Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

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

179 reviews

blubonby's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

this was lovely, i’m so glad i finally got around to reading this book and i wish i had managed to read it earlier. I enjoyed reading this so much I managed to complete it in one sitting and i never wanted to put it down, this was a great addition to the kiss quotient series. 
I adore Quan he’s so lovely and I’m proud of Anna’s character development. I honestly think I could very easily read another book about this relationship. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief

Moderate: Medical content

mcsturgeon40's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Medical content, Death, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Classism

zoiejanelle's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

(listened to audio book from library)

REVIEW TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS BOOK! 

i devoured this book. i was up until 3am reading this and good LORD was it worth it. 

i would definitely classify this as contemporary fiction and not a romance because the main focal point was Anna’s struggle to accept and honor herself, not the love story. though i liked the love story—which added fantastic levity to the serious topics presented here despite also being pretty rocky—i was completely sold by Anna’s arc: her diagnosis, accepting a caretaker role, the epiphany about her needs, her growth. 

once again, Helen Hoang perfectly captures the neurodivergent experience. Anna’s relationship with her family, her friends, herself, and her art were so relatable and heart-wrenching. i can only describe my feelings/reactions towards the ongoing conflicts related to her autism as VISCERAL. chapter 41 literally caused me to sob into a pillow. i am not kidding. i had to try very hard to stifle my weeping. 

the ending, though extremely fast-paced was satisfying and realistic. i appreciated that, unlike The Bride Test, not every plot point received a sparkly, happy conclusion. grief and healing are not linear, and it makes sense that Anna‘s experiences with them were not either. 

i will admit, criticisms of Quan’s story are valid. though i liked that his chapters were brief, i would happily read an entire novel about his journey surviving cancer. i did not feel like his POV was needed at times, which led me to want his storyline to be fleshed out more, to be more on par with the tone and severity of Anna’s. i think each arc could have better paralleled the other and his story could have had a stronger impact. maybe Anna’s story was heavy enough and Helen Hoang felt the need to write something lighter to help the reader escape that darkness, but i think it still could have worked. 

wrt the sex scenes: this book was much steamier and more satisfying (wink wonk) than The Bride Test. it also showed realistic sexual dysfunction and healthy communication of boundaries/needs. i liked the pining as much as i liked the sex scenes themselves, and i never turned the page and felt let down or disappointed by how the scenes ended. they all tended to make sense and feel complete. 

overall this was a fantastic, quick read that i recommend to nd romance readers looking to see and authentic story in a new genre. 

CW (not included below): autism meltdown, autism burnout, career burnout/career issues

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Ableism, Grief, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Cancer

Minor: Cursing, Car accident, Excrement, Xenophobia, and Vomit

dejanira's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Grief, and Infertility

amplawrence's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Gaslighting, Ableism, Medical content, Death of parent, Bullying, Sexual content, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Cancer and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Infertility

abhirupa's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I didn’t have super high expectations for this book after the kiss quotient and the bride test, but it was phenomenal! Quan is such a good character, and it felt like I had already kind of been introduced to him in the other books, where he acted like a guardian/big brother figure. I’m so glad he got his own love story! And Anna is such a good partner for him, like their relationship was so organic! I think Helen Hoang has definitely improved in her writing from the previous two books because her descriptions of masking, compulsive behavior, and autistic burnout were very convincing but also more tasteful imo than the other books. Poor Anna :( The part with her father, especially when he was telling her “no more” made me so sad. But the ending was very cathartic and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Medical content

Moderate: Terminal illness and Suicidal thoughts

inthemoonforcheese's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Alcohol, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Grief, Infertility, Mental illness, Death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Ableism, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

skyelareine's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-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? Yes

3.5

I jumped straight into this book after finishing The Bride Test expecting asimilar heartfelt, emotional romance. And while this book definitely is that, I 1000% wish that I had looked up content warnings for this book before reading. If I had known that

a large portion of the story centered on the main character explicitly and graphically  tending to her dying father

, I probably wouldn't have read this book. Despite this Hoang does a phenomenal job with this story, and I could feel the weight of trauma that the character was enduring under her perfectionist sister and her family's expectations. Still, I'm feeling a bit traumatized and cannot emphasize enough that you should check out the content warnings for the book instead of diving in almost blind like I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

pointlessmoss's review against another edition

lighthearted 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

3.0

For days now, I've been feeling so conflicted about how I should rate this book - but beyond that, my thoughts and feelings on the story itself. This was a very worthwhile read for me, especially because I could relate to the characters' experiences in some ways. I was really invested in the characters, but some parts of the story felt underdeveloped or rushed, and by the end that took me out of the story somewhat. The tone shift from the first to the second part was so quick and so extreme that it's hard to think of them a one cohesive narrative, even though I was right there with the ups and downs pretty much the whole time. Part of the book was quite difficult to read (

warning: dark themes. Ex. caring for a sick person, caregiver burnout, depression, referenced suicidal ideation

) and while I enjoyed the story as a whole, I still would have liked to get a closer look at the characters and I wish things had ended differently - still happily, but in a different way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, and Cursing

Moderate: Grief, Medical content, Cancer, and Infertility

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

embla_v's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful

3.5

Tredje delen i serien av Helen Hoang. 

Anna blev känd över en natt när ett youtube klipp av henne som spelar violin blev viralt. Men efter det så har hon kämpat med att hitta glädjen i musiken igen och nu vill hennes pojkvän öppna upp deras förhållande. Anna är förkrossad och vill få hämd men vad kan hon göra? Jo, hon kan också ligga med andra. 

Quan (bikaraktär i tidigare böcker i serien) har varit sjuk och ska nu ut i dejting livet igen och då träffar han Anna. Men när Annas familj drabbas av en tragedi ställs allt på ända och de måste kämpa för sin kärlek men också för sig själva. 

En berättelse i stil med tidigare böcker i serien. Jag rekommenderar att läsa de två andra böckerna först och sedan denna. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Ableism

Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Cancer, Death, and Infertility