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challenging
emotional
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
This was a great read. I didn't know anything about it before reading it as it was a book club book, but I really enjoyed it. It was quite heavy at times, but in a good way if that makes sense. The way it switched between past and present was done incredibly well. Due to the writing style, the more you read the less of a mystery this relationship and situation becomes. Some parts I didn't see coming but others were painfully right in front of the reader the entire time. Overall, I thought it was a great book and I'm excited to read the sequel about Eva's daughter Audre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug use, Self harm, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual harassment
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
I have complicated feelings about this book. When you don't think too hard, this book is electric to read. Eva and Shane are compelling characters who are trying to be so much more than their trau-mas. They are both complete, compelling, flawed, and lovable characters by themselves. Together, they are electric. The surrounding cast is strong too, especially Eva's family. Eva's relationship with them is complex and explains who she is as a person.
When you do think a bit too much, it kinda falls apart. Their relationship as teenagers was based on a weeklong high lust. While there are slivers of how and why they get each other, in the end, the relationship does come off as codependent. That the adult version of their relationship seems like continuing off where they picked up, there has to be some suspension of disbelief. In addition, their teen years were extremely dark and felt like trauma porn, especially because we don't see glimpses of how they healed, only that they healed.
Also, I dislike how there's a miscommunication trope that dragged the book longer than it needed to be. Especially because it made Eva and Shane break it off only to get together a couple of pages down.
I think at its core, there are very strong elements. I did enjoy my time with this book overall. If only some parts were fleshed out or more considered, it could have been great. Still, I look forward to reading the companion story about Eva's daughter, Audre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment
fast-paced
Hm look I might just not be the right audience for this one. But way too much was going on
Why didthe poor kid have to die??
I liked Eva's backstory, I liked that the couple were both flawed and dealing with chronic illness and addiction. Honestly I think it could've gone deeper on those things rather than spiralling out into super dramatic side plot. It was really hard to focus on the main plot.
Some pretty graphic stuff in here too! Read the content warnings if you're avoiding certain triggers.
Why did
I liked Eva's backstory, I liked that the couple were both flawed and dealing with chronic illness and addiction. Honestly I think it could've gone deeper on those things rather than spiralling out into super dramatic side plot. It was really hard to focus on the main plot.
Some pretty graphic stuff in here too! Read the content warnings if you're avoiding certain triggers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Self harm
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Racism
Minor: Gun violence, Rape
Self harm content is very graphic
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual assault, Vomit
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Murder
dark
funny
hopeful
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
I didn’t know what to expect but it exceeded my expectations. It was a perfect mix of funny, spicy, romantic, and traumatic. Absolutely adored this book. And yes, I will be reading Audre’s book even if she got out of pocket in this one. Loved Shane and Eva together. They made total sense. I liked that it showed that you don’t have to be “fixed” or perfect to find that one person who’ll ride with you, flaws and all. Eva’s momma ain’t shit but I guess that’s just who she is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual content
Minor: Mental illness
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child death, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment
Minor: Bullying
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Self harm, Alcohol
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Abandonment
Minor: Gun violence
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was very real. It was hard to read at times, especially the self harm scenes. Its portrayal of chronic illness was very authentic, and I appreciate the author for how that was handled.
The romance was very passionate but imperfect. The characters' pasts and their toxic coping mechanisms make their relationship feel gritty and real, but they have so much love for each other. The two main characters have great chemistry.
I love when characters have great growth in a book, and these two certainly do, especially Eva. I would recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with chronic illness or a difficult childhood.
The romance was very passionate but imperfect. The characters' pasts and their toxic coping mechanisms make their relationship feel gritty and real, but they have so much love for each other. The two main characters have great chemistry.
I love when characters have great growth in a book, and these two certainly do, especially Eva. I would recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with chronic illness or a difficult childhood.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Violence, Alcohol, Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Pedophilia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
tense
slow-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
Torn about this one. I really enjoyed the emotional portrait of growing up with trauma, two broken teens trauma-bonding, and the still-healing adults they grew into. Both Eva and Shane are really compelling in that way. I liked that their connection comes on as fast and strong as it did the first time around, but now that they're both in a different place in their lives and after the initial rush of getting swept away, they make the difficult decision to pump the breaks. The ending was nicely done imo. (The epilogue shouldn't be an epilogue, though. The story was very much still unfolding when the "epilogue" started. Pet peeve.)
But there were quite a few things I didn't enjoy. There's a bit of head-hopping, which I ignored at first but it happened more in some later chapters and really showed the weakness of the writing. I personally don't really enjoy the hyper-specific pop references. And I seriously did not enjoy the daughter character, Audre. Just, no. This doesn't read like a 7th grader at all, and considering she's a POV character at certain points and a very important secondary character in general, it was very distracting. I put this one down every time we returned to the daughter, had to psych myself up to push through.
Lastly, several of the "extra" POVs that weren't the two MCs felt really forced, almost like they were tacked on? I can see how it maybe felt necessary in order to make a specific POV shift work in the final twist of the plot (trying to avoid a plot spoiler here), but those extra POV shifts along the way slowed down the pacing, contributed less than they took away.
But there were quite a few things I didn't enjoy. There's a bit of head-hopping, which I ignored at first but it happened more in some later chapters and really showed the weakness of the writing. I personally don't really enjoy the hyper-specific pop references. And I seriously did not enjoy the daughter character, Audre. Just, no. This doesn't read like a 7th grader at all, and considering she's a POV character at certain points and a very important secondary character in general, it was very distracting. I put this one down every time we returned to the daughter, had to psych myself up to push through.
Lastly, several of the "extra" POVs that weren't the two MCs felt really forced, almost like they were tacked on? I can see how it maybe felt necessary in order to make a specific POV shift work in the final twist of the plot (trying to avoid a plot spoiler here), but those extra POV shifts along the way slowed down the pacing, contributed less than they took away.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Violence
Minor: Death, Gun violence, Grief, Car accident
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Self harm
Moderate: Addiction