Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Birthday

I have really mixed feelings about this book because 2 stars, feels to low but 3 stars feels to high because this book was just so weird to be because I think it is a really smart idea to see this friendship that turns into a relationship through the years through the one day they always share which is their birthday's but I just feel like there a some many books that I have read that just deal and work with the topic so much better than this book did. However, do think this story will be a important read for a lot people and I think a lot of people will be seen in this book and I don't think this book is bad and just think there are lot of books out there that just deal with these topics better.

And this was not a fun read but any means, it was just so miserable to read because they were both trying so hard to be what they thought the each other warned/needed. When all they ever needed was each other. I can't lie something that really annoying me was if I knew (which the both do) that my friend really wasn't okay which is like super obvious that there is something going on, why would you just speak to them like girl, be some fucking for real. Like how could you live like that. However, I did like the ending which is one of the reason why I am confused about how I feel about this book because I loved them at the end and they were really cute and I was just really happy how quickly Eric and Morgan's dad accepted her and I loved for the minute that they both knew they never made a big deal and they just love and accept her which was just really nice and I thought their friendship/relationship was just really cute and I just really love them as a couple and I thought they were really wholesome and I believed that they generally did love each other and after Morgan came out, everything just made sense for both of them and that just made me really happy. Like when Eric said 'She's Morgan. My Morgan' really melted my heart. I just think one of my main issue I just felt like we knew Morgan a lot more than Eric, like I just didn't really ever get to know of Eric was outside the progression of the relationship, which I think meant that I didn't really care about this book as much as I would off if we knew both of them. I am just so confused about how I felt about this book because I really liked the last two birthdays but I just found it really hard to connect with the characters and the story and I caught myself getting more and more bored as I carried on reading.

'We kiss, and we kiss, our whole future spiralling before us."

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klouh's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

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jaimc's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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maikendignes's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I know some people are criticizing this book for having such a “dream like” ending and for having Eric respond in the positive way he did, but personally that’s just what I need to read sometimes. And people seem to forget that the first four years of the book wasn’t very dream like at all for Morgan.

over all a new favorite of mine!

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reading_rainbows's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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merlesstorys's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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

I was sobbing throughout this whole book.
It delivered the emotions so perfectly to my heart that I just couldn’t stop.

Russo‘s writing style is amazing. She brought so much life into these characters, even though you only read parts of their years instead of a continuing observation. This way, the book was quite short, but it was perfect.

Eric and Morgan are also just such a dream-team of a friends-to-lovers plot. They support each other, no matter how hard, and really are there for each other (in the end).

To be honest, I wasn’t able to read every page - I skipped through them so that I wouldn’t reach a complete mental breakdown.
But nevertheless, I recommend it more than anything to everybody (especially those, who need some sad-happy character development)!

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