Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Collide by Bal Khabra

5 reviews

nikki_flowers's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

My first hockey romance. It was smuttier than I was expecting (tho in retrospect it was exactly as smutty as I should have expected lol) but I enjoyed the book. I did cringy at times (but I might just be to aroace spec to truly appreciate some of the aspects of romance lol). 

I do recommend this book but I have a few criticism (I always do lol even for books I love to death so don’t take this as a sing not to read it)

I would have liked more of Summer’s pov and I wanted stronger development of her female friendship. For a book stating a strong feminist FL it was surprisingly sparse of women and female friendship. Also, how the hockey guys talked about women pissed me off. Pretty much all of Sumer’s guy friends said something along the lines of “you’re my only female friend because I just want to fuck all other women.” Like ew gross. I don’t think I could ever be friends with a guy who saw women solely as sexual objects. 
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swamprat410's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-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

3.75

  • Spice meter: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Full review to come. For now, this book pulls many components from other great hockey romance books and at times feels like either a greatest hits album or Frankenstein’s monster. 

A good college hockey romance needs:
  • A MMC in a leadership role (typically the captain) 
  • A “player” or “man whore” that is still endearing despite being pig-headed at times 
  • A goofy/quirky/lovable teammate (bonus points if the FMC gets along with/befriends first)
  • A rival and/or bro on a different sports team at the school 
  • A hardass coach that deep down cares
  • Puck bunnies that exist in the story for .5 seconds (bonus points if they are stalkers/let themselves into players rooms and wait on their beds) 
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romread's review against another edition

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challenging lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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abidavisf's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Collide is a fun and quick-witted read. It is primarily a romance, of course, but features a handful of sub-plots that bring both mystery and a more realistic human element to the story.

Summer and Aiden are both such warm characters, and I really loved seeing their individual growth as they got to know each other and let down their walls. In general, however, I think the entire cast of the college kids was just wonderful. Every character played such a stand-out role and I wanted to learn more about them (particularly Eli and Dylan who I have so many questions about). 

Just a super fun, chilled and funny book. I really liked it. 
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kaycluck's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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