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divine529's review
- 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
As much as I love romance plots, I don't read many books from that genre and I find that I can be picky. This book checked every box for me.
This follows our main protagonist, Henley Rose Evans, a 20 year-old who works for a cruise company in the marketing department. She's incredibly driven and eternally stressed out and is up for a promotion. The problem? Her incredibly irritating and good-looking co-worker Graeme is also up for promotion, and Henley will do everything she can to beat him. In the meantime, Henley's sister Walsh is also in town unexpectedly. They all end up going on a cruse to the Galapagos and things kind of go from there.
I couldn't put this book down. From the writing, fun plot and fantastic and relatable characters, it just really resonated with me. Henley and Graeme's whole relationship arc was fantastic and I can see myself in both of the characters in various ways. I adore them both so much. The backdrop of the cruise was also delightful and I loved getting to visit the Galapagos in this. The themes and topics explored were also great: climate change, ecotourism, sexism in the corporate world, harsh judgement when you don't know a person, abusive relationships...all explored in a very poignant way.
All in all, a fantastic read and one I'll definitely reread in the future.
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Minor: Terminal illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Cursing
apolen's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny
Moderate: Grief, Terminal illness, and Vomit
Minor: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders
marybsimp's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Misogyny, Terminal illness, and Physical abuse
kateflood's review
3.0
Graphic: Sexism, Vomit, and Misogyny
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Death of parent and Terminal illness
roseamillerg's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Terminal illness
emilykthelin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Terminal illness, and Vomit
100_pages_hr's review against another edition
- 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
Minor: Sexual content, Cursing, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
shelbyjo's review
4.5
Henley annoyed me from time to time, but overall I really liked her character. She just took a little time to grow on me. I maybe rolled my eyes at her a couple times throughout the story though.
This book was the epitome of a slow burn, which I'm normally 100% all for, but when the magic finally did happen it was basically closed door. Not a big deal for some people, and I don't mind it every once in awhile myself, but after SO MUCH build up and emotion, I was disappointed to be left out of pretty much all of the action!
I loved pretty much everything else though, from the dreamy island settings, the sisterly relationship stuff, the ugly pets, the uber sweet hero... I'm here for it all. I loved Graeme right from the start. Even when he was made out to be the rude and annoying coworker, I knew there had to be more to the story. He turned out to be such a perfect "cinnamon roll" hero. I like an alpha hero as much as the next girl, but it's also really nice to read about genuinely sweet, respectful, good guy heroes sometimes too.
I look forward to reading more by this author in the future!
I won an ARC, and was thrilled to get my hands on it before the pub date. It had no bearing on my review/rating though.
Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny
Minor: Grief, Terminal illness, and Domestic abuse