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Перетнувши межу by Simone Soltani

6 reviews

wildatheart1339's review against another edition

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4.5

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witcheep's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

The story is okay: entertaining floof that makes it easy to listen. The plot isn't as dramatic as the blurb makes it seem, though, which is a disappointment. All the elements are present, but they don't seem very impactful as the romance takes the forefront fast and everything else becomes just background nuances for it. I found myself not very invested in this story.

The book deserves a mention for great representation of chronic pain caused by a genetic condition, though: the FMC has hypermobility that she always needs to take into account for, but who still manages to live quite a normal and fullfilling life surrounded by people and things that bring her joy. Visibility of minorities, such as people with chronic illness, always deserve more chances to get seen and understood.

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thisteachreads's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed this story, especially since it wasn’t a tug-and-pull love story with a third act breakup.

I appreciate that the FMC - Willow - has a chronic condition that is mentioned throughout the novel. This adds to her depth and humanness.

This is your classic brother’s best friend/ childhood friends love story. Both MCs are mixed-race characters and it’s nice that their cultures are represented in the story.

I see that Soltani has another novel coming out next year in the same universe and I’ll be adding it to my TBR.

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rachel_jones03's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

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midnightmoon_dreamer's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Love, love, love. A story where the main couple is just absolutely in love with one another and stays like that throughout the whole story, finally! The beautiful way the characters were written made this such a pleasant read. I loved the inclusion of different cultures and of a chronic illness. Just so fun, a must-read! It is important to note that there is only a minor conflict so this story mainly focuses on the love story (but I also think a story doesn't always need a major conflict to be good).

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turnthepages_nl's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Let me start off by saying I am a white girl. So I have no idea about the acuracy of the black & brown representation. But I know the author had proofreaders in this demographic and is multicultural herself. So that gives me faith! It felt well done to me, but what do I know. I just wanted to point out it had this representation and I learned a lot of new words! (Jaanu for instance 🥹)

I do however have chronic pain due to hypermobility. And I LOVE the representation in this book. It is so casual, not a plotpoint. It influences her feelings and decisions. It is part of her but not all of her. This representation felt super authentic (makes sense, it's own-voices!) and I am so glad this story exists.

I already almost cried at the dedication: "For anyone pushing through the pain every single day."
I felt that, so hard! Thank you Simone Soltani for giving us hypermobile girlies a lovestory with someone who knows our struggles. From wearing heels to feeling like a burden. This book really hit home for me. And it made me want to watch F1 lolll. I was never into the sport but it seems actually fun!

Things I loved:

- Standing up to the rethoric Black women's natural hair is 'unprofessional'

- Knowing you are different from other kids even though you don't yet have a diagnosis
- Being able to mold and change your dream so it works with your body/health
- Replacing negative selftalk with positive compliments. Naming the things you DO like about yourself
- Commenting about the racist western beautystandards (like noses needing to be small and straight)
- Condemning STD shaming
- Baking keeps her calm, but she sucks at it, lol! Especially macarons
- I loveddddd the macarons thoughout the story. So sweet!
- The Big Box O'Pills (all her medication to manage the pain and joint issues in a glitter labeled shoebox!)
- Dev listening to Bollywood music and absolutely loves it
- Matchmaking aunties
- Little tricks & movements the guys have learned to not dislocate/subluxate one of Willows joints. Little ways they make life easier for her
- Advocating for your needs and comfort in the bedroom to prevent pain and injury
- He runs a bath for her to reduce muscle tension and pain 🥹🥰
- Struggeling with heels because dislocating an ankle or hip is even easier. But wanting to wear them anyway from time to time because it makes you feel pretty.

Scenario I loved:

Willow is being bothered by some dude. She says no but he won't listen. So she tells him she's here with her boyfriend and Dev comes to her aid. The dude recognizes Dev and apologizes for going after his girl (they were not together at this point, Dev was just being a good friend and protecting her) and he says to the dude 'its fine'. But immediately after he leaves he tells Willow:

'Before you yell at me'—I hold up both hands—'I know it's not fine, and if I didn't have to be careful about getting caught doing stupid stuff, I would have beat that motherfucker's face in.'

(Not a fan of the punching bit, but the sentiment behind it I can appreciate!) He is super annoyed men wont take no for an anwser. And women have to make up excuses about fake boyfriends in order to stay safe. I loved how the author pointed this out!

A quote about feeling like you are not enough, like you are not wanted and desireable that really stuck with me:

It's also why Dev's comment about being unwanted struck me so hard. Because I know what it's like to not be wanted. From jobs to Jeremy to being the fragile-jointed younger sister who couldn't do anything without getting hurt. I know what it's like to be shoved to the side and what it's like to feel pushed out.

Another thing that I was really glad was included in the book is being scared to commit to a relationship. Because you have a health issue. You might feel less desireable. You might feel like a burden or partypooper. These feelings are very real and alive in many people with chronic illnesses. I am glad this book adressed those things:

'I'm scared, Chantal,' I whisper. Being with Dev in any form means opening myself up to another chance at heartbreak. I can't imagine he'd ever cheat like Jeremy did, but I also can't imagine being his forever first choice. Now that his reputation is repaired, he can have any woman he wants,so why would he settle for me? I'm fragile and weak, practically held together with glue and stretched-out rubber bands. Some days I can barely keep up with the breakneck pace of following the team around the world, and it's nothing short of a miracle that I haven't fallen completely behind or gotten scriously hurt. Someone should slap a sticker on my forehead that says handle with care. Would he really be up for tolerating that? And for how long?

So. TL;DR

This book is amazing. The lovestory is super sweet and realistic. It has brother's-best-friend, forced proximity, chronic illness rep, chronic pain rep, interracial and multicultural relationship, F1, Bollywood references, terms of endearment (Jaanu anyone??), MACARONS and just a whole lot of love. 100% recommend!

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