Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Heart Principle – L'ipotenusa dell'amore by Helen Hoang

209 reviews

kelsimitchell's review against another edition

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challenging sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Probably my least favorite of the three. The way her family treats her makes me sad. Love Quan though, glad he got his own story! 

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teatunesandtales's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Part fiction, part memoir. Thank you Helen Hoang for writing my story also.

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jillkaarlela's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

Taylor Swift songs: “I’m only me when I’m with you”

Age rating: 17+ (3 brief steamy scenes, 1.5/5🌶️)

This was a fairly emotional romance where the fmc has to cope with her autism spectrum diagnosis and unlearning her habits of masking. Please read with care and check the TW. This deals with pretty heavy topics. She has spent her whole life living for other people, doing only what everyone else wants, and it’s eating away at her. I love the journey of her finding the one person who never makes her feel like she has to put on a show. Quan is the one person who sees and loves Ana for her, and the only one who she doesn’t have to “mask” with. Their love is so tender and healing for both of them. I love the “failed” one night stand trope, where they plan to have a one night stand, but can’t seem to let each other go. They hold each other through truly dark times. They are just so perfect for each other!! 

The way that Ana’s family treats her makes me want to scream. They always tell her what to do, and treat her with “tough love”, which is actually just bulldozing her wants and needs. It truly hearts my heart. This novel was definitely heavier than Hoang’s other novels, and it wasn’t my favorite, but it was still really great! 

“When I realize I’m going south on the 101, I’m not surprised that I’m going straight to her. My compass always points to her.”

TW: emotional abuse, cancer (testicular), ableism, gaslighting, “tough love” very unsupportive family, terminal illness/end of life care, grief, death 

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marleens's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • 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? It's complicated

3.5

This is a tough one to review, because I feel like I went in with the wrong expectations. I wasn’t expecting full-on romcom vibes, but I definitely think that the first 2 books of the series were a lot more lighthearted than this 3rd book. I did absolutely love Anna and Quan, both as separate characters as well as their relationship. Their characters and the romance could have made this a five star read. But the heavy plot was such a big part of the story that it became a very tough read. This is of course a good thing if that was the intention of the author, and I do think she did a great job writing this (and I’m glad I read the author’s note at the end). But this book just made me sad and angry so often, which is not the reading experience I’m looking for in this genre.

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saraavowlerr's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny 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

3.0


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laheath's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

This was definitely my favorite of The Kiss Quotient trilogy.  Both leads were likeable characters, and their relationship had potential, but they had their own obstacles to conquer before making a commitment.  As seen in the first book, Quan seems like such a sweet, patient guy.  He's out of the woods with one issue but still has to come to terms with what that means for his life.  There's also a challenge to the company that he and Michael started in the first book.  Anna is the passive, younger daughter in her family, who feels obligated to please everyone at the cost of her own happiness.  She finally learns to stand up for herself, after facing professional and personal issues.

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evidoe's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

5.0

This is packaged as a romance but I really wouldn’t class it as one. It has romance in it but it,, it deals with some heavy themes around carer burnout and the mental toll of masking neurodivergency that some readers might find a bit raw for a romance but they are the reason I loved this book: 

I think that this was half fiction half memoir really shines in this book. As someone who is neurodivergent who masked most of my life AND had been/is a carer for family this book just spoke to my experiences, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so seen. 


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eryn_librarian's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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viireads's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective tense 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? It's complicated

5.0


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library_kb's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
  • 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

5.0

I really loved this book--first off, Anna and Quan are fantastic characters--the way that they worked to get over their own hurdles together was so satisfying to read about. I would say Anna takes a more central role in the story--and there is definitely some tough stuff that goes down. The way the book was written puts you so close to the characters and their struggles and thoughts that it is important to check content warnings--however if you are at a time to handle the content, highly recommend this story, for some it will validate their own experiences and other it will open eyes to what navigating life as an autistic woman can feel like. 

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