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challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Slow start but was invested in their story. The ending did seem a little abrupt and the rest of the story really could go either direction. The main characters struggles broke my heart but again really dont feel like there was a ton of character development in this book, I get the struggles of abuse and everything so you just get stuck in that loop. Just want the HEA to happen in the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail
I’m sorry, I’m gonna have to DNF this one, it’s hitting dangerously too close to home for me, and my mental health is already on thin ice right now.
Maybe I’ll pick the series back up, another time… who knows
Maybe I’ll pick the series back up, another time… who knows
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting
emotional
sad
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
The main female character was always weak, which is a pet peeve of mine. She always needed saving. Seemed she and the main male character always had the same types of interactions. I can appreciate why others may like it, just not my cup of tea. Would have gave this a 2 star, but the last 20-30 pages bumped it up. I feel almost inclined to read the next just to find out what happens, but I'm not sold on it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-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:
No
This was a great book, I loved the start of Johnny and Shannon’s story. The content was quite dark at times but still an incredible read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Miscarriage
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What in the Wattpad was that? I'm allowed to say that, because halfway through this book, I found out that it was published on Wattpad before becoming an actual book.
I would like to start this review by asking one simple thing... How on earth does it have such a high rating? I knew within the first five chapters that this was going to be a one star book, and the only reason I kept reading was because I needed to be able to finish and eventually give it a one star review just to bring the overall rating down. And so that I could write this review to beg that any poor soul considering reading this stops right now. Just trust me. Now let's jump into my problems.
1. Johnny. Does he do literally anything other than swear and talk about his dick? Every other word out of his mouth is fuck, shite, or eejit (which I know isn't a swear word, but have some variety). He's kind of just a disgusting person. Shannon, while describing his room at some point, says "in typical teenage boy fashion, it was a complete mess with the mandatory posters of semi-naked girls with humungous breasts adorning the walls." Um? Excuse me? He also has a stack of DVD pornos in his room that Shannon finds at some point with titles so disgusting that I think if I were to write them out in this review it would be taken down. GIRL RUN AWAY FROM HIM!!!! He's also constantly thinking about doing disgusting things to Shannon. There's one scene where he is literally talking to Shannon's older brother and thinking about how he wants to have sex with her (and then as an afterthought mentions that, idk, maybe he wants to love her eventually too). What is going on in this manchild's head? Anyways, final swear count had to have been like 12,574.
2. Shannon (like the river!!!). How do they manage to mention how tiny and small and stunted she is literally every chapter. I didn't actually count, but I think they talked about how fragile she was at least 600 times. Because that's how many pages there are and it was mentioned on every single one of them. Can we talk about the fact that Shannon went over to his house and she was so wildly small that she couldn't even hoist herself up on to one of his barstools? I know six year olds who are big enough to get onto barstools by themselves. Be for real, Shannon. I swear she's anorexic, because no matter how much she protests it in the beginning, she never eats. Occasionally I guess she'll eat a bar of chocolate or an apple, but that's it. She blows off dinner and lunch and all other meals. Ugh. She literally weighs 87 pounds (which she insists makes her SO incredibly heavy *eye roll*). The last time I weighed 87 pounds I was, like, nine years old. And I was a relatively small kid. So basically, she's super unhealthy. And what is it with her eyes? Holy heck. Nobody cares about how big and midnight blue and huge her eyes are. In the first chapter of the book, she is introduced by saying, "I tried squinting, seeing if that made my eyes look any more human, and made a conscious effort to thin my swollen lips by pulling them into my mouth. Nope. The squinting only made me look disabled – and a little constipated." Girl what. She also constantly talks about how ugly she is (she describes her breasts as looking like fried eggs in the first chapter as well), but literally everyone is in love with her because she's gorgeous. If I had to read one more sentence about how Shannon just isn't like other girls, I was going to vomit (and not from anxiety, like Shannon does all the time. Just because she's so icky and off-putting).
3. The abuse. If you have an abusive dad, why are you getting with a boy who is regularly violent and routinely threatens/actually does beat people up? Johnny has three emotions - anger, guilt, and horny - and she's just like... okay with him hurting people? I don't buy it.
4. The pipeline from infantilization to sexualization. Why is everyone comparing Shannon to a baby, and telling her she looks like a child, and then immediately after that thinking about how she's so hot and they would love to hook up with her? Johnny, at the beginning of the book, comments on how she "didn't look old enough to attend secondary school." What. Is. Wrong. With. Him. Shannon even makes herself more childish 24/7, from doing things like calling her stomach her tummy to pouting all the time. I hated this.
5. All of the male characters in school talk to/about girls like they aren't even human beings and it pisses me off to no end. Literally it's not that hard to pretend women are something other than objects that are only there for you to have sex with and look at. Just be a decent person. Oh my gosh.
6. Age gaps???? Ok - first of all, there's the whole problem with Johnny and Shannon. I get that a 2-3 year age gap isn't that bad once you're in your early 20's or whatever, but when you're in high school it is absolutely nasty and not okay. If the grades don't touch, neither do you. No exceptions. Second, Gibsie and Johnny apparently have sex with older women ALL THE TIME. And nothing is done about it??? Gibsie is literally hooking up with one of the women in the school administration to get favors out of her. And nobody is batting an eye. I am sick. At some point it's mentioned that Johnny slept with a 27 year old model while he was still underage. I am outraged. This is pedophilia.
7. If I had to read about Shannon bumping into a 'wall of hard muscle' or a 'chest of hard muscle' ONE MORE TIME, I was going to lose my everloving mind.
8. Instalove. This book goes from being slow burn (they're literally just friends for like 550 pages) to them both thinking they're in love with each other. There is no obvious turning point and nothing happens other than them deciding they just do. For no apparent reason. Again, what in the Wattpad?????
9. The last few chapters. Johnny gets injured again, blah blah blah... and then Shannon wants to look at his reopened groin wound??? And Johnny lets her??? And then she kisses it?? Did our author forget what ages they are???? Then of course, they kiss some more (and maybe dry hump a little) in the extremely public locker room, where anybody could walk in and find them at any time. And, of course, Johnny's coach and two paramedics find them there. Kill me now.
10. I've had a lot of surgery. I've been high a couple times because of it. I have never talked to anybody about any of the following while high after surgery:
I would like to start this review by asking one simple thing... How on earth does it have such a high rating? I knew within the first five chapters that this was going to be a one star book, and the only reason I kept reading was because I needed to be able to finish and eventually give it a one star review just to bring the overall rating down. And so that I could write this review to beg that any poor soul considering reading this stops right now. Just trust me. Now let's jump into my problems.
1. Johnny. Does he do literally anything other than swear and talk about his dick? Every other word out of his mouth is fuck, shite, or eejit (which I know isn't a swear word, but have some variety). He's kind of just a disgusting person. Shannon, while describing his room at some point, says "in typical teenage boy fashion, it was a complete mess with the mandatory posters of semi-naked girls with humungous breasts adorning the walls." Um? Excuse me? He also has a stack of DVD pornos in his room that Shannon finds at some point with titles so disgusting that I think if I were to write them out in this review it would be taken down. GIRL RUN AWAY FROM HIM!!!! He's also constantly thinking about doing disgusting things to Shannon. There's one scene where he is literally talking to Shannon's older brother and thinking about how he wants to have sex with her (and then as an afterthought mentions that, idk, maybe he wants to love her eventually too). What is going on in this manchild's head? Anyways, final swear count had to have been like 12,574.
2. Shannon (like the river!!!). How do they manage to mention how tiny and small and stunted she is literally every chapter. I didn't actually count, but I think they talked about how fragile she was at least 600 times. Because that's how many pages there are and it was mentioned on every single one of them. Can we talk about the fact that Shannon went over to his house and she was so wildly small that she couldn't even hoist herself up on to one of his barstools? I know six year olds who are big enough to get onto barstools by themselves. Be for real, Shannon. I swear she's anorexic, because no matter how much she protests it in the beginning, she never eats. Occasionally I guess she'll eat a bar of chocolate or an apple, but that's it. She blows off dinner and lunch and all other meals. Ugh. She literally weighs 87 pounds (which she insists makes her SO incredibly heavy *eye roll*). The last time I weighed 87 pounds I was, like, nine years old. And I was a relatively small kid. So basically, she's super unhealthy. And what is it with her eyes? Holy heck. Nobody cares about how big and midnight blue and huge her eyes are. In the first chapter of the book, she is introduced by saying, "I tried squinting, seeing if that made my eyes look any more human, and made a conscious effort to thin my swollen lips by pulling them into my mouth. Nope. The squinting only made me look disabled – and a little constipated." Girl what. She also constantly talks about how ugly she is (she describes her breasts as looking like fried eggs in the first chapter as well), but literally everyone is in love with her because she's gorgeous. If I had to read one more sentence about how Shannon just isn't like other girls, I was going to vomit (and not from anxiety, like Shannon does all the time. Just because she's so icky and off-putting).
3. The abuse. If you have an abusive dad, why are you getting with a boy who is regularly violent and routinely threatens/actually does beat people up? Johnny has three emotions - anger, guilt, and horny - and she's just like... okay with him hurting people? I don't buy it.
4. The pipeline from infantilization to sexualization. Why is everyone comparing Shannon to a baby, and telling her she looks like a child, and then immediately after that thinking about how she's so hot and they would love to hook up with her? Johnny, at the beginning of the book, comments on how she "didn't look old enough to attend secondary school." What. Is. Wrong. With. Him. Shannon even makes herself more childish 24/7, from doing things like calling her stomach her tummy to pouting all the time. I hated this.
5. All of the male characters in school talk to/about girls like they aren't even human beings and it pisses me off to no end. Literally it's not that hard to pretend women are something other than objects that are only there for you to have sex with and look at. Just be a decent person. Oh my gosh.
6. Age gaps???? Ok - first of all, there's the whole problem with Johnny and Shannon. I get that a 2-3 year age gap isn't that bad once you're in your early 20's or whatever, but when you're in high school it is absolutely nasty and not okay. If the grades don't touch, neither do you. No exceptions. Second, Gibsie and Johnny apparently have sex with older women ALL THE TIME. And nothing is done about it??? Gibsie is literally hooking up with one of the women in the school administration to get favors out of her. And nobody is batting an eye. I am sick. At some point it's mentioned that Johnny slept with a 27 year old model while he was still underage. I am outraged. This is pedophilia.
7. If I had to read about Shannon bumping into a 'wall of hard muscle' or a 'chest of hard muscle' ONE MORE TIME, I was going to lose my everloving mind.
8. Instalove. This book goes from being slow burn (they're literally just friends for like 550 pages) to them both thinking they're in love with each other. There is no obvious turning point and nothing happens other than them deciding they just do. For no apparent reason. Again, what in the Wattpad?????
9. The last few chapters. Johnny gets injured again, blah blah blah... and then Shannon wants to look at his reopened groin wound??? And Johnny lets her??? And then she kisses it?? Did our author forget what ages they are???? Then of course, they kiss some more (and maybe dry hump a little) in the extremely public locker room, where anybody could walk in and find them at any time. And, of course, Johnny's coach and two paramedics find them there. Kill me now.
10. I've had a lot of surgery. I've been high a couple times because of it. I have never talked to anybody about any of the following while high after surgery:
- Seeing someone's breasts
- How in love I am with someone my parents have never met
- Whether or not I am physically capable of using my reproductive organs
- How I am going to use sexual items
Now that I am done with my rant, I'd like to share with you all some more extremely problematic quotes that I pulled out just for fun.
"Jesus, she was naked in my room. Naked. I couldn't handle that. Not when all I wanted to do was be naked with her. I was only seventeen. This was a temptation I doubted a man twice my age could resist." - Johnny. Do you see the problem? Do you? If you don't, you may need to have your eyes checked.
"I hurt your feelings? Who's the bitch with a vagina now?" - Johnny
"Like a well-trained dog, I did exactly what he told me to do." - Shannon
Of course, there are many other quotes that could be included in this review, but I think this review would be removed because of them. Now that I'm actually done, I'm going to go start a bonfire. Using this book as the fire starter. Obviously.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Sexism, Vomit
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book so much- it’s so rare that I can flip through pages giggling and warm one moment then feeling gut wrenched the next. It also felt so realistic that at some point, the characters began to feel like friends. You just get sucked into the writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape
Minor: Body shaming, Cursing, Emotional abuse
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked the book, and I see why people love it so much. For me, it might be too much into the YA universe. The main characters are 16 and 17 and in high school. I am in my mid 20s, and now these ages are too young and too immature for me to fully enjoy reading the book. Another thing that is completely my opinion, but I think there is a little too much drama revolving around trauma in this book. Less trauma-drama and older characters would bring this rating over 4 stars.
(I also didn’t realize going in that the characters would be this young)
While this is not a dark romance (I do t think it is at least) please please PLEASE read the trigger warnings and be aware of your own triggers and what you can stomach
(I also didn’t realize going in that the characters would be this young)
While this is not a dark romance (I do t think it is at least) please please PLEASE read the trigger warnings and be aware of your own triggers and what you can stomach
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Abandonment
Minor: Miscarriage, Rape
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Trauma bond at it’s finest
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Classism
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
was not expecting that i would like it so much but this book genuinely surprised me. i loved the slow burn and can’t wait for johnny to figure out what is happening to shannon. don’t know how to feel about the cliffhanger but it definitely makes me want to read the second book right away
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail