Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Broposal by Sonora Reyes

5 reviews

tenderbench's review against another edition

4.0

emotional tense 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: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion, Death of parent, Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Car accident

notsobinaryart's review against another edition

4.5

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Trafficking, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail

Other content warning: ICE, anti-immigrant hate, threat of deportation The abuse is *not* from the main relationship but instead from a toxic, abusive ex to Kenny, one the MCs

smillas_tales's review against another edition

2.5

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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“If I couldn’t have Kenny for real, at least we could enjoy the pretending.”

I was so sure this would be the queer autistic romance of my dreams, and I am absolutely devastated that this book didn’t blow me away!

That being said, I greatly appreciate the incredible representation and important themes present in this book, and I’m grateful to @readforeverpub for gifting me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

While this didn’t quite do it for me, there are so many things to love about it, and I’m sure a lot of readers would absolutely adore this. You might be one of those if you love:

🩵 friends to lovers romance

🩵 realistic autistic representation!!!

🩵 themes of abuse and trauma

🩵 marriage of convenience

The main reason I didn’t love The Broposal is that it had too many side-plots, and attempted to explore too many themes at once. As a result many of the plot elements weren’t satisfactorily resolved by the end, and none of the significant moments hit me as hard as intended.

Because of the many plot elements I also felt that the characters lacked depth, and I found myself struggling to understand the reasons behind their actions and thought processes. Both Han and Kenny are emotionally stunted, but I didn’t feel like this was properly explored, and as a result I was just mildly annoyed by both of them.

I was also incredibly frustrated by Jackie, Kenny’s almost cartoonishly evil ex-girlfriend, who is the driver behind the primary conflict of the story. I felt that the exploration of domestic abuse would’ve felt more nuanced and been more hard-hitting if there had been more depth to her character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Deportation

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racism, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy

Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, Infidelity, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail

michelle_my_belle's review against another edition

4.25

emotional funny hopeful tense 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

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 I really enjoyed this book! I could not put it down. Loved all the characters (except two, you know who you are). Sonora Reyes has the gift of making you feel all the emotions within one story and this was no exception. Thank you to Netgalley and Forever Books for this arc. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation

Moderate: Biphobia

Minor: Abortion

christinefitz's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful sad 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

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This highly enjoyable and very believable take on the fake-dating trope handled heavy themes with a careful touch. While I cried for almost the entire second half, a lot of those tears were happy ones. The support the MMCs demonstrate to each other, as well as the support of their families, is so touching. I think it's still rare to find explicitly autistic characters in fiction and I really appreciated Han's character and the way his autism affected his dating life and understanding of his sexuality. There are a lot of miscommunication moments in this book, due to the secrecy of the fake-dating plot and Han's autism, but the payoff feels worth the frustration. Now very tempted to break my 'no-YA novels' rule to finally read 'The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School'.

 I received this digital copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Deportation

Moderate: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol

Minor: Mental illness, Vomit, Abortion