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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
The main character was extremely whiny.
I like age gap romances that push the limits but this one just made me feel skeevy. I guess I found my threshold.
I like age gap romances that push the limits but this one just made me feel skeevy. I guess I found my threshold.
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
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love it and I can't stop reading, but i kind of hated the hero at the end of this book...
This book had some things I really enjoyed and things that made me roll my eyes. I had a hard time with the dialogue....it didn't flow well to my reading ears and it didn't seem like how a 16yr old would actually talk.
But, overall it did hold the tension of the story throughout the whole book & kept my attention, which is part of the reason I'm giving it 4 stars.
This is one I would like to listen to with audiobook to see if I could follow the dialogue & play by play better.
But, overall it did hold the tension of the story throughout the whole book & kept my attention, which is part of the reason I'm giving it 4 stars.
This is one I would like to listen to with audiobook to see if I could follow the dialogue & play by play better.
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
I first tried to read Balance back in 2017, and ended up DNFing it before the 5th chapter. I was seventeen at the time, and while I did read smutty romance back then, I didn't read romance of this capacity and couldn't handle it. Now that I'm twenty-one, a totally different person, I'm SO glad I didn't read Balance when I was an emotionally fragile teenager. Balance is a lot. It's a book that you have to be completely open-minded to read. It's not for the faint of heart.
Lucia has since updated Adrianna's age in the book to make it "less taboo" so it can be sold on Amazon, but I opted to purchase the original version of Balance off of Lucia's website in which Adrianna is 15/16 throughout the duration of the story, and Kova is 32. I personally don't think authors should be censored, so I wanted to read Lucia's original work before it was banned.
In a quick summary, Balance is the first book in a series of five about a forbidden illicit affair between a 16 year old gymnast and her 32 year old coach. Adrianna Rossi has devoted her entire life to gymnastics, so she moves off on her own to train at an elite gym under the hand of former Olympic gymnast, Konstantin Kournakova. Long story short, despite their ages, Adrianna and Kova enter into a sexual relationship.
I have so many thoughts about Balance and spent all day writing down notes about how to write my review, because I feel like an in depth review is super important for this book. First off, the elephant in the room;
1. Adrianna is underage. When she and Kova start having sex, she's sixteen and in Florida (where the unedited book takes place) the age of consent is eighteen. In the book, Adrianna talks with her best friend about the age of consent, and how Kova would be charged with statutory rape if they were caught. For me, this is where I have to remember that this is FICTION and continue reading. I think what helped me in this situation is that Lucia didn't brush it under the rug and actually addressed it.
2. Kova is such an asshole. Like I'm talking MAJOR PRICK STATUS. A lot of times I can overlook stuff like that (I mean hello, give me all the high school bully romance) but sometimes it felt like Kova was being unnecessarily mean to Ria just because he could. I also didn't particularly enjoy him cheating on Katja, but beggars can't be choosers I guess.
3. I freaking hated that Kova treated the morning after pill like birth control!!! Like man up and wear a condom, my god! And the fact that it ended up hurting Ria and she took it AGAIN just to make him happy... MADE ME WANT TO PULL MY HAIR OUT
4. This is me being nitpicky, but the almost constant talk of food and how Ria basically starves herself to "not get fat" was rather triggering for me personally and I couldn't wait for the story to end because of that. I hope it doesn't continue in book two.
5. HAYDEN!! I loved Hayden so much and he was such a good friend to Ria from the very beginning. I lowkey rooting for him there at the end haha
I'm sure there's stuff I've missed and I may come back and add to this review. I personally don't view Balance as a romance book. That may change as I continue on with the series, but Balance is simply an affair. A forbidden, illicit affair. So far, there's no love between our two characters. Lust? Sure. But love? Absolutely not. Kova has so far to go before he redeems himself even A LITTLE and Ria has a lot of growing up to do.
Overall, I did like this book enough to give it 4 stars. The plot was unique, the sex was hot, and Lucia's knowledge of gymnastics kept me hooked! I love when an author writes about a sport they formerly played. I'm going to continue on with the series, but I'm going to take a break for awhile because this book was exhausting lol
Lucia has since updated Adrianna's age in the book to make it "less taboo" so it can be sold on Amazon, but I opted to purchase the original version of Balance off of Lucia's website in which Adrianna is 15/16 throughout the duration of the story, and Kova is 32. I personally don't think authors should be censored, so I wanted to read Lucia's original work before it was banned.
In a quick summary, Balance is the first book in a series of five about a forbidden illicit affair between a 16 year old gymnast and her 32 year old coach. Adrianna Rossi has devoted her entire life to gymnastics, so she moves off on her own to train at an elite gym under the hand of former Olympic gymnast, Konstantin Kournakova. Long story short, despite their ages, Adrianna and Kova enter into a sexual relationship.
I have so many thoughts about Balance and spent all day writing down notes about how to write my review, because I feel like an in depth review is super important for this book. First off, the elephant in the room;
1. Adrianna is underage. When she and Kova start having sex, she's sixteen and in Florida (where the unedited book takes place) the age of consent is eighteen. In the book, Adrianna talks with her best friend about the age of consent, and how Kova would be charged with statutory rape if they were caught. For me, this is where I have to remember that this is FICTION and continue reading. I think what helped me in this situation is that Lucia didn't brush it under the rug and actually addressed it.
2. Kova is such an asshole. Like I'm talking MAJOR PRICK STATUS. A lot of times I can overlook stuff like that (I mean hello, give me all the high school bully romance) but sometimes it felt like Kova was being unnecessarily mean to Ria just because he could. I also didn't particularly enjoy him cheating on Katja, but beggars can't be choosers I guess.
3. I freaking hated that Kova treated the morning after pill like birth control!!! Like man up and wear a condom, my god! And the fact that it ended up hurting Ria and she took it AGAIN just to make him happy... MADE ME WANT TO PULL MY HAIR OUT
4. This is me being nitpicky, but the almost constant talk of food and how Ria basically starves herself to "not get fat" was rather triggering for me personally and I couldn't wait for the story to end because of that. I hope it doesn't continue in book two.
5. HAYDEN!! I loved Hayden so much and he was such a good friend to Ria from the very beginning. I lowkey rooting for him there at the end haha
I'm sure there's stuff I've missed and I may come back and add to this review. I personally don't view Balance as a romance book. That may change as I continue on with the series, but Balance is simply an affair. A forbidden, illicit affair. So far, there's no love between our two characters. Lust? Sure. But love? Absolutely not. Kova has so far to go before he redeems himself even A LITTLE and Ria has a lot of growing up to do.
Overall, I did like this book enough to give it 4 stars. The plot was unique, the sex was hot, and Lucia's knowledge of gymnastics kept me hooked! I love when an author writes about a sport they formerly played. I'm going to continue on with the series, but I'm going to take a break for awhile because this book was exhausting lol
slow-paced
medium-paced
Spice, angst, anger, love - this has all of it. This series wrecked me in the best way last year and I’m so glad to be doing a reread.