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kittykels's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
3.0
Honestly unsure about how to rate this book. 3 is probably the highest I would give and 2 the lowest. Maybe it should be somewhere in between, but I can't decide.
Like:
Like:
- Jude, for the most part.
- Instant attraction yet slow burn romance
- Exploring what people want in life at 18 vs. 34, etc.
Dislike:
- A lot of the conflict doesn't seem genuine. I know this is a fictional story, but I want the characters and their flaws and their conflicts to feel genuine and organic. Unfortunately, this story reads like it's made up and sometimes a little over-the-top.
- I won't go into detail in case my own experience with mental health isn't comprehensive enough to have an opinion on this, but I felt like the mental health part of the book was written by someone who researched mental health issues without ever experiencing them. Which is fine, I don't want or expect everyone to experience mental health issues, obviously. But I experience some of the mental health issues mentioned in this book and was a little confused about how they were approached.
- This was my first age-gap romance (I think) so I made sure to keep an open mind going into this story. I think the age difference and the slippery slope of romance with an 18 year old still in high school was handled decently, but at the same time I feel like it devolved into a giant miscommunication trope. It went from interesting in the very beginning to annoying and boring by the end.
- There's spice in this book, but not a lot of it. I'm totally fine with that, but
WHY do they keep mostly hooking up while one of them is recovering from a hospital visit?!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Mental illness
Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Pregnancy
rgills's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Drug abuse, and Mental illness
mrspru's review
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Toxic relationship
shaykay's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
3.5
I definitely didn’t expect this one to go the way it did. Going into this one, I thought we would see a man significantly older than the FMC trying to help her in some way that involved them getting married. Maybe one night, they would’ve crossed that line and given in to their feelings. After that night, they would’ve been like, yeah, shouldn’t happened, let’s never do that again, or something that would’ve freaked the FMC out to the point where she just bolts in the middle of the night or while he’s at work and leaves a note explaining how sorry she is for it even happening. Then, years later, she’s in college, and she finds a new man in her life that she wants to marry, but she’s already married, so she has to return to her small town, back to her husband, and get divorced so she can marry this new man. When she reappears, the MMC realizes that she’s his one true love regardless of their age difference and refuses to just sign it all over without a fight, and the book would’ve been focused on him trying to win her back. Kind of giving off some Sweet Home Alabama vibes. So that’s definitely not what happens in this book. Lucky is 34, and Skylar is just 18, so there is a considerable age gap. Heck, she’s still in high school for most of this book. They do get married pretty early in the book. Still, he’s making it more like an arrangement so that she can get medical insurance so she can finally get help since she’s in a really rough place. She has a terrible home life and no support system. This is very much a damsel in distress situation. There is a spark between them, but he’s very concerned about the age gap and what people will think since they live in a tiny town where everyone seems to know everyone. These two had a hard time ever getting on the same page. It got really rough seeing her trying to figure out not just her feelings but how everything is supposed to work since she’s never really had a relationship since she always kept people an arm’s length away and was bullied really bad in school. I thought this age gap would be cringy, but it worked for this story. I even got behind the whole miscommunication trope because it worked for this story. However, the book kind of took that trope and ran it hard. It got rough towards the end of the book because we, as the reader, knew how they both felt the entire book, but they kept just letting each other pass through their fingers instead of talking, and I just got tired of it after a while. It is a really heart-wrenching story, and in the end, even though I was ready for it to be done, I was kind of left wanting a little bit more loose end tied up. Like, I really wished we had some follow-up with at least her mom. It was like after she left, there was no update from her, and I would’ve liked to know if she was still hoarding or if she was trying to work on it in the end. There were other characters that I was left curious about, but we don’t get closure, and this is a standalone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Eating disorder, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual content, Drug use, and Abandonment
skyhazzard's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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
5.0
This was so good, did not disappoint. This age gap was done so well I never once thought that it was weird for them to be together. They just clicked so well and had developed such a cute friendship.
Both of their backgrounds left them in a similar state of feeling abandoned and like they weren’t worth staying for so there a lot of inner turmoil that comes up throughout the book and puts a wrench into their relationship romantically.
Both of their backgrounds left them in a similar state of feeling abandoned and like they weren’t worth staying for so there a lot of inner turmoil that comes up throughout the book and puts a wrench into their relationship romantically.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Bullying
antidietleah's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Mental illness, and Bullying
Minor: Violence, Addiction, Vomit, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
flor3nce17's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Eating disorder
laura_rheads_too_much's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Sexual content, Vomit, Addiction, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child abuse
ladylaurenexplorer's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
I don’t have too much to say negative about this book. It just wasn’t in my go to book. I’m glad I read it because I think the storyline was very niche. And it wasn’t like I didn’t enjoy reading it. It just not for me when it comes to 4 ⭐️ books. I am very happy for Jude and Skylar!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Abandonment
bbygirl21's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
4.0
This was a very interesting story. It was heavier than I thought it was gonna be, and it definitely could've been shorter, but I really enjoyed it.
I found the characters frustrating at times, but I still find them likable for the most part.
There was a conversation between Skyler's boss and Jude where I think she should've stayed out of Jude and Skyler's business and left well enough alone. It definitely would've saved a lot of trouble and doubt she caused on top of the insecurities both Jude and Skyler already had about being together. Yes I think it's good she was concerned for Skyler seeing as there is an age difference, but her timing was way off. I feel she was only hurting Skyler indirectly, not protecting her, by putting even more doubt in Lucky's head.
Skyler's parents were very frustrating perhaps even angering. They obviously didn't care much for her in the long run. While Skyler's Dad was trying in the end, I felt he had too much of an opinion on Skyler's relationship with Jude when he left Skyler in a horrible living situation and wasn't there for most of her life to have any say on what she does or who she decides to be with. But I do gotta give him credit for trying to salvage his relationship with his daughter.
I love how the author addressed mental illness with Skyler's mom's hoarding problem and Skyler's eating disorder and her anxiety and depression. As much as I didn't like Skyler's mom, her hoarding problem is a mental illness and I thought it was portrayed very well. Along with Skyler's daily struggle with her mental illnesses too. Skyler's mental illnesses weren't brushed off as you see in most books you see her struggle and do the normal back and forth that comes with recovery.
The book did have a really sweet ending though. And while I was left with quite a few questions at the end, I didn't feel like they were too important to the story that I was left unsatisfied by not having them answered.
Overall this was a very good book.
I found the characters frustrating at times, but I still find them likable for the most part.
There was a conversation between Skyler's boss and Jude where I think she should've stayed out of Jude and Skyler's business and left well enough alone. It definitely would've saved a lot of trouble and doubt she caused on top of the insecurities both Jude and Skyler already had about being together. Yes I think it's good she was concerned for Skyler seeing as there is an age difference, but her timing was way off. I feel she was only hurting Skyler indirectly, not protecting her, by putting even more doubt in Lucky's head.
Skyler's parents were very frustrating perhaps even angering. They obviously didn't care much for her in the long run. While Skyler's Dad was trying in the end, I felt he had too much of an opinion on Skyler's relationship with Jude when he left Skyler in a horrible living situation and wasn't there for most of her life to have any say on what she does or who she decides to be with. But I do gotta give him credit for trying to salvage his relationship with his daughter.
I love how the author addressed mental illness with Skyler's mom's hoarding problem and Skyler's eating disorder and her anxiety and depression. As much as I didn't like Skyler's mom, her hoarding problem is a mental illness and I thought it was portrayed very well. Along with Skyler's daily struggle with her mental illnesses too. Skyler's mental illnesses weren't brushed off as you see in most books you see her struggle and do the normal back and forth that comes with recovery.
The book did have a really sweet ending though. And while I was left with quite a few questions at the end, I didn't feel like they were too important to the story that I was left unsatisfied by not having them answered.
Overall this was a very good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Alcohol, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Addiction