Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Act Your Age, Eve Brown

Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

20 reviews

linesiunderline's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Just delightful. I’ve met all the Brown sisters and it’s no easy decision to choose a favourite, so I’m not going to! However, I think perhaps this book is my favourite of the three in this series.

Loved:
• the cute B&B setting
• the 🔥 connection between Eve and Jacob
• the nuanced exploration of how hard it can be to understand, accept, and love all parts of yourself
• all of the witty quips a girl could wish for
• perfect balance of tenderness and humour

If there were 5 more Brown sisters I wouldn’t be mad about it. A favourite of the year for sure!

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rachellewiski's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-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

Only thing that would’ve made this book better is begrudging bed sharing. However, I am willing to look past that.

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fromjuliereads's review

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this, despite my least favourite trope of the miscommunication. Loved the story and that the characters from the previous books made appearances! I also loved Montrose and his sisters, Alex and Tessa. I want stories about them???

I am rating this 4 stars for now, but searching for some reviews about the autism rep - since I cannot find any and cannot speak to that rep.

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fearsparks's review

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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

Another diverse feel-good romance with an enemies to lovers trope and a roommate plus B&B situation, that also have amazing autism rep.

Act your age, Eve Brown is the third (and final) installment in the Brown sisters trilogy, where we follow the youngest sister Eve. Eve is 26 year old, living off her trust fund and changing her job as often as she changes her socks. Then her parents draw a line, removes her trust fund and tells her to act her age. That’s how Eve ends up at the interview Jacob holds, looking for a new chef for his B&B. Jacob is blunt and grumpy and assumes Eve is walking chaos and does not want to hire her. When he then is hit by a car, by Eve, he has no choice but accept the help Eve’s providing.

This book gave me so much feelings. After finishing the second installment, Take a hint, Dani Brown, I assumed that the first book, Get a life, Chloe Brown, would be my favorite. Then Eve and Jacob appears and turn everything upside down. This is my favorite, by far. Jacob is a successful B&B owner with autism, and I was amazed. I have not really seen an autistic man (or woman) to have a successful career in any previous book. Having autism myself, this was inspiring. I could see myself so much in Jacob, but also in Eve, and I loved it. The book was so relatable, and I found myself laughing out loud several times. Something I never do.

The first encounter with Jacob left me disappointed however. He was open with his autism, which I found admirable. But the representation was like most autistic portrayals. Male, blunt and grumpy, talks without thinking and often say or do the wrong “social” thing. This representation is seen too often, therefore autism is not seen as a spectrum. One thing that was different was that Jacob had a close friend that called him out when he did something that wasn’t socially acceptable. But as the book progressed, so did the portrayal of Jacob’s autism. He was a well-developed character, with more personality than just autism. And I loved that.

Since Eve, and probably her whole family (or at least sisters) probably also is autistic, Talia Hibbert really shows that autism is a spectrum. And that is admirable. And amazing. And lovely. And I can’t find enough words to describe it.

Thank you Talia Hibbert for these three amazing books, with so much diversity and representation.

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted

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

4.5

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naturemamareads's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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plumpaperbacks's review

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funny lighthearted 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

I was 99% sure I’d love this book, and I was right. I knew I loved it as soon as I started reading. From cover to cover, it was fun, super cute, and highly amusing. Both of the previous books in the series had me laughing and swooning, and this one was no exception. I love Chloe, Dani, Eve, Red, Zaf, and Jacob with my whole heart. I love Gigi too, and honestly would love a grandma as eccentric and fun as her.

The only thing I didn’t love was how little of the other two Brown sisters and their boyfriends we got to see. I understand that this is Eve and Jacob’s book, and they spend most of it in a small town a couple of hours away from where the previous protagonists live. The one scene where they were almost all together was brief and didn’t include Jacob. Don’t get me wrong, I still absolutely loved the book. I just would’ve really liked to see the six of them hanging out and goofing around.

I can easily say that this book—honestly, this whole trilogy—is at the very top of my favorites list. In my list of top five contemporary books, three spots would be given to these books. I’ll definitely be rereading them, either because they’re great pick-me-ups or I just miss the characters. :)

Representation

fat Black autistic protagonist
autistic love interest
fat Black side character with fibromyalgia and chronic pain*
fat Black bisexual side character*
Muslim Pakistani side character with anxiety*
Black pansexual side character in a sapphic relationship*

*only a few on-page appearances

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whatiskatelynreading's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

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unfiltered_fiction's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

4.0

The conclusion to the Brown sisters trilogy is light, lovely, and sweet, with touching hidden depths - just like Eve herself. This is a really joyous read, and the two main characters are absolutely gorgeous; their romance is really heartfelt and swoon-worthy. (Although I think Chloe and Red remain my favourite couple in the family. Just.)

I did feel that the wider context of the book, both in terms of emotion and secondary characters, was a little underdeveloped, but this leaves plenty of room for a potential spin-off series - which I would absolutely love to see!

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

📚 Look, you all know I love Talia Hibbert, so do I even need to give you a real review of this book? Just go get it and read it now!
📚 A smart, quirky heroine who is still a real person and not just a collection of weird personality traits, and a grumpy hero who is never so mean as to make his softness unbelievable.
📚 They do truly make each other better, and I love it.
📚 I also love how (minor spoiler?) Eve figuring out she's on the autistic spectrum isn't treated as a Big Twist or as something she now has to Deal With. It's simply one of those "Oh, well, that makes total sense," moments of discovery.
📚 And here is where #ownvoices authors are so important - Jacob and Eve are both autistic, but it looks different for both of them, and neither is a total stereotype. The same is true for Eve's race and size.
And even with those heavy topics, this book is still wildly funny and full of whip smart banter. It's perfect.

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