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maeverose's review against another edition
2.5
Sadly, this did not end up working for me. It started out alright, The writing style didn’t put me off (It was a tolerable amount of cheesy) I actually enjoyed the first half for the most part. Fake dating is one of my favorite romance tropes, I liked the idea of a bodyguard trope, especially with the bodyguard being a woman. But then towards the end I started to lose interest. There were also several things that bothered me throughout the book.
Which are:
-Hannah is a very bad bodyguard. She kept protesting doing things that can’t possibly be as bad as things she’s had to do for other jobs, she’s trained to handle tense life threatening situations - yet freaks out and shuts down over a shirtless man in front of her… She’s a grown ass adult, has had sex with men before, and she just shuts down over a man’s undulating six pack (seriously why that word choice)?She was completely clueless about Jack’s fears, nightmares and feud with Hank when she was told during the briefing about what happened with Drew. Isn’t she supposed to be good at analyzing people and assessing situations? And she was scared of cows??? That scene was funny to be fair but made zero sense. Yes this is a cheesy rom com and I’m probably taking it too seriously but still.
-All the back and forth conversations/arguments where Hannah refuses to accept or agree to something but eventually gives in. It always went on way too long, was overdone and got annoying pretty quickly.
-Along those lines, Hannah needing to be told a million times that Jack liked her before she believed it. It started to come across as her just being completely clueless rather than insecure.
-mainly because of those last three things, but also just because of the narration, Hannah seemed very immature.
-a lot of body shaming
-internalized misogyny
-very heteronormative (every single character is cishet)
Which are:
-Hannah is a very bad bodyguard. She kept protesting doing things that can’t possibly be as bad as things she’s had to do for other jobs, she’s trained to handle tense life threatening situations - yet freaks out and shuts down over a shirtless man in front of her… She’s a grown ass adult, has had sex with men before, and she just shuts down over a man’s undulating six pack (seriously why that word choice)?
-All the back and forth conversations/arguments where Hannah refuses to accept or agree to something but eventually gives in. It always went on way too long, was overdone and got annoying pretty quickly.
-Along those lines, Hannah needing to be told a million times that Jack liked her before she believed it. It started to come across as her just being completely clueless rather than insecure.
-mainly because of those last three things, but also just because of the narration, Hannah seemed very immature.
-a lot of body shaming
-internalized misogyny
-very heteronormative (every single character is cishet)
-Jack getting physically aggressive with his brother and smashing that plate
-I felt like there should’ve been a content warning for suicide attempt for the end of the book. Even though we’re told many times that things could get messy given Hannah’s job, the whole book was very low stakes up until then, and that kind of came out of no where. For a rom com especially, it seemed a bit much. It felt like she almost tried to keep that scene a bit lighthearted as well with the writing style, but that’s not a scene you can make light of imo. It felt a bit insensitive.
-I felt like there should’ve been a content warning for suicide attempt for the end of the book. Even though we’re told many times that things could get messy given Hannah’s job, the whole book was very low stakes up until then, and that kind of came out of no where. For a rom com especially, it seemed a bit much. It felt like she almost tried to keep that scene a bit lighthearted as well with the writing style, but that’s not a scene you can make light of imo. It felt a bit insensitive.
-the fact that the villain was disabled and ‘ugly’, plus the villainizing of mental illness in general (no that ridiculous epilogue did not make up for it)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Death, Gun violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Cancer, Ableism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Blood, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Medical content, and Terminal illness
Minor: Fatphobia and Vomit
Graphic: death of a siblingmuqs786's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It was a really good book.It was funny too.Would def recommend it This was a fun read....The characters were loveable.
But now I am questioning why 4 stars😂I think its more of a 3.25
But still good though.
But now I am questioning why 4 stars😂I think its more of a 3.25
But still good though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Car accident, and Death
Moderate: Chronic illness and Suicide attempt
Minor: Body shaming and Self harm
burkiewiczs's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, Body shaming, Car accident, Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Stalking, and Domestic abuse
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Gun violence, Death, Blood, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Sexism, Alcoholism, and Cancer
sarahbythebook's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
4.0
This was a cute read and super quick. I had some trouble with the author's writing style though. The constant fragments throughout the book drove me a little crazy sometimes. If there were only one or two back to back as a sort of stream of consciousness thing, that would be fine, but when there are nearly ten all stuck together, it's annoying to read.
I think the author achieved her goal of balancing the dark with the light, and while the scenario was more than a little unbelievable, the characters were relatable and lovable. The story worked, and it was fun!
I think the author achieved her goal of balancing the dark with the light, and while the scenario was more than a little unbelievable, the characters were relatable and lovable. The story worked, and it was fun!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity
Minor: Body shaming
brimcnull's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book was laugh out loud hilarious. I have a good feeling that this will be one I return to when I need a good laugh.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Body shaming
kaytrain's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Self harm
kayyphan's review against another edition
As an avid fan of the fake-dating trope and Katherine Center novels, this book was a major disappointment.
There is such a disconnect with the premise of the female protagonist Hannah (an extremely competent “bodyguard” who could kill you with a dinner napkin) and the actual character in the book (highly unprofessional, lacks judgment, and acts childish). The Bodyguard is neither funny nor romantic. The two MCs have zero chemistry and the only relationship more unrealistic than theirs was the one between Hannah and her ex.
A running theme in this book is also “the other woman” and vying for male attention. Hannah’s best friend and Jack’s ex-girlfriend are written in a way to cut other women down. Hannah shows very little empathy or remorse for these other women she views as competition and there a weird amount of body shaming.
This book is so poorly written and feels more like a debut work rather than an author’s ninth published novel. It makes me wonder if this book was written by a subpar ghost writer. It’s hard to care for any of the characters or the story.
There is such a disconnect with the premise of the female protagonist Hannah (an extremely competent “bodyguard” who could kill you with a dinner napkin) and the actual character in the book (highly unprofessional, lacks judgment, and acts childish). The Bodyguard is neither funny nor romantic. The two MCs have zero chemistry and the only relationship more unrealistic than theirs was the one between Hannah and her ex.
A running theme in this book is also “the other woman” and vying for male attention. Hannah’s best friend and Jack’s ex-girlfriend are written in a way to cut other women down. Hannah shows very little empathy or remorse for these other women she views as competition and there a weird amount of body shaming.
This book is so poorly written and feels more like a debut work rather than an author’s ninth published novel. It makes me wonder if this book was written by a subpar ghost writer. It’s hard to care for any of the characters or the story.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming, Stalking, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Grief
joyful_bookworm_'s review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Death, Body shaming, Blood, and Stalking
brokenbodybitch's review against another edition
sad
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
1-2 ⭐️
so yes don't get me wrong I really enjoyed the reversal of the bodyguard idea, HOWEVER, this book is filled with lines shaming others appearance for the fmc's self esteem. His ex is a famous like model or something; essentially she was famous for being attractive (or smth) and the plot hinged an uncomfortable amount on shaming her; either negative comments about how she got cosmetic surgery/wore makeup/got dressed up a certain way and she was made into this kinda negative stereotype, then compared against the fmc, who was 'real' according the the LI 🙄 it was like Yes, this was fun at times and had a decent level of emotion but the woman bashing for the sake of the fmc alone was a bit much for me.
Also there is a lot of tragedy in this book it is not really a happy book, fair warning… ‼️ SPOILERS? ‼️ it starts with her mom dying and his brother is also passed and it was just a lot of possible triggers (PLEASE CHECK TW/CW) packed into one book which like is fine but the description doesn’t really prepare you for the way some of these things are handled and it's like not all that light tbh especially towards the end. I think there are some people who will enjoy this book but definitely check tw/cw (especially suicide and such) and be prepared for some women bashing on women and not great stereotyping of the LI’s ex.
I enjoy the idea but this book missed the mark for me and I didn’t even want to re read the parts of it for the review, and doing that made it drop in my enjoyment of it immensely
so yes don't get me wrong I really enjoyed the reversal of the bodyguard idea, HOWEVER, this book is filled with lines shaming others appearance for the fmc's self esteem. His ex is a famous like model or something; essentially she was famous for being attractive (or smth) and the plot hinged an uncomfortable amount on shaming her; either negative comments about how she got cosmetic surgery/wore makeup/got dressed up a certain way and she was made into this kinda negative stereotype, then compared against the fmc, who was 'real' according the the LI 🙄 it was like Yes, this was fun at times and had a decent level of emotion but the woman bashing for the sake of the fmc alone was a bit much for me.
Also there is a lot of tragedy in this book it is not really a happy book, fair warning… ‼️ SPOILERS? ‼️ it starts with her mom dying and his brother is also passed and it was just a lot of possible triggers (PLEASE CHECK TW/CW) packed into one book which like is fine but the description doesn’t really prepare you for the way some of these things are handled and it's like not all that light tbh especially towards the end. I think there are some people who will enjoy this book but definitely check tw/cw (especially suicide and such) and be prepared for some women bashing on women and not great stereotyping of the LI’s ex.
I enjoy the idea but this book missed the mark for me and I didn’t even want to re read the parts of it for the review, and doing that made it drop in my enjoyment of it immensely
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Grief, Ableism, Alcohol, Body horror, Cancer, Car accident, Mental illness, Sexism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Violence and Ableism
Character aims to harm others then ‘plot twist’ he was only there to die by suicide and there is a comment about brain matter not being in someone’s skull because of gun violence I’ll say that…