Chloe was a fantastic character. I really loved her spunk, but also appreciated the authors very real treatment of Chloe's character in terms of her chronic illness. No holds were barred, and I felt that the sickness (while limiting) also helped to understand how Red and Chloe became close and could sympathize with one another better. Often times books skim over the hard stuff, but here Chloe's illness is always at the forefront of the novel and her capabilities are always thought about and events within the novel are developed around her and what she feels she is able to handle on a day to day basis. Red's past was also well thought out, and I loved that the abusive relationship was not focused on a male abuser. It was much more unique, and dealt with another topic not often heard of in contemporary novels, especially romance. Red was much more sympathetic because of his past, and this helps him to connect more personally with Chloe, even while creating road blocks within their relationship. At times, the story and arguments were a bit far fetched or repetitive. And, again, some of the sexual content was a bit over-the-top, or came out of nowhere and added nothing to that moment within the plot (other than to oversell the characters attraction to each other). Don't get me wrong, I completely understand this is a romance novel, but the blatant sexual content just for the sake of it was unnecessary, and often made a beautiful, heartfelt moment feel crass. Sexual content should be steamy and make the reader fan themselves, not cringe and wonder why that scene was placed within the context of that moment. I also felt the chemistry between Red and Chloe felt forced at times, often preferring the scenes just about Chloe or just about Red, because I found them both fascinating on their own. This was a good read, really well done in terms of representation of chronic illness and abusive relationships; however, the love story had a few flaws or kinks that could have been better handled for the chemistry to flow more easily.
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