Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Must Love Books

I really enjoyed this book and the themes it covered. Also the characters were so full of life it made the book good. But ultimately I enjoyed watching Nora navigate the concept ‘what should I be doing with my lfie’

Content Warnings

lewbug's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring lighthearted 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

This book was really sweet and I loved the way it encapsulated that feeling of mid twenties dread of what the future might hold. The romance was cute and I liked that it was not the focus of the book but rather Nora’s journey to find happiness and struggle with depression.

But I do love how she and Andrew connect and what they bring out in each other. I wish there was a ‘3 months later’ type epilogue where we could see them go a real date or something by like that.

I also enjoyed the kind of open ending and the realization she has that it’s okay if things didn’t work out like she wanted.

However the climax of this book was a little disappointing and I felt like it was a lot of build up and stress for what ended up being a pretty quick resolution.

Also- if Candace had the ability to put Henry Brook in his place the whole time why hadn’t she done it? Like why did Nora have to suffer especially since she already acknowledged how much extra work she had been doing for LESS pay. I would’ve been way more upset about it

Content Warnings

lizzieep's review against another edition

Go to review page

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

maddiiehall's review against another edition

Go to review page

would have been so much better if they didn’t pretend this was a romance

Content Warnings

bzliz's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

I read this after enjoying Shauna Robinson’s The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks and I wasn’t fully prepared for the ride this time. Maybe I should have looked into it a little more but this errs much more on the side of literary fiction rather than romance.

Nora Hughes has been working at Parson’s Publishing for 5 years and has endured business restructuring that meant her favorite coworkers had been let go and she had to take on enough work for three employees, plus the added humiliation of a pay cut. She’s already been spiraling into depression but it keeps getting worse when she can’t make ends meet and she takes on a part time position at another publishing house, all while a promotion at Parson’s hinges on signing an author she’s somewhat romantically involved with.

Of course you should expect that at some point everything is going to come crashing down but I found myself flipping ahead a few pages so I could adequately prepare myself for the inevitable fallout. Nora made some pretty bad choices but I still found myself rooting for her to get better. It’s really hard to climb out of a depression pit. Beth is a wonderful side character who reminds me a lot of my own version of Beth who was crucial in helping me get back of track. I’m ambivalent about Andrew; he’s written as being incredibly supportive of Nora but I’m not sold on it. He was a little too understanding when he got the full story.

I appreciated the realistic ending and that

Nora didn’t rush into something more serious with Andrew. She needs to work on herself before involving anyone else. Also, I don’t think any real job would let you stay- even if it meant changing your role- once it was known that you had breached conflict of interest.

Content warnings:
Mental illness, thoughts of suicide:

The whole book deals with Nora’s depression which prior to the events of the book had led her to contemplate suicide. On the page, she thinks of those times but does not have ongoing thoughts in that vein and she never makes any plans or attempts. If you are triggered by any discussion of suicide, even glib thoughts, skip this one.

Content Warnings

christinesreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional slow-paced

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

2.75

Content Warnings

More...