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evelynyle_88's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment
Moderate: Islamophobia, Racism, and Homophobia
gale_bruckner's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.5
Alexis does a great job of giving Paris a unique story that's also in the Bake Expectations universe. I appreciate realistic mental health concerns representation. The boundary setting and character growth felt realistic and compelling. At the end of the story, I was whole-heartedly rooting for Tariq and Paris. <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Abandonment
Minor: Islamophobia and Homophobia
the_reading_kat's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Good points about mental health, but only in the last quarter of the book. Until then it’s literally just the main character being a hot mess, not always relatable. Didn’t feel the chemistry between the mc and the love interest until the last twenty pages or so. Understandable with the plot but difficult to read anyway.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Homophobia, and Islamophobia
kharlan3's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
wow paris is so anxious
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Islamophobia, Homophobia, and Abandonment
katewutz's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Hall does a great, empathetic job at depicting the ways anxiety makes one selfish. When one is constantly expecting the world to collapse, that’s all one can think about—to the detriment of others. The irony of Paris always caring about what others think AND his inability to empathize with what others must be feeling is interestingly explored.
The anxiety could have been a little less heavy-handed, but then it wouldn’t have been such a problem for Paris and Tariq. And this is a realistic depiction of some people’s experiences! Just personally I would like to see a character who’s not Harry (“oh yeah I was a bit worried but now I’m on meds, all good”) and Paris (literally engulfed in catastrophizing all the time, has a VERY dramatic panic attack). But that’s literally just about wanting to see my experience, not a problem with Hall’s work at all.
Also, we know Hall can write a FANTASTIC sex scene, but this book shows that they aren’t a crutch. Rosaline Palmer had a similar vibe, but Hall worked the lack of sex into character development here. Excellent work.
The anxiety could have been a little less heavy-handed, but then it wouldn’t have been such a problem for Paris and Tariq. And this is a realistic depiction of some people’s experiences! Just personally I would like to see a character who’s not Harry (“oh yeah I was a bit worried but now I’m on meds, all good”) and Paris (literally engulfed in catastrophizing all the time, has a VERY dramatic panic attack). But that’s literally just about wanting to see my experience, not a problem with Hall’s work at all.
Also, we know Hall can write a FANTASTIC sex scene, but this book shows that they aren’t a crutch. Rosaline Palmer had a similar vibe, but Hall worked the lack of sex into character development here. Excellent work.
Content Warnings
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Homophobia
aniquegrace's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Homophobia and Racism
atsuanna's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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? Yes
2.0
( More of a 2.5 but rounded up ) I was way too ace for the amount of sexual humor sometimes and there was little progress for so long that it was very back forth. I think I would’ve liked it more if it wasn’t romance because I loved the character development and the idea but the romance was lackluster for me and not something I was rooting for </3 The GAD was very accurate and relatable for me plus it was very funny and cute at times!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Islamophobia, Homophobia, and Racism
Minor: Abandonment
pey333's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Islamophobia, Abandonment, Homophobia, and Racism
Minor: Sexual content
alisonvh's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-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
4.0
I didn’t like this book as much as I’ve liked Hall’s other stuff, mostly because I found the main character to be insufferable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Xenophobia, Racism, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment
astropova's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
I'm glad Paris finally got the help to work on himself that he desperately needed, though I wish it could have happened a lot earlier in the book. If I had known how long it would take, I may have DNF'd the book earlier because it was a bit awful to sit there and suffer through it too.
I also thought that some of the parts set at the baking show seemed a little abbreviated. At some points, there wasn't even anything important happening, but the plot timeline still had to get moved on.
Loved Morag! So cool to have such a positive depiction of a fat (side-)character!
I also thought that some of the parts set at the baking show seemed a little abbreviated. At some points, there wasn't even anything important happening, but the plot timeline still had to get moved on.
Loved Morag! So cool to have such a positive depiction of a fat (side-)character!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Homophobia, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Racism
Huge warning for anxiety. The first