Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake

Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall

7 reviews

fromthefoxhole's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-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 mean it's just a scrummy book! I was outwardly chuckling for like 80% of the book, I got a therapy session, and the leads are insanely hot. Wins all across the board.

Hall does a really excellent job with pacing, everything is whip smart and witty, especially our MC Rosaline. She's honestly a badass (I will never understand how people have the energy to do anything on top of being a parent, it's such involved and hard work) but she's also so genuine. She's balanced, both flawed and fleshed out enough to feel human, like I could pop down the street and she'd greet me with a cup of tea.
Harry, our burly cinnamon roll love interest, is a man of few words who really goes all out with acts of service for those he cares about. There are so many times in this book that I highlighted and my comment is just "😭😭" because he's such a gentle and kind man.
Also, Amelie is the love of my life, and I hope one day she becomes a marine biologist who focuses on deep sea exploration.

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ohheyitskaitlin's review against another edition

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funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

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historic_wince's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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

4.0

I nearly DNFed this book 8% into it. I could not get past the second hand embarrassment of the

FMC lying to the love interest in order to impress him

. Granted, this is supposed to be cringe worthy, but it nearly did me in. I’m glad, however, that I picked the book back up and finished it. (The audiobook, btw, his excellent. Narrator did a really great job with all the voices).

Our main character is Rosaline, a bisexual disaster. She’s a 27 yr single mum, who’s still desperately trying to live up to her parents expectations. And while she’s always doing what’s best for her kid, she’s not always doing what’s best for her. That includes her dating life.

I really enjoy how Alexis Hall’s writing style has matured and his character work remains top notch. Some readers mayn’t appreciate just how contemporary some of the references are, nor that the book/baking show is rather self referential. Others may not like the ‘love triangle’ at the center of this story, but I really enjoyed the character development throughout the 8+ weeks and how the two love interests juxtaposed one another. This novel contains several sex scenes, but not of them are intended to be ‘spicy.’ Instead, they are central to the development of the plot and character arcs of our main characters.

I did foresee

Alain’s suggested threesome, but I will admit how the scene played out was more scary than I anticipated. Rosaline is assaulted by Alain’s female friend, and both women were coerced by Alain himself to participate. The scene is not particularly violent and Rosaline is able to safely barricade herself until able to the leave the situation.

I think this series has a lot of potential and I’m looking forward to the next installments.

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cluckieduck's review

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funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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town_scar's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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bookedinsideout's review

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funny 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? Yes

4.0

This book would have been more fun without Alain, but it was a meaningful arc of a story and the structure covering each weekend of the baking competition was great. (More of what I was hoping for with Love & Other Disasters.) Going in with adjusted expectations helped too… I had barely started reading it last year when I saw reviews talking about how she doesn’t get together with the hero until the end of the book and there’s a total shit of a guy that nobody should touch with a barge pole (those reading guide questions from Alexis Hall were great!) that she’s with for much of it, as well as a sexual assault. At the time I felt it wasn’t for me, but I decided to try again feeling more prepared and falling more in love with Alexis Hall’s writing and wit, which is on full display here.

With all that in mind (i.e., not expecting a light-hearted baking competition), I’m really glad I gave it another go because it was so satisfying to see Rosaline be reminded of her priorities and value, state her boundaries, and… take the cake. The sexual assault was condemned by the book and treated with care, and we got to see people believing the victim and no pressure to forgive or console the perpetrator. As much as I wanted to see more of Rosaline and Harry, it was a great story. And that last chapter sex scene with communication and running off the railroad tracks of heteronormative penetrative sex was perfection.

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kp_writ's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

Lighthearted and quippy, this is definitely an easy summer read (barring the one sexual assault scene) for those interested in a down to earth romance between adults older than 25. Some of the internal conflict was frustrating, and the external conflict was terribly predictable, but it didn't take me out of the story too much. There was a period where I thought both romance interests were terribly boring and I contemplating shelving it, but I'm glad I didn't. A solid, lighthearted read overall that still manages to interrogate the question "what do you *really* want out of life" without getting too terribly existential.

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