Reviews

Things We Left Behind by Lucy Score

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cweid's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

readnoot's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad tense 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? No

3.25

I’m a sucker for the childhood-neighbors-who-are-different-but-find-their-way-to-each-other-later-in-life trope, so this book was definitely romantic and satisfying to me in that capacity. I enjoyed the childhood flashbacks that revealed the history of the conflict between Lucian and Sloane, and I appreciated how much context and detail Score wrote into the characters, as it makes them and their lives really come off the page. However, I thought Lucian was way too vengeful and Sloane was rather cringe in certain parts. I especially thought it was inappropriately possessive and demeaning of Lucian to essentially force Sloane to be in a relationship with him, as he gave no consideration to her thoughts or desires on the matter. Also, Lucian and Sloane resolving 20 years of resentment in one therapy appointment was clearly deeply unrealistic, which is fine, but I just didn’t like it. Where was the hard work to heal and come together? Further, the way Lucian and Sloane talk about and to Kayla, a victim of severe domestic violence, was concerning and made me wonder if Score did any research on effective and compassionate ways for speaking about and with survivors of domestic violence? Anyway, the sex scenes were fantastic as usual! I appreciated that this couple was more adventurous in the bedroom.

Content Warnings

gpfot's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

lulu_d_'s review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

ataliemanning's review against another edition

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2.5

Do not read if ur in my book club:

This book got off on a rough note for me with the MCM calling the MCF a selfish asshole at her dad’s funeral. Like I get it’s enemies to lovers and maybe I’m just not cut out for that but ouch harsh I would never get over that. Sooooo much sex it took away from a lot of the romance in my opinion. Also why was MCF consistently talking about how she found her friends partners hot?? Idk just didn’t seem super believable to me that they went from not being able to be in a room together to soulmates for life that set aside all of their hotheaded tendencies.

sidneysbooks's review against another edition

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5.0

While I’m upset to finally end this series, I loved being captivated into this make believe world and it’s characters. To me, this book hit every star. Every once in a while we need a romance book that can just deliver all the sex and long awaited romance a book can offer, and to me this series did just that. It had the good and bad and every character had their own unique flaws and tastes. I’ll forever miss being able to read about Lucian and Sloane, Lina and Nash, and Knox and Naomi chaotic lives in their small gossiping town.