1.5🌟
I paid 17 euros for this book because booktok promised me a main character with adhd, a protective mmc boyfriend who helps her through panick attacks and a mcc partner who trusts his fmc partner so much he doesn't believe her when she lies and tells him she cheated.
And I got all that... but I also got a lot of red flags and icks I didn't expect and didn't want to read about.
Let's start with the adhd representation. I have mixed feelings about this. As a reader girly with diagnosed adhd I was extremely excited to finally read about a mc with adhd in a loving relationship, because I've NEVER seen a book about a mc with adhd (except for my book boyfriend Alex Claremont-Diaz, but the author of rwrb only clarified that Alex has undiagnosed adhd after writing the book)
✅️I could really relate to the way Vee said her mind and thoughts worked.
❎️But every time Vee was overthinking, she blamed her meds and said they weren't dosed properly. Now I like that she mentioned that the meds don't cure adhd but only help manage adhd, but she still acted like they were a wonderful solution, now this might be personal but as far as I know everyone that takes adhd medication experiences negative side effects. Of course, meds have different effects on different people, and differences in doses and brands also make a difference, but as far as I know adhd meds aren't as magical as Vee claims they are.
❎️I hated that she blamed, forgetting that she couldn't have the same mother as the triplets because she's only two months younger them them on taking the wrong dose of adhd meds or on her adhd Having adhd doesn't make you confused or stupid, and this isn't exactly a minor detail, I get that she forgot it for dramatic purposes, so the whole "Are we related? plot" could exist (which I hated too but we'll get there), but it didn't feel fair to blame this on her adhd. If it was important that she forgot such an important fact at the very least Blane it on her being overwhelmed, upset, and sleep deprived.
✅️I love the way he helps her with her adhd, how he takes the time to understand her mind, how he makes sure he gets verbal and explicit consent because he knows she zones out sometimes
✅️i like that the over explaining yourself and constantly apologizing and overthinking were a part of her adhd symptoms because that felt very realistic, and I like how he reassured her
❎️Page 330: Can't believe he called her adhd mind "fragille", he's been so supportive of her adhd but what the hell was that? I know he was being sweet, but as an adhd girly, that pissed me off.
❓️I don't think the way she talks to herself is a universal adhd experience. I really like the way he supported her through it all and was so understanding and sweet and normal about it. And I've certainly talked to myself before but not around other people without noticing like vee does. I know adhd looks different on everyone, but I doubt anyone with adhd talks to them selves thst often around other people without noticing. But then again, I understand the idea of being so overwhelmed you zone out, and the way Vee explained it it made sense. And I like that he never made her feel weird because of it. So, although it's not relatable to me, I won't write it off as inaccurate representation, but I still have my doubts.
✅️I thought that the whole "ambulance thought" thing was so beautiful, and I liked the metaphors they used for her raving thoughts because they felt accurate.
❎️" So you know about the adhd too, huh?"🚩 The whole point of the book is that he's not embarrassed about her adhd so what the hell was that?
Okay, now let's talk about other things, then the adhd representation.
✅️I read this book in a single day because I was super invested, and I (mostly) liked the adhd representation, and I loved how overprotective the brothers were over each other, and I liked the overprotective boyfriend. So I certainly liked some things but there were also a lot of red flags.
Let's talk smut
When I read the dedication, I was afraid this book wasn't for me because I'm not comfortable with choking sex/breath play at all.✅️ After reading all the smut scenes I'm still not in to it but everything was done consensual and with trust so It didn't bother me or make me uncomfy at all and I thought the smut scenes were actually enjoyable this time when they usually make me uncomfortable or cringe but these were pretty well written. ❎️I don't like the fact that he called her 🚩"helpless" 🚩during sex even though she was into it because she thought the same thing. That was uncomfortable. The sex is too kinky for my liking, even if it's not making me uncomfortable. It's still too much bdsm/kink for my liking. ✅️Everything was consensual and sweet. ❎️🚩But on page 237, there was somnophilia and she was into it, but it hadn't been discussed as something she was in to prior to it, which feels like a consent issue. You can't just expect that someone will be in to wake up by getting head they didn't ask for.
Now let's talk about the plot and plottwist
I figured out they were referring to Rose immediately because I knew a book with such glowing reviews wouldn't have the plottwist being that the mc's relationship was incest. There was also some foreshadowing in the book to them having a little sister starting with Rose and Conner's interaction at the Halloween party.
❎️Even though there was no incest I still hate this plot because the whole "Are we related or not?" Thing felt like a gross stupid way to insert angst into the story.
🚩Page 323: "I don't think I'd give her up even if I found out we were related." 🚩Excuse the fuck out of you? He'll no I can let a lot slide but incest?? Ew what the hell. I know it's not incest but these thoughts aren't normal. Why wasn't any of this shit in the tw's?
Incest talk is a hard pass for me. I know theyre not related, these thoughts are disgusting. Officially lowered my rating to 2 stars.
✅️I liked the way the brothers protected eachother and their mother. ❎️But we never even got to know her name, so te fact that the mom got cheated on being the big plot was a bit weird when she wasn't in the rest of the book.
I wrote a detailed live review, so in case you need specific details:
❎️I'm on page 5 and rolled my eyes so hard I almost got a headache. Off to a great start. I hope it gets better because I paid 17 euros for this book because it sounded so good, and I'm so excited to read about a female mc with adhd
🚩Page 16: He kisses her without her consent after she throws beer in his face, and then she slaps him in the face and asks him out to diner... yikes, not my kind of book. There were also like 4 pages about how they invited the guy who I think assaulted nico's gf to their Halloween party. But I'm not sure because I didn't read the other books and was told I could read them as stand-alonene
🚩Page 27: Seriously? He has a bloody nose (her fault, but not on purpose) and kisses her WITHOUT HER CONSENT! AGAIN! After she tells him she cancelling their date because he's not her type. I know she's lying, but he doesn't. In what world is "you're not my type" the same as "please, kiss me". What happened to asking if you can kiss someone instead of smashing your face on to hers? I hate everything non co, ugh, not cute
🚩Page 41: not in to the fact that she immediately wants to jump his bones when he kissed her without her permission twice after she said she didn't want to go on a date with him. Kissing without consent is not sexy even if you like the kissing he should have asked.
🚩Page 60: Ew, oh God, there is literally nothing I hate more than smoking. so gross that this book romanticized it. This would be enough for me to dnf eith the other things that happened, but I'm actually invested since page 52
✅️Page 52: I love that he was offended that she assumed he'd judge her/look down on her for being poor. It didn't even occur to him
✅️Page 58: I love that he finds it "fucking fascinating" that she talks to herself. The little adhd girly in me is healing.
❎️Page 61: "it wasn't long till I painted the tiles with my cum" ew look I'm not against a good romance novel with smut. I love me a good smutty romance novel but not like this. This just grosses me out.
✅️Page 63-page 155 I stopped complaining and read this all In one go and I'm so glad I didn't dnf because I read for Two hours without stopping (my adhd ass was invested) and didn't regret it at all when it was suddenly 11 pm.
Page 83: He doesn't want to kiss her because she's drunk, and I really like that he takes consent seriously now. He does so for the rest of the book, so I'm glad I was wrong when the beginning made me assume he didn't take consent seriously. He takes her consent seriously in the bedroom, and he doesn't kiss her when she's too drunk to consent to it. So he's luckily not a red flag after all?
✅️Page 215:
Me: I don't like this book
Also, I stay up to read till 01:30 am and read 215 pages in two sittings in one evening.
I think it's safe to say I'm hooked now.
🚩I didn't like the throw-away comment where the author used the word "wife beater" instead of tank top buy other hanen that I have no other complaints.
✅️I actually really like the brothers relationships with eachother and eachother's girlfriend's, even though I'm not an alpha male type of reader at all and all the man are like this in this book, they're Still kind and sweet enough for me to like.
✅️I'm a sucker for the protective brother and protective partner trope, so I really really love that.
The brothers are a little too possesive for my liking but it Says "over the top possesive mc" on the back of the book so that was to be expected and even though it's not usually my thing the mc is sweet and gentle and respectful enough for me not to care. Especially because he cares her about her consent, her adhd, her comfort, was really sweet and supportive when she had a panic attack and constantly reminds her that he doesn't mind that she's poor.
🚩I was excited to read the other books in this series, but reading a bunch of reviews proved that the other books will certainly not be for me (so
Many red flags I wouldn't be able to look past) but I'm still super invested in this one.
(Seriously, the drinking game incident in book 1 sounds so homophobic)
Page 265: I read 215-265 in one go as soon as I woke up, and I'm invested, but why is he thinking about getting her pregnant a few weeks into dating her? Yikes
🚩Page 323: "I don't think I'd give her up even if I found out we were related" excuse the fuck out of you? He'll no I can let a lot slide but incest?? Ew what the hell. I know it's not incest but these thoughts aren't normal. Why wasn't any of this shit in the tw's? Incest talk is a hard pass for me. I know they're not related. But these thoughts are disgusting. Officially lowering my rating from three.
✅️I love the way he helps her with her adhd and that he trusts her enough to know she's lying when she said she cheated which was why i originally bought the book and I was going to give it 3 stars, maybe even 4 🚩before the whole weird ass "are we related?" plot.
🚩But no matter how much I loved the adhd representation and the trust the are we related plot, too much kinky possessiveness shit, the smoking, the whole weird ass mia/nico possesive toxic relationship and his comment at the end (about Rose being too young to date? But his gf being 19 and him being 10 years older is okay?)🚩.
🚩All the swearing, the kissing without consent at the beginning, and then this? Hell, no two stars no matter how much i enjoyed some parts. I can't ignore these red flags, lowering my rating to two stars
✅️I read the second half of the book from 11:30-14:30 while my adhd ass only took a break to grab coffee and lunch, so even though my review is negative, I'll admit I was invested