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A review by talknerdybookblog
Falling Like Stars by Emma Scott
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
No strong representation of diverse characters or minority identities.
It felt like the MCs were never in the right place to be in a relationship. They both had too much unresolved trauma to make me think that the depth of their relationship with each other was believable. E.g., the (extreme) ex-fiancée drama goes until 90% of the novel.
Safety Rating: Not Safe
• No cheating
• Does have OW drama
- Hero's ex-fiancé (who he's been in a relationship with on and off for six years) is still very much in his life. They still share a house in LA at 60% into the novel.
- And, while she's positioned as the villain of the story, the Hero goes out of his way to prioritize her feelings to ensure she's ok. This includes leaving the Heroine on their first date to calm his ex down, taking her to the Oscars as his date (which occurs after meeting the Heroine) to help her career, and travelling to see her straighten out the third-act conflict (major spoiler):his ex insinuates on IG that she's pregnant with his kid, but she isn't
- Also, I'm pretty sure the Hero proposes to the Heroine with the same ring he gave to his ex (it's his grandmother's ring)
Note: the Heroine is never jealous of the Hero's relationship with his ex. She never had one moment of insecurity that rang false to me since she had no reason to trust him initially.
- Very minor but might annoy some readers: The Heroine works as a PA on movie sets and, therefore, sees the Hero doing sex scenes for the movies they're working on. Despite how much all actors laude how unsexy these scenes are, the Heroine actually gets aroused and isn't jealous. The Hero apologizes as he didn't realize what scene they'd be shooting til too late and would've warned her. He was thankful + relieved she wasn't jealous.
• Does have OM drama
- Heroine is in the midst of having a short-term fling when she meets the Hero. She sleeps with this fling once <i>after meeting the Hero.</i> But after feeling unfilled, she decides to break it off with him.
- When the Hero leaves the Heroine on their first date to deal with his ex, she begins to have intrusive thoughts (e.g., she doesn't deserve to be happy) and decides to have a ONS with a creepy guy who's also staying at her motel. She doesn't go through with it but is caught by the Hero leaving the OM's room. This leads the MCs to separate for a few weeks and results in the Hero inviting his ex to be his Oscar date.
• Does have the Heroine pushing the Hero away
• Does have two separations
- the first lasts a few weeks and occurs after the Hero appears to go back to his ex and the Heroine appears to have a ONS (neither of which is true). SPOILER: After the Oscars, the Hero wakes up in the primary bedroom (which is now his ex's room) confused - he fell asleep on the couch. He's unsure if he slept with his ex that night but operates as if he did - he ensures he gets tested for STDs before sleeping with the Heroine. However, it's insinuated that his ex might have r@ped him that night, and the rest of the book is about him avoiding that possibility.
- The second separation occurs when the Heroine admits that she wants a serious relationship with the Hero but also acknowledges neither of them is in the right place to be in a relationship. Heroine goes to therapy, and the Hero financially separates from his ex and moves out of their house. During this second separation, there are no other people.
Possible Triggers: Yes
• Hero is struggling to extricate himself from an abusive relationship
- Emotional and physical abuse depicted on-page
- His ex attempts to r@pe him the night of the Oscars when he was black-out drunk. This was an effort to get pregnant so his ex could exploit him further.
- Obviously, the third-act conflict was the ex insinuating the Hero got her pregnant. While this wasn't the case, the Heroine wasn't mad at the Hero or jealous. The Hero's angst was more about how he'd be stuck with his ex for 18 years and feared that she got pregnant by assaulting him.
• Death of Heroine's boyfriend in prologue from a drunk driver
• Complicated grief
• Panic attacks
• PTSD
- Hero has trouble separating accidents (the Heroine accidentally bit his lip too hard during sex) with his abuse from his ex
Ending:HFN. Engaged to be married.
It felt like the MCs were never in the right place to be in a relationship. They both had too much unresolved trauma to make me think that the depth of their relationship with each other was believable. E.g., the (extreme) ex-fiancée drama goes until 90% of the novel.
Safety Rating: Not Safe
• No cheating
• Does have OW drama
- Hero's ex-fiancé (who he's been in a relationship with on and off for six years) is still very much in his life. They still share a house in LA at 60% into the novel.
- And, while she's positioned as the villain of the story, the Hero goes out of his way to prioritize her feelings to ensure she's ok. This includes leaving the Heroine on their first date to calm his ex down, taking her to the Oscars as his date (which occurs after meeting the Heroine) to help her career, and travelling to see her straighten out the third-act conflict (major spoiler):
- Also, I'm pretty sure the Hero proposes to the Heroine with the same ring he gave to his ex (it's his grandmother's ring)
Note: the Heroine is never jealous of the Hero's relationship with his ex. She never had one moment of insecurity that rang false to me since she had no reason to trust him initially.
- Very minor but might annoy some readers: The Heroine works as a PA on movie sets and, therefore, sees the Hero doing sex scenes for the movies they're working on. Despite how much all actors laude how unsexy these scenes are, the Heroine actually gets aroused and isn't jealous. The Hero apologizes as he didn't realize what scene they'd be shooting til too late and would've warned her. He was thankful + relieved she wasn't jealous.
• Does have OM drama
- Heroine is in the midst of having a short-term fling when she meets the Hero. She sleeps with this fling once <i>after meeting the Hero.</i> But after feeling unfilled, she decides to break it off with him.
- When the Hero leaves the Heroine on their first date to deal with his ex, she begins to have intrusive thoughts (e.g., she doesn't deserve to be happy) and decides to have a ONS with a creepy guy who's also staying at her motel. She doesn't go through with it but is caught by the Hero leaving the OM's room. This leads the MCs to separate for a few weeks and results in the Hero inviting his ex to be his Oscar date.
• Does have the Heroine pushing the Hero away
• Does have two separations
- the first lasts a few weeks and occurs after the Hero appears to go back to his ex and the Heroine appears to have a ONS (neither of which is true). SPOILER: After the Oscars, the Hero wakes up in the primary bedroom (which is now his ex's room) confused - he fell asleep on the couch. He's unsure if he slept with his ex that night but operates as if he did - he ensures he gets tested for STDs before sleeping with the Heroine. However, it's insinuated that his ex might have r@ped him that night, and the rest of the book is about him avoiding that possibility.
- The second separation occurs when the Heroine admits that she wants a serious relationship with the Hero but also acknowledges neither of them is in the right place to be in a relationship. Heroine goes to therapy, and the Hero financially separates from his ex and moves out of their house. During this second separation, there are no other people.
Possible Triggers: Yes
• Hero is struggling to extricate himself from an abusive relationship
- Emotional and physical abuse depicted on-page
- His ex attempts to r@pe him the night of the Oscars when he was black-out drunk. This was an effort to get pregnant so his ex could exploit him further.
- Obviously, the third-act conflict was the ex insinuating the Hero got her pregnant. While this wasn't the case, the Heroine wasn't mad at the Hero or jealous. The Hero's angst was more about how he'd be stuck with his ex for 18 years and feared that she got pregnant by assaulting him.
• Death of Heroine's boyfriend in prologue from a drunk driver
• Complicated grief
• Panic attacks
• PTSD
- Hero has trouble separating accidents (the Heroine accidentally bit his lip too hard during sex) with his abuse from his ex
Ending: