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sapphicread 's review for:
Never Kiss Your Roommate
by Philline Harms
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-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
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βπ«πππ, πππ ππππ ππ π° πππ πππ πππ πππππ πππππ ππππππ πππ ππππ.β
Set in a prestigious boarding school in England, Never Kiss Your Roommate follows Evelyn and Seth, the two newest students, as they become friends, make memories and find love - Evelyn with Noelle and Seth with Jasper. When Evelyn meets Noelle, her roommate, Noelle is initially cold and standoffish, but eventually Noelle warms up to her, and they grow closer. Seth, on the other hand, has his eyes on the French boy named Jasper, who has a love for the arts and all things queer.
Evelyn is literally the sweetest. She has eyes for Noelle and Noelle only, even though Noelle seems pretty intent on pretending she doesn't exist. She can be a bit naΓ―ve at times, and she definitely doesn't always think things through, but I love her all the same. Noelle, ugh ! Angsty characters just have a special place in my heart. It's like oh you hate everyone? I'm in love with you now, thanks. She's definitely a bit harsh with Evelyn in the beginning, but it's really the way she is with everyone so it's not like Evelyn's singled out. I love the interactions between the two of them, especially once Noelle starts to open up. It's cute. It's funny. Pure fucking fluff, and it makes my gay heart sing ballads.
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βππ¦ππ πͺπ΅βπ΄ π―π°π΅ π£ππ°π°π₯πΊ πΊπ¦π΅.β
Seth and Jasper might just be the complete opposite of Evelyn and Noelle. Seth is sarcastic with a dry sense of humor. He loves mysteries and true crimes, and his perspective was really enjoyable. Watching him pine for Jasper from a distance was adorable, and the little moments they had when they were alone... my beating heart be still. Their banter is freaking hilarious. And Seth's gay panic moments... so accurate.
I really liked that the story was told in two POVs. Even though there were more Evelyn POVs, it was nice to be able to see the progress with Seth and Jasper, as well as whatever would happen when Seth wasn't with Evelyn. I absolutely love all the characters, which doesn't always happen. I usually find at least one of them annoying, but it wasn't like that with this book.
What I didn't like:
- Miscommunication Trope: I hate it with a passion. Nothing annoys me more. Like I get that with their age (17/18), it happens, and it was resolved fairly quickly if not dramatically, but it still grinds my gears. Like please if you're supposed to like and trust the person, take all of the five seconds needed to have a conversation instead of jumping to conclusions.
- The pacing towards the end of the book was relatively fast. Everything escalated in the final few chapters, and though it was set up from the beginning of the book, I do wish that it was fleshed out more - since it was such a drastic change from the cute, fluffy tone that the book had already set. If there were more hints dropped through out the book, it would've better set up the SVU turn that it took at the end, and a few more chapters to allow it to play out would've eliminated the abrupt, "wow why are we going so fast" feeling.
Overall I really did enjoy this book. I've already preordered it, and I'm excited to get the physical copy. It'll probably become one of my comfort reads. The recommended age is 14-17, but I personally wouldn't recommend it to anyone below 16, specifically because the ending does lean more towards darker content that no 14 year old needs to read. All in all, I loved it!
Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the ARC.
Final Rating: 4.5 stars
Rep:
Noelle - black, bisexual
Evelyn - lesbian
Seth - bisexual
Jasper - pansexual
Content warning
Major: kidnapping, stabbing, blood, recount of abusive relationship incl. assault - physical and sexual
Moderate: bullying, slutshaming, panic attacks
Minor: outing (mentioned), homophobia, sexual content, claustrophobia
βπ«πππ, πππ ππππ ππ π° πππ πππ πππ πππππ πππππ ππππππ πππ ππππ.β
Set in a prestigious boarding school in England, Never Kiss Your Roommate follows Evelyn and Seth, the two newest students, as they become friends, make memories and find love - Evelyn with Noelle and Seth with Jasper. When Evelyn meets Noelle, her roommate, Noelle is initially cold and standoffish, but eventually Noelle warms up to her, and they grow closer. Seth, on the other hand, has his eyes on the French boy named Jasper, who has a love for the arts and all things queer.
Evelyn is literally the sweetest. She has eyes for Noelle and Noelle only, even though Noelle seems pretty intent on pretending she doesn't exist. She can be a bit naΓ―ve at times, and she definitely doesn't always think things through, but I love her all the same. Noelle, ugh ! Angsty characters just have a special place in my heart. It's like oh you hate everyone? I'm in love with you now, thanks. She's definitely a bit harsh with Evelyn in the beginning, but it's really the way she is with everyone so it's not like Evelyn's singled out. I love the interactions between the two of them, especially once Noelle starts to open up. It's cute. It's funny. Pure fucking fluff, and it makes my gay heart sing ballads.
βππ΄ π΅π©π’π΅ π’ π£ππ°π°π₯πΊ π¬πͺπ΅π€π©π¦π― π¬π―πͺπ§π¦?β
βππ¦ππ πͺπ΅βπ΄ π―π°π΅ π£ππ°π°π₯πΊ πΊπ¦π΅.β
Seth and Jasper might just be the complete opposite of Evelyn and Noelle. Seth is sarcastic with a dry sense of humor. He loves mysteries and true crimes, and his perspective was really enjoyable. Watching him pine for Jasper from a distance was adorable, and the little moments they had when they were alone... my beating heart be still. Their banter is freaking hilarious. And Seth's gay panic moments... so accurate.
I really liked that the story was told in two POVs. Even though there were more Evelyn POVs, it was nice to be able to see the progress with Seth and Jasper, as well as whatever would happen when Seth wasn't with Evelyn. I absolutely love all the characters, which doesn't always happen. I usually find at least one of them annoying, but it wasn't like that with this book.
What I didn't like:
- Miscommunication Trope: I hate it with a passion. Nothing annoys me more. Like I get that with their age (17/18), it happens, and it was resolved fairly quickly if not dramatically, but it still grinds my gears. Like please if you're supposed to like and trust the person, take all of the five seconds needed to have a conversation instead of jumping to conclusions.
- The pacing towards the end of the book was relatively fast. Everything escalated in the final few chapters, and though it was set up from the beginning of the book, I do wish that it was fleshed out more - since it was such a drastic change from the cute, fluffy tone that the book had already set. If there were more hints dropped through out the book, it would've better set up the SVU turn that it took at the end, and a few more chapters to allow it to play out would've eliminated the abrupt, "wow why are we going so fast" feeling.
Overall I really did enjoy this book. I've already preordered it, and I'm excited to get the physical copy. It'll probably become one of my comfort reads. The recommended age is 14-17, but I personally wouldn't recommend it to anyone below 16, specifically because the ending does lean more towards darker content that no 14 year old needs to read. All in all, I loved it!
Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the ARC.
Final Rating: 4.5 stars
Rep:
Noelle - black, bisexual
Evelyn - lesbian
Seth - bisexual
Jasper - pansexual
Content warning
Major: kidnapping, stabbing, blood, recount of abusive relationship incl. assault - physical and sexual
Moderate: bullying, slutshaming, panic attacks
Minor: outing (mentioned), homophobia, sexual content, claustrophobia
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping
Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content