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marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Anna, an autistic violinist whose perfectionism is keeping her from making music, decides to seek out a one-night stand after her longtime boyfriend calls for an open relationship. Quan is a motorcycle-riding cancer survivor looking to make his post-surgery sexual debut no-strings-attached. Things don’t go as planned, but Anna and Quan keep meeting up, falling further for each other with each passing day. Just as things start heating up, Anna is pulled into a family crisis that she knows she can’t handle. Helen Hoang expertly explores neurodiversity, difficult family relationships, and impossible decisions with a super sexy love story that tenderly handles sexual hangups and insecurities. I loved every minute and can’t wait to read more!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer
ashreadsandbowls's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment
perpetualpages's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.5
CWs: some internal and external ableism; explorations of cancer and terminal illness; some descriptions of panic attacks and overstimulation; discussions about infertility; some self harm and suicide ideation; explorations of caretaking; parental death and grief; and explicit sexual content
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
Minor: Infertility and Panic attacks/disorders
aliciahull's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer and Suicidal thoughts
sausages416's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.75
this book was great. i love helen hoang and when i started this book i knew it would be different from the others in this series. it wasn’t as light and honestly i loved how she touched on the topics that she did. i also like that we get to see a deeper side of quan that isnt at all seen in the other books. i also just loved anna and was rooting for her the whole time. i guess my one gripe (which honestly feels kind of petty so you can disregard) is that i wish quan had an easier time. like i love this book and am glad it exists in the form it does but simultaneously part of me also wishes his story was a little lighter. might be just me. i love you helen!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, and Excrement
Minor: Infertility and Infidelity
pia_h's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
abby_shupe's review against another edition
I’m sorry, I really really wanted to love this book. I love Helen Hoang with all my heart, and gave both The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test 5 stars. But this book was a no.
Everything about this was either too boring or sad for a romcom. I’m not a classical music/violin person, and couldn’t relate to Anna’s struggle with burnout. I love Quan and wanted to finally read his story, but this book wasn’t for me. The whole dad dying slowly thing was so sad, so boring, and just didn’t fit with the cute romance theme ? Like one minute Anna was thinking about her dad wanting to die and the next she was hooking up with Quan. Same with Quan’s past with cancer, piled on top of the dad on the last brink made this book just depressing.
Not to mention the whole ex thing. This is my opinion, but a book I immediately DNF is when a character is still getting over their ex - it makes for the most uninteresting plot as I feel nothing for the character and the character can’t seem to move on fast enough.
I did like Anna’s journey to self acceptance with her autism diagnosis. But my deep hatred for Priscilla triggered the heck out of me, with her continued denying of Anna’s autism and her general personality is something that I hated reading. DNFed at around the 2/3 mark, I couldn’t stick it out to the end - sorry Quan I still love you!
TW: Person on life support, death, stroke, hospital, feeding tube, burnout, infertility
Everything about this was either too boring or sad for a romcom. I’m not a classical music/violin person, and couldn’t relate to Anna’s struggle with burnout. I love Quan and wanted to finally read his story, but this book wasn’t for me. The whole dad dying slowly thing was so sad, so boring, and just didn’t fit with the cute romance theme ? Like one minute Anna was thinking about her dad wanting to die and the next she was hooking up with Quan. Same with Quan’s past with cancer, piled on top of the dad on the last brink made this book just depressing.
Not to mention the whole ex thing. This is my opinion, but a book I immediately DNF is when a character is still getting over their ex - it makes for the most uninteresting plot as I feel nothing for the character and the character can’t seem to move on fast enough.
I did like Anna’s journey to self acceptance with her autism diagnosis. But my deep hatred for Priscilla triggered the heck out of me, with her continued denying of Anna’s autism and her general personality is something that I hated reading. DNFed at around the 2/3 mark, I couldn’t stick it out to the end - sorry Quan I still love you!
TW: Person on life support, death, stroke, hospital, feeding tube, burnout, infertility
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Infertility
emily_holden's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-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
4.25
1) I LOVE duel pov especially with Quan and anna who make my heart melt
2) this book is adorable and everything. It makes me feel all gushy and hopeful for love and that people can love and accept others even if they are different
3) Priscilla is a self centered bitch
4) This book was adorable and I am obsessed with anna and quan and would do anything for them
2) this book is adorable and everything. It makes me feel all gushy and hopeful for love and that people can love and accept others even if they are different
3) Priscilla is a self centered bitch
4) This book was adorable and I am obsessed with anna and quan and would do anything for them
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer
arkived's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-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
3.25
Personally a hard read for me. I found it super emotional and had to take several breaks during certain scenes.
Overall, i respected the raw portrayal of Anna’s character in both her struggles with autism and her passion.
Definitely not a romance novel but I really appreciated Quan’s presence in Anna’s life especially during her hardest times.
Overall, i respected the raw portrayal of Anna’s character in both her struggles with autism and her passion.
Definitely not a romance novel but I really appreciated Quan’s presence in Anna’s life especially during her hardest times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer
valeria_gzz's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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
5.0
5 stars. Oh man this book gets me, and I get it. In the best and worst ways. I feel like crying.
I usually don’t like it when the romance takes a backseat in the story but I think with reading this I’ve realized that I don’t like when that happens and I don’t connect with the main character/s, because I loved this book. I don’t know where but I saw a review of someone saying they didn’t like this book because they thought Quan changed himself for Anna but I didn’t see that at all.
This feels like when I read Act Your Age Eve Brown but I like it better (surprisingly) because of the fact that the romance wasn’t the biggest part of the book but instead Anna’s problems were. I like it for the same reasons if that wasn’t clear
I can’t say that I related with Quan’s storyline as much as I did with Anna but I didn’t dread his pov’s at all. I love Quan so much, he is so kind, caring, and most of all understanding and I loved getting to know him better in this book❤️
I usually don’t like it when the romance takes a backseat in the story but I think with reading this I’ve realized that I don’t like when that happens and I don’t connect with the main character/s, because I loved this book. I don’t know where but I saw a review of someone saying they didn’t like this book because they thought Quan changed himself for Anna but I didn’t see that at all.
This feels like when I read Act Your Age Eve Brown but I like it better (surprisingly) because of the fact that the romance wasn’t the biggest part of the book but instead Anna’s problems were. I like it for the same reasons if that wasn’t clear
I can’t say that I related with Quan’s storyline as much as I did with Anna but I didn’t dread his pov’s at all. I love Quan so much, he is so kind, caring, and most of all understanding and I loved getting to know him better in this book❤️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, and Suicidal thoughts