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readwithvirginia's review
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This was fantastic! Harper is a high achieving, driven dental student who literally runs into Dan one day in the school building and quickly can’t seem to think of anything besides him. Harper realizes that Dan is more of a distraction than she wants right now so she friendzones him - but he is in it for the long game here (let me tell you it was worth it).
Harper shows a realistic representation of someone who lives with anxiety. Her character has gone through a lot. She has wonderful friends who stand by her through everything she is going through. I would recommend looking up content warnings before reading this book.
Overall it is a wonderful story with two really relatable and lovable characters with a sweet love story. Also they really made me want to brush my teeth more 😂 and Alex and Thu I’m keeping an eye out for y’all story because I can tell it’s going to be amazing
Harper shows a realistic representation of someone who lives with anxiety. Her character has gone through a lot. She has wonderful friends who stand by her through everything she is going through. I would recommend looking up content warnings before reading this book.
Overall it is a wonderful story with two really relatable and lovable characters with a sweet love story. Also they really made me want to brush my teeth more 😂 and Alex and Thu I’m keeping an eye out for y’all story because I can tell it’s going to be amazing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, and Sexism
vikidoki's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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
IF ANYONE DARES TO SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT THIS BOOK I WILL UNFRIEND YOU IMMEDIATELY
mazey eddings, not only is your Instagram account hilarious but your writing style is absolutely brilliant. I can’t even begin to express why I am so amazed by this book starting with how it incorporates so many topics so respectfully and naturally. but plan to read an amazing story with realistic representation of topics like mental health, feminism, abusive relationships, death it’s all in there and I love it. I admire how mazey connected mental health and ableism and how you can manage it. the description of anxiety made me feel seen (as a person that has anxiety) and it’s executed in a way that seriously stunned me. I love the characters. I love Dan (even though he has a slightly weird name), I love Harper, I love everybody in this book. mazey eddings manages it to write alluring and lovable characters that you just wanna hug.
What I particularly enjoyed was for example how dan realized it’s not healthy for him to stay if harper was just playing with him and I love that harper realized that it was the best step to take. I really enjoyed how the storyline between parents and the main character made you get so much more inside to the character itself and how parents affect the relationship that you have to yourself . i adore dan and harper together, I adore their random grocery runs and I absolutely adore how dan always notices the anxiety that harper feels. get me a dan right now please and thank you.
I just have to say I am eternally grateful for this book. it’s an amazing book for women in STEM and I see absolutely no flaw in this book (but maybe it’s just a post haze from just finishing the book but yolo)
I DEEPLY RECOMMEND READING THIS BOOK xoxo love u
p.s.: i think i was definitly high with good-book-weed
mazey eddings, not only is your Instagram account hilarious but your writing style is absolutely brilliant. I can’t even begin to express why I am so amazed by this book starting with how it incorporates so many topics so respectfully and naturally. but plan to read an amazing story with realistic representation of topics like mental health, feminism, abusive relationships, death it’s all in there and I love it. I admire how mazey connected mental health and ableism and how you can manage it. the description of anxiety made me feel seen (as a person that has anxiety) and it’s executed in a way that seriously stunned me. I love the characters. I love Dan (even though he has a slightly weird name), I love Harper, I love everybody in this book. mazey eddings manages it to write alluring and lovable characters that you just wanna hug.
I just have to say I am eternally grateful for this book. it’s an amazing book for women in STEM and I see absolutely no flaw in this book (but maybe it’s just a post haze from just finishing the book but yolo)
I DEEPLY RECOMMEND READING THIS BOOK xoxo love u
p.s.: i think i was definitly high with good-book-weed
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Car accident, Medical content, Ableism, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcohol and Misogyny
now_booking's review
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
3.25
This was an absolutely adorable romance featuring two lovely but somewhat broken characters finding each other and kind of piecing each other back together. It skews new adult-ish and a little wanting more maturity, even though the characters are in their mid-20. This could be because they’re students but I think it’s also because of the way they’re written and the sort of coming of age conflicts they face in the story. Despite the heavy mental health themes, it’s more light and bubbly than it is dark and hopeless.
The premise is that Harper is a high-achieving final year dental student struggling with an intense anxiety disorder, PTSD and a fear of failure who meets Dan, a former financial sector guru turned dental student bearing the crushing weight of expectation to carry on the family dental business. Sparks fly immediately and “Dental Dan” is all in till their unresolved issues get in the way of their happiness.
I think this was written with a lot of understanding and empathy for people with anxiety disorder. It dealt with themes of parental death and grief and anxiety and pressure really well and I think those parts of the book were dealt with the best. I really enjoyed the secondary characters (Thu, Indira, Lizzy, even Alex) but I felt like more could have been made of them to make a richer, more balanced story. Everytime they were on the page, they shone but I think sometimes they disappeared a lot. I also felt that for being so nosy, they kind of didn’t speak up to Harper in ways they could have before things got really bad. I couldn’t tell if this was because they didn’t know how bad her mental health was or if it was that they didn’t want to rock the boat, but there was some dissonance with how intrusive they otherwise were as a trait of their friendship. I think Alex could have been better utilized as a friend for Dan, giving him someone else to talk to and to develop as a character within his complex relationship with his mother rather than just Harper and internal monologues. I also think it would have been good to see that relationship in person especially since she wasn’t live particularly far away so that we could make our own judgements.
One thing I really liked about Harper and Dan was that they were (eventually) good commmunicators and the development of the friendship and transition to lovers was a delight to read. For an Instlove-based plot, their coupledom was very believable. I’m glad I read this and would read something else from this author.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publishers.
The premise is that Harper is a high-achieving final year dental student struggling with an intense anxiety disorder, PTSD and a fear of failure who meets Dan, a former financial sector guru turned dental student bearing the crushing weight of expectation to carry on the family dental business. Sparks fly immediately and “Dental Dan” is all in till their unresolved issues get in the way of their happiness.
I think this was written with a lot of understanding and empathy for people with anxiety disorder. It dealt with themes of parental death and grief and anxiety and pressure really well and I think those parts of the book were dealt with the best. I really enjoyed the secondary characters (Thu, Indira, Lizzy, even Alex) but I felt like more could have been made of them to make a richer, more balanced story. Everytime they were on the page, they shone but I think sometimes they disappeared a lot. I also felt that for being so nosy, they kind of didn’t speak up to Harper in ways they could have before things got really bad. I couldn’t tell if this was because they didn’t know how bad her mental health was or if it was that they didn’t want to rock the boat, but there was some dissonance with how intrusive they otherwise were as a trait of their friendship. I think Alex could have been better utilized as a friend for Dan, giving him someone else to talk to and to develop as a character within his complex relationship with his mother rather than just Harper and internal monologues. I also think it would have been good to see that relationship in person especially since she wasn’t live particularly far away so that we could make our own judgements.
One thing I really liked about Harper and Dan was that they were (eventually) good commmunicators and the development of the friendship and transition to lovers was a delight to read. For an Instlove-based plot, their coupledom was very believable. I’m glad I read this and would read something else from this author.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publishers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Classism, Grief, Sexism, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Car accident
Moderate: Abandonment and Ableism
Minor: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting
hannahkiwi's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Medical content
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Car accident
crystaleigha's review
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
This book was painful in the best way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Car accident
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Emotional abuse
mspecht's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Car accident
Moderate: Death of parent and Medical content
bookswithca's review
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Ableism
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, Medical content, Sexism, Terminal illness, Car accident, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders
kayaks's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
4.0
“I know I’m a mess. I know … I know I’m not easy to love…”
“Harper, loving you is the easiest thing I’ll ever do.”
this book was so sweet it gave me cavities. listen, if the characters of this book were allowed to make dental related puns so can i.
a brush with love was absolutely adorable and hilarious but it also was quite heavy at times—but i didn’t mind it. there was always a good balance between the heavy and the light. there were some issues i had (such as the pacing and certain things/choices characters made) but once again my love for the characters and book as a whole outweighed the bad. and i loved this book. it filled me with so much serotonin and genuinely made me laugh out loud (actually laugh and not just where you suck in a huge gust of air and exhale it).
also, this whole book felt very ali hazelwood like. that’s not a critique. it’s a compliment. i cannot wait to read the sequel and see what kind of ridiculous situations that will transpired. and i can’t wait to catch up with dan, harper, judy the cat, alex, thu, indira, lizzie (and her mysterious love interest), and the rest of the characters. except the giles brothers. they better not make a reappearance.
“Harper, have you ever had the overwhelming urge to rip out your reproductive tract and use the fallopian tubes to choke the stupidity out of men? Because that’s where I’m at.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Car accident, Sexism, and Medical content
giaciccone's review
emotional
hopeful
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Mental illness and Death of parent
Minor: Car accident
megloveswords12's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Car accident, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexism