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darknutmeg's review against another edition
Looked up the trigger warnings and noped out and the writing is just not pulling me in.
jsncnrd's review
4.0
I am a huge fan of the Noahverse books. I have loved every single one of them, and this was no exception. While nothing will ever be able to top A Mark On My Soul -- which will forever be special to me -- This I Promise You comes in second.
Here’s what I loved.
I loved Easton. He was sensitive, he was human, he was strong, and he was adorable. I was so intrigued by the plot line of him starting to understand his relationship with sex and intimacy and his body / whom he shared it with / why. We got to watch him grow and begin to love himself. We got to watch him break the cycle of self-loathing and being ashamed of having MS. Having struggled with neurological issues myself, Easton was very, very special to me. I loved seeing this representation in a queer book. Also, Alexa -- play "cowboy like me" by Taylor Swift.
I loved Paul. Initially, he was obviously perceived as unnecessarily angry, overly reactive, and difficult to be around. And that was the point. Watching Paul’s journey as he learned how to live with the deep-rooted and complex trauma that had controlled his life was something so powerful and moving that it brought me to tears. When we found out just how terrible the events he went through were, I cried. I cried as Paul had a panic attack and trauma response because it broke my heart. I cried as Easton and Huxley sat with Paul as he came down from that panic attack because it put my heart back together. We got to watch Paul break the cycle of the power that trauma has over humans and begin to heal. I understood WHY Paul was angry. His character arc was beautiful because he learned how to live with and control that anger and start to accept the fact that he was worthy of love.
The Noahverse is filled with characters that I absolutely love. Huxley? Queen. Aidan? I would die for him. Tyler, Jacob, Skylar, Noah, and all our returning supporting cast? I was so beyond happy to see all of them together on the same pages in the same book.
Overall, this book did a lot of great things. It explored painful, difficult topics. But it also addressed, debunked, and destigmatized those topics.
A few things I want to make a note of that I have seen in some reviews. I don’t think some people have a great grasp around the fact that trauma survivors can develop severe anger issues that cut to the bone. Swearing is something that can manifest in anger. And while it may be ~ too much ~ for some people, the continued use of the word "fuck" really didn’t bother me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I see some attacks on Paul’s character overall, especially his fallout with Easton. My understanding is this – Paul felt betrayed because he opened himself up completely about his past traumas and felt that something huge was kept from him by Easton. I agree that it was Easton’s story to tell when he was ready, but again — Paul had severe anger issues that he was working on. And while he was cruel in the moment, he immediately realized that what he had said was the wrong way to react. You know, when he CALLED RIGHT BACK TO APOLOGIZE. The entire remainder of the book focused on reconciliation and building trust, and that was catalyzed by this conflict. The level of hostility in some of the things peoples have in reviews is just .... excessive sometimes.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and that is completely fine! I do, however, see a lot of black-and-white thinking in reviews and thought it was worth noting the above. There are also productive ways to criticize versus hateful bashing.
ANYWAYS. Perhaps this book won’t resonate with everyone. But it resonated deeply with me for a great number of reasons and personal experiences. I appreciated and admired the vulnerability, brutal honesty, emotional weight, and overall meaningfulness of This I Promise You. Jordon and Kalob are talented writers, and together, they have crafted an introspective tale of found family, love, and hope. Two great humans wrote a great book!
"Life is emotionally abusive, and time can't stop me quite like you did. // Are we falling like snow on the beach? Weird, but fucking beautiful. // It's coming down, no sound, it's all around -- like snow on the beach."
- Snow on the Beach / Taylor Swift + Lana del Rey
Here’s what I loved.
I loved Easton. He was sensitive, he was human, he was strong, and he was adorable. I was so intrigued by the plot line of him starting to understand his relationship with sex and intimacy and his body / whom he shared it with / why. We got to watch him grow and begin to love himself. We got to watch him break the cycle of self-loathing and being ashamed of having MS. Having struggled with neurological issues myself, Easton was very, very special to me. I loved seeing this representation in a queer book. Also, Alexa -- play "cowboy like me" by Taylor Swift.
I loved Paul. Initially, he was obviously perceived as unnecessarily angry, overly reactive, and difficult to be around. And that was the point. Watching Paul’s journey as he learned how to live with the deep-rooted and complex trauma that had controlled his life was something so powerful and moving that it brought me to tears. When we found out just how terrible the events he went through were, I cried. I cried as Paul had a panic attack and trauma response because it broke my heart. I cried as Easton and Huxley sat with Paul as he came down from that panic attack because it put my heart back together. We got to watch Paul break the cycle of the power that trauma has over humans and begin to heal. I understood WHY Paul was angry. His character arc was beautiful because he learned how to live with and control that anger and start to accept the fact that he was worthy of love.
The Noahverse is filled with characters that I absolutely love. Huxley? Queen. Aidan? I would die for him. Tyler, Jacob, Skylar, Noah, and all our returning supporting cast? I was so beyond happy to see all of them together on the same pages in the same book.
Overall, this book did a lot of great things. It explored painful, difficult topics. But it also addressed, debunked, and destigmatized those topics.
A few things I want to make a note of that I have seen in some reviews. I don’t think some people have a great grasp around the fact that trauma survivors can develop severe anger issues that cut to the bone. Swearing is something that can manifest in anger. And while it may be ~ too much ~ for some people, the continued use of the word "fuck" really didn’t bother me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I see some attacks on Paul’s character overall, especially his fallout with Easton. My understanding is this – Paul felt betrayed because he opened himself up completely about his past traumas and felt that something huge was kept from him by Easton. I agree that it was Easton’s story to tell when he was ready, but again — Paul had severe anger issues that he was working on. And while he was cruel in the moment, he immediately realized that what he had said was the wrong way to react. You know, when he CALLED RIGHT BACK TO APOLOGIZE. The entire remainder of the book focused on reconciliation and building trust, and that was catalyzed by this conflict. The level of hostility in some of the things peoples have in reviews is just .... excessive sometimes.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and that is completely fine! I do, however, see a lot of black-and-white thinking in reviews and thought it was worth noting the above. There are also productive ways to criticize versus hateful bashing.
ANYWAYS. Perhaps this book won’t resonate with everyone. But it resonated deeply with me for a great number of reasons and personal experiences. I appreciated and admired the vulnerability, brutal honesty, emotional weight, and overall meaningfulness of This I Promise You. Jordon and Kalob are talented writers, and together, they have crafted an introspective tale of found family, love, and hope. Two great humans wrote a great book!
"Life is emotionally abusive, and time can't stop me quite like you did. // Are we falling like snow on the beach? Weird, but fucking beautiful. // It's coming down, no sound, it's all around -- like snow on the beach."
- Snow on the Beach / Taylor Swift + Lana del Rey
maheandco's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
TW : viol, inceste, pédophilie, crise de panique, violence familiale
Mhhh j'avoue ne pas trop savoir quel avis donner à ce livre. Si j'ai bien aimé ne serait-ce que pour le cast et la représentation queer présente, je ne sais pas si j'ai réellement tout apprécié.
Déjà, bien qu'il soit en anglais, j'ai vraiment eu du mal avec le style d'écriture et notamment tout le côté très slang, argot de l'écriture. J'avoue que ça a été au point d'un peu me frustrer.
Et surtout, SURTOUT BORDEL, l'absence de TW qui sont pourtant hyper importants et violents ? Je sais que souvent ce n'est pas le choix des auteurices et plutôt (malheureusement) des me, mais cela n'empêche pas que ça trigger très très facilement. Et quand on ne s'y attends pas, oui, ça fait un choc.
bref, l'histoire était quand même un peu mignonne, mais j'ai pas accroché plus que ça !
Mhhh j'avoue ne pas trop savoir quel avis donner à ce livre. Si j'ai bien aimé ne serait-ce que pour le cast et la représentation queer présente, je ne sais pas si j'ai réellement tout apprécié.
Déjà, bien qu'il soit en anglais, j'ai vraiment eu du mal avec le style d'écriture et notamment tout le côté très slang, argot de l'écriture. J'avoue que ça a été au point d'un peu me frustrer.
Et surtout, SURTOUT BORDEL, l'absence de TW qui sont pourtant hyper importants et violents ? Je sais que souvent ce n'est pas le choix des auteurices et plutôt (malheureusement) des me, mais cela n'empêche pas que ça trigger très très facilement. Et quand on ne s'y attends pas, oui, ça fait un choc.
bref, l'histoire était quand même un peu mignonne, mais j'ai pas accroché plus que ça !
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Rape, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Cursing, Sexual assault, and Violence
just_a_city_gorl's review against another edition
1.0
- Okay, this is a no. For one, I don’t like the writing style. There are too many pop culture references that are just cringy and I don’t like it.
- Number two, the characters are annoying me. They keep doing stuff I find infuriating and I also don’t like it.
- Number three, there was not a single trigger warning in the book and I had no idea this involved sexual assault, graphic child sexual assault. And I can’t read about that.
- So it’s a no. I was really looking forward to this but everything’s just going wrong. So no.
- Also, the first sex scene was extremely gross and was very uncomfortable to read.
emmina's review against another edition
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
cameron_butterfly's review against another edition
4.0
True rating: 4.7 Stars
This book was so entrancing, I could not stop reading it. Each character was complex and there was never something you did not want to learn about them. This novel is very well written and is very character driven. The amount of details made it so easy to get lost in the story. I am so thankful I got this ARC it’s definitely another all time favorite. I recommend this book to anyone that likes adult romance and can read this book knowing the content/trigger warning! (Rape, abuse of a minor, chronic illness) I appreciate the authors for adding the list to the bottom of the book synopsis. I can’t wait to get a physical copy to annotate when it is released is November!
This book was so entrancing, I could not stop reading it. Each character was complex and there was never something you did not want to learn about them. This novel is very well written and is very character driven. The amount of details made it so easy to get lost in the story. I am so thankful I got this ARC it’s definitely another all time favorite. I recommend this book to anyone that likes adult romance and can read this book knowing the content/trigger warning! (Rape, abuse of a minor, chronic illness) I appreciate the authors for adding the list to the bottom of the book synopsis. I can’t wait to get a physical copy to annotate when it is released is November!
katts_bookworld's review
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
relaxing
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
5.0
unapologetic_romantic's review against another edition
3.0
This I Promise You is an enemies-to-lovers college romance. Both Paul and Easton jump to the wrong conclusion when they meet, flinging attitude faster than they could blink and end up adamantly hating each other.
While hating each other’s guts, the two can’t help but to think about each other; as they say, there’s a fine line between love and hate. Easton is friends with Huxley, Paul’s new roommate and fabulous meddler, and she isn’t about to let these two carry on hating each other. After a sneaky number exchange, in which Huxley puts Paul’s number on Easton's phone under her name, Easton calls Paul for help while drunk at a frat party. Paul, our knight in tarnished armour, rushes to help Easton, and they start to soften towards each other.
As the two grow closer, secrets come to light and trauma surfaces. This story is not for everyone, so please check the trigger warnings before jumping in, which I know will be difficult with that cover. Even with the heavy topics covered in this book, the relationship between Easton and Paul is sweet, sometimes too sweet for me, and they managed to work through the difficulties together into a happily ever after.
While hating each other’s guts, the two can’t help but to think about each other; as they say, there’s a fine line between love and hate. Easton is friends with Huxley, Paul’s new roommate and fabulous meddler, and she isn’t about to let these two carry on hating each other. After a sneaky number exchange, in which Huxley puts Paul’s number on Easton's phone under her name, Easton calls Paul for help while drunk at a frat party. Paul, our knight in tarnished armour, rushes to help Easton, and they start to soften towards each other.
As the two grow closer, secrets come to light and trauma surfaces. This story is not for everyone, so please check the trigger warnings before jumping in, which I know will be difficult with that cover. Even with the heavy topics covered in this book, the relationship between Easton and Paul is sweet, sometimes too sweet for me, and they managed to work through the difficulties together into a happily ever after.
rivenonpluto's review against another edition
5.0
First off, thank you to Jordon Greene & Kalob Daniel for the ARC copy! I’m super grateful!
My review won’t contain spoilers!!
I absolutely loved Paul and Easton. I think both characters are so different to one another and yet both are equally as interesting. I think Huxley was my favorite though. I loved her energy and her humor. Just every scene she had, I liked her even more.
Each character was created with such care and detail and I was blown away. I’d been anticipating this book for a while so being able to see each character come to life this was the best feeling ever. I loved both authors writing styles. I think their styles really compliment one another’s and that’s always important.
The humor aspect was top tier might I add. Though I did have tears welling up once in a while. (We love angst in this house!!)
The representation throughout the book was SO important to me. It’s always a great thing when you feel represented in media. And the enemies to lovers trope gets me every time. How could I not love this???
Thank you both once again for the opportunity to review the ARC!!
My review won’t contain spoilers!!
I absolutely loved Paul and Easton. I think both characters are so different to one another and yet both are equally as interesting. I think Huxley was my favorite though. I loved her energy and her humor. Just every scene she had, I liked her even more.
Each character was created with such care and detail and I was blown away. I’d been anticipating this book for a while so being able to see each character come to life this was the best feeling ever. I loved both authors writing styles. I think their styles really compliment one another’s and that’s always important.
The humor aspect was top tier might I add. Though I did have tears welling up once in a while. (We love angst in this house!!)
The representation throughout the book was SO important to me. It’s always a great thing when you feel represented in media. And the enemies to lovers trope gets me every time. How could I not love this???
Thank you both once again for the opportunity to review the ARC!!