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minishcap's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Addiction, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, and Gun violence
Minor: Abandonment
100_pages_hr's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Death of parent, Rape, Violence, Blood, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, and Sexual content
dear_reader_stephani's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Violence, Rape, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Cursing, Grief, Alcoholism, and Gaslighting
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
bookish_dustjacket's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was my first Pam Godwin book and it definitely won't be my last. I won't lie, this one was definitely different from the books I typically read, the characters definite have some morally grey attributes that I wasn't sure about, but I loved the way Pam handled such heavy subject matter. I appreciate that the characters were true to themselves and didn't shy away from their wants and needs. I loved the way Jake wanted to help Conor and that helping her was always his focus. And I love that he never saw her as broken or irrevocably changed from her experiences. I'm genuinely curious about the rest of this series and Pam's other work.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the following, but would highly encourage everyone to look into trigger/content warnings.
✔️ Friends to Lovers
✔️ Second Chance
✔️ Dark Romance
✔️ Western
✔️ Small Town
✔️ First Person Dual POV
❕️ Trigger/Content Warnings: Rape, Abuse, Violence
4 🌶
Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, and Rape
candelibri's review against another edition
2.25
Graphic: Sexual violence and Rape
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
sniderbeebooks'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 will say that the emotions when things were 'good' didn't quite counter the intensity of the angst and emotions when things weren't so good. It tapered off a bit. Or it somehow felt a little anticlimactic.
I really loved it though.
Read Pam Godwin when you want to feel things!
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death of parent and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Car accident
meliroo's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
reader118's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Rape, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Cursing, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Car accident and Alcohol
fictionmajorette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was my first Pam Godwin and I can see why she is many people's go-to for dark romance. I liked some parts of the book, but overall this was a bit of a miss for me. My main issue with the book revolves around Conor's agency. It felt like, until about the 75% mark, that the men in her life had taken away all her agency and the only reason they would give was that it was 'for her own good'. The characters try to explain that if they would have told her the truth from the beginning that she would have insisted to be involved and probably would have gotten hurt. So instead, they basically went no-contact with her and made her think for 6 years that her brother, boyfriend, and best friend had abandoned her after her brutal assault. Not a great foundation for a romance, in my opinion. I also have no experience with PTSD or PTSD treatment, but I really hated how Jake was forcing Conor to work through her triggers and memories so quickly and head-on and it read more emotionally abusive than caring to me. However, after the 75%-ish, Conor does gain back her agency and is able to put her past somewhat behind her. She knows all the secrets now and can make informed decisions about her life. As a hopeless romantic, I did really like the 'meant to be together' feeling of Jake and Conor's relationship and how straightforward Jake was about how Conor is everything for him. I was really interested in the secrets they uncovered while Conor was gone and if this was structured a little differently - maybe more like a typical romantic suspense - with Conor more involved in the secrets as well as her own recovery, I could easily see this as a 5-star read. It sounds like the rest of the series leans more into the traditional romantic suspense sub-genre so I will most likely be reading on in the series.
Graphic: Physical abuse and Sexual assault