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Reviews tagging 'Grief'
10 Things That Never Happened: Material World, Book 1 by Alexis Hall
32 reviews
sam_gartley91's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
abby_can_read'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
3.0
📱
This was a cute book. There were plenty of funny moments. I'm not really sure what I thought of the characters and their relationship.
This was a cute book. There were plenty of funny moments. I'm not really sure what I thought of the characters and their relationship.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Car accident
mandaraffe's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-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
3.75
Alexis Hall’s writing is consistently lovely, engaging, unique, and funny. No notes on the writing whatsoever.
I didn’t quite get on board with the romance. I literally said “why” out loud the first time they kissed. It felt like absolutely nothing was leading to it. They were becoming friends, sure, but lovers not so much. There were more scenes of bonding and relationship building later, which was good, but I still didn’t feel love or sparks between them, just friendship.
Alexis Hall sure does love a large group of wacky, chaotic characters. Jury is still out on whether or not I like them as much as he does. The good thing was that each character was distinct and recognizable, which puts it well above some other ensemble casts with characters that all seem the same. Maybe if it was just one group of wacky characters instead of the store staff AND Jonathan’s family it wouldn’t be as noticeable or overwhelming.
The audiobook narrator was really good with all the accents.
Good book, fantastic writing, but not my favorite romance.
I didn’t quite get on board with the romance. I literally said “why” out loud the first time they kissed. It felt like absolutely nothing was leading to it. They were becoming friends, sure, but lovers not so much. There were more scenes of bonding and relationship building later, which was good, but I still didn’t feel love or sparks between them, just friendship.
Alexis Hall sure does love a large group of wacky, chaotic characters. Jury is still out on whether or not I like them as much as he does. The good thing was that each character was distinct and recognizable, which puts it well above some other ensemble casts with characters that all seem the same. Maybe if it was just one group of wacky characters instead of the store staff AND Jonathan’s family it wouldn’t be as noticeable or overwhelming.
The audiobook narrator was really good with all the accents.
Good book, fantastic writing, but not my favorite romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying and Classism
Minor: Death, Homophobia, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
chemeducator's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Medical content
Moderate: Grief and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent
katievallin's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Bullying, Sexual content, and Grief
booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
10 THINGS THAT NEVER HAPPENED follows Sam, a manager of a bed-and-bath retailer whose boss, Jonathan, is a dick. His royal dickishness. Generally a frustrating person to work for, someone who is currently determined to fire a number of people proportional to how much Sam has managed to irritate him during Sam's visit to the main branch. Except, right after Jonathan fires everyone in Sam's branch, Sam trips, hits his head, and accidentally lets Jonathan think he has amnesia. Then he purposefully lets him think he has amnesia. What he definitely has is a head injury/concussion, so Sam needs to spend a few weeks at Jonathan's place so someone is looking after him. Jonathan has an enormous, empty house that he refuses to let be filled with his (loud, often annoying) family for Christmas.
They key to the success of 10 THINGS as a(n enemies to lovers) romance is that Jonathan has reasons, very understandable ones, for all the frustrating things he does. Sometimes he's probably right, sometimes he's just very wrong and hasn't had anyone willing to endure his ire long enough to show him a different (gentler) way to do things. He lives for his work, barely uses his enormous house, and only contacts his housekeeper via text message. Even when he is right, he doesn't seem willing to take the time to explain his reasons, which makes him look like a petty tyrant. Sam can't live like that, not even for a couple of weeks. As Sam tries to make a good impression so that Jonathan won't fire everyone for real at the end of this, he starts to understand Jonathan and genuinely like him as a person.
This is the start of a new series, but a few details midway through establish this as occurring in the same universe as BOYFRIEND MATERIAL, some time after the events of HUSBAND MATERIAL. It's not enough to spoil either of those books in any way, but specific enough to be an obvious reference.
This has a lot of genuine sweetness in it, with a melancholy thread which pays off towards the end. The main plot resolves in a way which doesn't specifically indicate what might happen next, I could easily see this series continuing to follow Sam and Jonathan, or following a new couple where at least one person was present in this first book.
Things I love, in no particular order: Sam's cat, everyone listing exact models of the bed/bath furnishings, Jonathan's family, the way the fake amnesia is handled.
They key to the success of 10 THINGS as a(n enemies to lovers) romance is that Jonathan has reasons, very understandable ones, for all the frustrating things he does. Sometimes he's probably right, sometimes he's just very wrong and hasn't had anyone willing to endure his ire long enough to show him a different (gentler) way to do things. He lives for his work, barely uses his enormous house, and only contacts his housekeeper via text message. Even when he is right, he doesn't seem willing to take the time to explain his reasons, which makes him look like a petty tyrant. Sam can't live like that, not even for a couple of weeks. As Sam tries to make a good impression so that Jonathan won't fire everyone for real at the end of this, he starts to understand Jonathan and genuinely like him as a person.
This is the start of a new series, but a few details midway through establish this as occurring in the same universe as BOYFRIEND MATERIAL, some time after the events of HUSBAND MATERIAL. It's not enough to spoil either of those books in any way, but specific enough to be an obvious reference.
This has a lot of genuine sweetness in it, with a melancholy thread which pays off towards the end. The main plot resolves in a way which doesn't specifically indicate what might happen next, I could easily see this series continuing to follow Sam and Jonathan, or following a new couple where at least one person was present in this first book.
Things I love, in no particular order: Sam's cat, everyone listing exact models of the bed/bath furnishings, Jonathan's family, the way the fake amnesia is handled.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content
historical_drama_queen's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Car accident
garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Excrement, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Car accident
pho_ar's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
4.75
I honestly just hugged a book, but it deserved it because I felt like it was giving me a hug this whole time.
Jonathan and Sam are great and their chemistry and how well they get to know each other is so sweet and heart warming.
Did not realize it was a Christmas book, but Christmas is April is seldom a bad thing, it felt nice having the Christmas cheer and family and rom com shennaigans during this stressful time, I honestly wished I could stay there.
The fake amnesia plot was great in setting stakes and just being so laughable, but also like would I do the same, like the probability is not zero.
All in all I had a good time and just couldn't stop smiling/crying(there are some heart wrenching parts too).
Jonathan and Sam are great and their chemistry and how well they get to know each other is so sweet and heart warming.
Did not realize it was a Christmas book, but Christmas is April is seldom a bad thing, it felt nice having the Christmas cheer and family and rom com shennaigans during this stressful time, I honestly wished I could stay there.
The fake amnesia plot was great in setting stakes and just being so laughable, but also like would I do the same, like the probability is not zero.
All in all I had a good time and just couldn't stop smiling/crying(there are some heart wrenching parts too).
Content Warnings
Minor: Grief and Death of parent
13_dear_reader_13's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail