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sophieamreacher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Blood, Vomit, and Pregnancy
cdoubet'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
kingangie'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, and Gaslighting
Minor: Pregnancy
icarusandthesun's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
if you're looking for comfort or escapism, enjoy reading about possessive and jealous, hormone controlled college students who act like they're still in high-school, paired with inconsequential, unconvincing drama threaded into 440 pages of sex, parties and only a pinch of actual figure skating and ice hockey, i think you might like this book.
but for me personally, all of it was just too much.
i didn't like the characters. they were a little two-dimensional, horny all the damn time and some of the hockey players i simply couldn't tell apart, because they were so similar (douchey, clowny "good guys"). i didn't think there was any substance to work with, no stunning and unique personalities, nothing. the only person that actually summoned some sort of recognizable image in my head upon hearing his name was henry. and it was even worse with the girls, because the author chose to not give some of them any personality at all. there were names and corresponding characteristics (girl 1 is an annoying bitch, girl 2 rejected nathan, and so forth) but that's basically it.
also... the smut, right. i don't have anything against smut in general, but there was just too much of it for my liking. it was really A LOT. and oh my days, if i took a shot every time nathan mentioned his boner and all the little daily things anastasia does that turn him on, i'd have died of alcohol poisoning long before even reaching the second half of the book. also, some of it was just so inappropriate??
the obvious event to mention here would be them literally fucking in an UBER that they shared with all of their friends. but it was the little things, too. like her being turned on by the fact nathan's favorite movie is coco, A KIDS' MOVIE BY THE WAY. or them playing 'house', you know... the thing that children do, and it results in them fucking.
idk, maybe that's just me, but that shit made me uncomfortable to say the least.
there were also quite a lot of generic tropes in there that just weren't done quite well enough. of course there's a scene where the main character gets sexually harassed at a bar and rescued. it was so inconsequential and stupid, sexual harassment used as a means to show that a specific person is "good". great.
the plot wasn't it either. i wanted more figure skating, and ice hockey. i wanted more plot, more things that could make the book unique and interesting. more genuine distress. the 'villain', or antagonist, was boring. the whole drama was boring. everything about the plot was boring.
what threw me off was how self-aware this book was sometimes. when i mentally called out a character on their bullshit, it did occur various times that another character calls them out on said bullshit. but that, too, wasn't done quite well enough, because the calling out had no consequences and was often used as a sort of "joke" or form of comic relief?
i spent most of my time reading wondering who exactly this was written for. because the writing is fanfic-y and so are the tropes, and the characters behave like teenagers. but it's 18+ and contains graphic sex scenes so what...
it felt so off because it never stuck to its supposed tone. it swayed into the adult romance direction and then hits you with the most childish dialogue - i don't know, it was just weird, know i'm saying.
+
gotta give this book credit though where it's due. some jokes were funny. and buddy-reading this did get me out of a reading slump, because it was easy and roastable and so entertaining (in all the wrong and infuriating ways, but entertaining nonetheless).
i was a little scared the representation (for various things) would be overdone and ridiculed when nathan outed jj as pansexual in the first couple of pages. but the rep was very subtle going forward, which was nice.
i also have to admit, the eating disorder representation was spot on. especially the middle part and her (suspiciously fast) recovery journey were relatable, though kept quite short, maybe a little too short to be representative, but the emotions and concerns anastasia conveyed about her weight were realistic.
the whole message surrounding therapy and how it feels hard at first but eventually can be really rewarding was cool, too.
oh, and the book had a romantic line or two in it as well, i guess.
yeah. i can't say i had fun. 440 pages were just a little too much for so little plot, so of course the book started derailing and getting sillier by the page from the second half on.
the epilogue was okay. it made their lives come full-circle. it wasn't interesting or exciting or especially impactful, it was just nice. okay. mid.
but then again, the book probably just wasn't for me. it's not supposed to be overanalyzed that way, it's just a funny little steamy romance for peak escapism. but i tend to take all of my books seriously like that, so here we are.
take from this whatever you will. if you do decide to pick it up, i sincerely hope you'll enjoy it.
Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
tragicgloom's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism
karysrosebooth'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
r3ader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Death, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
wildflowerleahg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Eating disorder
mhairi_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer, Blood, and Pregnancy
neverlandpages4's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
I’ve been wanting to read this ever since I started seeing it all over bookstagram, and idk why I waited so long but I’m so glad that I read it! I can definitely see why this is so many people’s favorite!!
𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
I liked the writing style and how casual it was. The author nailed the inner monologues of the main characters, and I loved reading from both their POVs.
𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐚
I loved Anastasia’s character and her development. I was able to relate to her on some levels and I love how she got the ending she deserved 💗
𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐞
Nate is the epitome of the “golden retriever boy”. He was honestly adorable and the way he cared for other people, even when they made mistakes was amazing to see. And the way he listened to Anastasia and helped her get through some tough things was so wholesome 🥹 I’m glad that we get to see a love interest in a romcom that’s genuinely good and supportive
𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
Their relationship is to DIE for!!! It’s such a healthy representation of a good relationship and it was so unlike the previous romcoms I’ve read. I don’t like the miscommunication trope in romance books, so a relationship where they’re honest and communicative was so refreshing to see and I loved it so much!!
𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
the side characters were such a fun part of the book. Their banter was funny and I loved Anastasia’s friendship with the hockey team. However, there were quite a lot of side characters that we don’t know much about and I was confused whenever they were brought up because I didn’t remember them being introduced.
𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥
This is definitely a new favorite!! 🫶🏼 The only reason it wasn’t a 5 ⭐️ was because I felt like it was repetitive, it seemed like every other chapter Anastasia and Nate would argue over something, then makeup by hooking up, then go back to arguing. It was just a lot of back and forth. Also, it was a bit too long for my liking. Some scenes really dragged on imo but I’d still highly recommend this!
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abandonment and Alcohol