Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Emergency Contact

I expected this to be a light romance and it ended up being a lot darker and heavier but I liked it! Could have used more Jude, Mallory, and Andy tbh.

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caidyn's review

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emotional 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

4.0

I don't know how Choi does it, but she writes books that have such a beautiful tone to them. Alternately funny and heartbreaking, yet aching with hope throughout. Reading this second book has cemented me as a fan.

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ayem's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-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

3.75

Enjoyable read with excellent characters in a slice of life romance. It’s very slow going at first and the denouement is way too fast, but is a really fun and pleasant experience overall

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annika_maree's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This is probably one of the first romance books where i have bought the connection between the main characters

This book is about Sam and Penny, young adults with big dreams. When they meet and exchange phone numbers, making each other their emergency contact which evolves into constant texts and a friendship over their secrets they would never share in real life.

Tw for anxiety (panic attacks), depression, unavailable parents, rape/sexual assault and alcoholism

Key ideas
-I loved how realistic these characters were, Sam and Penny are not the most likeable characters, they are judgmental and pessimistic. These qualities just made me love them more.
-The conversations in this book between Sam and Penny were the most genuine and natural that i have ever read
-The author put parts of herself in the book which amplified our empathy for the characters and made them feel so much more real
-I loved the maturity, this is classed as ya which I feel as if it should be na/a, the characters are in college and have mature issues eg financial, pregnancy, drugs and alcohol
-both Penny and Sam’s voices felt distinct and i was rarely bored
-They had things going on outside of the romance which i believe had the perfect ratio (Pennys writing class and how what she wrote reflected how she felt and Sam and his ex girlfriend trouble as well as the bakery

Quotes
“Penny believed with her whole heart that there were moments - crucial instances - that defined who someone was going to be. There were clues or signs, and you didn't want to miss them.”

“I like knowing that you exist. It doesn’t make me feel any less lonely, because life is lonely, but it makes me feel a lot less alone.”

“Sam enjoyed texting Penny. They talked about work, sleep, food, random facts. It didn’t need to be anything important. Their last text had been what to eat for breakfast. Since Penny had seen him at his lowest, there was no reason to act cooler than he was. It felt easy.”

“Sam wanted to tell Penny everything. He wanted a record of his thoughts and feelings and stories to exist with her. Like a time capsule for this strange period of his life. With her, he felt less lonely. He hadn't even realised he was lonely. He hadn't let himself. “

“Does he say good morning to her in a way that is reassuring? To where it feels as if he is holding her hand for the entire rest of the day until he says good night?”

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dez_blair's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.5

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e_lace's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book was fine. Not a fan of the way it just kind of glazed over a bunch of hard subjects and swept them under the rug. Like does Sam finish his documentary? Is Penny's story even good? Mallory is still racist? But whatever. If you're looking for something low stakes to remind you of being an incredibly careless college freshman slowly discovering that everyone around you also has trauma, this might be the book for you. It wasn't the book for me.

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thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

I don't know if it was being in a hard lockdown (#4 in Melbourne) or the characters or the story, but I felt like I couldn't get close to the characters in the story. I felt Sam and Penny were just in the wrong time for each other, Penny being more mature, and Sam just floating not know where he is going in life.

And then there's the superficial secondary characters that just seem so overdone, Celeste with her 40 turning 20 attitude, Jude with her crush on her non-biological uncle that's not her uncle, and Mallory with her snobby wannabe upper attitude. I felt there was more drama and story with these characters than that of Sam and Penny.

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