Reviews

Balance by Lucia Franco

gnlee26's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

ria and kova
may 8, 2024
3⭐️
im conflicted, on one hand i absolutely loved it and on the other i hated everything about it. i was honestly so here for the mess (while half hating everyone) up until that final scene.

im all for benching her because of jealousy and jumping to conclusions. toxic, but i can handle it. i dont love threatening to yell r@pe just to ruin his life.

i plan on reading the next cause i want to see the train wreck but if its more of that imma have to quit. 

julsyx's review against another edition

2.0

Por qué me sigo haciendo esto.

sabrina7's review against another edition

i did not realize the fmc was gonna be a minor when i picked up this book. yikes no thank u

tone611's review against another edition

1.0

The fact that this book has many 4 & 5 star ratings is beyond me. To start off, she’s 16 and he’s 32. I’m all for a taboo story but Jesus Christ this is just wrong in so many levels. It’s disgusting and illegal.

trinitymconrad's review against another edition

5.0

"we'd have to choose between being in love and simply breathing. i knew it in my heart, we wouldn't get both."

ekofficer's review against another edition

2.0

I was hoping for more competitive gymnastics and less statutory rape.

littlespookysmut's review against another edition

4.0

First of all I don’t condone anything happening in this book

junyan's review against another edition

2.0

WTF. I most likely won’t continue this series no matter how amazing the character development is.

Many comments say that Ria is 15/16 and what I read was 16/17, but still……

【Spoiler part】
Are there women deliberately accuse man of raping her but he actually didn’t do it? I don’t care. What I see is Ria threw rape accusation on Kova’s face, and this content can demolish the accusations from rape victims irl.
【End of spoiler part】

Also, romantizing the nightmare of female athletes who suffered sexual assault from their coaches is awful.

I know this is fiction and it’s not real, but who can affirm that the fiction world created by people have nothing to do with the real world people live in?

Expect all the rant above, Kova is a insufferable and unbearable jerk. I don’t see how he can be the hero of a ROMANCE book.

The writing was good. The sex scenes were hot and worth all the stars I could give.

laurentalevski's review against another edition

1.0

This book was just not for me. Too many tropes I don’t like and a really toxic abusive relationship in a situation that makes me really uncomfortable

courts_hodge's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.25

If the female main character was 18+ the book could’ve gotten so many more stars because I’m a fan of forbidden romances BUT, she was 16 and dating a 32 year old?!!! Far too much of an age gap which is also borderline illegal.

It’s a shame because the premise was great - huge fan of gymnastics and romance books. 

I’ve had to DNF because I just can’t handle her repeating her age all the time… morally feels like a very wrong read…