Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone

36 reviews

allierose2's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

3.0

Sometimes your holiday holds don’t come through til January and that’s ok….

This was good at times but tbh I feel like it’s irresponsible not to list TW at the front of a book like this that contains some pretty triggering non-sexual content, like
accidental pregnancy and near-miscarriage
can be really rough for some people and it seems irresponsible to not acknowledge that going in.

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downsophialane's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted fast-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

4.0

A mid-book
surprise baby
is always going to get a lot of people offside, and I'm sure the authors wre aware of this (Sierra Simone in particular famously prefers to polarise her readers rather than play it safe). I thought this twist worked quite well for the heroine's post-purity culture journey. Winnie's subsequent distance and, yes, the miscommunication throughout stems logically from her purity culture trauma and Kallum's established flaws as a man who had never needed to step up and grow up. I understand miscommunication can be frustrating for some readers but honestly this seems like a good example of that trope to me... They're not just stupid, it comes from their own misconceptions and backstories... Exactly as miscommunication happens in real life! 

I was a little disappointed that apart from one fleeting mention that she still has a "connection" with God, there is no mention of Winnie's relationship to her faith (beyond the purity culture imposed upon her) but that's a me thing; this isn't another Priest so I won't review it like it was trying to be. 

Can I say, these epilogues from Teddy's POV are a stroke of genious  because all I want is more from him! 

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juffnstuff's review

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funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75


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tcolvin's review

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emotional funny 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

4.0

This one was much better than the 1st book. I liked the characters so much more! I also think the sex scenes were spicier, which I liked. 

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ktrout's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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hopiemopie's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

3.75


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lindsayerin's review

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emotional lighthearted relaxing tense 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

3.5


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amberlfaris's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted tense 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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daffodill37's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
(Audio)
This book starts off fun and sweet and sexy but takes a surprisingly dark and (emotionally) scary turn a little over halfway through. I will say it does have a really lovely HEA but there really ought to be some warnings on this book. I'm going to include them below so, FYI, spoilers ahead. 
I'd also like to note that the characters were lovable and fun and it's nice to see some familiar characters sort of in the background. I think the writing is fine and the setting/characters are all just fine but the storyline was far from fun and fancy free like previous installments. 

Now, to the warnings/spoilers here. 

There is an unexpected pregnancy with physical complications that is used as the main plot driver for the second half of the book. At one point we are set up to reasonably believe that the characters could potentially lose the (very much wanted) pregnancy. 
While we're talking about warnings let's go ahead and mention that we have a very awful, overbearing and unsupportive set of parents. This story also revolves around the character's previous life of religion and purity culture (which is actively challenged by this character as well as many others). 
This is honestly not the book I expected to read and wouldn't recommended it to anyone due to the themes it works with. 

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shaunashares's review

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hopeful lighthearted 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

3.5


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