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daniellesharp's review
4.0
Chase is amazing. Some of the plot points felt out in just to make them in, but didn’t actually matter much. Like, if it was a movie, they’d cut several plot points to shorten it.
3rd act break up
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
3rd act break up
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Stalking
Minor: Sexual harassment, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
culzean's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Vomit, Gaslighting, Violence, Classism, Cursing, and Death of parent
lilyemmaaa's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Car accident, Alcohol, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
annica_fourie's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Even though the book is on the longer side for a NA romance, I felt that the story was well-paced. I really liked the way Bailey and Chase's relationship was built up from not liking each, and that it wasn't insta-love. And the spice was some of the best I've read recently. The story was also fairly sex positive.
The toxicity of Bailey's friendships was not at all something I expected going into this book, but I appreciated the aspect it added to the story. I really liked that as I was reading about how toxic her friend group was, I was also reading about her "rebuilding" her life with healthier relationships.
Overall, I enjoyed the reading experience and I would definitely recommend this book.
The toxicity of Bailey's friendships was not at all something I expected going into this book, but I appreciated the aspect it added to the story. I really liked that as I was reading about how toxic her friend group was, I was also reading about her "rebuilding" her life with healthier relationships.
Overall, I enjoyed the reading experience and I would definitely recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, and Car accident
Minor: Self harm, Abortion, and Pregnancy
laurenvoice's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
For a book 600 pages long, Offside was surprisingly quick and easy to read; it only took a couple of days.
Offside was a fun and engrossing read that touched upon some dark topics. The slow build from friends to romance was sweet to read; Chase Carter was something else. I enjoyed watching Chase and Bailey's relationship grow, and their love spreads the message of how a green-flag relationship looks. Plus, it highlighted what red-flag relationships look like and why they are not acceptable, Luke belongs in the bin.
Avery Keelan did amazing at writing the romance side and fun side of the book. However, the darker topics that happened within this story felt poorly executed. For example, I found that the "sex tape" scandal and "stalking" were just brushed over and rushed. And there were no real consequences for these criminal acts; that tape was practically sexual assault. This storyline would have been the perfect opportunity to open a discussion about male victims of sexual assault and revenge porn.
As much as I loved watching Chase and Bailey's relationship grow, I found the book overly long; near the end, I got a bit fatigued reading it. The ending felt rushed and underwhelming, especially the resulting answer to the massive build-up of Bailey's guilt for her parent's financial troubles.
Also, there were a lot of unanswered questions, like what happened to Bailey's dad in the bonus chapters? It would have also been great to read some chapters talking more about Chase's and Bailey's family; I want to know more about Bailey's two other older brothers; do they have names for a start?
All that said, Offside was the lighthearted read I needed. I enjoyed reading about the ice hockey games and look forward to reading the next book in this series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent and Suicidal thoughts
reading_diaries's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
5.0
If I could rate this a 6, I would. I read this in a day and it was the most fun I had reading a book. It was so fast paced, the characters were so enjoyable to read, the story was just amazing. Don't get me wrong, this book is by no means a phenomenal book with this deep story and touching characters, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading it and thought it was the perfect book to get me out of a reading slump. Especially loved the playlist for this book, listened to every song while listening.
I really loved how Chase took things slow with Bailey and really allowed her to explore her range of intimacy. I think the way he helped her navigate her toxic friendships really hit home for me. I wish there was someone that would have done the same for me when I was going through a toxic friendship.
The ending plot twist had me screaming. I think the way Avery Keelan wrote it with such sensitivity and care especially since it showed a different side to sexual assault that's not often talked about in mainstream media.
Overall this book was such a fun read and I enjoyed it so much. Can't wait for the sequel!
I really loved how Chase took things slow with Bailey and really allowed her to explore her range of intimacy. I think the way he helped her navigate her toxic friendships really hit home for me. I wish there was someone that would have done the same for me when I was going through a toxic friendship.
The ending plot twist had me screaming. I think the way Avery Keelan wrote it with such sensitivity and care especially since it showed a different side to sexual assault that's not often talked about in mainstream media.
Overall this book was such a fun read and I enjoyed it so much. Can't wait for the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Alcohol, Bullying, and Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Violence
shanno_h0's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Stalking, and Gaslighting
kearstenkeepsreading's review against another edition
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I really enjoyed this book! It’s starts with Bailey getting dumped on her birthday by her garbage rat of a boyfriend, Luke. Followed by a stream of events that puts her in the path of Chase Carter, public enemy number one of her ex boyfriend and the hockey team he plays for. Bailey vows she hates Chase and that he’s nothing but trouble, but after he steps up for her when no one else would her chilly disposition starts to warm towards him.
It’s definitely a bit of a slow burn but it was wonderful to see relationship and character development as the book went on. Chase is truly everything book boyfriend dreams are made of.
There were two things that kept me from giving this book 5 stars and that was Chases excessive use of the word “hot” and the fact that the book was about 150-200 pages too long. There was a lot of unnecessary fluff throughout with classes and games that didn’t add to the story. Also I understand Chase is supposed to be a college guy but my goodness pick another way to describe Bailey other than “hot”.
All in all I really did enjoy this book and am excited for the next in the series.
It’s definitely a bit of a slow burn but it was wonderful to see relationship and character development as the book went on. Chase is truly everything book boyfriend dreams are made of.
There were two things that kept me from giving this book 5 stars and that was Chases excessive use of the word “hot” and the fact that the book was about 150-200 pages too long. There was a lot of unnecessary fluff throughout with classes and games that didn’t add to the story. Also I understand Chase is supposed to be a college guy but my goodness pick another way to describe Bailey other than “hot”.
All in all I really did enjoy this book and am excited for the next in the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Stalking, Sexual content, Violence, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse
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