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hellowildflower's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
sad
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
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
☆ Best friends to lovers
☆ Forced Proximity
I enjoyed this book so, so much! Rahul and Jasmine are clearly, perfect for each other and you feel that instantly.
I love the narrators and their voices were so calming. I didn’t love that they each gave Asmita a different accent??
If you love the friends to lovers trope, this book is perfect for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism
kld8338's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism and Abandonment
victoriousbookworm's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse
traceyanderson's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Cursing, Alcohol, and Grief
peachani's review
challenging
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Cursing
Minor: Abandonment and Injury/Injury detail
pinesandpages's review
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Alcohol
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
hyperfixd's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
3.5
i wish i could love this as much as the brown sisters triology, but i simply don't. it's absolutely not bad, it just wasn't for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol and Death of parent
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
🌟 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!!!
🌟 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!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Addiction
kelsylee's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent