Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Soulmates by Christina Lauren

55 reviews

funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

An incredibly sweet, at time steamy and overall lovely romance. 

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
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

I really liked this book. Yes, it's a cliche rom-com /chick lit book but one of the better ones and is very cute. Having read The One recently by John Marrs, it has a very different feel and execution to the same concept, finding your sole mate via DNA. Jess and her best friend Fizz meet at a coffee shop where a grumpy man comes in every morning. They nickname him Americano, and he is Jess's DNA match. Jess is a single mum to Juno. She lives with her grandparents across the complex Pops and Nana Jo, and she  has a very difficult relationship with her mother. I love the characters and their relationships. The writing of the 7 year old Juno is just right. It's funny in all the right places, cute, sweet but not overly so, making it recommended fab beach read. It's easy to read and makes you feel very cosy . As a duo writing together, their work is seamless, and it's as if one person has written it so huge admiration for that. If you are looking for a relaxing read, look no further. 

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
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

 I received an ARC of The True Love Experiment from the Simon & Schuster table at a library conference. The rep said it was a good starting place for Christina Lauren books. I didn't realize it was a sequel, so when I got back from the conference, I checked out this book. It was very interesting. 

Like a lot of romance novels, it covers some really deep topics while also keeping it light. It has one of my favorite tropes in it - fake dating - and it pulls it off quite well. 4.0 stars

Edit: 2025-03-15: reread this book, and it was excellent. The paperback edition had a special epilogue from River's perspective that was excellent. Rating increased to 4.5 stars. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

My favorite part about this was the STEM background. The cool concept of intertwined logic & equation with love & statistics. That was such a cool concept.

Second is Jess's best friend Frizzy. When I think about the "ride or die concept", I can think of someone like her. How she's so naturally the second mom of her best friend's child, how she's so carefree & radiating, how she's there for her bestie at any given moment & how she's practically Jesse's secret holder. That type of friendship where you would hold on to each other while being completely honest is so rare.

And I love Jesse's daughter. Maybe she's my favorite character. She's such a unique kid with so much potential that the first few dialogues with her made me realize that she's an extraordinary kid. Maybe it's her mom's undivided attention poured onto her with lots of love, and her mom's genes running through her, or maybe she's a completely unique individual in her own way. Whatever it is, I just love her. She's so understanding, intelligent and wise for her age that sometimes it fascinates me.

I like slow-burn stories. So this one was on my positive side from the beginning. There are a few things that didn't sit right with me, but overall it was fun & enjoyable.

Jessica: except her drooling over River, sometimes it felt flat. Yes, they had chemistry here and there, they were there for each other, but the LOVE for him, instead of loving him for what he was doing for her, wasn't that prominent. I might be asking for too much, but every time she's head over heels for him, it's either because he did something for her or he's hot and she wanna eat him. Not JUST because he's him. That didn't feel right to me.

Him, on the other hand, wasn't my favorite at first. Calling someone something just because they're not there isn't excusable. If you said it, you meant it, periodt. But he was so sweet once he got into it. I like the nerdy, shy guy side of him. The side of him he didn't show to others but to Jess.

But how he acted towards the end didn't sit right with me. If you need some scientifically proven data to be with what you believe is love, and you tend to be a workaholic to the point you won't realize you ghosted someone you loved for more than a week, I think he needs to work on that. If it is in the long run, he should learn how to address what he feels, how he makes others feel and what to do to improve himself.

Thankfully, the plot twist wasn't River's fault. If it was, it would've given me the ick so badly.

Overall, this book was fun to read. It's easier to read. Even though there are things I wasn't a fan of, it was still an easy read.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
lighthearted 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: No

I liked the concept of the dating app however I feel like the book focused too much on the logistics of the app and not enough on the relationship of the characters. I feel like the characters lacked chemistry and were boring. Wish we could’ve gotten River’s pov. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional hopeful 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
medium-paced

My rating scale, for reference:

  • 1 Star: Hated it
  • 2 Stars: Didn't like it
  • 3 Stars: Meh
  • 4 Stars: Liked it
  • 5 Stars: Loved it

This book was an enjoyable feel-good read, even if it was a bit predictable.

Overall, Jess and River were cute together and had great chemistry. The physical attraction was obviously there for them both, but I’m glad a bit of depth came through in their relationship, too - for example,
in River’s developing relationship with Jess’ daughter, Juno, as well as in scenes where Jess and River shared vulnerably about their fears, childhoods, and so on
. I only wish we could have had River’s POV too so we knew what he was thinking.

Speaking of River, his characterization felt a little all over the place for me, and I could have done without the focus on how perfect he was. I can't say for certain whether he was straight-up objectively perfect or if that was just the way Jess viewed him, since she was the narrator, but I hate it when characters are depicted as having no flaws or as having/being it all.

Anyway, aside from the romance, I really enjoyed the relationships Jess had with her daughter, as well as with the other supporting characters. Her mom was totally shitty, and I was (spoiler)
relieved when Jess finally cut her out of her life
, but Fizzy, Nana Jo and Pop were all great. I loved the evident care and love that existed between Jess and her grandparents, as well as the banter and support Jess had with Fizzy. I liked, too, how they all pushed Jess to let them help her, especially with Juno.

Jess grew flustered. “She’s my kid. I want to see her.”

“Of course you do,” Fizzy said, “but she’s Jo’s and Pop’s and mine, too. She and I had a blast tonight, and I wish I could see her more. But you act like asking for help is selfish…” (pg. 238)


For a romance novel, I appreciated that the authors touched on more complex issues, like family dynamics (especially with the challenges Jess faced as a single mom, as well as the dysfunctional relationship she had with her own mom) or  the exploration of destiny versus choice: how much of our compatibility with others could be genetically encoded into our DNA vs how much intention, choice, hard work and commitment factor into the success of our relationships. 
 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
lighthearted 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings