Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Don't Kiss the Bride - Special Edition: An Age Gap, Marriage of Convenience Romance by Carian Cole

20 reviews

gwyneth_263's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying and Drug abuse

kittykels's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

3.0

Honestly unsure about how to rate this book. 3 is probably the highest I would give and 2 the lowest. Maybe it should be somewhere in between, but I can't decide. 

Like:

• Jude, for the most part. 
• Instant attraction yet slow burn romance
• Exploring what people want in life at 18 vs. 34, etc.

Dislike:

• A lot of the conflict doesn't seem genuine. I know this is a fictional story, but I want the characters and their flaws and their conflicts to feel genuine and organic. Unfortunately, this story reads like it's made up and sometimes a little over-the-top. 
• I won't go into detail in case my own experience with mental health isn't comprehensive enough to have an opinion on this, but I felt like the mental health part of the book was written by someone who researched mental health issues without ever experiencing them. Which is fine, I don't want or expect everyone to experience mental health issues, obviously. But I experience some of the mental health issues mentioned in this book and was a little confused about how they were approached.
• This was my first age-gap romance (I think) so I made sure to keep an open mind going into this story. I think the age difference and the slippery slope of romance with an 18 year old still in high school was handled decently, but at the same time I feel like it devolved into a giant miscommunication trope. It went from interesting in the very beginning to annoying and boring by the end. 
• There's spice in this book, but not a lot of it. I'm totally fine with that, but
  WHY do they keep mostly hooking up while one of them is recovering from a hospital visit?!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

rgills's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, and Abandonment

Minor: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Sexual content

skyhazzard's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

This was so good, did not disappoint. This age gap was done so well I never once thought that it was weird for them to be together. They just clicked so well and had developed such a cute friendship.

Both of their backgrounds left them in a similar state of feeling abandoned and like they weren’t worth staying for so there a lot of inner turmoil that comes up throughout the book and puts a wrench into their relationship romantically. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

antidietleah's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ellie_isreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.25

every girl’s dream: to marry a man for his health insurance and eventually fall in love and get dicked down on the regular 

look up full list of TWs prior to reading

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

laura_rheads_too_much's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

a_romance_a_day's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Vomit

triniredreading's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: Drug abuse

bbygirl21's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

4.0

This was a very interesting story. It was heavier than I thought it was gonna be, and it definitely could've been shorter, but I really enjoyed it. 

I found the characters frustrating at times, but I still find them likable for the most part.

There was a conversation between Skyler's boss and Jude where I think she should've stayed out of Jude and Skyler's business and left well enough alone. It definitely would've saved a lot of trouble and doubt she caused on top of the insecurities both Jude and Skyler already had about being together. Yes I think it's good she was concerned for Skyler seeing as there is an age difference, but her timing was way off. I feel she was only hurting Skyler indirectly, not protecting her, by putting even more doubt in Lucky's head.

Skyler's parents were very frustrating perhaps even angering. They obviously didn't care much for her in the long run. While Skyler's Dad was trying in the end, I felt he had too much of an opinion on Skyler's relationship with Jude when he left Skyler in a horrible living situation and wasn't there for most of her life to have any say on what she does or who she decides to be with. But I do gotta give him credit for trying to salvage his relationship with his daughter. 

I love how the author addressed mental illness with Skyler's mom's hoarding problem and Skyler's eating disorder and her anxiety and depression. As much as I didn't like Skyler's mom, her hoarding problem is a mental illness and I thought it was portrayed very well. Along with Skyler's daily struggle with her mental illnesses too. Skyler's mental illnesses weren't brushed off as you see in most books you see her struggle and do the normal back and forth that comes with recovery.

The book did have a really sweet ending though. And while I was left with quite a few questions at the end, I didn't feel like they were too important to the story that I was left unsatisfied by not having them answered.

Overall this was a very good book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Violence, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol