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bookishnatalia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Gun violence, Grief, Alcohol, Abandonment, Murder, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
culzean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Torture
beccamlvn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use
literamy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
What I liked:
- Ava's character (I'm a sucker for a sunshine girl, and Ava Chen did not disappoint. Her positivity, optimism, and belief in the triumph of kindness was one of the strongest parts of this book)
- Ava, Jules, Bridget, and Stella
- The diversity of the characters — while some of it was surface-level, the exploration of the differences between Chinese and American cultures was fascinating and felt authentic
- The smut (especially the hotel room scene, WHOOOOOOOF)
What I didn't like:
- Alex's trajectory as going from the damaged, standoffish millionaire to the perfect, doting boyfriend, and the way he stalked Ava and basically refused to take no for answer even after she expressed discomfort
- The pacing and timeline of the story — it felt like Josh left for his trip and then immediately returned for Christmas, and the pacing of Alex and Ava's relationship also felt very swimmy and not grounded
- Alex's inner monologue felt very static and misogynistic for a good half of the book, if not more
- The undercurrent of murder and betrayal of family members. It felt like a lot of the darker elements of the story weren't there at all towards the beginning. I had no idea how dark and graphic parts of the story would get, especially the extent of the abuse at the hands of Michael and Ivan, respectively. It felt like the first few chapters were surface level and then it immediately plunged into the darkness, and the lack of foreshadowing and real buildup jarred me
- The amount of times the word "freakin'" was used, and all of the hyper-contemporary references, I felt like it could get dated very quick
Overall, there were moments I fell into and the rest of my hesitations faded away, but there was definitely a disconnect between me and this book. A fun read if you're in it for the smut/romance and don't have high expectations, but nothing that kept me up at night dreaming. I'm looking forward to reading the next books in the series, though, and hoping to see a better, more developed relationship between Alex and Ava!
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Violence