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jaynovara's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Cancer and Death of parent
Moderate: Chronic illness, Body shaming, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, Ableism, Sexual content, and Vomit
rose_reads_at_dusk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
kaitrates's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
First, the chemistry between Willa and Ryder. I loved watching these two circle closer and closer until they finally came together (literally and figuratively). I also adore a prickly (err...tempestuous) heroine like Willa who's a total firecracker with a big heart. I also mostly enjoyed the sex scenes and their creative use of the shower and the mirror. Bonus points for some light spanking and actually talking about it before doing it! Lastly, I appreciated the late deafened rep - we don't often see this in romance and I'm always here for more disabled main characters!
Oh! I also adored the roomies and every time they were on the page I was smiling.
Now, onto my issues with it.
First and foremost, there were three HP references and apparently these were not removed in the Berkley edition. They violently tore me out of the story, especially knowing Liese already pulled this book to improve the late deafened rep. Like show your trans readers the same care please and thank you.
Some of my other gripes are more objective. For example, there was a lot of inconsistency from characterisations to plot points. Time is spent telling us tha tWilla and her mom read anatomy textbooks but then she uses euphemisms for genitals? Ryder is all "it was the men, not you!" but then trashes romance novels? Money is tight but Willa has an apartment with her friend?
Similarly, there was enough telling that it got to me. Truly, this isn't something I usually notice but DAMN it was rough here! With these info dumps, there often was extraneous info that never came back up or was contradicted (see above).
I also hated that we didn't get to see Willa's growth through her grief. We get maybe a page where we're told she's really struggling
Now, there were also a bunch of things that I disliked that are more subjective. Let's just make a list, shall we?
- Choo cha and log(jam). 🤢
- He's SO BIG and she's so
weecompact. Like, is she a sedan? - Magic voice/hands/peen. 🤬 I hate it SO much.
- Miscommunication upon miscommunication upon miscommunication. Thankfully, not because of Ryder's hearing loss though.
- Adrian.
- The Bergman parents meet cute aka the embodiment of "well if a boy teases you its because they like you" patriarchal BS.
- 7 kids in this economy?! NVM the impact on sustainability...👀
- Adrian was forgiven WAY too easily.
- The ILU was absolutely not earned (and he realises when he sees her naked WHAT?! THEN CRIES THE SECOND TIME?!)
- His voice just comes back and he's able to use it consistently...?
I think what Liese is doing is really important AND I promised my friend I would try another Bergman book if I didn't love this one since apparently her craft improves throughout the series. So I will give her work another chance and hope there aren't nearly as many things pulling me out of the story and diminishing my enjoyment of it.
Original Review
…what?
Graphic: Cancer
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Ableism and Death of parent
Harry Potter referencescondls27's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Death of parent
amy_in_the_city's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
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.
Graphic: Sexual content, Ableism, Death, Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Terminal illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Vomit, Misogyny, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, and War
kyleethecatlady's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Cancer, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism
sarahthescrivnr's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Cancer
theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I had to take a break around the middle so I could have a good cry. Willa’s relationship with her mother had me turn into a blubbering, sobbing mess. But Chloe Liese picked up the pieces of my broken heart and made it whole again with Ryders love and determination.
A spicy, 5 star, slow burn that will prove to you that everything happens for a reason.
Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing
vj_thompson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Abandonment, Grief, Sexual content, Medical content, Chronic illness, and Cancer
Moderate: Alcohol and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit
cc2's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Sexual content and Death of parent