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kalin_grace's review
emotional
funny
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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
andreamargarita's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism
miasreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Alcohol
Minor: Medical content
sami_leigh's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Ableism
emfass's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
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
Perfect book is perfect (or damn near). I am a goddamn wreck. I really don't go in for enemies to lovers but this was so well done.
I don't have more words right now, but definitely don't miss the playlist / accompanying songs. They are FANTASTIC.
I don't have more words right now, but definitely don't miss the playlist / accompanying songs. They are FANTASTIC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Minor: Vomit
Willa's mother has cancer, moves to hospice care in a friend's home, and passes away during the events of the book.ashlightgrayson's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I had not read a romance with representation for deaf people or the hearing impaired before, and I'm glad this was the one I picked up. I've often heard from hearing impaired individuals that a lot of able-bodied people assume that deaf people are also mute, and I think this story will help diminish those preconceptions. Not everyone is born deaf and there are various causes for hearing impairment and the story gives an example of these circumstances. As someone who is not hearing impaired, this story sparked my curiosity about the topic and had me looking up information pertaining to hearing aids, procedures, and treatments for the hearing impaired. It really drives home how important representation is. There are instances in the story where people make wrong assumptions or judgements about Ryder, the male lead who is hearing impaired, secondary to his disability. It helps emphasize that in general it is important to try to not be judgmental with strangers because you never know what someone is going through.
Pertaining to the characters, Ryder and Willa have a push/pull dynamic and they have lots of witty banter that was very fun to read. Eventually, they get to know each other better when they are paired up for a project for a class they are both in. They start seeing the things they have in common and gain great levels of respect and admiration for each other. This becomes a great foundation for their friendship and eventual romance. Both characters have issues with vulnerability. For Ryder it's due to insecurity related to his disability. On the other hand, for Willa it is secondary to being used to being independent her entire life and not knowing when to accept help. Their relationship is consistently engaging and both Ryder and Willa have interests and goals independent from their relationship to each other. Their friendships and platonic relationships give them excellent support systems when they have hardships. These side characters are also very likeable and I'm looking forward to seeing them in future books.
Pertaining to the characters, Ryder and Willa have a push/pull dynamic and they have lots of witty banter that was very fun to read. Eventually, they get to know each other better when they are paired up for a project for a class they are both in. They start seeing the things they have in common and gain great levels of respect and admiration for each other. This becomes a great foundation for their friendship and eventual romance. Both characters have issues with vulnerability. For Ryder it's due to insecurity related to his disability. On the other hand, for Willa it is secondary to being used to being independent her entire life and not knowing when to accept help. Their relationship is consistently engaging and both Ryder and Willa have interests and goals independent from their relationship to each other. Their friendships and platonic relationships give them excellent support systems when they have hardships. These side characters are also very likeable and I'm looking forward to seeing them in future books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent
kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition
Okay. Here we go. I don't even know how to rate this book. Warning: spoilers ahead.
I would like to preface this review by mentioning that the author has added a note in new publishings of the book acknowledging that she made errors. The note is as follows: "This work of fiction portrays some inaccuracies regarding hearing loss and cochlear implants that I did not know of prior to publication. I am thankful to those that brought this to my attention; I deeply regret those inaccuracies and that I am unable to change them. I ask that readers look to the deaf community as the authority on this topic rather than this fictional character."
While I appreciate that the author apologized, I feel it is much more than simple "inaccuracies" in the book. It is blatant audism and ableism, written by a hearing person with a very typical hearing view of deafness, and it should have been researched better.
While I am not deaf myself, I am an ASL Interpreter, and have been involved in the Deaf community for years. I have a different perspective than most hearing people who have no exposure or education about the Deaf community, culture, and history. Still, it is very possible that I missed even more things than in this review, and so I highly recommend reading Sydney Langford's review on Goodreads (I could not find her here on StoryGraph; she may not have a profile here), as hers is from an own voices perspective:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3785992966?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=3
The myriad of problems of audism and oppression, some of which made my blood boil:
Multiple times in the book, Willa purposely mumbles in Ryder's presence, *because* she knows that he can't hear her. This is blatant audism.
While Ryder is asleep, Willa notices that he had been wearing his hearing aids. She instantly becomes angry because he probably heard her mumbling to herself in front of him and believed he should have told her he was wearing them. He owed her no explanation. She wanted to be informed for HER own benefit. Deaf people do not need to justify their decision to wear hearing aids, or to not wear them.
Ryder's family made no attempt to learn sign language to communicate with him. While this is actually very typical of a deaf person's experience with their hearing family, the family also continuously forces him into situations where they want him to speak, instead of making it easier for him to communicate and understand. They do often use their phones and text, however.
Forcing Ryder to speak when he specifically chose not to for his own reasons. I loved Willa's mom until she did this to him. Her character wasn't the only one. Willa was so happy to hear his voice, despite him not wanting to speak most of the book. This is very hearing-minded, and comes from a place of oppression. Again, she wanted him to speak for HER benefit, so SHE could hear his voice, not because HE wanted to and was making the right choice for him.
Lip reading. The lip reading skills of Ryder were completely unrealistic. After being deaf only a few years, he's a master lip reader. This is wildly inaccurate. It takes an exhausting amount of learning and training to become skilled at lip reading, and even then, only about 30% of the English language can be seen on the mouth. The rest is all blanks, and the deaf person has to fill them in based on context and what they did get. It is incredibly difficult and exhausting.
Cochlear implants. They are NOT a cure for deafness as the book portrays. The deaf person is STILL DEAF. The surgery is incredibly invasive and expensive, and when the implants get "turned on" after healing post-surgery, it is absolutely NOT an instantaneous cure. Sounds are distorted, and do not sound like do for a person born hearing. The deaf person needs to go through extensive training and practice to learn to differentiate between all the sounds and noises in the world. And when the outside piece of the implant is taken off, the deaf person is still deaf. AND it is not a miraculous cure for learning to speak again, either. Even for someone who was born hearing.
The point: Deaf people are not broken. They do not need to be fixed, especially by hearing people who do not sign, cannot communicate with them without an interpreter, have no knowledge of the oppressive history of Deaf individuals and their community, and view deafness only from a hearing medical perspective. Deaf readers and community members should have been consulted for this book.
I would like to preface this review by mentioning that the author has added a note in new publishings of the book acknowledging that she made errors. The note is as follows: "This work of fiction portrays some inaccuracies regarding hearing loss and cochlear implants that I did not know of prior to publication. I am thankful to those that brought this to my attention; I deeply regret those inaccuracies and that I am unable to change them. I ask that readers look to the deaf community as the authority on this topic rather than this fictional character."
While I appreciate that the author apologized, I feel it is much more than simple "inaccuracies" in the book. It is blatant audism and ableism, written by a hearing person with a very typical hearing view of deafness, and it should have been researched better.
While I am not deaf myself, I am an ASL Interpreter, and have been involved in the Deaf community for years. I have a different perspective than most hearing people who have no exposure or education about the Deaf community, culture, and history. Still, it is very possible that I missed even more things than in this review, and so I highly recommend reading Sydney Langford's review on Goodreads (I could not find her here on StoryGraph; she may not have a profile here), as hers is from an own voices perspective:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3785992966?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=3
The myriad of problems of audism and oppression, some of which made my blood boil:
Multiple times in the book, Willa purposely mumbles in Ryder's presence, *because* she knows that he can't hear her. This is blatant audism.
While Ryder is asleep, Willa notices that he had been wearing his hearing aids. She instantly becomes angry because he probably heard her mumbling to herself in front of him and believed he should have told her he was wearing them. He owed her no explanation. She wanted to be informed for HER own benefit. Deaf people do not need to justify their decision to wear hearing aids, or to not wear them.
Ryder's family made no attempt to learn sign language to communicate with him. While this is actually very typical of a deaf person's experience with their hearing family, the family also continuously forces him into situations where they want him to speak, instead of making it easier for him to communicate and understand. They do often use their phones and text, however.
Forcing Ryder to speak when he specifically chose not to for his own reasons. I loved Willa's mom until she did this to him. Her character wasn't the only one. Willa was so happy to hear his voice, despite him not wanting to speak most of the book. This is very hearing-minded, and comes from a place of oppression. Again, she wanted him to speak for HER benefit, so SHE could hear his voice, not because HE wanted to and was making the right choice for him.
Lip reading. The lip reading skills of Ryder were completely unrealistic. After being deaf only a few years, he's a master lip reader. This is wildly inaccurate. It takes an exhausting amount of learning and training to become skilled at lip reading, and even then, only about 30% of the English language can be seen on the mouth. The rest is all blanks, and the deaf person has to fill them in based on context and what they did get. It is incredibly difficult and exhausting.
Cochlear implants. They are NOT a cure for deafness as the book portrays. The deaf person is STILL DEAF. The surgery is incredibly invasive and expensive, and when the implants get "turned on" after healing post-surgery, it is absolutely NOT an instantaneous cure. Sounds are distorted, and do not sound like do for a person born hearing. The deaf person needs to go through extensive training and practice to learn to differentiate between all the sounds and noises in the world. And when the outside piece of the implant is taken off, the deaf person is still deaf. AND it is not a miraculous cure for learning to speak again, either. Even for someone who was born hearing.
The point: Deaf people are not broken. They do not need to be fixed, especially by hearing people who do not sign, cannot communicate with them without an interpreter, have no knowledge of the oppressive history of Deaf individuals and their community, and view deafness only from a hearing medical perspective. Deaf readers and community members should have been consulted for this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
kelly_e's review against another edition
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? Yes
4.0
Title: Only When It's Us
Author: Chloe Liese
Series: Bergman Brothers, #1
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4
Pub Date: March 27 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Funny • Steamy • Believable
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Only When It's Us is the first installment in Chloe Liese's Bergman Brothers series, about a Swedish-American family of five brothers and two sisters - this is Ryder's story. Ryder and Willa share a class, and when soccer star, Willa needs to get notes from a class she has missed, she's tasked with getting them from Ryder. Communication has never been her strong suit, but when she's ignored, the tension starts to build. To top it all off, their professor decides to pair them together for a project, so they'll be spending a lot of time together, something neither of them is looking forward to.
💭 T H O U G H T S
In this first installment, we are introduced to the Bergman clan, as well as to Willa and her mom. The family dynamic and the bond between mother and daughter is definitely one of the strong points here. I was drawn into the characters lives, and appreciated the depth compared to a normal steamy romance. However, I must say enemies to lovers is definitely not my favourite trope, and at times I found Willa and Ryder's behaviour almost annoying and over the top. The relationship development is definitely a slow-burn. I laughed and I cried and absolutely loved the addition of a playlist, which added an additional layer to the overall reading experience. Overall, I did find there to be a little too much steam for my liking, but commend Chloe Liese for writing an inclusive romance, something that is far too often skipped over entirely. I look forward to reading the next book in this series and grow to love the Bergman family more.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Hate-to-love enthusiasts
• Sports romance fans
• readers who enjoy a family-centered series
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I want to say I'm the same guy I was before all this happened, but I'm not. I'm different, and wile I never want pity or special treatment, I wouldn't mind simply being allowed to be changed. Because I am."
"I thought I was past grieving what I lost, but maybe grief isn't linear. Maybe I can accept what I've lost and still mourn it. Maybe I always will."
"Life begets death begets life. The only thing we can do is honor the beauty and dependability of that cycle."
"'I'm scared too, Sunshine. This is vulnerable shit.' His mouth is a breath away from mine. 'I just know I'd rather be afraid with you than fearless with anyone else.'"
Author: Chloe Liese
Series: Bergman Brothers, #1
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4
Pub Date: March 27 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Funny • Steamy • Believable
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Only When It's Us is the first installment in Chloe Liese's Bergman Brothers series, about a Swedish-American family of five brothers and two sisters - this is Ryder's story. Ryder and Willa share a class, and when soccer star, Willa needs to get notes from a class she has missed, she's tasked with getting them from Ryder. Communication has never been her strong suit, but when she's ignored, the tension starts to build. To top it all off, their professor decides to pair them together for a project, so they'll be spending a lot of time together, something neither of them is looking forward to.
💭 T H O U G H T S
In this first installment, we are introduced to the Bergman clan, as well as to Willa and her mom. The family dynamic and the bond between mother and daughter is definitely one of the strong points here. I was drawn into the characters lives, and appreciated the depth compared to a normal steamy romance. However, I must say enemies to lovers is definitely not my favourite trope, and at times I found Willa and Ryder's behaviour almost annoying and over the top. The relationship development is definitely a slow-burn. I laughed and I cried and absolutely loved the addition of a playlist, which added an additional layer to the overall reading experience. Overall, I did find there to be a little too much steam for my liking, but commend Chloe Liese for writing an inclusive romance, something that is far too often skipped over entirely. I look forward to reading the next book in this series and grow to love the Bergman family more.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Hate-to-love enthusiasts
• Sports romance fans
• readers who enjoy a family-centered series
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I want to say I'm the same guy I was before all this happened, but I'm not. I'm different, and wile I never want pity or special treatment, I wouldn't mind simply being allowed to be changed. Because I am."
"I thought I was past grieving what I lost, but maybe grief isn't linear. Maybe I can accept what I've lost and still mourn it. Maybe I always will."
"Life begets death begets life. The only thing we can do is honor the beauty and dependability of that cycle."
"'I'm scared too, Sunshine. This is vulnerable shit.' His mouth is a breath away from mine. 'I just know I'd rather be afraid with you than fearless with anyone else.'"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, and Medical content
memorable's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book started off really well and I just couldn’t get enough. Once Ryder “got his hearing back”, I had some issues with it. First of all, the importance for everyone that Ryder actually used his voice to speak. Joy basically forced him to read to her even though it caused him being anxious. The book also felt all over the place towards the end and it felt really rushed. Sometimes, I had to go back one page to reread in order to understand what was going on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Sexism and Vomit
Anxiety Cochlea-implantsbriggs4598's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism
Disability