Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun

6 reviews

uranaishi's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Vomit, Biphobia, Ableism, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Homophobia, Outing, and Racism

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? Yes

4.0

Adorably sweet, this book follows Ellie as she attempts to work through all the fears she has that keep her from truly living. The characters are lovable and interesting, especially the grandmothers. This book would make a fantastic movie so I really need Netflix to get on it, like yesterday. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Grief, Infidelity, Abandonment, Biphobia, Child abuse, Classism, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, and Ableism

bg_oseman_fan's review

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

4.75

It’s a sign of a well written book when even though you know what’s about to happen, you are so engrossed in the story that it doesn’t much matter. Steering into fake dating, love triangle (i mean trapezoid), only one bed, tropes could have easily crashed and burned. instead the characters shine. the lead characters grow and their flaws are addressed frankly and honestly in a way many romance focused books don’t. Parts of this book were too saccharine and could have been more critical of tropes, but I enjoyed Alison’s writing so much!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity

Minor: Mental illness, Outing, Sexism, Classism, Misogyny, Cursing, Transphobia, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Drug use

frantically's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-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

2.75

I loved the concept of this but the execution was just too riddled with miscommunication for me. Also, the way Jack didn't even pretend to understand in what different situations she and Elle were in — of course 200 thousand dollars would've changed her life. That's not something you easily say no to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Infidelity, Outing, Sexual content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use

Minor: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Classism, Death, and Emotional abuse

skudiklier's review

emotional funny hopeful 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

I didn't know almost anything about this book going in, and wow was I pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. I read almost the entire book in one sitting, because I couldn't put it down. The romance was perfect, and also it was weirdly and unintentionally relevant for me, as someone who just moved to Portland less than two months ago. I loved the bi rep, the anxiety rep, the demi rep, the nonbinary rep, the way they try (and fail) to not fall victim to unnecessary miscommunication as horribly as the straights always do in romances. (Also is it just me or is Ellie also autistic??? I both have anxiety and am autistic so sometimes it's hard for me to tell what social anxiety things are related to which haha. But idk she felt extremely autistic to me and I'm gonna say I also loved the (maybe unintentional) autistic rep as well.) This was a perfect book to start the year with, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a lovely queer holiday romance.

Edit to add: I actually kind of forgot what The Charm Offensive was about, and now that I went back to look at my (5 star) review for that book, I'm even more convinced that Alison Cochrun is one of my new favorite romance authors. In both books, I was super sucked in and read them basically in one sitting. But even better, in both books I felt like even the parts of romances that I don't like (e.g., when they have a fight and break up near the end, usually over some miscommunication) were handled much better in these books than in most romance novels. Like, Cochrun clearly puts a lot of effort into making sure the relationships are as healthy and realistic as possible, while still giving us all the normal pieces of a romance and keeping the drama amped up. I'm just so impressed! And I can't wait for Cochrun's next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Sexual content, Child abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, and Mental illness

Moderate: Cursing, Biphobia, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Cancer, Stalking, Outing, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Grief, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Death, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Toxic parents, cutting off family members

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

5.0

There really just wasn't a single thing to hate about this. Is there insta-love? Yes. Do I hate insta-love? Yes! However, in this one case, I will allow it because I loved this story and I love this couple. Am I not really a fan of Christmas books? Correct, I tend to stay away from them. Did I absolutely love this? Also correct.

My point is, this book had some tropes that on paper, shouldn't have worked for me, and yet they *did.* So basically, if you've been eyeing this one and are unsure about it, give it a try and see if you love it, too.

Bonus points for the Taylor Swift references all throughout this gem.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Biphobia, Child abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Vomit, Ableism, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Death

Moderate: Xenophobia, Racism, and Outing

Minor: Cancer