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birbpal's review
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 Stars
This book was such a delight from Miss Mariana. Seriously, I was not expecting the spice level this book supplied! 😳 I was pleasantly surprised.
What I wasn't surprised about was the deliciousy grumpy MMC that is Dex Locke. He was low-key a jerk but swoon nonetheless. He was fiercely loyal, protective, and hot. Tattoos and piercings? Hell yes!🫠🙏
Now in typical Mariana fashion, this book was single-pov in the FMC's perspective. As the FMC, Iris was kind of hard to like sometimes. She made dumbass decisions, and she was a pushover. These were frustrating qualities, but the worst thing about her has to be her dry personality.
Iris really didn't do much. She liked to swim and read, but other than a few instances or mentions, those hobbies really didn't make her feel fleshed out to me. Iris let others dictate what she did, even in the end, when she decided to go back to school. I also hate that she apparently has a best friend named Lanie, who was mentioned a couple of times, and yet, we never got a single instance of her and Iris interacting with each other. Like, what's even the point?
Yes, I liked reading this book, but Iris as a character was hard to enjoy. Everything else about the book was really great. Sonny was an amazing older brother, Dex's employees were funny and sweet, even Luther the prez of the MC was an interesting character.
Overall, if you have a hefty amount of patience, I think you'll be able to read this book. All other aspects were enjoyable, especially if you are looking for something a bit spicier from Miss Mariana. Give it a go.🐥💕
This book was such a delight from Miss Mariana. Seriously, I was not expecting the spice level this book supplied! 😳 I was pleasantly surprised.
What I wasn't surprised about was the deliciousy grumpy MMC that is Dex Locke. He was low-key a jerk but swoon nonetheless. He was fiercely loyal, protective, and hot. Tattoos and piercings? Hell yes!🫠🙏
Now in typical Mariana fashion, this book was single-pov in the FMC's perspective. As the FMC, Iris was kind of hard to like sometimes. She made dumbass decisions, and she was a pushover. These were frustrating qualities, but the worst thing about her has to be her dry personality.
Iris really didn't do much. She liked to swim and read, but other than a few instances or mentions, those hobbies really didn't make her feel fleshed out to me. Iris let others dictate what she did, even in the end, when she decided to go back to school. I also hate that she apparently has a best friend named Lanie, who was mentioned a couple of times, and yet, we never got a single instance of her and Iris interacting with each other. Like, what's even the point?
Yes, I liked reading this book, but Iris as a character was hard to enjoy. Everything else about the book was really great. Sonny was an amazing older brother, Dex's employees were funny and sweet, even Luther the prez of the MC was an interesting character.
Overall, if you have a hefty amount of patience, I think you'll be able to read this book. All other aspects were enjoyable, especially if you are looking for something a bit spicier from Miss Mariana. Give it a go.🐥💕
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Cancer, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism
ellahoward_'s review against another edition
dark
funny
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
2.0
Wasn’t much substance to the plot but the romance was cute.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Death and Violence
marippe's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.25
Includes spoilers + talks of sexism
I feel very conflicted about this book. I enjoy Mariana's writing style a lot, it really lets me feel like we're entering into a real town, with all the local personalities. I feel like Iris' voice was very fleshed out.
Overall, I was finding myself extremely irritated. This book is extremely sexist, and I get that's the town it's set in, but our narrator and FMC Iris does little to counter this. She expresses when people are objectifying her and how she dislikes it but she does little about it in the narrative.
Rather, she expresses a misogynistic view of her own - slut shaming the many women around her. For example:
I feel very conflicted about this book. I enjoy Mariana's writing style a lot, it really lets me feel like we're entering into a real town, with all the local personalities. I feel like Iris' voice was very fleshed out.
Overall, I was finding myself extremely irritated. This book is extremely sexist, and I get that's the town it's set in, but our narrator and FMC Iris does little to counter this. She expresses when people are objectifying her and how she dislikes it but she does little about it in the narrative.
Rather, she expresses a misogynistic view of her own - slut shaming the many women around her. For example:
- "A blonde woman in a very wrinkled dress that screamed she wasn’t opposed to public fondling."
- "I felt like a drunken prostitute on the way through the hotel lobby and up the elevator with the two friends."
- "Most girls my age were usually trying to take clothes off instead of putting more on. That seemed to be the story of my life. When some people my age were worrying about certain things, I’d be stuck tackling a whole different type of monster. Oh well."
- "I bet no one else got to see his spare bedroom of comic stuff. Iris 1, Hookers Pre-Iris 0."
This "i'm not like other girls" slut-shamey bullshit was AWFUL. She feels as if she feels better than the other women just because she's a virgin and hasn't slept around. Her reaction to Luther's activities in the bar was odd to me, why is it not the predatory men going after women that are young enough to be their children? I get she doesn't agree with Luther wanting younger women, but it's not an equal blame scenario when the women in this town are basically second class citizens. I'm sad we didn't really get to know more about Blue, she could've helped counter this.
Dex was alright, his use of bitch to address women was a major ick and just personally turned me off. I know he's supposed to be a bad guy and sure he can be that bad guy, but that doesn't mean I gotta route for him. At least he's self aware, and he seemed to learn not to address women like that. His nicknames and dirty talk made me cringe tho.
Also??? why is it in books/media that people feel so entitled to know everything about each other? like being mad a friend held a personal secret. why is slim irritated that iris never mentioned that she had cancer? she didn't need to mention it.
Also also? The constant reference to refer to Sonny as her "half-brother" and how he's "not really her sibling" is very ??? That is your brother stop being so weird about it
This book had good potential because I did think it had interesting points, but it needed a lot more reworking and self awareness.
Dex was alright, his use of bitch to address women was a major ick and just personally turned me off. I know he's supposed to be a bad guy and sure he can be that bad guy, but that doesn't mean I gotta route for him. At least he's self aware, and he seemed to learn not to address women like that. His nicknames and dirty talk made me cringe tho.
Also??? why is it in books/media that people feel so entitled to know everything about each other? like being mad a friend held a personal secret. why is slim irritated that iris never mentioned that she had cancer? she didn't need to mention it.
Also also? The constant reference to refer to Sonny as her "half-brother" and how he's "not really her sibling" is very ??? That is your brother stop being so weird about it
This book had good potential because I did think it had interesting points, but it needed a lot more reworking and self awareness.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, Vomit, Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Violence
emilyfrenchie's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Graphic: Cancer, Violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity
tsiuqtluh's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Cursing, and Violence
ash's review against another edition
1.0
minus one star for writing “babe” 160 goddamn times into this book. minus another star for man with severe anger management issues and NO PLANS FOR THERAPY i fear for that kid on the way truly . minus another star for the “slutty women” trope and calling a random lady a hussy bc she wore a mini skirt. and minus one last star for not respecting the basic rules of consent. thank you and good night
also why was he totally fine with smoking around her (despite supposedly knowing secondhand smoke kills) before he knew about her cancer and then after finding out all of a sudden he’s a no smoking boy scout????? like bro? when he didn't know she had cancer, he wasn’t willing to quit and asked her if she was gonna make a big deal about it, but after finding out about the cancer all of a sudden that secondhand smoke is bad and not good to be around????????? AND WE'RE SUPPOSED TO SWOON WHEN HE SAYS THIS??????????????? be so fucking for real right now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, Cancer, Cursing, Medical content, and Violence
littlelucyc's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Medical trauma, Cancer, and Injury/Injury detail
lauralouise93's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Cancer, and Gun violence
kiahmarieee's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Cancer, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence and Abandonment
Minor: Pregnancy and Murder
nicolewhopickedthisbook's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
While this is not my favorite Mariana Zapata book, it was still enjoyable. Heroine seemed kind of immature for her age and what’s she’s been through (although that could have been the narrator, she made the heroine’s voice kind of whiny and high pitched)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Cancer, Gun violence, and Violence