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Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'
A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone
2 reviews
fanboyriot's review
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Read For:
😬 Insta Love
☃️ Holiday Theme
🫠 Annoying Characters
🎄Christmas Movie Filming
🤢 Overuse of Holiday Lotion
I bought the book on accident (confusing it for a different book with a similar cover) I didn’t notice until I was home and live too far from the bookstore to return it. So this was a spite read if I’m being honest… and I hated this book. Where was the “Meet Cute” in this book because don’t remember reading one? It wasn’t even a Christmas book either it was like the whole title was a lie or joke or something.
Merry ❌
Little (418 pages) ❌
Meet Cute ❌
It was so cheesy and the characters gave off that whiny YA kind of vibe even though it wasn’t a young adult book. The first person point of view made it feel so one dimensional and flat. It was really difficult to care about what happened. I hated everyone the longer I read.
I have never read good fat rep in a book so I didn’t think this would be the exception. You want to normalize fat characters then please stop bringing up all the fat talk, mention it and move on. You don’t need to bring it up all the time. As a fat person it’s super annoying to read about it as if these characters aren’t just normal people at the end of the day. I’m here for the inclusion but my gosh you don’t have to make it their only personality point.
I have no idea how this was 418 pages because it takes half the book for anything slightly interesting to happen, and even then it’s pretty boring. It dragged out for no reason, but I’m so happy to note all the times the one character jerked off with gingerbread lotion so thanks for ruining that holiday scent for me. And don’t get me started on who uses lotion in the damn shower?! That should be a crime.
On that note it was super weird that Bee was way too over sexualized to the point Nolan kept using her porn name in his head all day the time. It like she was just an object the entire time.
“You can take the girl out of the sex work, but you can’t take the sex work out of the girl.” - (Chapter 18, Page 249)
Like what did I just read?
Nolan was so damn annoying and there was more chemistry between Bee and a random stripper than him if I’m being honest. They were just horny. There was zero romance and I’m not sure how the authors thought romance and sex are that same thing but here we are.
Sure there were things like mental health rep, LGBTQIA+ rep, body and sex positivity, sex work and each of these were written so poorly. For example when Bee was bisexual and in the porn business. News flash most people in porn are bi (or gay for pay), why is this so shocking?? Girl on girl is literally fetishized all the time and it’s treated like Bee is the only bisexual porn star.
How was the done so badly?! I knew I wouldn’t like it because it seems very heterosexual (even with bi characters) but my gods, this was so much worse.
So in conclusion this book was awful and felt like banging my head against a concrete wall.
Release Date: 20, September 2022
POV: Dual, First Person
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (mentioned nearly every page)
Rep: Bi (MCs), Trans (SC), Bipolar (SC)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Cursing, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Biphobia, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use
Minor: Grief, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Homophobia
thesmutsister_emma's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Winter Wonderland In the Style of Snoop Dogg and Anna Kendrick
I'm going to be so freaking for real right now. I honestly didn't plan on reading this book. I had heard it was very slow from Booktokers and Bookstagramers who I trust and was just going to leave it be. Then I received it in a holiday book exchange (thank you again, Aysha for hosting that) and I thought why the hell not. After having a slummy previous book, I felt like I could trust Sierra Simone with pulling me out of a rut. And boy, did she and Julie Murphy deliver. Before I start giving too much away, let me get to my usuals.
The Characters
Bee: Can I just be Bee?? Pretty please? As someone who is usually the most sex positive of the friend group, to see Bee doing her ahem adult content account as well as the Hallma- I mean... well. you know what I mean. Anyway, to see her doing that as well as her adult content account made my heart happy. It typically is frowned upon and even I have to have to have pseudonyms on this account and my Instagram (go check out @the.smutsisters). It was wonderful to see the openness, even if that was the main conflict a lot of the book. Bee handled things with beauty and grace throughout the book honestly.
Nolan: Nolan. Precious Nolan. This poor, oblivious, privileged, mess of a bisexual. Lord bless this child's heart. Honestly, I get it though. I understand needing to be the crutch of the family. It is something I have come to understand much much more in the last 2 years. The constant need to always be there is something I get. It's also something I am working on as well. I feel like Nolan did such a great job with it honestly.
Things I Loved
I quite frankly loved so much of this book that I'm not sure what is missing for it to make 5 🌟 but something just feels like it is missing. I loved the social commentary because it didn't feel forced at all. The LGBTQ+ representation was wonderful, the only way to improve that would have been to have an ace character and a trans character. The chemistry that Bee and Nolan have is palpable even on the page, I can't imagine what the rest of the cast and crew saw on the set. I loved the side characters and would love to see more.
Things I Didn't Love
I can't put my finger on it, but there was something about it that made it come just shy of a 5 🌟 review and it really bothers me that it didn't because I don't have any specific complaints about the book!
The Final Verdict
This honestly is going to be a holiday book I come back to every holiday season. It was enjoyable and comforting while also having the levels of spice I love. If you need to raise the temp a few degrees on your holiday plans, be sure to grab this book!!
I'm going to be so freaking for real right now. I honestly didn't plan on reading this book. I had heard it was very slow from Booktokers and Bookstagramers who I trust and was just going to leave it be. Then I received it in a holiday book exchange (thank you again, Aysha for hosting that) and I thought why the hell not. After having a slummy previous book, I felt like I could trust Sierra Simone with pulling me out of a rut. And boy, did she and Julie Murphy deliver. Before I start giving too much away, let me get to my usuals.
The Characters
Bee: Can I just be Bee?? Pretty please? As someone who is usually the most sex positive of the friend group, to see Bee doing her ahem adult content account as well as the Hallma- I mean... well. you know what I mean. Anyway, to see her doing that as well as her adult content account made my heart happy. It typically is frowned upon and even I have to have to have pseudonyms on this account and my Instagram (go check out @the.smutsisters). It was wonderful to see the openness, even if that was the main conflict a lot of the book. Bee handled things with beauty and grace throughout the book honestly.
Nolan: Nolan. Precious Nolan. This poor, oblivious, privileged, mess of a bisexual. Lord bless this child's heart. Honestly, I get it though. I understand needing to be the crutch of the family. It is something I have come to understand much much more in the last 2 years. The constant need to always be there is something I get. It's also something I am working on as well. I feel like Nolan did such a great job with it honestly.
Things I Loved
I quite frankly loved so much of this book that I'm not sure what is missing for it to make 5 🌟 but something just feels like it is missing. I loved the social commentary because it didn't feel forced at all. The LGBTQ+ representation was wonderful, the only way to improve that would have been to have an ace character and a trans character. The chemistry that Bee and Nolan have is palpable even on the page, I can't imagine what the rest of the cast and crew saw on the set. I loved the side characters and would love to see more.
Things I Didn't Love
I can't put my finger on it, but there was something about it that made it come just shy of a 5 🌟 review and it really bothers me that it didn't because I don't have any specific complaints about the book!
The Final Verdict
This honestly is going to be a holiday book I come back to every holiday season. It was enjoyable and comforting while also having the levels of spice I love. If you need to raise the temp a few degrees on your holiday plans, be sure to grab this book!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry
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