Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

53 reviews

lizzie_b99's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

4.5

I read this after Take a Hint, Dani Brown because I was not initially aware that that title was part of a series. I have started Act Your Age, Eve Brown and I am really curious to see how her character develops from how she is represented in these earlier novels. 

I personally prefer this novel to the sequel! Chloe and Red's relationship feels well fleshed out, though maybe a touch too fast (though maybe I'm just a bit of a skeptic when it comes to quickly developed romantic relationships). I love the focus throughout this series on mental health and disability/neurodivergence representation. I do not have fibro, but Chloe's struggles with spoons and having an invisible disability are incredibly relatable. 

The romance genre often has a problem with allowing characters to violate their potential partner's boundaries with little to no punishment. I love that this title does not fall into that trap. Chloe and Red are both highly aware of the importance of boundaries. They constantly ask each other for explicit consent before deepening their romantic/physical relationship (and omg consent is sexy). The focus on boundaries, consent, and meeting one's partner's needs made Chloe and Red's relationship feel both idyllic and achievable. Their banter is adorable and now I need someone to call me Button (even though I'll pretend to hate it), and Smudge is absolutely the best name for a cat.

Late novel spoilers

I am not a fan of third act breakups - I often find them to be used as an excuse to lengthen a novel that could have ended better 50 odd pages earlier - but the way this trope is used in this novel works in my opinion. Although the miscommunication trope is used to instigate this breakup (as is often the case), these tropes feel like they bring out the fears and triggers of the characters rather than being used just as a bit of late-novel filler. All in all, the use of tropes in this novel feel believable for the characters and not like an excuse to participate in a trope

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Cursing

Moderate: Medical content, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Car accident, Classism, Alcohol, and Racism

amy_in_the_city's review against another edition

emotional 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

5.0

I loved this book! Both main characters were wonderful, their banter was top-notch, and there were multiple moments that made me laugh. I liked how much joy they took in making each other smile and laugh. It wasn't all fluff though. There was some real heart here and some heavier topics addressed. I really loved Red and how thoughtful and caring he was. He's definitely joining my list of favorite romance guys. He and Chloe both had their own issues to work through, and they felt like very realistic problems that impacted them in understandable ways. I don't usually like when there is a

third-act breakup

, but here it made sense why the characters reacted the way they did and how they found their way through it. I appreciated that they both apologized to each other as too often romance novels have only one person apologizing after an argument where both characters said or did hurtful things. I look forward to reading the other books in this series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Ableism, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Classism, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Alcohol, and Car accident

yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book. Chloe and Red are so funny and cute and adorable. Their relationship is so beautiful. The way Red cares for her and the way Chloe puts herself out there! The sex scenes are nice and spicy. The representation is so well done. Chloe’s disability is a part of her but doesn’t define her. I was giggling and laughing and smiling I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Classism, and Drug use

Minor: Alcohol and Emotional abuse

lleland's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, and Classism

Moderate: Grief, Death, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol

mighty_lizard_queen's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

3.75

Would have been 4 stars but I never quite recovered from the 3rd act breakup.

I’m not convinced she really should have forgiven him; he said some really hurtful things & the gifts felt like lovebombing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual content, Ableism, and Car accident

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Grief, Racism, and Death

ell_n's review

emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol and Panic attacks/disorders

tjminus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I think this book was super cute and was a very easy, fluffy read. 

I really liked the chronic illness rep and the more subtle plus-size rep.

The plot did seem to really drive the book especially in the first half. Readers were sort of coerced into accepting that two main characters who a chapter pervious couldn't stand each other, now couldn't get enough of each other. It was a little hard to believe even for a romance. I wish Hibbert would have taken a little time to build up the romance instead of just "letting" it happen.

I am excited to see what happens in the next two books!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

anjasshelf's review against another edition

emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Abandonment, Medical content, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

ariep's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

5.0

Loved this book! Has been my favorite in this series. I think Hibbert is a really fun, engaging storyteller and writer. Her characters are so human and multifaceted. I love the representation of all kinds of healthy relationships throughout the book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Sexual content

Moderate: Car accident, Alcohol, Classism, Emotional abuse, Ableism, and Domestic abuse

behindherpages's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident