Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

14 reviews

nyquillll's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

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

0.5

This book was so hard to get through. I can't remember how I came across it exactly, but I was expecting it to be similar to other sports romance books I've read. This was completely different, but almost in a bad way. Or, I should say, the plot itself wasn't horrible, but the writing style was so not my jam. 

I got 6% into the book and realized it would be really really hard for me to read this book. My first impression was that it was full of long-winded, paragraphs of descriptions that were only sparingly sprinkled with dialogue. And a lot of the time, the long paragraphs weren't even on topic, they were tangential and seemed to run away from the starting point. I ended up skipping to around the 50% mark and then just deciding to majorly skim to see if at some point it would be worth it to force myself through it. It wasn't and it didn't happen. 

While I did finish the book, it was an uphill battle. The dialogue/descriptions didn't get better, and I also wasn't a huge fan of the tropes this book was trying to incorporate -

(possibly) golden retriever/black cat energy, stoic-man-who-never-expresses-how-he-truly-feels, will-they-won't-they, SLOW FUCKING BURN (this was torture), marriage of convenience (one of my firsts and might be a last too), touch-her-and-you-die (but it wasn't done convincingly)

. I also hated the fact that

they didn't even hug until the 90% mark or something?????? And then the author was like "Hey, let me add in a pretty graphic sex scene in the LAST moments of the book - THAT'LL make a gr8 love story." And no, it did not, for me. Also hated, hated, hated how she did have feelings for him and while theoretically we know he does too because it's a romance book, he literally behaved like a LOG around her - and he didn't even acknowledge her presence much before the whole arrangement.

ALSO ALSO ALSO DESPISED HOW SHE CONSTANTLY WAS COMMENTING ON HIS SIZE - "he's such a big guy," "he's massive," "he fills the whole room," etc. etc. (might not be completely accurate on phrasing, but you get the idea). 

I will say, I did appreciate the harder topics that were covered in this book, particularly toxic family dynamics, navigating family trauma, dealing with death of parents/parental figures, unlearning/deconstructing past coping mechanisms that are no longer serving you, allowing yourself to feel scared but to not get stuck in it - to let the fear flow through, how scary it can be to trust people to stay, finding the strength to cut people out of your life who don't deserve to be in it, and how scary it can be when life doesn't pan out how you planned it - but that doesn't mean it ends.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Grief, Addiction, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gaslighting

Some quotes I highlighted:

"'I'm not going anywhere without you.' He squeezed, his words ringing through my ears. 'You're not alone.'"

"'I like your smile. That's all.' The big guy shot me a sour look. 'You make me feel like a Grinch.'"

"'I'm putting on my shoes, Mrs. Graves!' Idiot."

"I wasn't going to say no to the other half of my paperwork getting into my bed when I'd rather not be by myself."

"Me: <--Forever Alone--> Aiden: "

"'For everything. For not noticing. For not caring. For not making you feel like you could tell me things.' His voice was hoarse and just a little ragged."

"It's a long story." "I have time for you."

"My friend. The keeper of my secrets. My moral support. My paperwork."

"Everyone telling me I looked great recently only made me really self-conscious about what they used to think of me before. Did I look like shit?"

"The guy who had lost his favorite thing in the world and had let me force him into training for a marathon."

"He made a light noise, a tender one. 'That's my girl.' His girl? 'I am?' I just outright asked him, hoping more than a little he wasn't just...that was stupid, Aiden wouldn't just say that. 'The only one,' he said it like there was no other choice in the world."

"'That's my girl. That's my fucking girl.' 'What are you doing here?' I practically bawled into him. 'I missed you.' 'You what?' His arms tightened around me. 'I missed you very much.'"

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veskumelooni's review against another edition

hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Car accident and Death

spellbindingtomes's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad slow-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

4.5

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯. 𝘔𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.

Why are football romance stories so cute?! You know that feeling when you read the first few lines of a book and you just know you'll love it. That's how I feel every time I start a new Mariana Zapata book. And The Wall of Winnipeg and Me is no exception. 

I loved Vanessa from Chapter 1. She's my favorite out of all of MZ's FMCs. I related to her so much. Aiden's character development was incredible. From being so closed off and dismissive towards Vanessa in the beginning, to taking her for granted, to finally realizing his faults, and showing up to support her was so endearing and heartwarming. 

This was the first book that I thought did the marriage of convenience trope perfectly. The terms of this marriage between Vanessa and Aiden was totally believable and even after they got married, it took a long time for them to build a solid friendship and trust with each other. 

𝘖𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦...𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘔𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴. 𝘔𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵. 𝘔𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.

I highly recommend the audiobook. Emma Wilder and Stephen Dexter did a fantastic job! They got me hooked immediately. Mariana Zapata's writing style is addictive and compelling. The burn is so slow that I HAD to keep reading until I was satisfied. And trust me, it was all worth it in the end.

𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 🩵

🏈marriage of convenience
🏈forced proximity
🏈workplace romance
🏈slooow burn
🏈football romance

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Bullying

Moderate: Alcoholism and Addiction

Minor: Death

Very heavy and graphic in child abuse coming from both MCs.

sebradley29's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Deportation, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Violence, Bullying, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Cursing

kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

funny lighthearted 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Car accident, Confinement, Body shaming, and Death

folded_between_pages_of_books's review against another edition

funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Abandonment, Death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Drug use and Toxic relationship

jennp28's review

medium-paced

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

4.0

Quite liked this slow, slow burn marriage of convenience. 

One pet peeve: For claiming she had multiple Canadian friends answer all her questions, she really does not understand ‘Eh’ and how it is used in a sentence.  Drives me bananas when Canadians are written in a caricature like this. 

Leslie beamed. "We finished watching some footage, so I'll get out your hair to give you both some alone time tonight, eh?”
The tender, amused look that came over Aiden's face more than slightly irritated me. "Eh." Aye.
Then the fact that his Canadian had snuck up on him - when it only came up in the times he was really comfortable - made my little-girl immaturity that much worse.

And

Clowns? "Really?" I tried to imagine a tiny Aiden crying over men and women with overly painted faces and red noses, but I couldn't.
The big guy was still facing me. His expression clear and even, as he dipped his chin. "Eh."
God help me, he'd gone Canadian on me. I had to will my face not to react at the fact he'd gone with the one word he usually used only when he was super relaxed around other people. "I thought they were going to eat me."

That… is not how that is used. Ok. Rant over. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Grief, Drug abuse, and Death

__romancereader__'s review against another edition

funny mysterious relaxing slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

I enjoyed this book after reading All Rhodes Lead Here and now this one i truly do love this author’s book her books or at least these two that I’ve read so far have good men he don’t have bad communication skills when talking to there partner especially during arguments they try to talk it out these books are slow burn the wall of Winnipeg and me is more of a slow burn then All Rhodes Lead Here i love these books there long and there so amazing i loved how Aiden cared for Vanessa’s well being and really just her they were such a good couple and i loved how when she quit the job he came to her home multiple times after that to beg her back and I enjoyed even more how there wasn’t some heartbreaking dramatic as can be break up in this book and especially the ending i was very satisfied about there complete 😉family😉 in the epilogue this will most definitely not be my last read from the author Mariana Zapata overall i rated this book a five stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Drug use, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Death

Not all content warnings are about the main characters some are and some are about the other characters you meet/hear about in the book🫶🏼🫶🏼Enjoy😁😁

lexi_fragola's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

Minor: Death

louisa_pennyfeather2021's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.75

Mariana always completely ruins my expectations for love. I'm a hopeless romantic now. Me and my bleeding heart are in shambles.

In all seriousness, it's a great book. I started reading it because of my love for football and Mariana's work. I love how(like in so much of Mariana's work) each character has depth and purpose. The real world details factored into this fictional romance adds some flare. I really enjoyed this read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Addiction, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content