Reviews with content warning for Self harm - Whit

Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Whit by Cora Rose

30 reviews

ravenk28's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

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

3.0

I enjoyed the book but towards the end when Whit’s big secret is revealed, it was very anticlimactic for me. The main issue itself was poorly written and lacked that structural foundation that gets a reader hooked. Tbh it was kind of just messy.

And don’t get me wrong there were many aspects of the book I enjoyed like the Caleb’s family and his supporting best friend. But there were also aspects that stopped me from enjoying the book. Like how the author handled issues within Caleb and Whit’s relationship.

It needs to be highlighted that none of the issues within this book were actually truly solved properly. They are often ignored or dealt with by having sex.

Another qualm I have with this book is when the author describes Caleb as not being gay but just Whit-sexual. In my opinion it was handled poorly. The author could have acknowledged Caleb’s attraction better and given readers a better understanding of what being unlabelled means.

Overall 3.5 ⭐️

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jxzmine's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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iuenal's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

3.75

I liked their relationship. But way too much smut at the second half of the book when they are a couple already. Wished there was more dialogue and whits story was finished way too soon and with way to little detail.
I liked the Foreshadowing for Sem and Magnus🤗

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jinxark's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.0

I personally did not enjoy this book after around the 70% mark. I think Cora Rose failed to write Whit as a character that accurately and believably represented his personal flaws in trauma. I think the whole third act break up thing was so contrived. This was especially the case listening to Whit’s whole pitying monologue after that scene happened. He was literally the one with all the power in that situation to stop the break up from happening. So we go through that whole part of the story where he’s barely keeping it together, only for him to like off screen, solve all of his issues with his family like that wasn’t the whole plot for the conflict. It all felt so pointless by the end so I just didn’t care about their happy ending. it all just felt thrown together by the end of it.

Also, I listened to the audiobook and Caleb’s narrator was just really not doing it for me, and so I think that also made it a bit worse.

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baeb_'s review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

4.75

🌶️🌶️🌶️ (lots of sexual tension and a delicious slow progression of their physical relationship; not super explicit or kinky, not much dirty talk)

When a straight dude realizes he loves cuddling his roommate

TAGS & TROPES:
-Grumpy/sunshine
-Touch starved
-Found family
-Sub/dom
-Protective/obsessive
-Hurt/comfort (emphasis on the comforting)

-the bigger, straight guy realizes he likes to be manhandled and held
-cuddling when sick
-no angst from the straight guy realizing he’s into a man

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k_gauna's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

5.0

This book was so good!!! The banter between the two men is both authentic and hilarious (some parts are serious too) and the relationship between Caleb, his cousins, and Whit flows so well. Whit's backstory is sad and there is mentions of physical abuse, self-harm and suicidal ideation. This is especially prevalent at the end of the book. But I am getting the second book and can't wait to read it. It's about one of Caleb's cousins and one of Whit's ex's, which should be really interesting.

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wildatheart1339's review against another edition

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4.5

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tragicgloom's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

A decent book but... I hated the fact that guns were brought up and some of the characters in the book are just casually shooting rifles for fun (which says a lot about some of the author's opinions...).

Also, I couldn't ignore the unrealistic "suddenly gay for you and perfectly fine with it" characterization of one MCs. His sexuality and his journey of coming to terms with it are completely brushed aside. It is actually so painfully obvious when an author is a cis het fetishizing woman who knows nothing about queerness except how to write tons of sex scenes.

What I also found odd was the weird attitude one of the MC's has towards a gay character who is smaller in size and wears feminine clothes. I don't know what that was all about.

Also, I believe that both main characters would benefit greatly from some therapy.
Despite all of that, I still enjoyed this book and it made me emotional.

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ravenanjell's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

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friends2lovers's review against another edition

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funny hopeful fast-paced

4.0

After finishing Wrath by Ellis James, I was in the mood for more super-cuddly MCs and came across Whit while searching for recommendations. This definitely scratches the cuddle-itch! Whit takes care of Caleb when he comes down with an illness that leaves him bed-ridden with a fever for 3 days. While sick, Caleb becomes very clingy and basically demands that Whit cuddle with him non-stop. But, the cuddles don't end after Caleb gets better and Caleb finds it harder and harder to deny his growing attraction to Whit.

Hands are on my scalp, rubbing, gently pulling at my hair. On my back, my face. I lean into it. Purr like a fucking cat because I’m an animal now, apparently. But it feels so good, so right, that I just go with it. When I finally wake from my mini-coma, Whit is asleep beneath me. I’m wrapped around him like a koala on a tree. I don’t even want to tell him I’m awake because he feels so nice underneath me.

Whit is a debut novel and it kind of shows. The writing is flawed and the plotting is a bit messy. This is a very trope-y story, which I think is a trap that a lot of new romance authors fall into. They have these ideas bouncing around in their head and end up cramming them all into one book, which results in underdeveloped plot threads and characters.

I think the weakest part of Whit is the titular character. Because Whit is keeping secrets and has a traumatic past that the author doesn't want to reveal until later, we don't get much of his POV. What little we know of him comes mostly from Caleb's perspective, and Rose isn't an adept enough writer to create a well-rounded character in such an indirect way. So, Whit remains a closed-off, distant character throughout. Plus, it's really easy to guess what Whit's been hiding, so when all is revealed it's pretty anti-climactic.

Also, this has a couple of my M/M romance pet peeves: (1) too much emphasis on top/bottom roles; and (2) conflating the enjoyment of anal sex with being gay.

All that being said, I thought this was pretty great, especially for a debut novel. I was able to suspend my disbelief and overlook the weaknesses. I laughed out loud quite a few times. I found Caleb to be an endearing, loveable character. The physical affection between them was really sweet. Overall, an amusing, enjoyable read that I devoured in less than 24 hours.

Endnotes: M/M Contemporary Romance, college, roommates, opposites attract, gay for you, class difference, caretaking, secrets, traumatic past, meddlesome family, grumpy x sunshine, fake dating (sort of), cuddle sluts, 1st-person dual POV (mostly Caleb), present-tense, short novel (75k words), Kindle Unlimited

Heat Index: 5/5

I bookmarked a total of 13 sex scenes. All scenes are explicit, but many are brief, like 1 page or less. The first sex scene is at 25%. Sex acts include HJs, BJs, anal fingering, and anal sex. There's also a bit of spanking in 1-2 scenes. And 1 scene with edging.

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