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brookey8888'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
3.75
At first it took me a little while to get into it, but once all these plots started happening I was intrigued. The main characters were honestly kind of whatever and I didn’t love their personalities and I feel like it wasn’t explained well. Also one of the conflicts just resolved so easily in my opinion. I also didn’t feel any chemistry between the main characters. I didn’t really love most of the family dynamics and this made me laugh a little. There are some more serious themes so check trigger warnings.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism
_bookish_lauren'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Spice level: 1/5
Tropes: enemies to lovers, Pride and Prejudice retelling (gender-swapped)
Representation: FMC is South Asian and MMC is South Asian and African
This story was really cute and seemed to follow the original Pride and Prejudice, while being a gender-swap. The "Elizabeth" styled character, our leading lady Trisha, was portrayed as the royalty of the 2, while DJ was snubbed by her numerous times in the story as his occupation as a chef (though clasically trained in France) seemed beneath her. It definitely had the enemies to lovers feel to it, although there was pretty much no spice, outside of the delicious-sounding dishes that he makes throughout.
As someone who mostly needs some type of spice on the page, I feel like even classic stories that originally had no spice can be adapted to fit sexy times in. That's my fault because I almost never read reviews for a book, otherwise I would've probably known about the lack of spice. It's fine though because I enjoyed the story overall. I didn't love it, but I loved the characters. There was immense character development for both Trisha and DJ, as well as their family members.
I did, however, sometimes feel like there was a lot going on to keep track with. Between the family drama and the budding tension between our main characters, my head spun a few times trying to keep up with things. But in the end, it all made sense and came together well.
I'm intrigued by the author's writing style, though in the future I'll make sure to check if there's any spice before reading.
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Medical content, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Classism
greatexpectations77's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Bullying and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Grief, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol
puffy_'s review against another edition
2.5
Also the way politics is used here is a little eh??? It gives me “we are progressive but not too progressive” kind of vibe. Not as bad as it was in books like RWRB, but still kind of there. This is more of a minor complaint, since it isn’t necessarily very significant to the overall story.
Th beginning was strong enough, but it does slowly become more and more of a drag to get though until you reach the middle. It does pick itself back up a bit and get more interesting after the middle. Either way, I’ll probably still consider picking up other books by the author when I need something lighthearted to read.
Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Medical content, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Bullying, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, and Pregnancy
thecuriousbean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Terminal illness, Police brutality, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Islamophobia, Grief, Abandonment, and Colonisation
misslescatiz's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, and Police brutality
allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Bullying, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Dementia, Car accident, and Death of parent