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adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
I read this for the 2025 Popsugar Reading Challenge Prompt #22 - A book about soccer.
I've read some really depressing books lately and needed something fun. The reason for them being "enemies" wasn't too contrived, thankfully. The book isn't that much about soccer, and I don't think the author actually knows much about the NSWL other than generic sportsball stuff, but I'm still counting it. I like when both halves of the couple have character growth. But I HATE "Sunshine" as a nickname, and it used way way too much, especially in the last few chapters.
I've read some really depressing books lately and needed something fun. The reason for them being "enemies" wasn't too contrived, thankfully. The book isn't that much about soccer, and I don't think the author actually knows much about the NSWL other than generic sportsball stuff, but I'm still counting it. I like when both halves of the couple have character growth. But I HATE "Sunshine" as a nickname, and it used way way too much, especially in the last few chapters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent
Moderate: Medical content, Grief
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Cute story! Just overall might not be for me. Was a bit too slow moving and felt repetitive with how Willa behaved. Loved how openly emotional she was with her mom and how the author portrayed her grief! Those emotional aspects, our lovable side characters, and being in Ryders head are really what saved me from DNFing. I just didn’t vibe with Willa most of the time and also didn’t enjoy how juvenile her and Ryder acted towards each other. They’re a couple that I wouldn’t expect their HEA to be lasting.
Loved the diversity with Ryders hearing loss and how he worked through his emotions regarding that happening later in life. Would’ve liked to see him adapt more with learning ASL on screen, feel like the author focused more on getting his hearing or some semblance of it back instead of embracing ASL.
I do appreciate the growth Willa and Ryder make towards the end! It just felt like we rushed through that after all the build up though.
Loved the diversity with Ryders hearing loss and how he worked through his emotions regarding that happening later in life. Would’ve liked to see him adapt more with learning ASL on screen, feel like the author focused more on getting his hearing or some semblance of it back instead of embracing ASL.
I do appreciate the growth Willa and Ryder make towards the end! It just felt like we rushed through that after all the build up though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Medical content, Abandonment
Minor: Ableism
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
No... Just, no...
For a big part of the book it's doable, just like looking at a carcrash.
The amount of unneeded or boring detail the author goes into.
The mis-/non-communication trope.
The hypocrisy of Willa talking about men never talking and for her then literally having to be chased down when she has to have an honest talk with Ryder...
It just gets worse and worse and worse and not in a fun way at all.
There are positives such as a pretty good display of what it is like to be hard of hearing/deaf and how to deal/communicate with hearing people, especially when mute. But those positives are grossly overshadowed by the infuriating childishness, pettiness and just plain dumbness of not communicating properly or at all.
Spare yourself the frustration an go find a better book!
For a big part of the book it's doable, just like looking at a carcrash.
The amount of unneeded or boring detail the author goes into.
The mis-/non-communication trope.
The hypocrisy of Willa talking about men never talking and for her then literally having to be chased down when she has to have an honest talk with Ryder...
It just gets worse and worse and worse and not in a fun way at all.
There are positives such as a pretty good display of what it is like to be hard of hearing/deaf and how to deal/communicate with hearing people, especially when mute. But those positives are grossly overshadowed by the infuriating childishness, pettiness and just plain dumbness of not communicating properly or at all.
Spare yourself the frustration an go find a better book!
Content Warnings
Minor: Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness, Medical content, Death of parent
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
I really enjoyed this story and loved the way this author explored disability along with grief. The characters were awesome and the complexity of relationships were explored really well.
In particular, the fact that Ryder had such complex feelings about being deaf and that the author explored the different ways he communicates was really cool. I was worriedwhen he started speaking that it would erase his other forms of communication, but I loved that he still used sign language and that throughout the book characters asked him about whether speaking or texting was better. The scene when he speaks again made me cry, along with when he first heard Willa's voice and she first hears his. I liked that despite being a hearing character, Willa had a similar reaction to hearing Ryder's voice for the first time.
I thought the author dealt with grief, trauma, and death in a beautiful way, especially the idea of gaining and losing family.
The only issues I had were that it kinda dragged on in the middle, beating you over the head with the Pride and Prejudice stuff (I say as a P + P lover) and sometimes the phrasing made me roll my eyes. Although overall, it was a really good story and I'm excited to read the rest of the story.
In particular, the fact that Ryder had such complex feelings about being deaf and that the author explored the different ways he communicates was really cool. I was worried
I thought the author dealt with grief, trauma, and death in a beautiful way, especially the idea of gaining and losing family.
The only issues I had were that it kinda dragged on in the middle, beating you over the head with the Pride and Prejudice stuff (I say as a P + P lover) and sometimes the phrasing made me roll my eyes. Although overall, it was a really good story and I'm excited to read the rest of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Medical content, Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pedophilia, Sexism, Violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment
emotional
sad
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
I really liked this book until I got around halfway and it slowly declined from there for me. I loved how fleshed out and real the characters and their backstories were. They had a good playful energy for most of the book that I liked as well.
Ryder being so steadfast for Willa was adorable. Their relationship was so strong long before they got together and I liked that a lot. But while I liked Willa and Ryder there was honestly way too much emphasis on their sexual tension for me. I understood they wanted each other and didn’t need it spelled out page after page for most of the book. Also the word “lumberjack” has never been used so many times in a book before. Most of the later half of the book felt repetitive in some ways as well. It felt way too long towards the end but it also felt like we didn’t get enough of them actually being together and not “frenemies”.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent
Moderate: War