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samchase112's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, and Death
Minor: Medical content and Suicidal thoughts
monicalaurette's review
emotional
funny
sad
medium-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
5.0
No one with a good heart is a failure.
Hi my name is Monica and I am a very big fan of Olivia Dade and literally broke my buying ban to get this book. The concept I was not fully sold on but I knew Dade's writing would be enough for me to enjoy it and it WAS!
Athena and Matthew were both so complex individuals and together were able to fit into the little spots left by their lives and the people around them. I wanted more of their journey but excited to see who else comes into Harlot's Bay and earns a place in my heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Medical trauma
Minor: Child death
purplepenning's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
I was iffy on this one until an emotional support chicken made an appearance in a used bookstore. Then I was somehow all in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Abandonment, Chronic illness, Grief, and Sexual content
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Panic attacks/disorders
bookphenomena_micky's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Headlines:
Trope ick
MH rep
Character depth
There is lots I liked about this book and then things like context, trope and timings that I struggled with in this new series starter from Olivia Dade. My heart pretty much sank when I started reading this and realised we were going to have a kind of love triangle involving two brothers. It's more complex than that with engagements, break-ups and houses but still it was somewhat icky to me from the off.
What saved this book and kept me reading were the individual characterisations of Athena and Matthew (even though I struggled with them together). I really liked both characters and the depth with which they were crafted. The depression representation was very good but do not talk to me about the timing of the connection in relation to this depression...
The friendship between Matthew and Athena was worth the read but I didn't like much about their sexual connection. I couldn't stand the other brother and the debacle of the houses was meant to be quirky but seemed so unlikely to me.
So as you can see, such a mixed bag but I will give the next one a go.
Thank you to netgalley for this eARC.
Trope ick
MH rep
Character depth
There is lots I liked about this book and then things like context, trope and timings that I struggled with in this new series starter from Olivia Dade. My heart pretty much sank when I started reading this and realised we were going to have a kind of love triangle involving two brothers. It's more complex than that with engagements, break-ups and houses but still it was somewhat icky to me from the off.
What saved this book and kept me reading were the individual characterisations of Athena and Matthew (even though I struggled with them together). I really liked both characters and the depth with which they were crafted. The depression representation was very good but do not talk to me about the timing of the connection in relation to this depression...
The friendship between Matthew and Athena was worth the read but I didn't like much about their sexual connection. I couldn't stand the other brother and the debacle of the houses was meant to be quirky but seemed so unlikely to me.
So as you can see, such a mixed bag but I will give the next one a go.
Thank you to netgalley for this eARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Child death
craftylibrarian10's review
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- 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
5.0
All hail Olivia Dade, Queen of the spicy rom-c0m. In this book, I laughed, cried, and got super turned on. And, that's just Olivia Dade. I have come to absolutely worship at her way with words. She writes plus-size women who are sexy AF. Not in spite of being bigger, but because they are just freaking sexy. Athena and Matthew are a truly unlikely pair. I honestly found myself asking how will these two actually be able to be together without burning down their whole worlds first. Then, I found myself questioning if it were possible for someone to be a 48 year old pediatrician and basically completely inexperienced and still f**k like that??? Well, Olivia Dade made it so. I will read everything she writes. 5/5- will re-read again (possibly already re-read certain parts...)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Suicidal thoughts
heydebigale's review
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
5.0
CW: clinical depression, suicidal ideation, death of a 1 year old off page and in the past, but relatively detailed.
6+++ stars.
This book is a bit messy but so so so good.
I love that Olivia Dade often writes stories within stories. In the spoiler alert series we got fanfic. In this series we get monster erotica and itâs so much fun.
The monster erotica book club was SUCH A GREAT SCENE!! Olivia Dade is a queen!!!!
Take the CWs seriously for this one, but Dade writes with extreme care for her readers.
6+++ stars.
This book is a bit messy but so so so good.
I love that Olivia Dade often writes stories within stories. In the spoiler alert series we got fanfic. In this series we get monster erotica and itâs so much fun.
The monster erotica book club was SUCH A GREAT SCENE!! Olivia Dade is a queen!!!!
Take the CWs seriously for this one, but Dade writes with extreme care for her readers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Self harm
mabellene's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicidal thoughts
kaitrates's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Y'all it BREAKS my heart to rate this as such. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 and Olivia is one of my favourite authors. Alas, this one didn't work for me. đ
I seem to be in the minority of this opinion, at least amongst my circles. Which makes me happy because, again, I really wanted to love this one!
Don't get me wrong: there's a lot of good here! There's fantastic depression rep, fun hijinks involving monster erotica and murder dolls, among other things, delicious sex scenes (including an absolutely obscene-in-the-best-way number of times he goes down on here), and great family, both found and otherwise. I'm high key jealous of Athena's family.
What really hindered my experience is the fact that I didn't buy that these two would become so close so quickly. There were so many scenes I loved...but couldn't believe (e.g. the bathtub scene was so beautiful but the ease with which she let him in surprised me). To go from one extreme (hate) to another (love) so quickly...it didn't work for me. As another example, I was shocked when they exchanged ILUs...and not in a good way. It didn't feel earned.
I also felt Athena and Matthew's characterisations were inconsistent. For example, the speed with which she came out of her depressive spiral. It felt more like her personality completely changed (valid and so real) in a blink (where I struggled)
Lastly, I think I wanted this to either be messier (e.g. Athena use Matthew to get back at Johnny but they fall in love...i'm talking PEAK mess) OR ditch the messiness of Matthew and Johnny being siblings.
I will absoluely keep reading Dade's works. I think about so many of her books (Ship Wrecked, 40-Love) on a regular basis. But this one won't stay in the rotation, sadly.
I seem to be in the minority of this opinion, at least amongst my circles. Which makes me happy because, again, I really wanted to love this one!
Don't get me wrong: there's a lot of good here! There's fantastic depression rep, fun hijinks involving monster erotica and murder dolls, among other things, delicious sex scenes (including an absolutely obscene-in-the-best-way number of times he goes down on here), and great family, both found and otherwise. I'm high key jealous of Athena's family.
What really hindered my experience is the fact that I didn't buy that these two would become so close so quickly. There were so many scenes I loved...but couldn't believe (e.g. the bathtub scene was so beautiful but the ease with which she let him in surprised me). To go from one extreme (hate) to another (love) so quickly...it didn't work for me. As another example, I was shocked when they exchanged ILUs...and not in a good way. It didn't feel earned.
I also felt Athena and Matthew's characterisations were inconsistent. For example, the speed with which she came out of her depressive spiral. It felt more like her personality completely changed (valid and so real) in a blink (where I struggled)
Lastly, I think I wanted this to either be messier (e.g. Athena use Matthew to get back at Johnny but they fall in love...i'm talking PEAK mess) OR ditch the messiness of Matthew and Johnny being siblings.
I will absoluely keep reading Dade's works. I think about so many of her books (Ship Wrecked, 40-Love) on a regular basis. But this one won't stay in the rotation, sadly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Child death, Abandonment, and Sexual content
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
cassiebartelme's review
3.0
Fair warning this has more steam than the cutesy cover might have you thinking and check the trigger warnings about depression - this isn't just a rom-com, there is a bit more story depth then you might be expecting. Overall I enjoyed it but I did have to suspend a lot of disbelief with the male protagonist character having such limited knowledge of pop culture, slang, social media....I get that he was supposed to be reserved/disciplined/old before his time but come on...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Mental illness
kbriney's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
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
5.0
This book gave me all of the feels (even more than Dade's book that's actually called "All the Feels"). I laughed out loud, I cried, I got hot under the collar, and generally experienced a whole range of emotions but in the best way possible.
The book follows Athena as she gets dumped by her fiancé Johnny one month before their wedding under his older brother Matthew's encouragement. That's awkward enough but the bigger problem is that Athena bought the "spite house" (a 10-foot wide, 4-story embodiment of "f--- you, I'm going to block all of your sunlight even though it makes for a ridiculously small house") that shares a wall with Johnny's house as a wedding gift for her (now) ex-fiancé and has nowhere else to live. And if that's not bad enough, most of the spite house's windows face the row house across the 4-foot alley that belongs to... Johnny's older brother Matthew. She's in a Vine brother sandwich and decides to be the embodiment of her house's moniker.
One of my favorite parts of the book is when Athena aims her spite at Matthew, particularly by blasting smutty monster romance audiobooks out of her windows and into Matthew's. The author pokes fun at monster romance while at the same time supporting the genre by having multiple characters enjoy it. The snippets of fake books are hilarious and the character's reactions to them even more so.
The other part of the book I enjoy is how the author deftly moves us through Athena's grief, determination, and pride into eventually falling in love with Matthew. There are, of course, bumps along the way but it's a naturally down-out tension between two people who were immediately attracted to each other but also bring complex histories and even trauma to the relationship. The pacing and emotional barriers the characters put up felt just right -- untangling the emotions was neither too fast to be believable nor too slow to keep the plot moving. And there was a fair bit of groveling at the end to round everything out.
Overall, I loved this book due to the depth of emotions the characters are dealing with and how they end up supporting each other. Do check out the content warnings (historic death of a child and mental health struggles) because some heavy topics are addressed. But if hurt-comfort is a favorite trope (and even if it's not), I encourage you to check this book out.
The book follows Athena as she gets dumped by her fiancé Johnny one month before their wedding under his older brother Matthew's encouragement. That's awkward enough but the bigger problem is that Athena bought the "spite house" (a 10-foot wide, 4-story embodiment of "f--- you, I'm going to block all of your sunlight even though it makes for a ridiculously small house") that shares a wall with Johnny's house as a wedding gift for her (now) ex-fiancé and has nowhere else to live. And if that's not bad enough, most of the spite house's windows face the row house across the 4-foot alley that belongs to... Johnny's older brother Matthew. She's in a Vine brother sandwich and decides to be the embodiment of her house's moniker.
One of my favorite parts of the book is when Athena aims her spite at Matthew, particularly by blasting smutty monster romance audiobooks out of her windows and into Matthew's. The author pokes fun at monster romance while at the same time supporting the genre by having multiple characters enjoy it. The snippets of fake books are hilarious and the character's reactions to them even more so.
The other part of the book I enjoy is how the author deftly moves us through Athena's grief, determination, and pride into eventually falling in love with Matthew. There are, of course, bumps along the way but it's a naturally down-out tension between two people who were immediately attracted to each other but also bring complex histories and even trauma to the relationship. The pacing and emotional barriers the characters put up felt just right -- untangling the emotions was neither too fast to be believable nor too slow to keep the plot moving. And there was a fair bit of groveling at the end to round everything out.
Overall, I loved this book due to the depth of emotions the characters are dealing with and how they end up supporting each other. Do check out the content warnings (historic death of a child and mental health struggles) because some heavy topics are addressed. But if hurt-comfort is a favorite trope (and even if it's not), I encourage you to check this book out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Mental illness
Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts