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challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Gaslighting, Abandonment
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Death of parent
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
I loved all the Easter eggs from the first two books of this trilogy and how they appeared in this book. The characters are extremely charismatic yet somehow relatable. Traumas discussed are very thoughtfully unraveled but so heart wrenching when finally revealed, I think my heart fully broke for the character(s). I will for sure continue to read more books from this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Abandonment
emotional
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:
N/A
I read this book after reading “Part of your world” and “yours truly” which I highly recommend. Once I connected one of the characters (well TWO of them) back to the first book I waited In anticipation until the FMC knew what I knew; I felt like I was breaking the 4th wall.
Abby writes about mental health with so much tenderness and understanding. She gives a content warning so we know if we’re ready to experience it. Her books feel like watching a Netflix show with the sound off and captions on. Her characters are so joyous and believable and like a breath of fresh air. I can’t wait to read all of her backlog.
Seriously, go read her stuff. It’s not too heavy but not to fluffy. Gee characters are late twenties to thirties so it doesn’t feel gross. Not overly spicy or dull. Just the perfect Goldie locks of stories.
Also fuck amber and Neil.
Well- fuck Neil. I have no sympathy for abusers.
Amber- I hope she gets the help she needs.
Abby writes about mental health with so much tenderness and understanding. She gives a content warning so we know if we’re ready to experience it. Her books feel like watching a Netflix show with the sound off and captions on. Her characters are so joyous and believable and like a breath of fresh air. I can’t wait to read all of her backlog.
Seriously, go read her stuff. It’s not too heavy but not to fluffy. Gee characters are late twenties to thirties so it doesn’t feel gross. Not overly spicy or dull. Just the perfect Goldie locks of stories.
Also fuck amber and Neil.
Well- fuck Neil. I have no sympathy for abusers.
Amber- I hope she gets the help she needs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-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
Love the ideas of if you can choose empathy over anger, always choose empathy and meeting someone where they are.
It’s really great to read love stories about grown people learning to deal with their trauma. It’s a nice change of pace and it helps me think about who I want to be and reminds me it’s not too late to try to get there.
It’s really great to read love stories about grown people learning to deal with their trauma. It’s a nice change of pace and it helps me think about who I want to be and reminds me it’s not too late to try to get there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Between this an Emily Henry's "Long Story," I might have misjudged the modern romance genre. A lot of Booktok and Bookstagram tends to focus on the steamy/dark romance stuff geared toward young adults, so that soured my opinion of the genre a bit. But I'm glad that my book club chose stuff like the aforementioned Henry book and this one to show that there is a lot of neat stuff in this genre I was not aware of.
The characters are entertaining, and the romance, while of course mushy, was a lot of fun to follow. The story follows some of the usual romance plot beats, while also doing its own thing and focusing on generational trauma and breaking the cycle. I also didn't realize that all of Jimenez's books are connected through recurring characters, which actually makes me want to read her other stuff to fully understand all of the references. Apparently, this is the third book in a series, but there's enough context here so that newbies (like myself) aren't completely lost.
Overall, I liked it. It's a very cute story that in the end, gives the reader those fuzzy feelings that a love story should give.
The characters are entertaining, and the romance, while of course mushy, was a lot of fun to follow. The story follows some of the usual romance plot beats, while also doing its own thing and focusing on generational trauma and breaking the cycle. I also didn't realize that all of Jimenez's books are connected through recurring characters, which actually makes me want to read her other stuff to fully understand all of the references. Apparently, this is the third book in a series, but there's enough context here so that newbies (like myself) aren't completely lost.
Overall, I liked it. It's a very cute story that in the end, gives the reader those fuzzy feelings that a love story should give.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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
This was heavier than I expected but it was somehow still lighthearted to me. If I experienced the same things Emma did though it could have been very triggering.
The premise of the book and how the relationship started was so fun. I like how they felt so at ease fairly quickly but the relationship didn’t feel rushed.
I appreciated Emma’s outlook on life and how she chose to frame her experiences to a certain extent because eventually she did really frustrate me. This is why I loved Maddie though because she was there for Emma but also told her the cold hard truth. Justin was a great MMC lowkey a little too perfect though. I wish I got a little more of him dealing with his trauma but ultimately it’s fine.
I really wanted Maddie to rip Amber a new one because OH MY GOSH that woman almost made me pull my hair out. I knew the Amber blow up was going to be bad but wow was it so much worse than I imagined. So glad Emma was able to get what she needed and DESERVED in the end but oof that was rough.
The premise of the book and how the relationship started was so fun. I like how they felt so at ease fairly quickly but the relationship didn’t feel rushed.
I appreciated Emma’s outlook on life and how she chose to frame her experiences to a certain extent because eventually she did really frustrate me. This is why I loved Maddie though because she was there for Emma but also told her the cold hard truth. Justin was a great MMC lowkey a little too perfect though. I wish I got a little more of him dealing with his trauma but ultimately it’s fine.
I really wanted Maddie to rip Amber a new one because OH MY GOSH that woman almost made me pull my hair out. I knew the Amber blow up was going to be bad but wow was it so much worse than I imagined. So glad Emma was able to get what she needed and DESERVED in the end but oof that was rough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Car accident
emotional
funny
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Abandonment
Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Physical abuse, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
Fantastic representation of neglect and avoidant attachment. Definitely review the TWs closely because this gets into the thick of it. This is a fiction book in romance book clothing, but I honestly loved it and will definitely read more of Jimenez's work.
Some readers have said they wanted the book to end with the couple not together because that would be more realistic. They say Emma was too unhealthy to ever be in a relationship or Justin would have moved on by time she came back because it would have taken years and not six months to work through her trauma.
Can confirm on 2-3 years being more realistic.
But I absolutely adore that a romance book with an HEA exists for Emma's character so that readers going through CPTSD and adult attachment disorders can experience a beautiful ending to a very painful process. Those readers deserve relatable escapism too. And I think it's pretty toxic to say it absolutely couldn't have been worked on if she was in a relationship with him. It depends and is very individual. The kids definitely change things, but therapy doesn't have to be done in a vacuum absent of connections. If she hadn't had family to go to and rebuild missed connections with, she would have probably needed Justin's support to get through EMDR.
We don't have to be perfect first to deserve love and happiness, but we do have to never give up on striving toward personal growth. Emma did the work so I'm very pleased to see her get the happy ending all adult survivors of childhood neglect deserve.
Can confirm on 2-3 years being more realistic.
But I absolutely adore that a romance book with an HEA exists for Emma's character so that readers going through CPTSD and adult attachment disorders can experience a beautiful ending to a very painful process. Those readers deserve relatable escapism too. And I think it's pretty toxic to say it absolutely couldn't have been worked on if she was in a relationship with him. It depends and is very individual. The kids definitely change things, but therapy doesn't have to be done in a vacuum absent of connections. If she hadn't had family to go to and rebuild missed connections with, she would have probably needed Justin's support to get through EMDR.
We don't have to be perfect first to deserve love and happiness, but we do have to never give up on striving toward personal growth. Emma did the work so I'm very pleased to see her get the happy ending all adult survivors of childhood neglect deserve.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment
Moderate: Sexual content