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fuzzywilson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Cursing, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Body shaming, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Abandonment
stardustandrockets's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Body shaming, Grief, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Sexism, and Abandonment
Minor: Alcohol and Panic attacks/disorders
krisalexcole's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent, Misogyny, Alcohol, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
decklededgess's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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
Trigger warnings: depression, death of parent, social anxiety, fatphobia, sexual content, alcohol, sexism, death of parent, grief, hypothermia,
Such a stunning conclusion to the Spoiler Alert series! This was my favourite of the three books even though I'm an Alex groupie through and through.
One of my favourite things about this book is the masterful way the timeline and pacing was handled. It's a sort of slow burn even though it opens with their one night stand. It spans around 7 or 8 years of them working on the show but the story doesn't drag on the page. Yet you feel the time pass as the characters grow, as major timeline markers from All The Feels and Spoiler Alert pop up. I loved how even the greater cast of characters also ages on page despite them not being central to the romance.
Peter and Maria are such fun characters. Peter going from butt hurt man baby to able to handle his feelings bc he is working through trauma was really great. Maria has no flaws, she is perfect to me. Peter and Maria start off with a little bit of animosity after their one night stand because Peter is a man-child but I did appreciate that they still had incredible chemistry and ability to banter. They were still compatible despite their antagonism, they just had to learn how to overlook their egos. I enjoyed how Peter learnt to read Maria's love language and communicate his own needs over the course of the book.
I loved the little inside jokes they shared not just between themselves but with the cast as well. And I thoroughly enjoyed how the reader is pulled into these jokes because there are two books of context to it. It made the reading experience feel like watching friends get together after years of pining. Also, the pickled fish gag was my favourite thing. No more context on that so y'all get to enjoy it properly on page.
Seriously, this is a stunning conclusion to the series.
**I don't have first hand experience in the world as a fat/chubby/plus size person so while I didn't find any issues with the representation, I am not the one to comment on that. More authentic reviews will do a better job of feedback on the representation.
Such a stunning conclusion to the Spoiler Alert series! This was my favourite of the three books even though I'm an Alex groupie through and through.
One of my favourite things about this book is the masterful way the timeline and pacing was handled. It's a sort of slow burn even though it opens with their one night stand. It spans around 7 or 8 years of them working on the show but the story doesn't drag on the page. Yet you feel the time pass as the characters grow, as major timeline markers from All The Feels and Spoiler Alert pop up. I loved how even the greater cast of characters also ages on page despite them not being central to the romance.
Peter and Maria are such fun characters. Peter going from butt hurt man baby to able to handle his feelings bc he is working through trauma was really great. Maria has no flaws, she is perfect to me. Peter and Maria start off with a little bit of animosity after their one night stand because Peter is a man-child but I did appreciate that they still had incredible chemistry and ability to banter. They were still compatible despite their antagonism, they just had to learn how to overlook their egos. I enjoyed how Peter learnt to read Maria's love language and communicate his own needs over the course of the book.
I loved the little inside jokes they shared not just between themselves but with the cast as well. And I thoroughly enjoyed how the reader is pulled into these jokes because there are two books of context to it. It made the reading experience feel like watching friends get together after years of pining. Also, the pickled fish gag was my favourite thing. No more context on that so y'all get to enjoy it properly on page.
Seriously, this is a stunning conclusion to the series.
**I don't have first hand experience in the world as a fat/chubby/plus size person so while I didn't find any issues with the representation, I am not the one to comment on that. More authentic reviews will do a better job of feedback on the representation.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Death of parent, Grief, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Physical abuse
churrosmom's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Body shaming, Sexism, Fatphobia, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol
sarah_thebooknerd's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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
5.0
5 ⭐️
3 🌶
Tropes: one night stand, enemies to friends to lovers, forced proximity, Hollywood romance
Representation: 2 main characters that are plus size, both the FMC and the MMC
CW: death of a parent (off page), foster care- adoption, toxic relationship, infidelity ( off page mentioned not btw main couple), body shaming, sexual content
Every once in a while when you are reading books you find a gem that calls to your soul. This book did that for me. Peter is from WI, and I am from WI and the parts of the book when they were in WI and the talks and humor around the food just made me happy. Peter has trust issues and never really felt a part of the group or wanted. So he distanced himself in order to protect himself.
Maria needs connections and relationships to be grounded and okay. The love story and build was perfection, the spice was amazing and I just feel so good as a plus size woman to see the representation in Olivia’s books and also the advocacy for our bodies and people learning to respect us. I just feel like her books heal my soul every time I read one and for that I’m so thankful.
My only critique of this book was the break up- I honestly think that Maria needed to do some groveling as well but overall I would recommend this book and the whole series!
3 🌶
Tropes: one night stand, enemies to friends to lovers, forced proximity, Hollywood romance
Representation: 2 main characters that are plus size, both the FMC and the MMC
CW: death of a parent (off page), foster care- adoption, toxic relationship, infidelity ( off page mentioned not btw main couple), body shaming, sexual content
Every once in a while when you are reading books you find a gem that calls to your soul. This book did that for me. Peter is from WI, and I am from WI and the parts of the book when they were in WI and the talks and humor around the food just made me happy. Peter has trust issues and never really felt a part of the group or wanted. So he distanced himself in order to protect himself.
Maria needs connections and relationships to be grounded and okay. The love story and build was perfection, the spice was amazing and I just feel so good as a plus size woman to see the representation in Olivia’s books and also the advocacy for our bodies and people learning to respect us. I just feel like her books heal my soul every time I read one and for that I’m so thankful.
My only critique of this book was the break up- I honestly think that Maria needed to do some groveling as well but overall I would recommend this book and the whole series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
uranaishi's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Abandonment, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Alcohol, Body shaming, Medical content, Bullying, and Sexism
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence
purplepenning's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Death of parent, Grief, Cursing, Sexual content, Mental illness, Fatphobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Blood, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail
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