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booksgalore24's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Addiction and Mental illness
arnold_shelby's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The things that annoyed me didn't outweigh the quality of the characters, but I found it frustrating how Vanessa tried to control her family with money.
Moderate: Confinement, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
Minor: Chronic illness, Grief, Car accident, Abandonment, and Alcohol
grace33's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Death and Terminal illness
jax10124's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
There’s a lot of miscommunication in this book, so be prepared, but it’s accidental.
The characters are wonderful and charming, and the love story is well written and cute.
I loved the ALS side of this story, I know there’s more to it than just this story but it was a good way to include chronic illness and bring awareness to a chronic illness that needs some attention.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Vomit and Stalking
makiea101's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
kgtume's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Moderate: Mental illness
shelbieb's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment
fernandalaram's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction and Terminal illness
Moderate: Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Grief
harleyglynn's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment
noellegrace8's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I will also say, this created and beautiful yet seemingly unattainable picture of a man. He babysits her kid, helps her family, etc. without having any sort of real responsibility to Vanessa. While it sounds nice to have someone who cares so much about you, this did seem a bit unfair and odd because no realationship boundaries were actually established. And lastly, more than anything else, the conflict portion of this book (because we all know Jimenez ALWAYS has one!) is a nightmare. Both of them have unrealistic expectations of the other and have not communicated their boundaries or concerns, and when they finally do, it's mean and terrible.
This is why I didn't really connect with either of them as characters - they don't make very good decisions. For example, Adrian allows his boss to use and abuse him as a worker. And then we don't get comeuppance on-page, plus we lose one of the only sidecharacters, Becky. And Vanessa is 100% enabling her family. She doesn't have good boundaries and financially allows them to flounder because she's always there to save the day. As someone with eight siblings, I completely understand her compassion. But as a human being with general needs, a grasp of basic cause-and-effect, and a limited supply of money, I don't understand how Jimenez didn't more blatantly condemn Vanessa and her family's behavior. Also, Adrian having that issue with his dad and Vanessa just chalking it up to petty grievances was such an overstep, and just having the tension evaporate afterward felt underwhelming and unrealolistic.
The book was enjoyable, but it had a couple flaws that could have made it even moreso.
I give Zachary Webber 5/5⭐'s.
I give Christine Lakin 4.5/5⭐'s. While her narration is typically great, she struggles a bit with secondary character accents (tends to want to make them southern for some reason, and her Australian one is not good).
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Dementia, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail