Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Ship Wrecked

I enjoyed the first two books of the series, which is kind of a surprise for me considering just how much smut is involved in both books. I think this has a lot to do with the way Olivia Dade writes her stories and creates her characters. There is just something about the characters in the Spoiler Alert books that makes it easy to connect to them, and the banter is always brilliant. Book number three is no different. Ship Wrecked features not one, but two fat main characters this time around, and I love the show of body positivity and the fact that we actually have a fat male character (which you don't see often). I am grateful for the warning about the VERY steamy start of Ship Wrecked though, because holy cow! I had to skimread more than once, because there is a LOT of smut involved considering this is basically a six-year-long slowburn romance. Somehow I don't mind the sexy scenes too much with these books though, and this is thanks to the characters and banter. I enjoyed spending time with Maria and Peter, and while I would loved to have seen their connection grow more up close and without that huge gap in the middle, as a whole it was still satisfying. It was also great to see the rest of the gang again, and the humor was spot on for me.

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stardustandrockets's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense 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

4.0

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thesmutsister_emma's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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

3.5

What in the Love of Herring?
I have read all of these books and have enjoyed every one that I have read. With that being said, I was somewhat disappointed in this book. I honestly expected more from it, but most of the book felt like they spent it not enjoying each other. The end and their relationship made up for the first half of the book, but for a long time I had trouble getting through this book.

The Characters
Maria: Bless Maria's heart. I honestly wish I was more like Maria. I wish I had the courage to stand up for myself no matter what and to walk away when things get bad. Maria and her fierce love for her family and others around her gives me hope that there are more people out there like me.
Peter: Sweet, sweet Peter. I always have such a soft spot for the quiet, grumpy ones. They truly are always the ones I want and adore when it comes to books. If Peter, Alex, and Marcus were all to materialize in front of me, I would be picking his grumpy ass in a heartbeat.

Things I Loved
I truly enjoyed Maria standing up for herself. I was a little confused alongside Peter when it first happened and struggled as well to understand what her reasoning, but once she went more in depth about it, it made more sense to me. I honestly am glad that Maria stood her ground with Peter, but I'm also glad she apologized. I loved the cameos in the book as well.

Things I Didn't Love
I honestly felt like the first half of the book was really slow. It was hard for me to get into the book well enough to read it well. This is more of a slow burn and I was not expecting it to be as much of a slow burn as it was. I was also expecting there to be more emphasis on the found family trope within the book than there was.

The Final Verdict
If you are a fan of Olivia Dade and are familiar with this series, I feel like it would be a good fit for you. If you are are wanting to get into the series because of this book, make sure you read about the others in the series before starting this series because they are very different from this one.

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hellowildflower's review

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emotional funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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churrosmom's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Disclaimer: I received a Netgalley eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was good but I didn't love it. The premise is the two main characters meet and hook up right from the first page, then Maria ghosts Peter the next morning. Later in the day it turns on they are auditioning to play love interests in a very Game of Thrones-esque TV show. They're both cast and will be filming on location in a small island village in Ireland. The book has a lot of elements of fan fiction, fandom, and similar complaints about the showrunners as in Game of Thrones. There is a lot of pining and slow burn.

I really loved the fat rep and all of the scenes involving Maria's Swedish family and the family she creates with their coworkers during their on location shoots. I loved that there was a big emphasis on the importance of other family/relationships outside of a romantic relationship. However, I felt like the pacing was off. At one point there is a huge time jump and I almost missed the cue of the time jump and was hella confused for a bit. Once the main characters got together it felt like the story felt really distant and not as warm as before. The 180 from Peter during the conflict also didn't make that much sense to me and felt out of nowhere. I also felt quite a lot of distance from the main characters, and didn't connect with them that much. I noticed sometimes it felt like a lot of telling rather than showing.

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uranaishi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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noellelovesbooks's review

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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

I received an ARC, through Netgalley, ahead of release in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings: Loss of parent(s), crippling depression, anxiety, panic attacks, fatphobia, sexism, abandonment, cheating [off-page by one of the MCs exes], and years of foster care.

From the moment I saw Olivia tweet that we were getting another book, in the Spoiler Alert universe, I have been waiting for a chance to get my hands on it…so when I got the email Friday giving me access to the Netgalley ARC I hit download real quick!

I should have known this one was going to hit me harder than the other two books…just based on the beautiful dedication in the front.

What’s fun about Maria and Peter’s book is that we get to see them before, during, and after the show, GODS OF THE GATES. Both Spoiler Alert and All the Feels were set after the show had finished filming so it was fun to see a couple that worked so closely during the filming of the show.

Maria lost her parents at a young age and spent several years being bounced around the foster care system before finally having a family that was in it for keeps. Having the experience she did with foster care Maria is always apprehensive about relationships because in her experience, aside from the family that adopted her, everyone leaves. When Maria sees a handsome man at the sauna she’d determined to have a good night in his company but nothing more…so things get a little awkward the next day at her audition when he’s also there auditioning.

Peter grew up watching his mother battle depression and then losing her at a young age due to a stroke. Peter’s father always made him feel like he was not enough and never understood the passions that drove Peter to act rather than follow a “traditional” career path. All Peter wants to do is prove to his father that he made the right choice so he’s determined to “make it big” so his father finally recognizes all his years of hard work.

Maria and Peter are the first, romance novel, couple that I’ve deeply connected with, individually, on an emotional basis. Normally, when I read, I’ll connect with one and empathize with the other but I’ve never felt so deeply connected to both partners. Maria’s feelings of abandonment and Peter’s feelings of inadequacy are things I’ve struggled with since childhood and it made this a very emotional read for me.

I loved getting to see both Maria and Peter open up to each other and really work on understanding where the other was coming from. The way they both made it six years before finally giving in to their attraction again is just a testament to their individual strength…and stubbornness.

If you’re a fan of romcoms I highly suggest pre-ordering this fantastic book. I love how much care Olivia puts in to create each and every character. No matter the hardships they’ve been through they’re all determined, strong, and beautiful souls and I can’t wait to see what other characters Olivia crafts.

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Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade

mandaraffe's review against another edition

whackettreading's review

lennie_reads's review against another edition

yvo_about_books's review

stardustandrockets's review against another edition

thesmutsister_emma's review against another edition

hellowildflower's review

churrosmom's review against another edition

uranaishi's review against another edition

noellelovesbooks's review