Scan barcode
callidoralblack's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Minor: Fatphobia, Alcohol, Bullying, Body shaming, and Violence
the_rabble'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? Yes
5.0
Fucking flawless. Immediately endearing tale of two cheerfully loveable characters.
Single POV, spicy, upbeat. Protagonists in their 30s, one is fat, both are very hot.
[ 🌌 Bisexual Reader Seal of the Double-Crush Achieved ]
I've never read Stein before, but am adding her to my list of romance authors to devour a back catalogue.
I had such a good time with this book. You're in it from jump. The banter pops. The ending is well done- despite pulling off some trickier choices(a time jump) that have challenged other authors. Endings are hard and she stuck the landing- so good. 🙌
Halfway through I had to go, "wait, is this single POV?" bc Stein fleshes out and communicates Alfie's actions and motivations so clearly. Sometimes there's a deficit in progressing emotional intimacy without dual POV- it's so artfully not the case here.
Narrator: Emily Spowage killed it. She skipped doing voices for the most part on dialogue, but the read on the plot prose and internal monologue was perfect.
Also, some of the hottest sex scene reads I've heard. Which is a hell of a vibe switch from the pitch perfect bouncy rom-com prose she nails mere seconds prior.
Who I Wouldn't Rec This Book To: I love it. It hit me perfectly and has an excellent message. So it's a short list.
The only reason not to read it would be if you had an issue with some set dressing around celebrity culture or extreme wealth - our boy Alfie is a soccer boy with a brawler history, and paparazzi do show up for a scene or two.
Typically, the wealth & spectacle are turnoffs for me but you end up loving these characters so fast, those factors barely register.
Single POV, spicy, upbeat. Protagonists in their 30s, one is fat, both are very hot.
[ 🌌 Bisexual Reader Seal of the Double-Crush Achieved ]
I've never read Stein before, but am adding her to my list of romance authors to devour a back catalogue.
I had such a good time with this book. You're in it from jump. The banter pops. The ending is well done- despite pulling off some trickier choices
Halfway through I had to go, "wait, is this single POV?" bc Stein fleshes out and communicates Alfie's actions and motivations so clearly. Sometimes there's a deficit in progressing emotional intimacy without dual POV- it's so artfully not the case here.
Narrator: Emily Spowage killed it. She skipped doing voices for the most part on dialogue, but the read on the plot prose and internal monologue was perfect.
Also, some of the hottest sex scene reads I've heard. Which is a hell of a vibe switch from the pitch perfect bouncy rom-com prose she nails mere seconds prior.
Who I Wouldn't Rec This Book To: I love it. It hit me perfectly and has an excellent message. So it's a short list.
The only reason not to read it would be if you had an issue with some set dressing around celebrity culture or extreme wealth - our boy Alfie is a soccer boy with a brawler history, and paparazzi do show up for a scene or two.
Typically, the wealth & spectacle are turnoffs for me but you end up loving these characters so fast, those factors barely register.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse
bookishbette's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-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
5.0
When I say this has healed a part of me I am being so, so serious.
Some may say that it's no longer revolutionary for a fat FMC to find and keep love in books like this, and I would have to blatantly disagree, as a fat girl myself. Mabel has been told her entire life that she needs to be less—less big, less dreary, less fun, less herself in every way that matters, and she's fought against that at every turn. You can see that in how defiant she is and how absolutely steadfast she is in her determination to be everything that makes her Mabel. And yet like the rest of us fat girls, she's internalized that, so much that being the sunshine means she doesn't let anyone see anything else.
Until, of course, she meets her Grumpy in Alfie Harding.
Alfie.
There are so many things I can say about Alfie Harding—I could talk about how too often the grump is either not actually grumpy or is just an actual asshat. I could talk about the way trauma and expectations have shaped him as a person, much like Mabel, to the point where they're two sides of the same coin. I could wax poetic about him, and him and Mabel, for weeks without end.
But I'll keep it to this: I knew from the moment we meet Alfie Harding that I would absolutely fucking love him, and I was proved right at every fucking turn. He is the ONLY man, as far as I care, and he is EVERYTHING to me in a way MMCs almost never are.
The relationship between him and Mabel will sit forever in my heart. They're SO real—we've all met and befriended and maybe even hated people exactly like them, every single day. Every misguided decision, every completely wrong assumption, every stray thought had me screaming at the page and begging for them to stop being such idiots—which is personally my absolutely favorite part of reading romances like this.
Ultimately, this has been an absolute highlight of my year, if not my life, and I cannot emphasize enough how much you NEED to read it.
Some may say that it's no longer revolutionary for a fat FMC to find and keep love in books like this, and I would have to blatantly disagree, as a fat girl myself. Mabel has been told her entire life that she needs to be less—less big, less dreary, less fun, less herself in every way that matters, and she's fought against that at every turn. You can see that in how defiant she is and how absolutely steadfast she is in her determination to be everything that makes her Mabel. And yet like the rest of us fat girls, she's internalized that, so much that being the sunshine means she doesn't let anyone see anything else.
Until, of course, she meets her Grumpy in Alfie Harding.
Alfie.
There are so many things I can say about Alfie Harding—I could talk about how too often the grump is either not actually grumpy or is just an actual asshat. I could talk about the way trauma and expectations have shaped him as a person, much like Mabel, to the point where they're two sides of the same coin. I could wax poetic about him, and him and Mabel, for weeks without end.
But I'll keep it to this: I knew from the moment we meet Alfie Harding that I would absolutely fucking love him, and I was proved right at every fucking turn. He is the ONLY man, as far as I care, and he is EVERYTHING to me in a way MMCs almost never are.
The relationship between him and Mabel will sit forever in my heart. They're SO real—we've all met and befriended and maybe even hated people exactly like them, every single day. Every misguided decision, every completely wrong assumption, every stray thought had me screaming at the page and begging for them to stop being such idiots—which is personally my absolutely favorite part of reading romances like this.
Ultimately, this has been an absolute highlight of my year, if not my life, and I cannot emphasize enough how much you NEED to read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Fatphobia and Violence
More...