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rileyalvarado's review
Annoying pick-me characters.
“Not like other girls” FMC who emotionally cheats on her boyfriend.
“She’s so tiny and petite, she can’t be more than 110 pounds!” I can’t read crap like this without rolling my eyes. Bad writing.
Crapped on the stereotyped vegan yoga instructor because she was vegan. (Although of course it had to be made known that she had a great ass. Barf.)
Final straw for me: MMC wants to have children “the old-fashioned way” (via PIV sex). Seemed to me that he was implying that’s better/more superior than having children other ways. As a whole this character seemed like a close-minded alpha-male asshole. But of course he’s sooooo big and muscly and hot!!!!!!!! Ugh. No thanks.
“Not like other girls” FMC who emotionally cheats on her boyfriend.
“She’s so tiny and petite, she can’t be more than 110 pounds!” I can’t read crap like this without rolling my eyes. Bad writing.
Crapped on the stereotyped vegan yoga instructor because she was vegan. (Although of course it had to be made known that she had a great ass. Barf.)
Final straw for me: MMC wants to have children “the old-fashioned way” (via PIV sex). Seemed to me that he was implying that’s better/more superior than having children other ways. As a whole this character seemed like a close-minded alpha-male asshole. But of course he’s sooooo big and muscly and hot!!!!!!!! Ugh. No thanks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Infertility
kdailyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Blood, Chronic illness, Bullying, Car accident, Cursing, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Sexism
paigeruth's review
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content, Car accident, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, and Pregnancy
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
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
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Grief, Sexism, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Death, and Infertility
Moderate: Alcohol and Infidelity
rickireadss's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
⛔️WARNING: this is a VERY negative review, so if you are not into those, you haven’t read this book, or this is your favorite book, stop reading now. there are also MAJOR SPOILERS below. you have been warned.
let me start by saying i was very excited for this book and series after reading “part of your world” by jimenez which i absolutely LOVED. with that being said, i absolutely LOATHE this book and am very glad i never purchased a copy but instead borrowed from libby.
i’m just going to list each point that i hated and go into detail of why.
⚠️tw/cw: infertility, car accident, death of side character, chronic illness, medical trauma, injury/injury detail, grief, emotional abuse, toxic relationship, infidelity (not mcs), gaslighting, miscarriage, pregnancy, body shaming, sexism, stalking/breaking in, war
⛔️SPOILERS BELOW⛔️
⛔️SPOILERS BELOW⛔️
⛔️SPOILERS BELOW⛔️
both mcs: i honestly found them both to be insufferable at times - mostly kristen but josh also pissed me off at times. i am also not a fan of the miscommunication trope - especially in contemporary romances WITH ADULT MAIN CHARACTERS.
infertility/fertility issues: this was the MAIN (and really only) conflict between kristen and josh. he wanted kids, made it abundantly clear in multiple conversations (by saying he wanted them the “natural way” and didn’t want to adopt… RED FLAG, BRO, RED FLAG), and it was why he left his ex girlfriend because she didn’t want them. BECAUSE OF THIS, kristen decided to keep her fertility issues from josh - which is in her right - and made it clear to josh that if they were to have any type of relationship, it would only be a friends-with-benefits deal, no romantic feelings. they both enter that and then of course both catch really feelings for each other. my issue is that she doesn’t disclose WHY she can’t be with josh until like the 80-85% mark. he repeatedly confronted her to see why she felt like they couldn’t be together and she just kept not telling him. MISCOMMUNICATION AT ITS FINEST. i was getting so upset at her for not just saying it because she felt like it would break his heart and he wouldn’t want to be with her, but she kept pushing him away???? like girl, you’re are confusing yourself and everybody around you.
ALSO- with that being a main conflict between them but then they finally decided to get together and that it was okay, they have a miracle baby…. are. you. fvcking . kidding. me. i understand that this is fiction. i understand miracle babies happen. but i wanted a more realistic outcome and ending. it felt like the fertility issues at that point were just thrown into the plot to create conflict and used as a ploy. why did they have to miraculously have a baby??? why couldn’t they just be happy with the two of them?? why couldn’t they have adopted children?? why couldn’t they have used one of the sisters (like they talked about) as a surrogate??? just that entire thing made me angry.
OCD representation: it wasn’t revealed until the like 85/90% mark that kristen had OCD and i felt like it was a vvvvvvery poor and stereotypical portrayal of someone with OCD. when she first said something about her “manic-bess” and “OCD self”, i thought it was one of those times where people just use ACTUAL MENTAL ILLNESSES/DISORDERS in everyday convo and i was about to get really angry. come to find out, she has OCD??? where? how? why is this JUST now being brought up?
brandon’s death: i felt like this came out of left field to create chaos. it also felt like a ploy to shove the two mcs together like “this made us realize how short life is” and josh even mentions how he doesn’t want her to end up like sloane and having no say over him if he were to just die AND THEN PROPOSES??? fvçk no.
impromptu proposal: literally wtf. this was unnecessary, way too fast, and made the ending that much worse.
family trauma / lack of therapy: kristen’s mom was a grade-A b!tch and a horrible mother. we were introduced to the sh!tshow that was her, but then it was never addressed again until sloane told kristen to grow tf up and go after josh. um excuse me??? why was that not unpacked at all… like her mother clearly fvcked her up with her comments and how she treated kristen but also kristen mentioned that she didn’t go to therapy (or did a long time ago but doesn’t anymore, i honestly don’t remember) but also if she has OCD, i would think going to therapy on a regular basis would be normal for her because she has the means to go to therapy - she makes good money this is referenced several times throughout the book, and the fact that she doesn’t go to therapy regularly makes the whole OCD diagnosis feel like it was also just thrown in there for sh!ts and giggles.
okay, i’m done. i honestly don’t want to expend anymore brain power on this. i did not like this book. i would not recommend if any of the cw listed below trigger you. the 2 stars are for the mere fact that i did not DNF this, and the fact that this could have been a good book if the author had taken a few different approaches and had some good sensitivity readers (idk if she had some or not, but if she did, i do not feel like she had the right ones.)
let me start by saying i was very excited for this book and series after reading “part of your world” by jimenez which i absolutely LOVED. with that being said, i absolutely LOATHE this book and am very glad i never purchased a copy but instead borrowed from libby.
i’m just going to list each point that i hated and go into detail of why.
⚠️tw/cw: infertility, car accident, death of side character, chronic illness, medical trauma, injury/injury detail, grief, emotional abuse, toxic relationship, infidelity (not mcs), gaslighting, miscarriage, pregnancy, body shaming, sexism, stalking/breaking in, war
⛔️SPOILERS BELOW⛔️
⛔️SPOILERS BELOW⛔️
⛔️SPOILERS BELOW⛔️
infertility/fertility issues: this was the MAIN (and really only) conflict between kristen and josh. he wanted kids, made it abundantly clear in multiple conversations (by saying he wanted them the “natural way” and didn’t want to adopt… RED FLAG, BRO, RED FLAG), and it was why he left his ex girlfriend because she didn’t want them. BECAUSE OF THIS, kristen decided to keep her fertility issues from josh - which is in her right - and made it clear to josh that if they were to have any type of relationship, it would only be a friends-with-benefits deal, no romantic feelings. they both enter that and then of course both catch really feelings for each other. my issue is that she doesn’t disclose WHY she can’t be with josh until like the 80-85% mark. he repeatedly confronted her to see why she felt like they couldn’t be together and she just kept not telling him. MISCOMMUNICATION AT ITS FINEST. i was getting so upset at her for not just saying it because she felt like it would break his heart and he wouldn’t want to be with her, but she kept pushing him away???? like girl, you’re are confusing yourself and everybody around you.
ALSO- with that being a main conflict between them but then they finally decided to get together and that it was okay, they have a miracle baby…. are. you. fvcking . kidding. me. i understand that this is fiction. i understand miracle babies happen. but i wanted a more realistic outcome and ending. it felt like the fertility issues at that point were just thrown into the plot to create conflict and used as a ploy. why did they have to miraculously have a baby??? why couldn’t they just be happy with the two of them?? why couldn’t they have adopted children?? why couldn’t they have used one of the sisters (like they talked about) as a surrogate??? just that entire thing made me angry.
OCD representation: it wasn’t revealed until the like 85/90% mark that kristen had OCD and i felt like it was a vvvvvvery poor and stereotypical portrayal of someone with OCD. when she first said something about her “manic-bess” and “OCD self”, i thought it was one of those times where people just use ACTUAL MENTAL ILLNESSES/DISORDERS in everyday convo and i was about to get really angry. come to find out, she has OCD??? where? how? why is this JUST now being brought up?
brandon’s death: i felt like this came out of left field to create chaos. it also felt like a ploy to shove the two mcs together like “this made us realize how short life is” and josh even mentions how he doesn’t want her to end up like sloane and having no say over him if he were to just die AND THEN PROPOSES??? fvçk no.
impromptu proposal: literally wtf. this was unnecessary, way too fast, and made the ending that much worse.
family trauma / lack of therapy: kristen’s mom was a grade-A b!tch and a horrible mother. we were introduced to the sh!tshow that was her, but then it was never addressed again until sloane told kristen to grow tf up and go after josh. um excuse me??? why was that not unpacked at all… like her mother clearly fvcked her up with her comments and how she treated kristen but also kristen mentioned that she didn’t go to therapy (or did a long time ago but doesn’t anymore, i honestly don’t remember) but also if she has OCD, i would think going to therapy on a regular basis would be normal for her because she has the means to go to therapy - she makes good money this is referenced several times throughout the book, and the fact that she doesn’t go to therapy regularly makes the whole OCD diagnosis feel like it was also just thrown in there for sh!ts and giggles.
okay, i’m done. i honestly don’t want to expend anymore brain power on this. i did not like this book. i would not recommend if any of the cw listed below trigger you. the 2 stars are for the mere fact that i did not DNF this, and the fact that this could have been a good book if the author had taken a few different approaches and had some good sensitivity readers (idk if she had some or not, but if she did, i do not feel like she had the right ones.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Car accident, Death, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Sexism, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Body shaming
Minor: War
the_vegan_bookworm's review
This book is layered with internalized misogyny and the praising of the "cool girl" over all other women (while shaming those other women for daring to exist and/or interact with the men of the novel). The main character is also emotionally unfaithful, because she meets a hot guy and likes him better than her partner. Monogamy isn't for everyone, but cheating on your partner (even if not physically) is immoral and cruel. There is also a huge focus on being a successful woman only if you're able to have kids biologically.
There are more interesting romance books that don't rely on such obvious and disappointing tropes.
There are more interesting romance books that don't rely on such obvious and disappointing tropes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Infidelity, and Sexual harassment
c45p1n's review
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
ORIGINAL RATE: 3.5
NEW RATE: 4 (im giving this 4 stars bc kf how much i loved reading it and how much it resonated witb me. NOT because its a 5-star-worthy plot or writing.)
This whole review is going to be one big fat spoiler so, word to the wise, i guess.
[irritated groaning] ok. This book started off cheesy and cliche (it ended that way too but also very upsetting), Josh was fun, Kris was elusive, the dual POVs gave so much whiplash tbh. They were hot and cold. Time was not a factor in this book--quite the opposite.
And because i can't express what I want to say into sentences, I'm making a pro/con list.
PROS:
[irritated groaning] ok. This book started off cheesy and cliche (it ended that way too but also very upsetting), Josh was fun, Kris was elusive, the dual POVs gave so much whiplash tbh. They were hot and cold. Time was not a factor in this book--quite the opposite.
And because i can't express what I want to say into sentences, I'm making a pro/con list.
PROS:
Sloan<333RR: she was a meh character, same with brandon. didnt really feel as much impact from them- josh
in the beginning and the endperiod. Josh. - free of a lot of the typical stigma around infertility/menstruation
- WHEN JOSH WAS LISTING WAYS OF HOW HE KNEW HER OH MY GOD
sloan again<3 bc i love sloan<33- whenever there was a sliver of healthy romance those scenes were so cute
- stuntman mike
- JOSH MAKING THE BINDER FOR KRIS AND LIKE THAT SCENE
kristen's vows- it was an exciting read, very fun--albeit frustrating--but after the initial giddiness of it all wore off and I finished the book it was really... just... not, good. It kinda left you with a bittersweet feeling (more bitter than sweet on my part tbh)
CONS:
- MISCOMMUNICATION AT EVERY TURN
Josh in the middle of the bookRR: i actyally thought josh was an amazing character throughout EXCEPT the moment right after vegas where he was a douche and jumped to conclusions- kristen.
the. entire, fucking time.Especially after the karaoke night, the phone call from vegas night, and every other night after that RR: i do think kristen wasnt the best character, but i did understand where she was coming from and her logic. it was just an awful execution/portrayal BRANDONS FUCKING DEATH. WHY THE FUCK. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKITY FUCK FUCK FUKC WHAT THE FUCK - they were so obviously in love with each other the entire time it was painful literally why
- tyler and seafood
- LITERALLY THE MISSCOMUNICATION
- kristen's vows
- kris not coming clean to josh after she said she loved him. what the fuck. like i get it's a personal thing but admitting you love him TO HIM and then constantly pushing him away and ignoring him and ghosting him (only to show up at his work, or his house a week later) is selfish. especially if it makes him think he's the problem when you knew damn well he wasn't
- KRIS WAS SO HYPOCRITICAL THE ENTIRE TIME LIKE "i'm not settling for tyler. i love tyler" (which we all knew wasn't entirely true) and then telling josh to "move on, screw other women, date other women. don't settle for me" bullcrap. AND THEN SLOAN FINALLY WHACKED SOME FREAKING SENSE INTO HER WHILE SHE WAS FRICKN MOURNING
- EVELYN. she didn't deserve the epilogue scene. RR: THIS THIS THIS. THIS. THIS. THIS. SHE DOES NOT DESERVE ANY TYPE OF REDEMPTION.
- why the fuck did
Brandon die??? what was the point of that? I was genuinely so upset they died. - all the poc were written off???? or given very gross/womanizer and minimal lines???? there was no diversity for them or at all in this book??
why am i giving this book 4 stars??- it was a lot of rinse/reuse/recycle throughout the entire book. The characters only had one thought, one argument point, one problem. Every argument circled back to the "I love you, I wanna be with you" and the entire time Kristen was just really immature and inconsiderate and rude.
- the same things were happening the entire time and provided no sense of change or dynamic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, and Death
Moderate: Body horror, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Sexism, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
bingsdings's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident and Infertility
Minor: Miscarriage and Sexism
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