Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Yours Truly

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

maraandra's review

challenging emotional funny informative inspiring 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

4.75

My 2nd Abby Jimenez read, I did love Part of Your World more than this one somehow, even though I think the MC in this book was more likeable. I did appreciate and love the kidney donation storyline, I worked in this field and it underrepresented in the media. I liked the way anxiety was portrayed in the male MC. Very relatable and well thought out as someone who has dealt with this. Beautiful ending, I teared up for sure! My only critique of the storyline was Brianna’s mental health decline in the last few chapters felt abrupt to me… like all her past struggles were alluded to, yet somehow it felt jarring, like she should’ve had more signs and symptoms of the trauma of her relationships throughout the book… which there were moments, but something still felt off about how it went from zero to 60. Otherwise, LOVED!! Love her as an author.

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amanda_reads13's review against another edition

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4.0

After a series of unfortunate first impressions, two doctors become each other's safe space at time when they are both feeling lost and alone.

This book is very cute and absolutely hilarious! I didn't love it as much as the first because of the constant miscommunication and repetition. Like chapters and chapters of miscommunication. They make countless assumptions about each other and instead of talking to each other, they just let it get in the way. Due to the miscommunication we get internal monologues odlf
“there’s no way she likes me it’s fake”/ “there’s no way he likes me it’s a rebound" on repeat for 1/3 of the book.

Briana is a successful doctor who is dealing with a terrible divorce and a brother who needs a kidney transplant. She is so strong, but she is in desperate need of therapy. She has trust issues due to her father leaving her family and her husband cheating on her with her friend. She has never dealt with those insecurities and issues, she just lets them consume her and let's it stand in the way of her possible relationship with Jacob. She has a secret crazy side, which was hilarious - the glitter story!!!!

Jacob is the greenest of green flags. He is considerate, thoughtful, and sweet. He has crippling anxiety that leads him to isolate himself and have panic attacks. At times it seemed like he was more on the ASD spectrum than anxiety, but either way, I felt like the author approached this topic with compassion and in an understandable way. He is such a selfless and caring man - he donates a kidney and forgives his brother for marrying his ex (wtf!)!

I really love these two together. The letters are so adorable! You can feel how much they love each other. She takes the time to understand Jacob and does what she can to make his life better. I love how he never gives up on Briana, he understands her issues and is there with her through it all.

Tropes: slow burn, rivals to friends to lovers, fake dating, co-workers

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noellegrace8's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

A great romance read! The two main characters have serious chemistry and make one another better people. The writing is fantastic; their relationship comes to life on the page. And Jimenez really gets you to laugh with some of the depictions of scenes and characters' actions. She writes chronic anxiety well, what with the characters' constant mentioning of it and efforts to overcome issues in that area of their relationship. Plus, there are many quotable lessons learned within the course of the book, which I appreciated. I also felt interested by the big family that the main male love interest has, because larger families are kind of rare and I am 1 of 9.

I knocked off .25 for just a couple reasons. The first is that there is some contemporary language & concepts usage that is already not aging well. They're not offensive phrases or anything, but they're going to be considered cringey or dated after they stop being popular in a couple years. (Ex., using "epic" in drama talk)

I also think

Briana's pregnancy toward the end

is random and used a little too obviously as a plot device to create just another conflict for the new lovers, especially since

Alexis and Kelly both are also pregnant.

It seems as if the author is sort of saying that a relationship is actually at its most complete status, and most thrilling, when the couple

gets pregnant,

and I simply disagree with that blanket statement. Seeing the ex could have been a big enough issue on its own without that extra piece of backstory thrown in, especially one that is incredibly traumatic and therefore needed a building up throughout the novel if included at all.

And then, I'm also a bit mad that his ex-girlfriend and the younger brother

didn't get more of what they deserved for their backstabbing behavior,

even though Jacob

got over it easily enough in the end and said he hadn't necessarily ever actually loved her.

There are just some boundaries you don't cross, and they each could have chosen other people. And the family seemingly wanting to be okay with it was odd.

I don't factor audiobook performance into my star reviews, but I give both Kyla Garcia and Zachary Webber 5/5 easily. They are unique, not annoying, and did plenty of inflection without overdoing it.

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kiaraalassiter's review

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emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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charlotte_marchand's review

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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

3.5

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readandfindout's review

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emotional medium-paced

4.25

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars

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marioosa517's review against another edition

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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? No

4.0

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kindlekatiies's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

5.0

i have never cried so much during a book while reading. this book was so perfect and what i needed at this time. the anxiety rep was spot on for someone who deals with it in both ways that jacob and briana deal with anxiety in this book. also..jacob is the best book boyfriend. ever.

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