Scan barcode
atamano's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body shaming, Classism, Alcohol, and Misogyny
Minor: Death of parent, Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, and Violence
leahfoko's review against another edition
emotional
informative
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
3.5
I feel kind of weird saying I read this book because I skimmed a LOT of it. The first 20% was basically just a description of a really bad breakup, which was not particularly fun to read. Although I did find Jon’s insidious anger/disrespect/emotionally manipulative decisions to be really well done. Does a wonderful job of showing how a self proclaimed “nice guy” is often anything but. So that was very interesting, but I didn’t really want to read a play by play of a bad breakup so I skimmed most of that section. I also skimmed a lot of the emotionally manipulative Scott stuff in the middle of the book because it was kind of triggering for me to read. So I would say I probably read about half of the book, give or take 15%. I almost categorized this as a DNF for that reason, but I did read most of the main plot stuff and the majority of the book I did read. But it was really hard for me to read some of the abusive, gaslighting, emotional manipulation etc. scenes and so I had to do a lot of skimming. I also felt like the banter/descriptions/conversations in certain scenes were drawn out too long and so I skimmed a lot because I felt like I was getting the same sort of thing repeated a bunch. While I mostly did skim a lot and would say this book wasn’t the rom com I was expecting, this book did a really good job of laying out the red flags of an emotionally manipulative, abusive relationship. Showing how you can think everything is fine and shrug off lots of red flags and then when you are out of the relationship you see things that were really not okay, or as was the case with Jon, big issues come to light during the breakup phase. I think this book was a really thorough, accurate, well represented analysis of toxic relationships and had some really moving scenes as Harriet worked through her trauma and found support in good people like Nina and her friend Lorna. The scene where Nina and Harriet talk on the phone the first time and Nina is a supportive, understanding survivor of Scott as well made me cry. But the book also did a good job of showing how many people will often side with the abuser, like some of Harriet’s other friends. This book could be really important for people to see, to realize how they have been mistreated and know what signs to look for. I really respect this book for that reason.
But I also felt that it was really hard to read because a lot of the content was really intense and slightly triggering. And my big issue is that given the description of the book and the cover, I had NO idea about any of this going into it. I think it’s really important, but it’s also really important to be upfront about the kind of content that is going to be in this book, so that if you’re not in the right headspace to read this then you don’t get surprised by it. This is not a rom-com by any means. Cal and Harriet add some levity and a sweet relationship to the story, but they are not the main focus. I really respect what this book does, but definitely be aware going into it that this could be hard for some people to read.
But I also felt that it was really hard to read because a lot of the content was really intense and slightly triggering. And my big issue is that given the description of the book and the cover, I had NO idea about any of this going into it. I think it’s really important, but it’s also really important to be upfront about the kind of content that is going to be in this book, so that if you’re not in the right headspace to read this then you don’t get surprised by it. This is not a rom-com by any means. Cal and Harriet add some levity and a sweet relationship to the story, but they are not the main focus. I really respect what this book does, but definitely be aware going into it that this could be hard for some people to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, and Gaslighting
Minor: Eating disorder and Violence
vivid_reads's review
emotional
sad
3.0
Light on the romance, heavy on some harder hitting topics like emotional abuse.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Minor: Violence and Death of parent
cookmiranda1923's review
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Classism, Toxic friendship, Cancer, and Death of parent
Minor: Violence and Vomit
More...