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readingwithtemperance's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
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
4.5
Jasmine absolutely infuriated me while simultaneously making me want to give her the biggest hug. I loved her though and I can absolutely understand her pain/why she is the way she is. I saw a bit of myself in her. Mommy issue abandonment twinsies and all that.
I am just so incredibly proud of her for doing the work and taking care of herself. And for TRYING.And for admitting she needs help and taking that help and applying what she learns in therapy into her every day life. Ngl i do wish we got to sit in for some of those sessions.
Rahul was so kind and patient with Jasmine. It warmed my heart how much he deeply cared for her and wanted her to be happy above all else.That man WAITED for SEVEN years. Not even waiting for HER to feel the same. But just BEING THERE and being the absolute best friend ever. MY HEART.
The ending was so so sweet.I loved the 7 years later/getting to see their son. And to watch them have such a mundane and intimite moment and just still be so head over heels for eachother. I was sobbing at how beautiful it all was. What more could you want than to build a life with your best friend?
Talia I love you so much. I swear you do no wrong.
I am just so incredibly proud of her for doing the work and taking care of herself. And for TRYING.
Rahul was so kind and patient with Jasmine. It warmed my heart how much he deeply cared for her and wanted her to be happy above all else.
The ending was so so sweet.
Talia I love you so much. I swear you do no wrong.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Abandonment, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
mayareadsxo's review
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Abandonment, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Blood
weelasswithabook's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
5.0
CW graphic sexual content, parental abandonment, death of a parent, alcoholism/alcohol dependency
đ Friends to lovers
đ BIPOC Interracial romance
đ Forced proximity/flatmates
đ Cinnamon roll hero
đ Queer heroine
đ Black heroine
đ Muslim hero
She just never misses, does she?
I absolutely adored this friends to lovers novel about two best friends who have been forced to room. Rahul has is BAAAAAAD. If you live for a pining hero, then this is right up your street.
Sometimes a friends to lovers after a decade of pining can give "he's friends with her because he thinks he has a shot", but this was done so expertly that it was clear he was trying his best, he never pushed boundaries or disrespected her, and he genuinely continued to be her ride or die bestie.
Jasmine broke my heart, not gonna lie, her sense of self worth and being deserving of love tore me up. But she was just so good and she just couldn't see it đ
This had such a perfect balance of sweet and tender moments, gut wrenching sad moment, hella spicy moments, and laugh out loud moments. It's hard to fit all of that into less than 400 pages without letting something drop somewhere, and it had it all in abundance. Plus a mini insight into codependency between friends and/or lovers was thrown in there too.
You need to read this if you love a solid friends to lovers book, where the friendship is literally a genuine friendship. If the prickly heroine and cinnamon roll hero due is your favourite combo, it's also ideal because they're so unbelievably different, but they just work so well!!!
đ Friends to lovers
đ BIPOC Interracial romance
đ Forced proximity/flatmates
đ Cinnamon roll hero
đ Queer heroine
đ Black heroine
đ Muslim hero
She just never misses, does she?
I absolutely adored this friends to lovers novel about two best friends who have been forced to room. Rahul has is BAAAAAAD. If you live for a pining hero, then this is right up your street.
Sometimes a friends to lovers after a decade of pining can give "he's friends with her because he thinks he has a shot", but this was done so expertly that it was clear he was trying his best, he never pushed boundaries or disrespected her, and he genuinely continued to be her ride or die bestie.
Jasmine broke my heart, not gonna lie, her sense of self worth and being deserving of love tore me up. But she was just so good and she just couldn't see it đ
This had such a perfect balance of sweet and tender moments, gut wrenching sad moment, hella spicy moments, and laugh out loud moments. It's hard to fit all of that into less than 400 pages without letting something drop somewhere, and it had it all in abundance. Plus a mini insight into codependency between friends and/or lovers was thrown in there too.
You need to read this if you love a solid friends to lovers book, where the friendship is literally a genuine friendship. If the prickly heroine and cinnamon roll hero due is your favourite combo, it's also ideal because they're so unbelievably different, but they just work so well!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Addiction
jillkaarlela's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This book is giving âMe to Youâ by Grace Enger, but not in a good way. (With Rahul as the narrator/perspective of the song)
Age rating: 18+ (7 steamy chapters, 3/5đśď¸)
This was by far my least favorite of Talia Hibbertâs books. I am just not a fan of âreformed playerâ/commitment-phobe trope in this instance, the FMC only sleeps around and she starts wanting the MMC again but only as friends-with-benefits even though she knows thatâs not what he wants because he actually wants a relationship. She just canât have both him as your best friend and casual hookups because he canât be casual about you and you know that, so you canât have both. She wants all of the benefits of dating (more than just hooking up) but not calling it that. There were just a lot of instances where she seemed cavalier with him and I didnât love that. She was also just very emotionally unavailable, in my opinion, throughout the story. She also doesnât seem like a very good friend in general, she can be quite selfish, self-centered, and flighty and it makes me so annoyed. Because of these issues with the dynamic between the FMC and the MMC, I didnât really find myself rooting for her, and I was mostly just trying to finish the book, which was very disappointing for me. Iâm not saying this book was bad at all, it was just very much not for me.
CW: grief, death of parent, alcoholism
Age rating: 18+ (7 steamy chapters, 3/5đśď¸)
This was by far my least favorite of Talia Hibbertâs books. I am just not a fan of âreformed playerâ/commitment-phobe trope in this instance, the FMC only sleeps around and she starts wanting the MMC again but only as friends-with-benefits even though she knows thatâs not what he wants because he actually wants a relationship. She just canât have both him as your best friend and casual hookups because he canât be casual about you and you know that, so you canât have both. She wants all of the benefits of dating (more than just hooking up) but not calling it that. There were just a lot of instances where she seemed cavalier with him and I didnât love that. She was also just very emotionally unavailable, in my opinion, throughout the story. She also doesnât seem like a very good friend in general, she can be quite selfish, self-centered, and flighty and it makes me so annoyed. Because of these issues with the dynamic between the FMC and the MMC, I didnât really find myself rooting for her, and I was mostly just trying to finish the book, which was very disappointing for me. Iâm not saying this book was bad at all, it was just very much not for me.
CW: grief, death of parent, alcoholism
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, Grief, Cursing, Death, and Alcoholism
reads2cope's review against another edition
4.5
Wish I had read this rather than listened to it, but the audiobook was available from my library (LOVE YOU LIBBY) before the eBook. The book was read by an older white British man (Matthew Lloyd Davies/Cornell Collins), despite the two POVs being a Black British woman and a British-Indian man in their late 20s. The narrator made Rahul sound like an Indian grandpa. The Indian accent was actually offensive - not only was it pretty clear that Rahul grew up in England, but the accent was inconsistent and strange. I thought it couldnât get worse, but then I heard how he voiced Rahulâs mom and whatever that accent was that he gave Pinal. However, I love Talia Hibbert, so I powered through and totally enjoyed the story and characters. I plan to reread as a physical or eBook in the future!
I normally take a star off for a third-act breaks up, but this one was handled so well I was almost convinced they needed it!
I normally take a star off for a third-act breaks up, but this one was handled so well I was almost convinced they needed it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Blood, Abandonment, and Addiction
notapenguin's review
challenging
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Death of parent
discarded_dust_jacket's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
I will never stop saying it: men written by Talia Hibbert are superior. And to be honest, among them, I think Rahul might be my new all-time favorite (and thatâs saying something)! The emotional maturity, the kind-heartedness, the overall gentle disposition (that becomes absolutely filthy in the bedroom)? Weâre talking green flag after green flag, my friends.
A lot of times, the friends-to-lovers trope is a miss for me, simply because the conflict never seems believable. I just think to myself âugh, if youâre in love, just get together already, why all the angst? It neednât be this difficult!â But with this one, I feel like I really did empathize with Jasmineâs reluctance to see what was right in front of her (and then to sabotage it when it could no longer be ignored). I appreciated her character development a lot.
As is always the case, Hibbertâs writing is accessible and enjoyable, I would recommend this to anyone and everyone.
A lot of times, the friends-to-lovers trope is a miss for me, simply because the conflict never seems believable. I just think to myself âugh, if youâre in love, just get together already, why all the angst? It neednât be this difficult!â But with this one, I feel like I really did empathize with Jasmineâs reluctance to see what was right in front of her (and then to sabotage it when it could no longer be ignored). I appreciated her character development a lot.
As is always the case, Hibbertâs writing is accessible and enjoyable, I would recommend this to anyone and everyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
rickireadss's review
4.0
did i pick this up because everyone and their momma on booksta is talking about it and its new cover? umm yes and i don't regret it. RAHUL>>>>>> that man was just SO down bad for my girl jasmine and i was here for it all. both of their inner monologues truly hurt my heart at times and damn, i didn't not expect this to get as emotional as it did towards the end?!? my heart was breaking. this didn't really pick up for me until about the 20% mark, but once it picked up, i was all in. also i didn't realize this was apart of series - although i don't think they are interconnected - so i'm going to go read those soon! not my favorite talia book but still really good.
â ď¸: alcoholism, death of parent, abandonment, grief, panic attacks/disorders
â ď¸: alcoholism, death of parent, abandonment, grief, panic attacks/disorders
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Abandonment
Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent
readsandreality's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Abandonment
kathrynok's review
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, Alcoholism, and Death of parent