Scan barcode
goldensisyphus's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-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? Yes
3.5
Was fully on board loving this book and all it's profound and healing moments UNTIL 85% in when the two MMCs judge our FMC for something that was completely 100% not her fault and then act like immature judgmental assholes and give her the silent treatment. It's totally emotionally abusive behavior. It's then washed over with lovebombing behavior and all supposedly ends well but that is a major red flag. Left a bad vibe.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Misogyny
Minor: Medical trauma
lilaknitsandreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Animal death
spellbindingtomes's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-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? Yes
4.0
𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵.
I couldn't put this book down! Honestly, it's hard to put down any MZ book once you start. Out of all her books, All Rhodes Lead Here focuses more on the FMC's self-discovery after experiencing hurt and betrayal—coming full circle to the place where she lost her mom.
Aurora was such a ray of sunshine even when she's been through so much. I really resonated with her grief. I loved that she wanted to go on each of her mom's favorite hikes in Colorado as a way to honor her. Aurora's resilient, hilarious, and most of all, loveable.
𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘴. 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴.
The burn was slow per usual, but this time not just with the romance but with the found family aspect also. I loved Rhodes & Amos so much and seeing their friendship and love naturally grow for Aurora and vice versa was so touching and heartfelt.
This was the first MZ book that left me wanting a little more out of the romance. I also thought the last few chapters had a lot of drama which is pretty unusual for her books.
That being said, this was still an addictive and endearing read that will definitely tug at your heartstrings.
Now if you excuse me, I will be busy looking at flights to Pagosa Springs!
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬-𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘸𝘰-𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥-𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘺𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥.
Read this if you love:
🥾found family
⛰️age gap
🥾slow burn
⛰️small town romance
🥾grumpy x sunshine
⛰️single dad
I couldn't put this book down! Honestly, it's hard to put down any MZ book once you start. Out of all her books, All Rhodes Lead Here focuses more on the FMC's self-discovery after experiencing hurt and betrayal—coming full circle to the place where she lost her mom.
Aurora was such a ray of sunshine even when she's been through so much. I really resonated with her grief. I loved that she wanted to go on each of her mom's favorite hikes in Colorado as a way to honor her. Aurora's resilient, hilarious, and most of all, loveable.
𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘴. 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴.
The burn was slow per usual, but this time not just with the romance but with the found family aspect also. I loved Rhodes & Amos so much and seeing their friendship and love naturally grow for Aurora and vice versa was so touching and heartfelt.
This was the first MZ book that left me wanting a little more out of the romance. I also thought the last few chapters had a lot of drama which is pretty unusual for her books.
That being said, this was still an addictive and endearing read that will definitely tug at your heartstrings.
Now if you excuse me, I will be busy looking at flights to Pagosa Springs!
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬-𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘸𝘰-𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥-𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘺𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥.
Read this if you love:
🥾found family
⛰️age gap
🥾slow burn
⛰️small town romance
🥾grumpy x sunshine
⛰️single dad
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Classism, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
pgivan21's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A fun grumpy/sunshine, that also explores grief and the journey to find what you truly want in life. Zapata never fails to create such realistic characters with complex lives, and to build strong foundations for her main characters’ budding relationships. No instalove here!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Death of parent
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
kam_be's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
slow-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Toxic relationship
Minor: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
amanda_reads13's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
ranjanireviewsreads's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
3.5
This is the second Mariana Zapata book I've read and I really like her style. Honestly, Rhodes and Am stole my heart. I've always been a sucker for the strong and silent with a heart of gold type. And I like teens who are cool.
Tropes:
- Small town romance
- (kind of) Single parent MMC
- Divorced FMC
- Character study
Things I liked:
-- Though this novel is a romance, I liked that the main theme was in fact grief, love, and perseverance. It gave a depth to it that romance novels usually lack (despite being written and read mainly for the romance). I loved the description of grief losing someone changes you as a person. I've never experienced it myself and I can't imagine how painful it must be; Zapata does a wonderful job of writing about it.
-- I loved the community feeling of this book. Usually, the small-town romances I read leave me feeling a little underwhelmed when it comes to the presence and importance of supporting characters. But with All Rhodes lead here, I had no complaints. The main character is still very much Aurora and that is made very clear; but to see the impact kind people have on her is great and something I will be looking for in other books.
-- I loved the character journey Aurora took. There was no specific development per se; but I could just feel the loneliness in the beginning, the slight hope of companionship in the middle, and the love of family in the end. This is possibly my favourite thing to read about; someone lonely finding their forever family.
Things I didn't like:
-- Ngl, I cringed every time Rhodes said "Buddy" or "angel face"
I also felt a whole fucking zoo in my chest whenever he said "angel" or "sweetheart" so I guess that makes up for it? Either way, slightly cringe.
-- Rhodes was not the greatest in terms of character development. He was much less explored than Aurora - and while I fully believe this novel is much more a character study than a romance, it still would have been nice to see a little more of Rhodes that the rushed history-and-interests exposition we did get.
-- As a result of Rhodes less-than-ideal development, I wasn't quite on board with the romance. It was sweet and mature but I believe it could have been much better.
-- I am not totally on board with Zapata's writing. There was a lot of repetition of stuff that would have had more impact if it was mentioned only once. For example, when Aurora would think about her mother, I could feel her grief and anger and loneliness but I also got super frustrated because these thoughts would go on for paragraphs at a time. They would say the same thing, just in slightly different words. I skipped paragraphs and even pages (I used an epub so they weren't really long)
-- Continuing with the writing, I sensed a struggle to balance exposition, internal narration, and dialogue. Either the exposition was too long or the dialogue was. As a result, the narration really fell flat at places where it should have kept my attention.
Overall, I really did like reading All Rhodes Lead Here despite my slight frustration with the writing.
Would recommend to fans of romance, but more specifically, character driven stories that border on character studies.
Spice: 🌶.5
- One detailed scene, some mentions.
❗️❗️* SPOILER FOR The Wall of Winnipeg and Me AND All Rhodes Lead Here* ❗️❗️
-- I made a comment on the epilogue of The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, about how I didn't like the inclusion of kids. It felt cheap, like a ploy intended to appeal to readers who wanted that ending. However that is not the case here. Getting married, having kids was a very satisfying conclusion for Rhodes and Aurora.
Tropes:
- Small town romance
- (kind of) Single parent MMC
- Divorced FMC
- Character study
Things I liked:
-- Though this novel is a romance, I liked that the main theme was in fact grief, love, and perseverance. It gave a depth to it that romance novels usually lack (despite being written and read mainly for the romance). I loved the description of grief losing someone changes you as a person. I've never experienced it myself and I can't imagine how painful it must be; Zapata does a wonderful job of writing about it.
-- I loved the community feeling of this book. Usually, the small-town romances I read leave me feeling a little underwhelmed when it comes to the presence and importance of supporting characters. But with All Rhodes lead here, I had no complaints. The main character is still very much Aurora and that is made very clear; but to see the impact kind people have on her is great and something I will be looking for in other books.
-- I loved the character journey Aurora took. There was no specific development per se; but I could just feel the loneliness in the beginning, the slight hope of companionship in the middle, and the love of family in the end. This is possibly my favourite thing to read about; someone lonely finding their forever family.
Things I didn't like:
-- Ngl, I cringed every time Rhodes said "Buddy" or "angel face"
I also felt a whole fucking zoo in my chest whenever he said "angel" or "sweetheart" so I guess that makes up for it? Either way, slightly cringe.
-- Rhodes was not the greatest in terms of character development. He was much less explored than Aurora - and while I fully believe this novel is much more a character study than a romance, it still would have been nice to see a little more of Rhodes that the rushed history-and-interests exposition we did get.
-- As a result of Rhodes less-than-ideal development, I wasn't quite on board with the romance. It was sweet and mature but I believe it could have been much better.
-- I am not totally on board with Zapata's writing. There was a lot of repetition of stuff that would have had more impact if it was mentioned only once. For example, when Aurora would think about her mother, I could feel her grief and anger and loneliness but I also got super frustrated because these thoughts would go on for paragraphs at a time. They would say the same thing, just in slightly different words. I skipped paragraphs and even pages (I used an epub so they weren't really long)
-- Continuing with the writing, I sensed a struggle to balance exposition, internal narration, and dialogue. Either the exposition was too long or the dialogue was. As a result, the narration really fell flat at places where it should have kept my attention.
Overall, I really did like reading All Rhodes Lead Here despite my slight frustration with the writing.
Would recommend to fans of romance, but more specifically, character driven stories that border on character studies.
Spice: 🌶.5
- One detailed scene, some mentions.
❗️❗️* SPOILER FOR The Wall of Winnipeg and Me AND All Rhodes Lead Here* ❗️❗️
-- I made a comment on the epilogue of The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, about how I didn't like the inclusion of kids. It felt cheap, like a ploy intended to appeal to readers who wanted that ending. However that is not the case here. Getting married, having kids was a very satisfying conclusion for Rhodes and Aurora.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death and Pregnancy
Minor: Homophobia
TW/CW: -- Death of parent (mentioned often; off-page) -- Grief (severe) -- Allusion to suicide (minor) -- Sexual content (graphic) -- Pregnancy (minor-moderate) - high-risk pregnancy (35+)mrsboomreads's review against another edition
2.75
I have thoughts. (Mild spoilers)
I’ve been duped. This was billed as a romance novel and, not it! This is contemporary fiction with a itty bitty, teeny tiny side portion of excruciatingly slow romance. Manage those expectations!
What I loved:
• I enjoyed Aurora’s character arc. She grows up and stands up to her crappy ex and get out of the dead end, toxic, financially/emotionally relationship, then heals her heart and starts over in her hometown.
• Honoring her late mother’s memory by following her love of hiking was beautiful, and the descriptions of the scenery and hiking were 👌🏻
• The Ex drama was well done. Aurora was great at standing up for herself.
• The female friendships, old and new (“one is silver and the other gold” 🎵)
What irked me:
• Rhodes goes far beyond the grump in a sunshine/grump trope. Try grizzly.
• The pet names. Omg, please no more. I cringed every time through this progression from Rhodes calling Aurora “kiddo” to “Angel” to...”Buddy” 🥴 Make. It. Stop.
• The slooooooooooooooow burn. I understand building anticipation but, this was so drawn out that I almost did not care if they ever got together. And the pay off was meh. Far too little, far too late.
If this had a bit of an accelerated burn, dropped the nicknames, and was edited by about 150 pages? It could have had 5 star read potential.
I’ve been duped. This was billed as a romance novel and, not it! This is contemporary fiction with a itty bitty, teeny tiny side portion of excruciatingly slow romance. Manage those expectations!
What I loved:
• I enjoyed Aurora’s character arc. She grows up and stands up to her crappy ex and get out of the dead end, toxic, financially/emotionally relationship, then heals her heart and starts over in her hometown.
• Honoring her late mother’s memory by following her love of hiking was beautiful, and the descriptions of the scenery and hiking were 👌🏻
• The Ex drama was well done. Aurora was great at standing up for herself.
• The female friendships, old and new (“one is silver and the other gold” 🎵)
What irked me:
• Rhodes goes far beyond the grump in a sunshine/grump trope. Try grizzly.
• The pet names. Omg, please no more. I cringed every time through this progression from Rhodes calling Aurora “kiddo” to “Angel” to...”Buddy” 🥴 Make. It. Stop.
• The slooooooooooooooow burn. I understand building anticipation but, this was so drawn out that I almost did not care if they ever got together. And the pay off was meh. Far too little, far too late.
If this had a bit of an accelerated burn, dropped the nicknames, and was edited by about 150 pages? It could have had 5 star read potential.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Gaslighting
percervall's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
It’s the mother of all slow burn. The main character doesn’t sound like a woman in her early 30s, more like a 25 year old. It is ✨steamy✨
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse
shuelace's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide, Pregnancy, and Mental illness