deserves better. We deserve better.

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meroei's review

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emotional slow-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

1.5

It’s a cute book at first. I liked how Macy and Elliot got along, and the progression of their relationship. I found Elliot to be refreshingly open and honest, and yet an awkward teen at times, while Macy was earnest and shy.

I really did not like the end—the pace significantly slowed around 2/3 through, and it felt like the suspense was contrived. The reveal ruined my opinion :/

Elliot was raped, and except for a throwaway line about Macy knowing it wasn’t his fault, the story just moved on. Worse, it left the blame mainly on Elliot!

I disliked Macy, perhaps because we spent the whole time in her head. She was very tentative, constantly waffling about what she wanted from Elliot and her life, and pushed off the big conversation until the very very end. I did enjoy Elliot’s character, however.

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megcordoba's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.25

SPOILERS AHEAD AND TW:

I thought this would be a 5 star book for me based on the fact that I couldn’t put it down and it was an easy, fun read…until the end. The ending wasn’t just bad to me, it was very problematic.

I have an issue with the fact that the authors tend to write from the perspective on POC in this and other books, so that was already in the back of my mind as I was reading.

But then there is a casual mention of r*pe that is never named as such. The main male character’s excuse for “cheating” (being r*ped) was that he thought it was his girlfriend he was with? And then he gets mad that she didn’t let him explain? And then she just…forgives him?

It sat very wrong with me and ruined the book for me.

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siareads's review

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medium-paced

2.75

At first I really loved this book. The depiction of grief really broke me, the author really nailed the feeling. I would’ve loved to know what made Macy chose her field of work since there was no indication of her going into it and she never really spoke about it at all minus sharing some of her weekly activities. I felt like a lot of times them as kids talking sounded more like adults. Felt really icky/disturbed after learning about what kept them apart for a decade.

It was definitely sexual assault/rape but never explained in that way. They framed it as his fault.

I got super frustrated with the author not explaining that especially after it was clear that

Elliot had PTSD from the experience, saying he broke down sobbing after having his first sexual encounter with someone after that.

It brought down the rating of the book for me.

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lyndsay_bibliophile's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No

2.0

I have mixed feelings… the dual timeline kept this book fast-paced, but I also had a strong desire just to be done with it. The relationships are unhealthy.

Descriptive teen sex without condoms and Elliot is obviously raped. I had an immediate ick that Macy moved in with Sean after the first night she slept with him. There is also a harmful reference to drug addiction - “At what point will Sean be forced to tell his perfect kid that her mom loved drugs more than she loved them?” - this is harmful and minimizing - addiction is a disease and the MC is a medical doctor, so this didn’t sit right with me. The story is predictable and I struggled to get into it at first, but it did get better.

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