Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - The Roommate Risk

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert

64 reviews

bladebailey's review

emotional funny reflective 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

4.5

Talia Hibbert writes mature, messy romances with beautifully flawed and well rounded characters. Rahul, a strict health nut who doesn't drink alcohol for religious reasons and works with numbers for a living, contrasts perfectly with the wild and free Jasmine, who exhibits borderline alcoholism and loves to eat whatever she wants. They share their traumas often, Rahul grieving the recent sudden loss of his beloved father and Jasmine struggling with long term abandonment issues prompted by her mother's apathetic disconnect. The Roommate Risk rectifies a major problem I tend to have with friends to lovers romances, because I see it happen way too often that the one who's been pining longer (often the man) feels entitled to a sexual and romantic relationship regardless of the other's resistance, whether it's from lack of interest or emotional baggage like Jasmine. Rahul absolutely doesn't do that, and in fact bluntly states that he knows he's not entitled to Jasmine's time, body, or affection just because they've been friends so long and he suspects she might want him. He knows it's his problem, not hers, and he lets her come to her own conclusions on her own time. I definitely recommend Hibbert as a whole, but this may be among my favorites of her catalog.

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pinesandpages's review

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3.0

This one was strange bc it was angstier than I expected but also….a lot of the angst wasn’t resolved? The issues between Rahul and Jasmine were resolved for the most part, but their internal struggles certainly were not. And their internal struggles directly correlate to their issues with each other, so…

Jasmine’s especially, her issues with her mother were hinted at throughout so I thought there would be a big reveal or realization but that…just didn’t happen. We do have a scene where she and her father chat and Jasmine finally brings up her mother for the first time in years, and then their convo is summarized/glossed over. Like we didn’t hear any issues nor understood the root cause, the author just keeps it moving with a general “and then they talked” sentence or two. What??? The ENTIRE premise of the book is that Jasmine does not date nor fall in love, but we never learn exactly why + what happened with her mother that result in not dating as a coping mechanism. Also, speaking of things not being resolved, why did we hear so many times about Jasmine’s mysterious arm scar that she didn’t like to talk about, if that was never going to be addressed??

As for Rahul, he very clearly had some issues with control and putting too much pressure on himself after his dad died. And Jasmine lightly teased him about it a few times, he had some light realizations, and then one conversation with his mother, and that’s it?? He’s fixed now!

So all that to say, this certainly wasn’t my favorite Talia Hibbert book. I had been racing through her backlog, but after this + A Girl Like Her, I think I’ll take a pause.

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modryzamek's review

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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? No

3.75

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mayareadsxo's review

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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

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weelasswithabook's review against another edition

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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

🌟 Friends to lovers
🌟 BIPOC Interracial romance
🌟 Forced proximity/flatmates
🌟 Cinnamon roll hero

🌈 Queer heroine
🌈 Black heroine
🌈 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 😭

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!!!

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kristin_boren's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-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

Certainly not my favorite Talia Hibbert but by no means bad. Rahul is simply TO DIE FOR! And even though Jasmine is selfish and frustrating I was rooting for her to figure it out the whole time. Talia is one of the best in the biz and I stand by that.

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reads2cope's review against another edition

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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 couldn’t get worse, but then I heard how he voiced Rahul’s 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!

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