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tiffanne11's review against another edition
- 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
The pair meet at an employee meeting and are immediately at odds and also attracted to each other.
The first 70% or so of this book was a 4 or 5 star. The plot outside of the romance was intriguing and kept you interested. The spice was well written but not too vulgar.
However, there were two things that really pulled me out of the story.
First, Rowan is concerningly possessive of Zahra. He "jokes" that she doesn't have a choice when it comes to various things in their relationship. Ironically, her outspokenness is one of the things he initially liked about her. I think it was supposed to be steamy in a dominant kind of way, but it didn't work for me.
Second, there is a third act break up. I expect it, especially with a romance this long, but *damn*. He quite literally didn't learn from his mistake WITH HER in the early part of the book. I was hoping for a weird twist relating to the will but instead we got the bane of my romance existence.
Overall, I would likely still recommend this book, with the above warnings to potential readers.
Spice: 3/5 🌶️ - acts on page with detail
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
kait_lynne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mental illness, Cancer, and Death of parent
jelkebooks'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
3.0
Anyway, let's start with the positive. Dreamland is a very obvious Disney stand-in and the author makes no effort in hiding it, but honestly it's kind of fun. Especially because in this book we really focus on the theme park. I thought it was quite a fun workplace for these characters. It gave a reprieve from the typical, boring office job most billionaire romances are set around. I also quite liked Rowan. He definitely was a very typical character archetype for stories like this one, with a very predictable progression, but I do think it was very decently done. I really liked the depth given to the character, and I quite liked seeing him deal with the more difficult family dynamics he grew up in. He's also a likeable asshole. You know? I also quite liked the cast of side characters, and even though we got relatively little from Rowan's brothers I am really excited to read their romances.
My one big negative however is Zahra. Gods, I HATED her with such a burning passion. I just mainly thought she absolutely did not read like a real person. She was so quirky it hurt. She also didn't have a spine. The book portrays her as a badass who knows what she wants but she lets very small inconviences stand in the way of her dream life. It got so incredibly annoying to read. I also found that often her actions stood directely opposed to her inner monologue/motivations, which is just a sign of how incredibly badly written her character was as well. I also felt like she went through 0 developement throughout the novel, and had a bit of a hollier than thou attitude. I was a little annoyed by her at the start of the book, but by the end I hated her so incredibly much that it made my blood boil.
Therefore I also wasn't super invested in the romance. I do think it was decently enough developed, and there were some moments between them that I did quite liked. I don't hate their match completely. It's just that when you absolutely despise one character that makes up the relationship it's really hard too root for said relationship, especially as in the third act conflict I would argue that they both have equal fault, and yet only Rowan grovels and apologises. So yeah, this book wasn't necececarily my favourite, but considering there were enough elements in this that I really enjoyed and I've heard the books only get better, I'm quite excited to continue on with this series.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Cancer and Alcoholism
sierrabowers's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Death, and Gaslighting
ascottishlassreads's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent
isabellesimone's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Cancer, Mental illness, Suicide, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Pregnancy
luna_lovelace'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
4.25
There were so many funny interactions between the MCs. So many good one-liners, can't wait to read their other books!
I'm not a big fan when it comes to Disney World, but I didn't mind the plot being taken place in a similar place.
I love Zahras's character so much. She knows her worth and I loved how the author wrote about her journey overcoming depression.
There's a lot of spice with a good amount of plot, a well-rounded book!
Graphic: Cancer, Medical content, Sexual content, Death of parent, Addiction, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Infidelity
Minor: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
sirquedusoleil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Cancer and Alcoholism
ellawatwat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Infidelity, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pregnancy
yellowbinge's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Alcoholism, and Cancer
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Pregnancy