Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Lease on Love

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Lease on Love by Falon Ballard

10 reviews

maggies's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I think I get what the author was trying to do with this book, but it fell flat for me. I never felt the supposed chemistry between Sadie and Jack, and all of Sadie's friends were pretty one-dimensional as well. The primary conflict between the main characters is blown way out of proportion. There's way too much telling rather than showing throughout the story. It's marketed as slow burn, but actually

the "attraction" starts quite suddenly fairly early on, and Sadie and Jack decide they "don't want to mess it up" by moving too fast, which came across as an authorly gimmick instead of a reasonable choice by the characters.

On top of all that, Sadie's negative self-talk was honestly just annoying. It didn't come across as genuine, especially because

she had gone to counseling to deal with her abusive upbringing, and apparently this still didn't help her gain a more accurate self-image? When Gemma, Harley, and Nick intervene and tell her she needs to go back to therapy, it's supposed to be some lightning strike moment, but she should have been in therapy for years prior, and they all should have known that.

Most of my complaints are about Sadie primarily because the book is written in her voice and also because Jack is woefully underdeveloped, which is really unfortunate because he had the makings of an unusual leading man at the beginning, and it didn't go anywhere.

Glad to have read the book, and maybe I'll check out another book by Falon Ballard in the future, but this was a decidedly debut novel, so I won't be rushing to read the next, I think.

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tors_tomes's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted slow-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

3.75

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ariana_m's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted slow-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

5.0

This was great! Really lighthearted and enjoyable. I loved everyone in this book. There was not a single character I disliked and I had zero complaints. I can't believe this was a debut novel from this author because it was so good and I can't wait for her next book. I think this author will be a new favorite. I loved Sadie and Jack so much. Jack and is the definition of a cinnamon roll hero lol. He was so sweet from start to finish. If I was annotating the book, I would have highlighted everything he said lol. I loved Sadie too, she was so funny at times. I also loved the found family aspect of this as well. Overall I loved this book a lot.

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heddaah's review

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dark emotional lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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kristin_bee's review

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emotional funny hopeful fast-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

4.5

-3 good things: friends to lovers, humor (especially side characters), longer time frame
-2 sentence summary: Sadie’s life basically folds in on itself after getting passed over for a promotion. She lucks into a room in a brownstone owned by Jack, who, like Sadie, is struggling—together they help each other start to heal.
-1 word to describe the book: Friendship

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laurynsmith's review

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lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

I'm not going to lie this book was EXTREMELY slow to start and nearly put me in a book slump, but I am so glad I pushed through because I ended up really enjoying it. The build-up of Sadie and Jack's relationship was done perfectly and I very much loved their connection...the perfect progression of strangers to friends to lovers. I loved the ways in which they supported each other through their struggles and embraced their flaws. And though it did feel a little overdone at times particularly on Sadie's end, PGOM Jack and the ways in which he lifted her up definitely made up for it. This book also had really strong side characters which we love to see! All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a really solid romance. But again...I really cannot deal with cheesy book nicknames anymore.

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comfortreaderr's review

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing 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

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keepcalmblogon's review

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I was so stoked when this romance became an escapist fantasy: a brownstone in Brooklyn for a pittance (yea, that word was in the book. Twice.), a girl beginning her dream career, with supportive friends and a hot roommate. I was left wanting at the end though. The conflict in the story wasn’t conflicting enough, a supposed lie blown way out of proportion, and a self-conscious MC who overcame emotional and verbal abuse from her father.

I never want to discount anyone’s trauma, but I wish Sadie’s self-esteem issues had been more thoroughly fleshed out. As a character who thought in absolutes, instead of questions, her self-doubt was confusing. I could not figure out WHY she felt worthless, WHY she felt like an asshole, WHY she felt selfish. It was so unclear until she admits her childhood home life to Jack more than halfway into the story. Even then, her abuse is only alluded to, which felt like a cheap way to add conflict into the story. As an escapist romance, I suppose the story didn’t NEED conflict, but as a piece of literature, it could have been so much more, even if it was still escapist, they are not mutually exclusive. The conclusion of the story is nice enough, but the build up had me expecting so much more, and that climax was not what Sadie and Jack deserved.

Despite the lackluster ending, I was a huge fan of Jack’s nerdy shirts (NOT hipster, I resented Sadie calling him a hipster, he was clearly a gamer and Sadie was the hipster), Gemma’s pottymouth, and the subtheme of the problems with the American education system, from underpaid teachers to student loan debt. In the end, I’ll give this 3 stars.

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kayyphan's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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