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corrieroe's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Sexism, Misogyny, and Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Death of parent, and Bullying
Minor: Alcohol and Eating disorder
jazdono's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
At the beginning of the book, I was really skeptical, to the point of expecting the book to become my first DNF of the year. The prologue seemed like I was about to read a book that had a “quirky” and overly pessimistic take on grad school. As a grad school myself (who really loves it), I was really hesitant to read a book with such a negative view on academia. The pessimism never really went away, but if became less of a focus in the story than the beginning made me expect. The story overall read like it was written either by or for people who had no experience in grad school—it combined a lot of stereotypes and common knowledge to give a sense of “knowing what I’m talking about”. Olive has a very generic life as a grad school student, and it felt like her experience in academia was missing any personal uniqueness.
Once I got past the quirkiness and into the actual plot, it was a fun read! I wouldn’t call the book necessarily well-written, and there were definitely some parts that had me saying “this is so dumb”, but at the end, I was smiling while I read and really rooting for the characters. Sometimes you just need a story to read that’s fun, and that’s exactly what this book was. It was filled with so many romance tropes that it almost read like a fanfiction at some points, but the author has a great sense of humor and even pokes some fun at the story for being so trope-filled! It’s a quick read (I finished it in one sitting, though I probably shouldn’t have stayed up the whole night) and overall a good mood-lifter.
(VERY minor spoilers) A note on the “LGBTQ+“ classification of the book: there are some gay side characters, and the main character is demi (she explains the concept, though the term is never used). However, this story doesn’t strike me as one someone would be looking for if they wanted an LGBTQ+ story.
Once I got past the quirkiness and into the actual plot, it was a fun read! I wouldn’t call the book necessarily well-written, and there were definitely some parts that had me saying “this is so dumb”, but at the end, I was smiling while I read and really rooting for the characters. Sometimes you just need a story to read that’s fun, and that’s exactly what this book was. It was filled with so many romance tropes that it almost read like a fanfiction at some points, but the author has a great sense of humor and even pokes some fun at the story for being so trope-filled! It’s a quick read (I finished it in one sitting, though I probably shouldn’t have stayed up the whole night) and overall a good mood-lifter.
(VERY minor spoilers) A note on the “LGBTQ+“ classification of the book: there are some gay side characters, and the main character is demi (she explains the concept, though the term is never used). However, this story doesn’t strike me as one someone would be looking for if they wanted an LGBTQ+ story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual assault
Minor: Eating disorder
There isn’t actually an eating disorder in the book so much as discussions of eating only a little (due to budget) and forgetting to eat that could be a trigger to some people.
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