Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

105 reviews

kdscolley's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Jack and Hannah are client and "protective agent" respectively, but this story is so much more than that. Jack's struggle with grief and spotlight are so well executed. Hannah is fresh off a breakup from a year long relationship with...her co-worker. The way he speaks to and about her was horrible, so watching her find herself again was amazing. What a fun mix of "mystery" and romance.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief and Gun violence

madanxiety's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious

3.25

Overall a sweet novel. There were a couple things I didn't like.

Firstly, Kennedy Monroe's character was so flat in such a cliché way, it was disappointing. It's just so uninteresting when women are pitted against each other in this way. She was just ridiculously vapid, and the closest we get to seeing any depth in her is a brief comment form Jack about how she's super insecure. The stalker/attempted murderer had more depth than her! I suppose he's a more significant character, but I still don't think there's much justification for such lazy writing. It's the bimbo vs. the pick me; have we not, by the 2020s, evolved beyond that? Have we not determined that actually, the real women that exist who like attention and are conventionally attractive, are still multifaceted people with histories and interests like anyone else? I can tolerate tropes like fake dating that simply move the plot forward, but I cannot tolerate tropes that work solely to demonize women. 

The second thing I didn't like all that much was the twist at the end. This isn't a major gripe tho. I was just so caught off guard because it seemed to so clearly be a nightmare that would never end, which seemed logical because Jack struggled with nightmares, and I was like oh he'll be able to return the favor and comfort her. Like when she was walking back to the car and it took a million years, that seemed to obviously signal to how slow you are in your dreams. I think I wouldn't have minded the twist too much if it had been revealed a little sooner. Because by the time she was watching the footage (which is when I finally became convinced it wasn't a dream - probably later than most, I'll admit lol), I had to replay the whole last like 30m I feel like lol bc I'd spent most of it impatiently grumbling, waiting for the supposed dream sequence to end already. Am I an idiot for this lol? Maybe, but it was a little too Twlight Breaking Dawn for me.

I also wished there'd been a little more romance between Hannah and Jack. We only really got two scenes of them together communicating/acting in their feelings. Obviously the whole book was them like developing the feelings, and that in itself isrl romance, but I'd have liked if they got more time actually together. Which is funny bc I saw a similar comment under a different book I recently read and thought they were crazy. So it's probably a to each their own kind of situation.

I know this has been a mostly critical review, but I really didn't hate the book. The style of narration was interesting; it reminded me of voice-over narrators in film and TV, both humorous and personal. I think it's just one of those books you can breeze through quickly, needing to know the resolution, but that won't really stick with you all that much. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Cancer, Gun violence, Car accident, Toxic relationship, and Sexism

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism

tinkeringcheck's review

emotional funny 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

First person romance is far from my usual, but I was completely taken in by the warmth and freshness of this story. Yes, it's a trope for the ages, but the healthiness of the relationship between the leads was such an unexpected delight. A male love interest with emotional maturity and an overabundance of green flags? Clear discussions of boundaries and feelings? It was a breath of fresh, Texas air and the best kind of romcom you can root for all wrapped into one wise, silly, hopeful package. I adored it. I adored all of these characters. And I especially adored Jack's family.

The one thing that stretched my suspension of belief was the bodyguard team's antics. There's a lot of telling us about how great they are, meanwhile what's shown is a lot of... high school level drama. I just wish we'd seen more of what made this team - and our lead by association - capable enough to be hired by a beleaguered celebrity. 

All that being said: Do not - do not! - go into this book expecting realistic drama or steamy romance. It's a bantery, feel-good, reverse bodyguard trope that runs on rom-com logic, but (mostly) in the best way.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Death, Stalking, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Medical content, Blood, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment and Vomit

Overall: It's a very light-hearted, hopeful book but it deals with some background heavy topics. In order or prevalence:

Death of parent, death, grief: Very beginning of book skims over the main character's mother dying, and the grief from that is a catalyst for the rest of the book. Grief (and hope) is a major theme.

Domestic/Physical abuse: Past, as a memory. A very violent incidence of it and the injuries/aftermath is described by character who was a child at the time.

Stalking: With one lead being a famous actor, there's lots of discussions about stalking in general. Stalking incidents are discussed in detail, though light-heartedly, until

one gets violent -> see gun violence.

Gun violence, suicide attempt, blood, injury: Someone is shot at and mildy injured.

In a hostage situation characters are held at gunpoint and one suffers a graze on the head that bleeds a lot but isn't too serious. The shooter plans to kill himself, not the hostages, but is talked down.

Toxic Relationship: Heroine has a generally very shitty ex-boyfriend.

Cancer: The male lead's mother is going through cancer treatment. There's mention of having and recovering from surgery, and the characters often briefly visit a hospital. The prognosis

ends up being very good and she completely recovers.

Alcoholism: More than one background character suffers from it.

One was killed before the story from driving recklessly under the influence.

Car accident, death: Past incident. The accident is described in detail more than once and led to a death by drowning.

The driver was under the influence, drove too fast, went off a bridge and drowned.

Drowning: One almost-incident during the story and one in the past - both described in some detail.

Vomit: One character has a phobia that he often vomits after being exposed to. It's not described in detail.

Abandonment: A character briefly describes a parent leaving them and their other parent abruptly when they were very young.

jcole32's review

emotional funny 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? No

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Stalking, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

rayannotates's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted sad fast-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? No

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, and Stalking

emilia_thereader's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Blood

kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

funny 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Stalking, and Car accident

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Death

Minor: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Cancer

willa_reads_books's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

4.0

i actually didn’t like hannah at first, but as her character developed, she became much more likeable. the premise was fun. i almost cried a few times. it was good :)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Stalking

Moderate: Gun violence, Cancer, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

sebradley29's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Cancer, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Stalking, Suicide, Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, and Death

mrsbennettreads's review

funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Cancer, Grief, and Car accident