A review by bribreez
Unloved by Peyton Corinne

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

*THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TO ATRIA AND PEYTON CORINNE FOR THIS ARC! I greatly appreciate it!!!!

5⭐️/ 3-4🌶️

WE’RE BACKKKKKKK! Waterfell University a fictional school that I adore only because it has the incredible people I love so much, Sadie and Rhys! But this time around, we got to focus on Matt “Freddy” Freddric and Ro Shariff. Freddy was one of the most well known hockey players on the Waterfell hockey team, and was bound for the NHL after being signed to a team. With senior year approaching some big milestones, Freddy’s biggest concern was passing one of his classes or else all his hard work would result in not graduating and potentially not being able to play hockey. Ro was the hopeless romantic who hoped and dreamed of meeting someone who would give her the butterflies, feel a genuine connection, and more, but that wasn’t the case with her trash of an maybe ex boyfriend, Tyler. Aside from trying to figure out her relationship status, Ro was an intelligent young woman who worked also as a tutor to help students, and could you imagine who her newest student was?!?!? None other than…FREDDY! This hockey romance once again brought me immense joy, found family, tackled some deeper moments, heartfelt connections, and obviously a swoon worthy slow burn romance that was well worth the wait! Peyton Corinne did a fantastic job with this story being the next in the series! 

I think seeing Ro in this story allowed me to not only get to know her better, but also to see some similarities that I didn’t expect to see while reading. When I say, similarities I mean in the sense that I could relate to some of what Ro experienced specifically with wanting to find love, and trying to make her relationship (with Tyler) work. Ro always tried to bend, and shape herself in a way that fit the type of relationship Tyler wanted, but it wasn’t fair for Ro because, she was putting so much effort into a relationship that honestly wasn’t worth her time, and Tyler treated her horribly. I once experienced a relationship where I was like Ro, dreaming of a love so grand like the ones I read in my books, but it didn’t turn out that way. Ro was such a heartwarming person so to see her light be dimmed by someone like Tyler was sad. Although, when Ro was with Freddy, she wasn’t shamed or treated disrespectful. Instead, Freddy treated Ro like…A TRUE PRINCESS! Ro’s journey through finding love was an obstacle, but it allowed her to truly see what kind of love she deserved, and Freddy was always the one right in front of her showing her ways that he cared even before they became romantically involved.

Matt “Freddy” Freddric was a known flirt, and kind of a Casanova, but he was actually a lot more than people expected. Freddy was a known flirt who got around, and enjoyed his time on the ice, and occasionally hooking up with whoever he wanted. The thing about Freddy though was that, there was a sense of loneliness to him that he felt especially following the events of Rhys’s big injury on ice (book takes place during the same time in “Unsteady”). For all his smiles, flirtatious moments, and fun going personality, Freddy often times was masking his true feelings beneath his smiles. Right at the beginning, even hearing that some guys like *Ahem Tyler saying horribly rude things about Freddy made me mad, and ready to fight for him! Freddy struggled with having ADHD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia so, when it came to his classes it was often a struggle for him to keep up with the material. Thankfully, having Ro as Freddy’s tutor ended up being the best thing not only in the academic sense. I could see that similar to Ro, Freddy longed to have a genuine connection with someone, someone  who saw past his pretenses, and appreciated him just how he was. Seeing how Freddy was around Ro was, endearing, sweet, and heartwarming. Freddy being all protective over Ro was great, but also getting to read how he tried to make Ro smile whenever he could, keeping a mental list of things that made Ro smile, and overall thinking of her, and about her at all times just highlighted the level of respect and love Freddy had for Ro. 

Often times throughout the story, I could see Freddy’s sense of loneliness slip in, and he would feel isolated like he didn’t really have that support he use to have with his mom, but with Ro, she became that person who went up to bat for him. Ro was a sweetheart, and when it came to helping Freddy with his tutoring, she accommodated his sessions since he had ADHD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia. Ro became the person who fought for Freddy when many before her didn’t truly help in in regards to his learning disabilities, and for that it made me love Ro even more. Ro was often shy, but best believe when it came to Freddy’s wellbeing she became fierce and determined to protect and help him in anyway possible. 

(Sniff) ok, but like, why was this book so perfect?! Scratch that, this book met my expectations and raised them even HIGHER! Peyton Corinne can do no wrong and once again she captivated me with her writing and the emotional depth she imbued with Freddy and Ro’s story. Freddy and Ro’s character growth in this book was excellent because, they each worked through their vulnerabilities, and embraced the beauty that was their true selves. Freddy often fell back into the flirtatious, fun loving guy most people on campus viewed him as, but with Ro, he was stripped bared, and was just Matt, the guy who opened himself up to Ro and she embraced him in everything that he was. For Ro, she was lead to believe she needed to be a certain way in order to attain affection, love, and respect, but with Freddy, he showed her all the ways she deserved to be treated which was love,and kindness, and so much more! The thing that stuck out to me the most was, the way this romance book had so much emotional depth, and subtle details in regards to both Freddy and Ro that, it made me both appreciate the characters, and feel invested all the way through. I’m really happy with the whole book, and how it was written. Peyton did an amazing job illustrating Freddy and Ro’s story, and once again have me getting emotional at certain points. I loved the way the book ended, especially with the epilogue! (Sniff) had me crying and feeling so happy seeing Archer also included in it alongside Freddy and Ro! Definitely recommend reading this book!