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ourxstorybegins's reviews
582 reviews
That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The Honeymoon Mix-up by Frankie Fyre
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Love Letters From a Gangsta by Shvonne Latrice
adventurous
fast-paced
2.5
Long story short: this wasn't for me.
I really enjoyed the romance and was rooting for them the whole time, but there was a lot of misogyny and homophobia (with a sprinkle of transphobia???) that just made this ultimately not worth the read. More details on that in the CWs
I really enjoyed the romance and was rooting for them the whole time, but there was a lot of misogyny and homophobia (with a sprinkle of transphobia???) that just made this ultimately not worth the read. More details on that in the CWs
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Infertility, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Rape, Self harm, Transphobia, and Suicide attempt
Re self-harm/suicide attempt: one of the brothers is in a relationship with a woman where it's mentioned that she's attempted suicide and there are a couple times where jokes are made that involve suggesting someone will "slit their wrists"
Re Homophobia/Lesbophobia/Transphobia:
How in the hell did there manage to be transphobia in this book without any trans people existing?! So, Jessika is a lesbian and her entire character is just the predatory lesbian trope. Do people like that exist? Sure. But considering she's the only queer character in the whole book, it's not exactly the best look. Major spoilers follow: She's "in love" (???) with this woman who's had her sights set on Lequay for years, but this woman is straight. Jessika spends this WHOLE BOOK trying to convince this girl that she doesn't need a man, to the point that she ends up being the person who set up Lequay and is the reason he ended up in jail for a while. And when he finds out, we get this absolute gem:
"I didn't like to kill females, but Jessika had that shit coming. Shit, was she a fucking female anyway? I wasn't about to consider her ass one. She ate the same shit I did in the bedroom."
Like...what was even the point? To question whether or not someone is a woman simply because they...are attracted to other women? Lequay's whole thing is that he "doesn't have beef" or "doesn't kill" etc etc women, but he could've simply said that hey, she was trying to ruin his life so he was going to kill her. Instead, he went this route and it was really gross.
Misogyny: Majorly from the actual bad characters (like Art) but also! before they meet each other in person, I'm not sure how many times exactly we get Lequay talking about how much he hopes Scotland's not ugly, but that number is definitely in the double digits. Literally this dude is talking about her voice getting him turned on and then he's like "HOPE SHE'S NOT AN UGGO". Like looks are important I get it but damn, chill out. Good news, she's hot, so everything is fine there lmao. It was just very much giving "all of these feelings will be null & void if she's not hot" which gets into weirdness about women and worthiness etc etc.
Untouchable by Talia Hibbert
emotional
funny
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
5.0
Where We Found Our Passion by Natasha Bishop
emotional
hopeful
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? No
5.0
THISSSSSS is what I’m talking about! This is a second chance romance between two people who met when they were 12 and became middle/high school sweethearts and only broke things off thanks to one of the worst fathers on the planet???? It was so fun seeing Kai come out of his shell after the first two books, and one thing Natasha does so well is incorporating the friends and family of the main characters and this was no exception. Also definitely the spiciest of the three books so far.
Rebel by Beverly Jenkins
I simply do not vibe with Kim Staunton and I KNEW THAT going in but tried to listen to it anyway. Will do the ebook at some point but I cannot do this as an audio
Where We Found Our Heart by Natasha Bishop
emotional
lighthearted
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
3.0
Okay okay okay okay okay so here’s the thing. I’m giving this 3 stars because Natasha’s writing is still so good and it’s not her fault she managed to figure out every. single. one. of my romance pet peeves. In case you also have these pet peeves: Nina is giving “omg I’m so quirky cuz I love movies and graphic tees” vibes. There are MULTIPLE Harry Potter References (like chill). And there is a “you’re not complete until you’ve found the person who completes you” conversation. NOW ALLLLL THAT SAID, Nina and Isaiah are lovely and Jada and Logan (Nina’s siblings that she takes care of) are some of my favorite fictional children HANDS DOWN.
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
Team Players by Deanna Grey
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
4.0
Deanna Grey has become an autoread for me now that I’ve read 3 of her books and loved them all. I love Sam. I love Aderyn. I really expected this to have a bit of a rival set up but it wasn’t -- there’s immediate mutual respect between these two and the bet they set up is just a result of them teasing each other. I also love that while she is into him, he falls first and he falls HARD. The ending kind of felt like a quick fix to a complicated problem and I think something could’ve been done there, but the book was sooo lovely!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Bullying and Sexism
Happy Place by Emily Henry
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
5.0
Emily Henry and Julia Whelan (audiobook narrator) both want to ruin my life, plain and simple. This was so well written and performed, I definitely stayed up late and found myself doing things that allowed me to keep playing the audiobook just so I could get through it. It’s a second chance slash fake dating romance but the fake dating doesn’t feel like a big part of the story? We get a lot of flashbacks and a lot of what’s happening in the moment feels more like it’s just about the two of them and not really about convincing their friends that it’s real. And as always, Emily makes sure to include other relationship drama outside of just these two so we had some pretty major stuff regarding her other friendships, parents, etc.