Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

15 reviews

sam_gartley91's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad fast-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

5.0

I laughed, I bawled, I cried happy tears!! 5 ⭐️ No notes! I love Nora and Charlie and Libby and just how real they are and so happy it all turned out!! This book is why I read romance books!!! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Chronic illness

amanda_mh's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

I started reading this book on the plane and it made my heart really happy. 🥰 I loved following Nora and felt really connected to her in moments. I appreciate the development of both her sisterly relationship with Libby and her romantic relationship with Charlie. All characters in this story felt so genuine and just made me feel like I was in the town with them. I think this is one of my favorite romance books to date, the not so ‘perfect’ happy ending in this story was the perfect way to end my 2023 reads.  

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Chronic illness and Death of parent

fromjuliereads's review

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

This was my second attempt at the Emily Henry hype and I am so glad I liked this one! It did help more that it's dislike-to-love which is a trope I prefer. I really liked the characters of Charlie and the sister Libby. And I liked some of the plot! I think I've found that some things with Emily Henry's writing don't vibe as well for me.
- I find her FMCs pretty unlikeable... and dense? At least the two I have read. While her MMCs seem to be based on real people and are likeable, it's a strange contrast.
- I don't like some of the metaphors and descriptions. I'm still puzzled with the description that she could 'feel his laugh in her stomach'??? There were others that had me making faces or pausing while I read. 

And for this book, the epilogue felt like it was written by another person or character and it was kind of odd. Could have done without. It took away from the ending for me. 

Anyways I swear I did like this book quite a bit 😅

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Death of parent, Cursing, and Grief

Minor: Chronic illness and Bullying

Fictional car accident in the book they're editing

wilybooklover's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

2.5

The romance trope and archetype references were really cute, and I loved the romance between Nora and Charlie. I loved how Charlie accepted Nora exactly as she is without trying to change her (unlike her sister) and how similar they were to each other. Sadly the romance was more of a subplot and I hated everything else in the book. 

I couldn’t stand Libby. Like, I cannot even accurately convey the depths of my rage whenever she was on-page; she was AWFUL. I hated the plot surrounding her sisterly relationship with Nora and that was the central plot — publishers, authors, PLEASE stop marketing books as romances when the main plot IS NOT THE ROMANCE!! It didn’t even feel like 50/50 women’s fiction/romance; it felt like a book about grief and familial relationships wrapped up in superficial romance packaging. Even when Nora is WITH Charlie on page she is mostly thinking or talking about her sister. I thought romcoms (which, again, this is marketed as!) were supposed to be fun and lighthearted yet this was so heavy, especially from the 50% mark which had a weird tonal shift into angsting about parental trauma. That’s not to say you can’t cover heavy topics in a romcom, but when all I’m thinking about as I’m reading is how much your characters desperately need therapy, the tone is all wrong for the genre. When I pick up a romcom I want something light and fluffy and most of all focused on the romance. This had even less romance in it than Beach Read (in which the central plot was focused on grief, not romance), so I'm not sure why so many reviewers are saying this is her most romance-y book yet. I felt like I barely even got to know Charlie! 

Also rivals WHERE? They’re working together, not in competition with each other?? They're not even enemies. And the heroine is not the ice queen she was promised to be; she’s actually quite warm and caring. You can tell me she’s a coldhearted bitch and that everyone refers to her as a shark all you want, but you also have to show me that for me to believe it. I feel like nothing about how this book was marketed (AKA my expectations) is related to what was between the pages. And honestly, I'm just baffled at the choice to make such a big deal over Dusty writing a character based on Nora to then never address it or confront her over it in the book. What was the point of its inclusion?

If this had been a bit lighter and there had been more focus on the romance or maybe dual POV with more of Charlie’s life for balance (and a lot less of the sister) I think I would have really liked this but as it is... meh. This is my favourite of her three ‘romances’ but that really isn’t saying much. I just don’t think Emily Henry works for me, although I’ve said this before and every time I get lured in by the hype. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, and Sexual content

Moderate: Medical content, Abandonment, Pregnancy, and Chronic illness

Minor: Body shaming, Miscarriage, and Drug use

bestienicoley's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Grief, Chronic illness, and Death of parent

horizonous's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted

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

4.75

Apart from some small little nitpicky things I had a really good time with this 😊

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual content

Moderate: Pregnancy, Bullying, Vomit, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, and Misogyny

◦ Chronic illness: Stroke

emmysforeverbooked's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

5.0

I cannot explain how much I loved this book. I saw so much of myself in Nora and Libby reminded me of my own sister so it really just kind of hit close to home. I think both Nora and Libby were very well written. I think Charlie was just such a beautiful love interest. The only reason I haven't rated this 5 stars was because of the slight love triangle element to it. I wasn't a fan of Charlie's cousin at all and that part of the story just kind of annoyed me lol. But other than that, I just absolutely adored this book.

EDIT: I just finished this for a second time and these are my thoughts this time lol

This is my second time finishing this book and it wrecked me this time more than it did the first time 😭🤚🏻

If you want a grumpy x grumpy, city folks in a small town romance, please read this book. Emily Henry's writing style is so mwah and even if you don't like the main characters (couldn't be me tho) the side characters are genuinely the light of my life.

Please read this book, you will thank me later 🫶🏻💙🧡

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief

Moderate: Cursing, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Chronic illness and Medical content

I wasn't quite sure if I should put "Chronic Illness" or not, but this warning is in regards to Charlie's father who I believe had a stroke (it's been a little bit since I read this lol) and was wheelchair bound.

Something else I will mention is that there is mild to moderate estranged parent mentions. It is mentioned that Nora and Libby weren't old enough to remember their father by the time he left. It's also mentioned that Charlie's father in the book is actually not his bio dad. Just a couple things to keep in mind if estranged parent mentions are triggering for you!

nehanaomi's review

emotional funny lighthearted 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

5.0

i knew it would end like that and i loved it

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual content

mallory10100's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

5.0

WOW i loved this book so much! a perfect mix of beach read and people we meet on vacation, while still completely original. if you love classic hallmark stories you’d love this one! i loved that Charlie was an editor as i will be a newspaper editor starting in september :) also LOVE that one of the main characters is named Libby as that’s my dog’s name 🥰

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Cursing, Sexual content, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Murder, and Vomit

10/10 emily henry you never miss

erynlasbelin's review

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Cursing, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, and Medical content

Minor: Chronic illness, Car accident, Sexual harassment, and Vomit