Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - The Falling in Love Montage

Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth

11 reviews

pointeshoebookworm's review against another edition

emotional 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

1.5

I actually loved this first 98% of this book . . . but then that ending abosolutely destroyed it for me. And no, I'm not talking about

Ruby and Saoirse breaking up, we knew that from the beginning,

and no I don't mean that this book is just as much about dementia, instead of being a cute rom-com that it is marketed as.

Saoirse's feelings were *chef's kiss.* I could see many students (former high school teacher here), responding to major life changes the way she does. Especially if that's what your parent models.

Also, Oliver, sweet baby child. Love him, he deserves the world.

Now be warned for an absolute rant about the Dad/Beth and

Baby

storyline below. Feel free to skip if you didn't have a strong (or visceral, as is my case) reaction towards it.

I 100% detested the absolute piece of turd that her father is. Now, a part of this could just be my effed up issues from my own childhood with my parents but,

you refuse to talk about anything serious with your child, you start dating someone, propose, get married, move and have another child with another woman less than one year after your "wife" (ex-wife) moves out. All of which, done WITHOUT discussing this with (or hell even considering) your daughter who you know is absolutely drowning in all of the major changes going on in her life in regards to her mother, your divorce, AND the possibility that she could suffer from the same disease that is taking her mother away from her . . .

And for the most part, I was okay with it, I thought it was pretty realistic, until you just bombshelled the

pregnancy in the last two chapters. And again, it could be due to my issues, but I firmly believe having a child is soley up to the decision of the person carrying said child, but the consequences (both positive and negative) are felt by multiople people. And when it comes to having another child, the (holistic) wellbeing of your LIVING child should be a factor in your decision as to what you do. Having a child is not a decision about you and your desire to have children. If Saoirse regressed in her growth, I could not blame her, because, putting myself in her shoes, it would be completely understandable for her to feel like she was bing replaced. As what's been modeled for her is that we only sacrifice for someone we love, when it's beneficial towards you, and once it's not, we just pretend it's not there.

I'm not trying to say that her father's life should be put on hold or his life choices should be determined only by what Saoirse wants, but for god's sake, think about her for once and put her first at least once. She is your child, she should come first before yourself at all times. Or at the least, just think how she would feel or how your decisions would impact her. That's what you sign up for when you decide to have a child. End of rant.

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beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

The Falling in Love Montage is another winner from Ciara Smyth.

It has sharp (at times razor-sharp) writing, believable character development, snarky dialogue, and nicely paced. It also provides real insight into

what life is like for the child of a parent with early onset dementia

, a topic which I knew very little about, and which is

pretty devastating to read about

.

The best character development award goes to our MC, Saoirse (pronounced Seer-sha, as she makes clear right at the beginning). Her distinctly sarcastic narrative voice engages you immediately, even as you think, this girl has issues (well, that's what I thought, anyway).

The plot is well-paced, and it is in some ways I could see where it was going,

, particularly with the romance plot

, but it was told so beautifully that I didn't mind the journey getting there.

I also really appreciated how everything

wasn't neatly wrapped up at the end, because that felt more realistic

.

Overall, this was a really well-written, feel-good tale with a knockout MC.

Content Warnings

bookwormcat's review

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

saeruh's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

I LOVED this book. I thought the writing was phenomenal and the characters interacting in situations of love in the chaos of life was so realistic and so beautiful. Even though the main character can easily be annoying to other readers, I found that she was just incredibly private and closed up but still deep cared about those she loved. However, I was not a big fan of the ending, I don’t think the love story was ended well and it was kinda abrupt.

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risseandshine's review against another edition

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emotional 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

2.5

Here's the thing. This isn't a bad book. But hear me out.

If you are looking for wlw book with two fantastic female leads that will make you scream 'OMG YES BEST COUPLE!!!!' at the end, skip this.

I cannot express how disappointed I am with how this book turned out. What I expected to end on a positive note romance-wise ended with too many loose ends, unanswered questions, and couple I didn't know whether to root for or not.

But then like I said, this book isn't mediocre by any means. The author's writing is the kind I would love to read again. It has wit and humor to it that instantly grabbed my attention from the first chapter. Sadly, it wasn't enough for me to give this the glowing rating that I would have wanted.

Would I recommend this book? Yes...but with reservations. I'd say level your expectations if you are looking for something heavy on the romance. Don't rely too much on the synopsis; it doesn't really summarize what this book has to offer. Also, this book deals with pretty heavy topics so checking triggers would be very helpful.

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daydream's review

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emotional funny 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

3.75

the end felt extremely rushed, and yet the last chapter still made me feel a hurricane of emotions. very mixed feelings about the ending, but i think saoirse and ruby got the end they deserved,

or maybe that's because i'm a staunch supporter of "right person, wrong time".

also, i think saoirse and i are more similar than i expected—we have a similar sense of humour and the same annoying stubbornness and pettiness—so i'll always be rooting for her.

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lena_loves_reading's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

I'm not sure how I feel about this book...

I loved some parts of it, like Oliver (I wish he would've appeared more often, he's the best), how comfortable the main characters were with their sexuality and the romcom references I didn't get but respected anyways.

I'm gonna be honest, I wanted this to be a sob story and I just wasn't. I've met many people with dementia while vulunteering in the neurological ward and I cannot imagine the struggle of having a parent with early onset dementia. I was so interested in the family situation, the mum being in a care home and the dad moving on. I liked how much attention this got but I really wanted them to talk more about their feelings. Instead the MC Saoirse and her dad fought all the time and then it got revolved almost instantly in the end.

Saoirse is an angsty, self-destructive teenager and while I like far-from-perfect protagonists, her lying to the love interest and arguing made the book frustrating. I struggled with building an emotional connection to her. Again, this would've been fine if the ending was more fleshed out she had a good redemption arc.

I enjoyed the Irish audiobook narrator even though it took me a while to get used to the accent.

Content Warnings

orchidd's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

bookswithisabel's review

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medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I’d hoped I would. As some of my GR friends have mentioned in their reviews, Saoirse and Ruby had no chemistry whatsoever, and Saoirse was just an insufferable character in my opinion. I personally thought the writing throughout the whole book was just…bad, but I’m also not really a fan of when authors use “you” in a book and directly address their audience, it feels a bit cheesy.

There was also a lot more family/illness content than I had anticipated.

There were definitely a few lines that I really enjoyed though (and tabbed them), and I liked Oliver’s character, Barbara from the dress shop, and Morris too. And yay for lesbians as always! I’m still glad I read this and checked it off my TBR.

Content Warnings

ticktock's review

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emotional funny lighthearted 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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