Reviews with content warning for Stalking - The Kiss Quotient

Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

60 reviews

just_jess02's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was not at all what I expected. Usually the emotional aspects of romance novels feel like a formality to connect the erotic moments to me. This book is 90% emotional and mental descriptions with about 10% smut. I surprisingly really enjoyed it! The author did a fantastic job weaving tension through the story and keeping me engaged. I was able to empathize with most of the characters and really connect with the nuances of the relationships. While I strongly resonated with Stella on a personal level and enjoyed the representation of her POV, there was something about the depiction of her character that bothered me… I just can’t quite figure out what.
Definitely worth the read if you’re looking for something casual and short. It’s not very spicy but it is very hot.
🌶️1.5/5

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wilybooklover's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

1.5

This book started out so well and was on the way to being a solid four-star read, but alas, did not work for me in the end. I enjoyed the autistic representation (written by an autistic author), Michael’s family and the portrayal of Vietnamese culture, and Stella. I loved her — she’s such a complex and unique character and had a great character arc. Hated the rest, lol. Stella and Michael’s attraction seemed almost purely physical; I wanted to see a stronger emotional connection, more substance. I was uncomfortable with the way that sex work and sex workers were portrayed at several points. I don’t think the topic of sexual assault was handled very well or really unpacked properly by Stella. Michael says his mother dying would ‘free’ him, framing sick/disabled people as burdens on their family (granted I have no experience with the American healthcare system but surely that’s the real issue here).

Mostly, though, it was Michael who ruined the book for me. He’s pushy, domineering, overly possessive, and can’t take no for an answer. He literally stalks Stella and follows her home, repeatedly goes after her and presses his romantic attentions on her after she turns him down and tells him to leave her alone MULTIPLE TIMES. That’s not sexy; it’s creepy and scary. Yet when another man won’t take no for an answer, he’s angry even though it’s a very similar kind of behaviour as his own. One is portrayed as wrong and the other OK purely based on who is perpetrating the behaviour. Make it make sense. Not only that but after being sexually assaulted which is obviously very upsetting for Stella, does he offer her support or comfort? No, he feels the need to ‘mark her as his’ as if she’s his property. She initially tells him no to kissing after such a traumatic event and is clearly uncomfortable with it but does he respect that? Of course not, he forces her into it anyway and then fucks her because HE needs it! Fuck Stella’s needs, I guess.

Of course, he knew she didn’t really want him to leave her alone because he knows better. Same with the sex scenes: he overrides her own wishes (that she states to him clearly) and pushes her into doing things she dislikes and feels uncomfortable with because he apparently knows better than her about her own body. He tells her to dress and do her hair how he likes it rather than how she prefers. She can’t even eat what she wants without him trying to control it. He knows she has a hard time in loud/social situations and she tells him she’d rather go home because she’s tired, but he forces her to go to his large, boisterous family’s house anyway. He’s just forever violating her boundaries even (and especially) when she says she’s uncomfortable with doing something. Yeah, he says all the right things about respecting her consent, but his actions and thoughts don’t line up so it just feels manipulative and patronising. He may be teaching her how to be in a relationship but it’s certainly not a healthy one. The controlling behaviour, questionable consent, and complete disregard for Stella’s agency really put me off and made me feel uneasy.

There were also a few things that bothered me in terms of writing. Michael is described as looking like a specific celebrity, which is not only a lazy way to describe someone but just something I despise, especially in romance. Much of Michael’s inner monologue comes off as immature with dude-bro style casual misogyny (e.g. ‘the only reason a woman should wear a pencil skirt is to show off her ass’). The book is laden with bizarre lines such as ‘a natural talent for fucking’ (LMAO) and ‘she had the kind of nipples men and babies dreamed about’ (what??). The dirty talk was... not good.

I can’t believe this book got recommended to me as having a kind, gentle hero and good consent. I am genuinely baffled. If that is what you want then this book is not it.

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helfire124's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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cnricochet's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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jazzseeks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I am not a fan of contemporary romance usually but this is certainly the best one I've ever read. What I really loved was how relatable the Main Character was as a woman with Autism and how much <Michael loved her for the ways she was unique and not inspite of who she is>. I found the romance believable, funny, and deeply enjoyable. <Michaels family is lovely.> The only things I didn't like were how horrible a lot of the tertiary characters were such as the parents, the coworkers, the ex clients. Those parts were painful to get through and didn't always feel vital to the story or characters development. Also Helen Hoang is really pro-capitalist and I'm never into that though I enjoyed flipping the trope so that the Woman had the money.

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bexi's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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zoiejanelle's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

(another library audiobook rental)

this was NOT The Heart Principle, but that’s okay. it serves its purpose.

truly full of gratuitous smut, this was very much a romance novel. after the half a dozen sex scenes, i understood why it was so popular. i wonder why the author toned it down so much for the next two books? this was spicy in every other chapter!

overall a fun premise—who doesn’t love Pretty Woman? but Michael’s inconsistent character (and his weird, occasionally right occasionally wrong understanding of consent) was wild to me. Stella was fine, though her arc seemed rushed toward the end.

fun read, but certainly not Helen Hoang’s best work.

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sydneyluxford's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, but the second half was too fast-paced for my liking.

I knew this book was going to have smut in it, but it had way more than I expected. I think that affected my enjoyment a bit, because I’m not the biggest fan of smut. If you don’t enjoy smut, definitely do not read this book, because it is unavoidable.

Stella was a bit too relatable, it’s kinda scary… should I be worried???? Should I get tested, or what?

In the beginning, I really liked Michael, but as the book progressed, I didn’t like him as much. I still like him though, I just felt that he was quite ‘forceful’ with Stella. I don’t know if I misinterpreted it, but there was a smut scene where she was uncomfortable and he said something along the lines of: “give me a minute, I need this.” And I was so confused???

This review makes me seem like I hate this book — I don’t. I actually really enjoyed it, I just don’t think I’d want to read something similar to this any time soon.

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embla_v's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted

4.5

En bok som är väldigt underhållande och hela tiden håller ens intresse fångat.

Stella älskar sitt jobb men det tar upp all hennes tid. När Stella bestämmer sig för att hitta någon, inser hon att hon inte har "tillräckligt" med erfarenhet. Detta gör att hon fattar det enda logiska beslutet, att hyra en escort. Michael hatar sitt jobb men är i ständigt behov av pengar vilket gör att han tackar ja till Stellas erbjudande. Men när ett professionellt förhållande förändras till något annat förändras allt.

Jag tyckte att boken var väldigt underhållande, rolig och intresseväckande. Den var också lite steamy. Rekommenderar till den som vill ha en gullig romans med mycket känslor och spice. 18+ (eller inte)

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sam_maree's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Did not expect Stella to hire an escort. Story was super cute. Michael setting standards high. Loved seeing representation of autism.

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