Review by hannahmg - Off the Grid

hannahmg 's review for:

Off the Grid by K. Bromberg

2.5

adventurous emotional relaxing slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

4 ( based on enjoyment) 2.5 (based on critical thinking)

I sat down to review this as four starts but then I starting critically thinking and the novel fell quite quickly. I enjoyed the reading journey, the audiobook made it easier but it was problematic. I think it reminds me of dark romances in the way where when you read it you aren’t reading it for a realistic romance, a MMC that you would date but this is not just a silly little romance with a morally gray MMC, this is a book that talks about SA a lot, while it is clear what is okay and what isn’t some of the MMCs behaviour is problematic but isn’t discuss which makes this really fall flat.

The pacing was a bit slow in the mid-point of the novel, I wished the formula one was a bit more of a focus, especially as a rookie driver, maybe more F1 politics. Maybe if there was more non-romance action (F1, her personal growth, and family) I would not of felt a bit bored in the middle of the novel. I think listening to the audiobook really helped with the pacing and writing style. The formula 1 felt organic, realistic and good, I wish there was more.

I would say that this was not a enemies-to-lovers romance. I enjoyed the romance, I binged the book. This made me smile, I think this a wonderful romance for someone who just wants to escape from the world but then it was quite dark at some points as well. It felt like it wanted to do two things, bring escape and enjoyment as well as depth but it was done in a not so good way. I wish his own trauma was more discussed. I wish all of it was either more deep or lighter.

**SPOILERS**

Some of the MMC’s behaviour was questionable and made me root for them less. In a way I still eat up the romance, but I would never date a person like Spencer because there was quite a few red flags but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying the novel.

-the bar, where he is clearly being an ass (I don’t need to explain)

- his general characters (his POVs where hard, from the swearing to the anger to the big ego.) It felt like he was allowed to be an asshole, a toxic boyfriend because he watch his dad die.

- SAish behaviour (At the party kissing her without asking, then without her consent going to her place and getting naked. He might have been drunk but that doesn’t excuse any of it. After the fight (which he was in the wrong for, she was doing her job) she came to apologize he just fucks her and it felt like at the beginning she did not want to have that happen but I guess you don’t need to ask for consent when you are hooking up on a general bases and if she enjoys the sex.) This behaviour made it feel less honest when he was supporting her through her own SA trauma.

- the fact he only questioned his own toxic behaviour after she shares details of her SA while he already knew earlier. He did not need the details to know that his comments might affect her as while as should not happen even if she had never been Saed.

I feel like their relationship is the type you don’t realise is toxic until they break up. It feels like she, even after everything, is still innocent, still hopeful that man aren’t shit but that’s not reality. She ignores the red flags because it’s not as bad as some men she has had in the past. It feels human in a way, it feels like the author herself doesn’t realise how bad the MMC is.

I also thing that the whole lets change her style was a bit shitty, like baggy styles are cool, and attractive, making a link between being the “least likely to be hit on” and her style with “baggy bar girl” is problematic. And then the link it has with her trauma and her therapist thinking she needs to change this. Yes, she needs to forgive herself, trust herself and love herself, but this can be done with self-compassion and over therapeutic/coping strategies. It feels like there was not research done in trauma-therapy before writing a therapist into the novel. I do think it was good to include therapy to normalise it but it was poorly done and honestly she was a bad therapist. I think this conversation is much more than just this small paragraph and much bigger than just an authors novel, it’s a societal problem. Which is why I might not of seen it as a problem when reading it, only notice when looking back at the novel. It didn’t take away from my enjoyment, it is still slightly disappointing.

The whole conversation over her being broken for not being able to orgasm while with a man was interesting, I felt seen or validated in the struggle people may face with their sexuality but at the same time, it would have been nice to see her be self-compassionate and realise she isn’t broken and he did not fix her.

The fact she had to then tell her father why Spencer punched a guy out of love. It was never on her terms she told her father about the SA to save his ass. And the fact his first reaction to realising it was him was to attack the rapist, to save her protect her, I think that is also problematic, she deserved to have someone by her side not showing violence.

I think tackling SA and the after math, with dealing with trauma should have been done with more care and responsibility.

As a whole I really enjoyed reading this, but it left me unease, it left me wondering if I should ever trust my own first judgement when it comes to romantic partners, if it took me to sit down and write a review to realise all the red flags the MMC had maybe that’s why I can’t seem to see them in my own life lol.

[ARC Netgally -Dreamscape Select - Jul 22 2025]

Content Warnings