Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

O Namorado by Freida McFadden

4 reviews

minimicropup's review against another edition

4.5

dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I liked this! It was suspenseful, I didn’t see the twist, but even for the predictable parts I was interested in how things would turn out. 

 

Energy: Entertaining. Shady. Energetic. 

 

🐕 Howls: The twist was good, but I didn’t love how that situation turned out (seemed like a convenient set up for a sequel and it had a romanticizing tone the rest of the story didn’t have). 

 

🐩 Tail Wags: The main character was dumb, but it didn’t feel contrived and her short-comings were woven into the plot in a believable way. How the characters had distinct personalities. Natural humour and dialogue. Show-not-tell writing style (and easily readable). The suspense from the dual timeline. Mix of predictable and unexpected twists. 

 

Scene: 🇺🇸 Manhattan NYC and a tiny town in upstate NY, USA

Perspectives(2): The Before perspective follows a quiet, well behaved high school student struggling with a difficult home life while navigating attention from their crush. The After perspective follows a 34 year old whose dating history is filled with let’s-not-meet, when a handsome, mysterious stranger rescues them from another date-gone-very-wrong situation.  

Timeline: August to December (2010s or 2020s). 1990s.  

🔥 Fuel: Will Tom be able to control his impulses? What happened in his past and how has that turned out for him? Was he able to change or is he dangerous? Will Sydney clue in to some red flags? Can she trust her new boyfriend?  

📖 Cred: Suspended disbelief

 

Mood Reading Match-Up:

First date rescue call. Google. Knife. Chinese food. Tiny apartment. Restaurants. Nose bleed. 

• Tagging along, peering over shoulders, characters speaking to us
• Then and Now timelines that eventually connect
• Knowing more than the main character (usually)
• Casual, breezy writing style and short chapters
• Mix of morally grey, sympathetic (maybe), troubled, and foolish characters
• Coming of age first love, high school crush
• Conflicted can-she-trust-him romantic interest
• Let’s not meet dating fails and red flags
• Dramedy elements
• Lovers to enemies
• Monsters among us popcorn thriller
• Psychological romantic suspense
• Serial killers and soulmates

 

Content Heads-Up: Blood. Body shaming (weight). Domestic abuse (violence, emotional, verbal, physical). Homicidal tendencies, intrusive thoughts. Loss of best friend. Misogyny. Murder (multilation, discovery of body). Nicotine (cigarettes). Pandemic, lockdowns (very brief mention). Sexual assault (verbal, physical advances). Sexual harassment (stalking, not taking no for an answer). 

 

Rep: American. Cis. Hetero. Pale, freckled skin tones. Von Willebrand disease. 

 

📚 Format: Kindle Unlimited

 

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual harassment

Minor: Body shaming, Pandemic/Epidemic

purplesky25276's review against another edition

5.0

dark hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense 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: Complicated

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I really enjoyed this book. The written was incredibly great. The preformence was very good.  The overall storyline was incredible.  The twists will having me raving about this book for years to come. Really enjoyed this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

2.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Narrator Rating: 1.0 stars

   The narrators directly impacted my lack of enjoyment of the book, so I'll discuss them first. The male narrator was annoying AF, I get they wanted a teen male, but did they have to pick someone to do that voice that had such a whiny and grating voice? If you have to choose between listening or reading this book. I advise you to read a physical or e-copy, NOT listen to the audio. 

    Because of the awful narration I think I enjoyed the book less. The main female MC I found unlikable because she was SOO desperate to find a man. I could get that in a 20-something. But as someone in my mid-to-late thirties, I didn't find it as believable that she would just take any mediocre white dude, even if she couldn't see a future with him. 

   The mystery element I found great! If the main character had been even slightly likable I would have rated it higher, but I thought about DNF-ing around 53% but since I was already more than half-way through the book I soldiered on and finished it. Overall, I'd say it was meh. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Torture, Pandemic/Epidemic

uranaishi's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, Stalking, Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Grief, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic