Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail

God I love the comedy and I wished Astrid was more of a bisexual disaster. Also the romance was a let down because Jordan didn't want to be used and heart broken but that quickly was dismissed and yeah.. better as friends than lovers at least until the third book.

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v1l25's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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fromjuliereads's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book! I think I liked it just as much or more than Delilah Green. It dealt with lots of things but also had some really sweet moments!

HOWEVER

At about 50 pages in, the author has the main character, Astrid, fake a migraine as an excuse to get out of seeing friends. She claims that her friends won't accept that she needs to be alone after a bad day, but they won't question if she 'has her first migraine.' Astrid then proceeds to have a glass of wine and go on her laptop to check emails and various things. I had to put down the book for a few minutes to sort out my emotions. As someone who has suffered from migraine for just over a decade, this stereotype feels so insensitive. I don't fake migraines. I live in constant fear that I am going to have to cancel plans because of one or experience one when I am out somewhere. There is a guilt when you have to cancel or ruin plans because of it.

I'm not letting that ruin my enjoyment of the book, but it definitely tainted my enjoyment.

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clarke'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? Yes

3.75

I was excited to read this despite Astrid not being my favourite character from 'Delilah green doesn’t care' (but then I'm biased and loved an outspoken badass). Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much, but I did enjoy

Astrid's journey of coming out - especially her sex dream conversation with Delilah.

The frequency of the phrase 'women and non-binary people' was a bit jarring, and started to equate non-binary people to woman-lite. I would love for a main character to be gender diverse with how often it's mentioned in both books, and also a non white main character. I don't think at this point a random background character in a see of cis white people is as impactful or enough. Hopefully the next book will be more inclusive and feature more sass.

Isabelle Green, as always, can get fucked.

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0

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analenegrace's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I was really wary going into this book because although I enjoyed the plot of Blake's first book in this series, the way it said everything but lesbian to describe a clearly lesbian character made me feel strange about it since authors doing that makes it seem like lesbian is almost a dirty word, which it is not. While it still took over 200 pages for a main character to call herself a lesbian, the word lesbian was used quite frequently, including to describe Delilah Green which helped rectify some of my issues with this author and this series.

I enjoyed this one and its characters much more than the first and thought the two MCs were more interesting, fleshed out, and entertaining, as well as having much more chemistry than the characters from her first book. I enjoyed most of the descriptive language throughout, although I could have done without the use of the word locks so many times to describe hair, something that got to a point where I noted it in my notes on this book.

Plot-wise, I really liked the renovation and working together plot together with the enemies-to-lovers plot, and I liked that they

resolved their issues regarding the house less than half of the way through, allowing the romance and other subplots actually to flourish.

I also really loved the use of the Tarot Cards throughout, especially as a way to express Jordan's inner feelings, fears, and stresses, and I especially loved

its use in the end as part of THE grand gesture.

I also really enjoyed the way the third-act twist was done and that it

wasn't at the moment when her mom came by but was actually over the plans which needed to be resolved.

The early twist

involving Jordan's ex-wife was not expected, and a well-done twist where Blake convinced us she was dead only to tell us she was not.

I loved the references to other current popular Romance Contemporaries, including what I think was Alexandra Bellefleur's first book and Love and Other Disasters!

Finally, "You deserve a Destiny" was one of the most romantic lines I've read in a contemporary romance recently, and I liked it a lot!

This book redeemed Blake somewhat in my eyes, and I will probably read the next book in this series about Iris.

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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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emotional funny relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

originally, i really liked this. however, after reading all the reviews and seeing the complaints about Jordans character and also the issues with the certain terminology used by the author, i started to agree and change my mind about my original rating. i agree with those saying Jordan is slightly frustrating in that she always gets what she wants in the end and kind of makes Astrid the villain when it is not all of her fault. it was frustrating seeing Astrid take all of the blame and Jordan taking all of the credit. I wish Astrid would have gotten a slightly different love interest. aside from this, i really enjoyed Astrid's storyline. I loved how she came into her sexuality and started living her life for herself.

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