Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Deep End

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

127 reviews

sambam_42's review against another edition

4.0

challenging 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

Ali Hazelwood definitely has a type - and it's very large Scandinavian men. And, I'm mostly OK with it. While it seems like her books (other than Bride) have been a bit formulaic (i.e. nerdy science girl meets LARGE broody science guy) this one differed in that she made them both athletes as well. She focused on their relationship while being sports nerds getting to become science nerds. There wasn't the whole falling-out betrayal that has sometimes happened in her other books, which I appreciate. The sex in this one is darker, and seems to be dipping her toes in something a bit more risque and explorative. As a woman over 40, I would prefer to see her write about older characters sometimes, not college juniors, but I do appreciate she didn't make them immature.

Content Warnings

browniel14's review against another edition

3.0

emotional 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: Yes

Content Warnings

stardustandrockets's review against another edition

5.0

medium-paced

I think this is my favorite Ali Hazelwood book yet. (Sorry Jack and Elsie. 🫣)

I really loved the exploration of how trauma (physical and emotional/mental) plays a big part in performing (in anything, not just sports). Scarlett is coming off a major injury that led to needing surgery and physical therapy. She's got a mental block. Talk therapy is mildly helping. We learn later on in the book the exact reason she has a block and it's thanks to Lukas talking Scarlett through it. We learn he lost his mom at a young age and went through something similar to Scarlett. Even if it wasn't a physical injury, grief is a powerful thing and it takes time to heal. I enjoyed seeing the parallels between Lukas and Scarlett.

That said, I don't think this was Ali's spiciest book. It was very on par with everything else she's written. Though, other than Lukas being yet another "big dick" love interest, it felt a bit less cookie-cutter than the rest of her books. But the sex scenes were very typical of Ali's writing regardless of kink exploration and power dynamics. Because aside from the exchange of checklists at the beginning of their relationship, all we really got was the power dynamics. Other stuff was lightly touched on/discussed, but not shown on the page. (Which is fine by me.)

The story was fleshed out and I felt it had more meat that some of the other STEMinist books. Don't get me started on Pen. I knew she was going to be a problem from the beginning. I'm glad things worked out and she came around, but damn. What she did wasn't right.

Overall this gets a 5 star rating from me. I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to books and I think doing this on audio was absolutely the move. Lukas' voice actor was *chef's kiss* 🥰

Content Warnings

starlightbree's review against another edition

4.0

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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

Lukas is the most patient man on earth. He deserves all of the spicy submission from Scarlet that he gets. Literally an Angel.

Content Warnings

beckylmartin's review against another edition

4.25

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

No villain, just situational problems; a bit of college-age drama. Consensual sex, accurately and enjoyably described.

Content Warnings

kalefactory's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

lucyrudd's review against another edition

3.5

lighthearted 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: Yes

Content Warnings

baileyisbooked's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Ali does it again! Loved the swim/dive backdrop, the (generally) good communication between our main pairing, the positive portrayal of therapy, and of course, the chemistry between S and L.

Content Warnings

metaphorsandmisc's review against another edition

3.5

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: Yes

Content Warnings

rchulin1's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny relaxing fast-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: Yes

I absolutely adored this book so much I love how with every one of Ali Hazelwood books it’s easy for the reader to relate even though she Ali introduced said reader to a whole new occupation or study. I’ll be honest when it comes to sports I never had too much of an interest but when reading this book I was constantly looking up videos of divers and wow it’s so beautiful.

Content Warnings

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