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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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Cursing, Terminal illness, Death of parent
Minor: Medical content, Abandonment, Alcohol
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love love loved Ryder and Willa! Ryder is a former soccer star prospect who's career was cut short by a case of bacterial meningitis that caused him to lose his hearing. Willa is a current soccer star who's losing her mom to cancer and struggling to balance sports and school. When her and Ryder are paired up for a school project, frenemies become lovers. I adored the banter and jokes between them and this slow burn was nice and slow just like I like it!! My only issue was the communication. Not literally obviously because Ryder is deaf but emotionally. Willa and Ryder both refused to talk about anything real almost the whole book!! It was so frustrating to read and it kinda dampened the fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
fast-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: Cancer, Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well, I really thought I'd love this one, but I had so many issues with it.
First, this was trying to be enemies to lovers, but there was no good reason to be enemies in the first place or for them to hold on to their antagonistic relationship for so long. They jumped straight to enemies just because he didn't hear her say one thing and she didn't know he was deaf. Even after she found out that he wasn't deliberately ignoring her, she still considered him a "frenemy" (this word was used way too much). The main characters frequently acted like they were 10 years old, at one point even throwing elbows and pulling ponytails in class.
I especially didn't like Willa. She completely lost me after sheghosted Ryder for 2 months after her mom died, not even acknowledging his presence when he showed up to try to comfort her. This had real negative effects on Ryder, and it bothered me that she didn't seem to care about his feelings at all. Then once she came back to him, she was so upset that other women were taking an interest in him that he decided to let her look through his phone so she would know he wasn't cheating on her. Who needs boundaries, right? For the whole third act, she was so wishy washy about the relationship, and I felt like Ryder was doing all the work to keep the relationship alive. I spent most of the last section wishing they wouldn't end up together because their relationship seemed so unhealthy. With Willa being so flighty and with them demonstrating an unwillingness to face their problems together as partners, I don't trust that they will have a good relationship going forward. Even towards the very end of the book, she still got upset with him for asking her very basic questions about herself because she didn't want to open up to him at all.
I liked that there was disability rep, with a leading man who is deaf, but I kind of felt like the book treated the deafness as an obstacle to overcome before the romantic relationship really could get going. There was a lot of importance placed on him hearing her voice and on getting him to start speaking again. I do appreciate that the author took feedback from reviews after the book was originally published, made some changes, and released an edited edition to try to fix some of the representation issues, but I think some of the bones of the old issues remain. I am not part of the Deaf community, so I am not an expert on how the representation was handled, but others who are Deaf have posted their reviews, and I encourage people to read those for more insight.
This gets an extra star for Ryder. He's mostly a really great guy, and I really liked him.
I think this book also ruined the word "lumberjack" for me forever. I've reached my lifetime quota and might never want to see the word again.
First, this was trying to be enemies to lovers, but there was no good reason to be enemies in the first place or for them to hold on to their antagonistic relationship for so long. They jumped straight to enemies just because he didn't hear her say one thing and she didn't know he was deaf. Even after she found out that he wasn't deliberately ignoring her, she still considered him a "frenemy" (this word was used way too much). The main characters frequently acted like they were 10 years old, at one point even throwing elbows and pulling ponytails in class.
I especially didn't like Willa. She completely lost me after she
I liked that there was disability rep, with a leading man who is deaf, but I kind of felt like the book treated the deafness as an obstacle to overcome before the romantic relationship really could get going. There was a lot of importance placed on him hearing her voice and on getting him to start speaking again. I do appreciate that the author took feedback from reviews after the book was originally published, made some changes, and released an edited edition to try to fix some of the representation issues, but I think some of the bones of the old issues remain. I am not part of the Deaf community, so I am not an expert on how the representation was handled, but others who are Deaf have posted their reviews, and I encourage people to read those for more insight.
This gets an extra star for Ryder. He's mostly a really great guy, and I really liked him.
I think this book also ruined the word "lumberjack" for me forever. I've reached my lifetime quota and might never want to see the word again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Abandonment, War
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Vomit
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well I sobbed my way through at least half of this book. To the point that I'm surprised I could still read the words on the page.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Abandonment
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
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
“I just know I’d rather be afraid with you than fearless with anyone else”
Only When It’s Us was a steamy, emotional, heart pounding book. Chloe Liese created such beautiful characters, and their struggles felt so real.
Read this book if you love
🩵 grumpy characters
🩶 cute nicknames
🩵 care taking
🩶 sports romance (they’re both soccer players)
🩵 Deaf/HoH rep
🩶 forced proximity
🩵 frenemies to lovers
🩶 college romance
I will say that some of the lumberjack peen puns were a little much for me, and it definitely had some parts where it felt a little slow, but with the Berkley republications coming soon I bet this book will get even better.
I will definitely be reading more of the Bergman books. 4 stars
Only When It’s Us was a steamy, emotional, heart pounding book. Chloe Liese created such beautiful characters, and their struggles felt so real.
Read this book if you love
🩵 grumpy characters
🩶 cute nicknames
🩵 care taking
🩶 sports romance (they’re both soccer players)
🩵 Deaf/HoH rep
🩶 forced proximity
🩵 frenemies to lovers
🩶 college romance
I will say that some of the lumberjack peen puns were a little much for me, and it definitely had some parts where it felt a little slow, but with the Berkley republications coming soon I bet this book will get even better.
I will definitely be reading more of the Bergman books. 4 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Terminal illness, Medical content, Alcohol
Minor: Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail