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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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 read the first half in one go and then switched to Problematic Summer Romance to keep the hazelwood going (Lukas and Scarlett cameo!!) and then right before the end of the month I read the rest of Deep End and I'm not sure about this one. I read this one for a book club I never know if reading books in two sittings two weeks apart is the best way to consume them but I can't really come up with a better way for me...
I was very luke-warm one the love interest (lukas-warm? ... no.). Because of the focus on kinky sex I felt like when Lukas was expressing affection towards Scarlett, most of it was in regards to what she can give him sexually and she's so perfect for him (and his dick) and at some point in the second half i thought "Right, but what do you like about her as a person bro?". I certainly wasn't giggling kicking my feet with this one. Towards the end i think i saw more of they see in each other but for a lot of it it was just them finding each other really hot. Like what is this, Powerless?
Slight TMI here; I'm not active in the kink community so i can't really speak on the practical aspects but the smut/porn i consume is mostly power exchange so i was more interested in these ones than the ones in her other books except i am gay so my brain was like 'why is there a woman in my power exchange sex scenes?? wtf do you mean with "good *girl*"???' lmao. I think kink in fiction has two approaches; if you want to write for (e.g.) a non-con kink you can either write a consensual non-con scene with negotiation and all that or a straight up non-con scene, basically the fantasy itself and I feel like sometimes authors try to go a middle ground where the characters agree on a safe word and that's kinda where the discussion ends? But then Lukas just randomly initiates scenes and that felt weird sometimes. But like, Scarlett always makes it clear in her narration that she likes it so. Idk i feel like bdsm is at the same time more and less complicated then books make it out. The amount of smut really annoyed me but I had just the previous day read the second half of The Entanglement of Rival Wizards by Sara Raasch (BIG RECOMMEND, I AM SHAKING THEM IN A JAR!!!) and that also had a lot of sex in the second half and I felt like i had been reading sex scenes every day for a week or so because I was reading so much romance and romantasy and I was so sick and tired of it T_T I felt like we got two pages smut, one page plot, two pages smut, one page plot and so on. I was soo oversaturated esp. because I don't love to read sex scenes on the train but what are you gonna do, they happened every two seconds. And we didn't even get anything truly freaky š /halfjoke
I cant get my thoughts on Pen straight either. Very weird last act conflict and resolution.
I was very luke-warm one the love interest (lukas-warm? ... no.). Because of the focus on kinky sex I felt like when Lukas was expressing affection towards Scarlett, most of it was in regards to what she can give him sexually and she's so perfect for him (and his dick) and at some point in the second half i thought "Right, but what do you like about her as a person bro?". I certainly wasn't giggling kicking my feet with this one. Towards the end i think i saw more of they see in each other but for a lot of it it was just them finding each other really hot. Like what is this, Powerless?
Slight TMI here; I'm not active in the kink community so i can't really speak on the practical aspects but the smut/porn i consume is mostly power exchange so i was more interested in these ones than the ones in her other books except i am gay so my brain was like 'why is there a woman in my power exchange sex scenes?? wtf do you mean with "good *girl*"???' lmao. I think kink in fiction has two approaches; if you want to write for (e.g.) a non-con kink you can either write a consensual non-con scene with negotiation and all that or a straight up non-con scene, basically the fantasy itself and I feel like sometimes authors try to go a middle ground where the characters agree on a safe word and that's kinda where the discussion ends? But then Lukas just randomly initiates scenes and that felt weird sometimes. But like, Scarlett always makes it clear in her narration that she likes it so. Idk i feel like bdsm is at the same time more and less complicated then books make it out. The amount of smut really annoyed me but I had just the previous day read the second half of The Entanglement of Rival Wizards by Sara Raasch (BIG RECOMMEND, I AM SHAKING THEM IN A JAR!!!) and that also had a lot of sex in the second half and I felt like i had been reading sex scenes every day for a week or so because I was reading so much romance and romantasy and I was so sick and tired of it T_T I felt like we got two pages smut, one page plot, two pages smut, one page plot and so on. I was soo oversaturated esp. because I don't love to read sex scenes on the train but what are you gonna do, they happened every two seconds. And we didn't even get anything truly freaky š /halfjoke
I cant get my thoughts on Pen straight either. Very weird last act conflict and resolution.
Ok, I don't read a ton of college aged romances, but I did like this one.
She's a diver, who has potential to be an Olympian, but two years ago. She suffered a major injury while diving. She has the yips - she hasn't been able to do that dive since.
He's a swimmer - same circle, but already the best. He and his long-term girlfriend break up, supposedly b/c they aren't sexually compatiable.
The ex is also a diver. She knows that MFC diver is sexually compatiable, so she's like y'all should get together.
Enter a lot of BDSM scenes + talks.
But of course it turns into more than sex. He cares for her and she won't let herself see it as a real relationship.
The ex and her are besties at this point.
Then the ex loses to the MFC at the NCAA championship and flips her shit on both of them. "You took my medal and my bf" no one else on the team knew the swimmer and her broke up. so they all thought the MFC was shitty.
MFC runs away - even though she just won gold - to sort out her feelings.
The ex then flies to STL to apologize for being a shitty friend.
Then, MFC flies to Sweden to make a grand gesture to tell the swimmer she's all in.
Oh also they are both very smart and are going to be doctors.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
challenging
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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:
Yes
medium-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
āø 1/5 stars
One question that I will forever think about after reading this is whats up with Lukas not wearing shoes?
The connection with these two was NOT there! Not even a little bit and I kept searching for hope throughout the book but I just couldnāt find it. In Scarlettās eyes Lukas has no other personality trait besides being Swedish! Every couple of pages we were told once again that he was Swedish like okay I get itā¦I do care for the reason as to why Lukas kept calling her ātRoLLā. Ali Hazelwood couldāve used to many beautiful pet names from any language on this planet but she went with that. Big no for me. Chapter 42 was when I hit my last straw with this book and I swear if someone was around me and saw my physical crash out I would be in a padded room somewhere in a straight jacket.
If you looked up the definition of delusional anywhere whether in a physical dictionary or just online it would just be Scarlettās name! Her character was so bland. She literally conveys nothing interesting and brought nothing to this book besides being my personal 13th reason. Every time Scarlett referred to Pen as her friend I lost a brain cell because THEY WERE NOT FRIENDS! I donāt care how you try to spin it they arenāt even remotely friends and will never be friends. Life lesson to anyone reading this: DO NOT push your ex together with one of your friends if you have even still have a small ounce of love for them!!
I hated almost every character in this but in the end Jan was my favorite character and thats saying something because he wasnāt even in this book that much. I would say that I would like to read a book where heās the main character but I A. Never want to read another Ali Hazelwood book again and B. I donāt even wanna read about Scarlett or no shoe wearing Lukas Blomqvist. Btw the epilogue was dumb and a waste of my time ā hy in the world was it in 3rd person!?!
All in all the more I read the madder I got that I even bought this ā but I got even more madder at the fact that I canāt find my receipt!!
āI could tell when you didnāt know I existed, and I could tell when you became aware of meā
One question that I will forever think about after reading this is whats up with Lukas not wearing shoes?
The connection with these two was NOT there! Not even a little bit and I kept searching for hope throughout the book but I just couldnāt find it. In Scarlettās eyes Lukas has no other personality trait besides being Swedish! Every couple of pages we were told once again that he was Swedish like okay I get itā¦I do care for the reason as to why Lukas kept calling her ātRoLLā. Ali Hazelwood couldāve used to many beautiful pet names from any language on this planet but she went with that. Big no for me. Chapter 42 was when I hit my last straw with this book and I swear if someone was around me and saw my physical crash out I would be in a padded room somewhere in a straight jacket.
If you looked up the definition of delusional anywhere whether in a physical dictionary or just online it would just be Scarlettās name! Her character was so bland. She literally conveys nothing interesting and brought nothing to this book besides being my personal 13th reason. Every time Scarlett referred to Pen as her friend I lost a brain cell because THEY WERE NOT FRIENDS! I donāt care how you try to spin it they arenāt even remotely friends and will never be friends. Life lesson to anyone reading this: DO NOT push your ex together with one of your friends if you have even still have a small ounce of love for them!!
I hated almost every character in this but in the end Jan was my favorite character and thats saying something because he wasnāt even in this book that much. I would say that I would like to read a book where heās the main character but I A. Never want to read another Ali Hazelwood book again and B. I donāt even wanna read about Scarlett or no shoe wearing Lukas Blomqvist. Btw the epilogue was dumb and a waste of my time ā hy in the world was it in 3rd person!?!
All in all the more I read the madder I got that I even bought this ā but I got even more madder at the fact that I canāt find my receipt!!
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Mysig. Swedish adjective. Cozy. Warm. Soothing. The quality of sharing a comfortable moment with a person whose company one enjoys.
The Swedes just get it š
Sexy, angsty, and very enjoyable to read. I like the subtle ways she weaves in her other characters from other books, but not in a too over the top saccarine way. I'm eager to read/reread her back catalog now!
I love her humor and writing style. Some of my favorite lines:
The Swedes just get it š
Sexy, angsty, and very enjoyable to read. I like the subtle ways she weaves in her other characters from other books, but not in a too over the top saccarine way. I'm eager to read/reread her back catalog now!
I love her humor and writing style. Some of my favorite lines:
- Diplomas outnumber personal photos, four to zero
- Sentient currywurst
- Trying to avoid creating fanfiction of people's smallest facial expressions until I'm certain that they despise me
- Sitting on the green-despite-the-droughts grass
- Finish an English composition essay, expounding my opinion that teachers should be paid more from because yes, duh, to a semi-cogent, multi-paragraph argument.
- I can't jump in a pool without having kittens. (This one I still for the life of me cannot decipher its meaning...)