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star'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? It's complicated
3.5
This book was so good until it wasn’t.
TL;DR I really enjoyed this book for the most part. Lost love and second chances are both huge soft spots for me. Also, I really also loved that Apple Music literally has some of the songs mentioned in the book as being sung by the Lillys (the band in the book).
Overall, I think I’d read the sequel mentioned in the back if that book didn’t have specific things. Ultimately, I can’t be too mad about some of this stuff — I bought it for $1 at a thrift shop that benefits a hospital.
As for the spoilers, let’s get one thing out of the way first: the godawful, unnecessary, cishet sex scenes were NOT it for me and genuinely are why I didn’t give this book a higher rating. I was enraptured with this book — it’s the first time I’ve finished a book this quickly in ages. I really, really liked Toni. But the sex scenes seemed extremely random and poorly written. They also happened so late in the book that I was caught off guard. They were written like a pretty laughable first time writer attempt at being sexy — definitely not published book material. I’d expect that sort of shit on Literotica. I personally wouldn’t spend full price on the book for that alone.
Also, I was extremely bothered with Lilly’s portrayal in this book. “Ice queen” aside, they constantly flirted with the idea of her being queer/possibly having feelings for Candi, but nothing came of her being queer and it just felt very forced, especially since they also just threw a random nonbinary character (who I did not feel represented me well as a nonbinary/agender person! Especially since they just got randomly written off/used for diversity brownie points!) I would’ve appreciated even a mention toward a confirmation of Lilly or Candis sexualities, especially after that scene with Seb at the end. (Are they both bi or what? And Jordan too?)
Speaking of Seb, his entire character oscillated quickly between being okay and being absolutely insufferable for me. At no point was it okay that he was using her childhood nickname or bringing up their past during sex. But also, in some of those childhood scenes he had already become an adult! It doesn’t always seem like that much of an age difference, but it can definitely have some maturity level issues. And despite me loving the entire genre of childhood love being given a second chance, Seb absolutely did not deserve Toni’s time. (And despite him knowing that, he kept pushing and hurting her anyway!) That, and his inability to set boundaries with Candi, made his chapters a bit more of a slog.
Where the book had so much unsung (lol) potential was the relationships between the Lillys (Tiff, Kayla, Lilly, Toni, and Candi). I loved the parts that were just the band members enjoying their time. I loved the way that the author slowly peeled back the layers to show their motivations and feelings toward each other. I only wish those parts were longer and more detailed — it would’ve been such amazing character development, especially after Candi was kicked out.
Toni was the best part. The things she had to overcome (Mo and Mary, breaking out of her shitty town, breaking into the industry, the bias against her, etc) genuinely made her into a strong character. Her ability to overcome her aversion to the spotlight as well as heal from her wounds genuinely was refreshing to read, though I wish more time was spent on it.
Also, Mo showing up toward the end made me cry.
I just wish that the Seb and Toni sex scenes were better, or less forced, or just weren’t there entirely (even if it was a cut). I felt like they had been overcoming their past really well prior to that, and it was frustrating.
TL;DR I really enjoyed this book for the most part. Lost love and second chances are both huge soft spots for me. Also, I really also loved that Apple Music literally has some of the songs mentioned in the book as being sung by the Lillys (the band in the book).
Overall, I think I’d read the sequel mentioned in the back if that book didn’t have specific things. Ultimately, I can’t be too mad about some of this stuff — I bought it for $1 at a thrift shop that benefits a hospital.
Also, I was extremely bothered with Lilly’s portrayal in this book. “Ice queen” aside, they constantly flirted with the idea of her being queer/possibly having feelings for Candi, but nothing came of her being queer and it just felt very forced, especially since they also just threw a random nonbinary character (who I did not feel represented me well as a nonbinary/agender person! Especially since they just got randomly written off/used for diversity brownie points!) I would’ve appreciated even a mention toward a confirmation of Lilly or Candis sexualities, especially after that scene with Seb at the end. (Are they both bi or what? And Jordan too?)
Speaking of Seb, his entire character oscillated quickly between being okay and being absolutely insufferable for me. At no point was it okay that he was using her childhood nickname or bringing up their past during sex. But also, in some of those childhood scenes he had already become an adult! It doesn’t always seem like that much of an age difference, but it can definitely have some maturity level issues. And despite me loving the entire genre of childhood love being given a second chance, Seb absolutely did not deserve Toni’s time. (And despite him knowing that, he kept pushing and hurting her anyway!) That, and his inability to set boundaries with Candi, made his chapters a bit more of a slog.
Where the book had so much unsung (lol) potential was the relationships between the Lillys (Tiff, Kayla, Lilly, Toni, and Candi). I loved the parts that were just the band members enjoying their time. I loved the way that the author slowly peeled back the layers to show their motivations and feelings toward each other. I only wish those parts were longer and more detailed — it would’ve been such amazing character development, especially after Candi was kicked out.
Toni was the best part. The things she had to overcome (Mo and Mary, breaking out of her shitty town, breaking into the industry, the bias against her, etc) genuinely made her into a strong character. Her ability to overcome her aversion to the spotlight as well as heal from her wounds genuinely was refreshing to read, though I wish more time was spent on it.
Also, Mo showing up toward the end made me cry.
I just wish that the Seb and Toni sex scenes were better, or less forced, or just weren’t there entirely (even if it was a cut). I felt like they had been overcoming their past really well prior to that, and it was frustrating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Alcohol, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Abandonment, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Grief, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Racism, and Misogyny
Minor: Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, and Mental illness
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