arabellasbooks 's review for:

Throttled by Lauren Asher

5.0

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In this book we follow Maya and Noah, linked by their F1 team which Maya’s brother Santiago races for. At the beginning of the book a rivalry between Noah and Santiago is set up through a collision a few years prior to the main sequence of the book where Noah and Santiago are now teammates - setting up for the brother’s rival romance. The book follows the two as they come to terms with their immediate attraction and ever growing feelings whilst also trying to stay away from each other to avoid the feeling of being broken - more on Maya’s part than Noah’s but still. We also see the difference in their family dynamics along with how differently Noah acts around Maya. At the same time, Maya is building up her vlogging channel which kicks off the ground with huge success due to her BTS content and interviews with the racers which was cool to read about and envision in my head. When the two finally decide to properly give things a go (with Noah now in therapy and Maya in a clearer headspace after some time apart) we see how trying to keep their relationship a secret truly weighs on them despite them doing it for all the right reasons (keeping all heads clear during race season) until Noah’s asshole dad ruins everything, resulting in Santiago almost beating the shit out of Noah before an offhand comment is made my Noah’s dad and Santiago sees red, finally giving the man a taste of his own medicine, and realising that Noah and Maya together was undeniable and bound to happen anyway and I loved how that didn’t break up their dynamics and only made them stronger. The pair finally go public, after a near fatal crash for Noah, and we also see how quickly he is accepted into their family before he finally proposes a year later, using her YouTube channel as the kickstarting platform using a montage of their cute background moments in videos from the last few months (I happy cried).

All in all, it’s clear to say I loved this book and I knew I would from the start. Noah and Maya were honestly incredible and I can tell they will stick with me the same way Hannah and Garrett have and I’m not mad about it. I liked how this book was so character based and that, as readers, we understood why they were acting the way they did and I also liked how they didn’t let the minor things break them apart - like his douchebag father and some minor altercations - and I liked how they took some time apart (even if it was more on Maya’s end) and realised how much they truly cared for each other. Plus Noah started going to therapy of his own volition which was so heartwarming honestly. No more words. I just loved this book and cannot wait to continue with the series. I had planned to read them all as ebooks but I caved and just had to buy the physical copies.