Scan barcode
ashleyvharris's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The characters had decent chemistry, but the whole premise of their deal is so unrealistic. I love a good fake dating scenario, but only when it’s believable. Your 20 years old and fake dating a hockey player in order to get attention from the football player? This feels like it might be better set in a story with younger high school characters.
If cringey dialogue is a dealbreaker for you, steer clear of this book. The amount of times that a character said something so random had me in a state of permanent cringe. No self-respecting person genuinely uses the term “douchecanoe” in a sentence. It felt like Kennedy was a parent trying to use the “hip lingo” to relate to their teen children.
Kennedy’s strength in this story was her ability to tell a love story featuring survivors of rape and abuse without making the story all about their trauma. It’s fantastic to read a book about survivors moving forward with their lives (trauma now a part of that life) and dating, finding love, making mistakes, and being empowered in their sexuality.
Despite being a cookie-cutter story with poor dialogue, The Deal successfully brings representation of trauma and abuse survivors to the spicy romance genre.
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Death of parent
shaunag's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders
sophiemartin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, and Child abuse
Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent
kaykaysbookshelf's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
I was told that this book is popular among younger people on TikTok, which is fucking baffling to me. This book is NOT a good example of how women should be treated, and I hope that anyone reading this realizes that. You deserve better and if you think your partner is anything like Garrett or his friends, please just take a moment to really look at that relationship and make sure you are being treated fairly and respectfully.
The blatant misogyny throughout this book was so painful, that at times I thought this was a book written by a man. Women were treated as nothing but objects, only there to have sex with these hockey players. Even Hannah looked down on the women that they talked about, and acted like she was better then them. She was even rude to MJ when she got asked out because she just wasn't that pretty. What the fuck? On top of that, Garrett also refused to take no for an answer, forcing Hannah to tutor him and drink, which is not cool.
CW: Sexual Assault
My biggest problem with this book is how sexual assault and rape were portrayed. First off, Garrett compares having sex with a virgin to having sex with a rape survivor (he says victim which is not also not okay - you can google victim vs survivor mentality on that one), but anyways, he says the approach to sleeping with both are the same thing. After that quote, I was just fuming the rest of the book, it upset me so much because that is not even true and it belittles what she went through. She also constantly says that she needs to be fixed, which is not true. There's nothing wrong with her, and it was a perfect opportunity to open up a dialogue to that in the book, which didn't happen.
This book left such a sour taste in my mouth and ruined my entire day, and honestly, probably my whole week. There is no way I will be continuing this series, or reading anything else by her.
Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Misogyny, Bullying, and Child abuse
ekcd_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Alcohol and Sexual content
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Mental illness, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse
lulaareads__'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Rape
kaslyndav's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Rape
Minor: Murder, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Cancer
kendrakeuler's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Alcohol, Cancer, Alcoholism, and Death
Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Minor: Cursing, Grief, Mental illness, Stalking, and Bullying
culzean's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Grief, Death of parent, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Cancer, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Torture, and Violence
graicez's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders