Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Exes and O's by Amy Lea

25 reviews

lizgriffinwords's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

This one was a MISS for me, which is a shame because I liked the author’s debut and hoped I’d enjoy the book influencer sister even more. Unfortunately I found Trevor wildly unappealing as a love interest. I couldn’t get past his revolving-door playboy introduction and his copious personality red flags. Tara (and other characters like Seth) were cartoonishly immature.

I’ll describe this book like a… cinnamon red hots candy. If you like it, you like it. If you don’t like it, you *really* don’t like it.
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kreadsromance's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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krisalexcole's review

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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samcanuel's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Amy Lea truly outdid herself with her second book. I loved the chemistry between Tara and Trevor, Tara’s bookishness, and Trevor’s soft core hidden behind a tough exterior. Tara was very relatable to me and the main concept of the book, dating your exes, was interesting! Trevor was just the best leading man. I would highly recommend for rom com lovers!
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kaydeedickins's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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? Yes

3.75

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nutmegvotour's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

I adores this book. I highly recommend giving it a read. 
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onthesamepage's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Tropes:
friends to lovers, slow burn

Steam level: 🌶🌶

Things I liked:
* A romance where one of the leads is a bookstagrammer? Adorable. Loved all the references to leaving books lying around for shots, book stack challenges, etc.
* Tara doesn't feel like she's "not like other girls", which is refreshing.
* The open and clear communication between Trevor and Tara when they got together was nice to see. I appreciate that Trevor was honest about his fears and needs instead of trying to pretend he was all in, only to backtrack later.
* The epilogue is fantastic.
* It's very readable and has a lot of humorous situations when it comes to Tara and her exes. Not quite laugh-out-loud for me, though.
* Starfishing

Things I didn't like:
* The brief snippets that were descriptions of videos Tara had done (for BookTok I'm assuming) didn't work for me.
* While I overall enjoyed the book, the romance left me fairly cold. Trevor and Tara are cute together, and I have nothing against them, but I wasn't aching for them to be together either. There were no butterflies.
* Something I've learned about my reading taste when it comes to romcoms is that good banter is really important to me. I missed it in this book. 
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taylorelena's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It wasn’t anything special. A rom com just like all the others I’ve read. It was pretty predictable. The FMC is also 30 and acts 21 which drove me crazy. And then I feel like they put in the part about
Angie/
just for shock value because it didn’t end up being a big part of the story and it seemed out of place
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happyreads's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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dlrosebyh's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Tara Chen, a lover of romance novels, has had 10 different men break her heart, all of whom left her because she was a "stage-five clinger." Tara is nonetheless committed to finding The One. The sole issue? Because of today's dating applications, traditional meet-cutes are extinct. In order to find her own second chance relationship that fits the stereotype, Tara seeks to reconnect with her ex-lovers.

Trevor Metcalfe, a Boston fireman, will be the last to hurry into a relationship but the first to rush into a blazing structure. Simply put, he's not into love. He grudgingly agrees when Tara, his new roommate, asks him to assist her in getting in touch with her ex-lovers. However, Tara's adventure is inspiring him to write a new chapter in his own life.
 
As their relationship develops, Tara becomes increasingly aware that Trevor is the only one who truly values her dramatic, honest self. Can Tara and Trevor read between the lines of their developing relationship to secure their happily ever after?

This book is for 1989 stans who enjoy watching rom-coms and are hopeless romantics themselves. This novel is the offspring mad woman and Blank Space might have had. I can't emphasize enough how tone-wise, this novel was quite similar to Broken Hearts Gallery. In contrast to my normal dislike of contemporary romance literature, I like the writing style in this book. It wasn't particularly overwhelming, it was simple to grasp, and it was yet distinctive, in my opinion.

I was really enjoying the book up until the climax. If you've read any romance books at all, you're aware that there are usually these awful "third act breakups" brought on by misunderstandings. and I just detest those. Although it fits with Trevor's character, I wish it had been executed well. I kind of started to lose interest in the book after that.
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