Member Reviews
You simply can't go wrong with an Olivia Dade story. This one was the perfect end of a long holiday week treat for me. You should definitely read Spoiler Alert (book 1) first. They are an excellent escape from the reality of late 2021.
Olivia Dade does it again. Two lovable characters. A perfect follow up to spoiler alert. I need the saga of these show characters falling in love to continue because I simply cannot get enough. However more pegging would be a lovely addition.
I really enjoyed this book. It was exactly what I would expect from Olivia Dade. She is very body positive which I love about her. She does a great job of working in the world of cons and fanfics which is not something I am overly familiar with so I really like learning more from this series. The only reason I didn't give this book the full five stars is because I felt like it went in circles a bit when they were trying to work out their own issues and figure out how to work with each other on things. They got there but sometimes I got a bit impatient while reading. Other than that it was an absolute joy to read.
I was gifted an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
Olivia Dade proved her place as one of the best romance authors with Spoiler Alert. Dade returns with All the Feels, the hotly anticipated sequel. Full of fun, sweetness and excitement; All the Feels is the feel-good romance you've been wishing for.
This book was soooo funny. I loved Alex, but at the same time, some of the things he said came off as kind of mean, even though he meant them in a not mean way. I don't know. Maybe I'm just sensitive to bullying...And there were times in the book where I didn't appreciate the way he described her. Either to someone else or while he was thinking about her. But he was also so protective, and was harder on himself than anyone else could ever be
Lauren was such a strong and amazing character. I loved how tough and resilient she was, and how she didn't let a lot of things rattle her. I enjoyed the banter back and forth between Lauren and Alex, and how Lauren could give just as much as she got.
There was a point where I was a bit confused, because I was trying to figure out why part of the book was giving me VERY much deja vu... AND THAT'S because it shows part of the ending of Spoiler alert, but from a different POV, and I loved it.
You can also see this review when it goes live on my blog on 12-24-2021 and other reviews at Randomly Kait
Thanks to Netgalley and Avon & Harper Voyager for allowing me to read an ARC!
*Will update with link when Amazon approves my review
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an e-ARC of this in exchange for an honest review!
3.5/5 Stars
I adored Spoiler Alert and was so excited to follow the next characters in their own story! If you loved Spoiler Alert, I recommend giving All the Feels a chance! It did not disappoint!
I love how REAL Olivia Dade's characters feel. They are well rounded characters with disabilities - which I love since people with disabilities are people too - that allows for us as the readers relate more with the characters.
Alex: He is the Hollywood star in this connected standalone sequel. He has ADHD - which makes him a little chaotic, seemingly violent tendencies, while struggling and hiding his true self behind his happy facade.
Lauren: The heroine, is the more realist of the two MC's. Her more grounded-ness balances out Alex's chaos. She has been assigned to, essentially babysit Alex and make sure he doesn't do something stupid. Lauren is plus-sized and there are those insecurities that goes with it. I love how confident Lauren is, but she does have an arc of learning to stand up for herself.
Overall, I loved the characters, tropes, romance and it was an enjoyable read. I really hope this series continues! I can't wait for more.
Tropes I love that are in All the Feels:
"Grump/Sunshine" - even better with the hero being the sunshine and the heroine being the grump!
"Only One Bed" - my favorite in fanfics and Alex's same too <3
"Slow Burn" - love/hate relationship with - I love the growth in a slow burn, but I also wanted them to just kiss already
Possible Trigger Warnings: intimate partner violence, ADHD, fatphobia, toxic work environment
Alex is a movie star. Lauren is his babysitter. Alex isn't allowed anymore bad press, Lauren has to go and do what ever Alex does. After spending lots of time together, they start to developing the feels. The characters are very likeable. I found myself rooting for Alex and Lauren to get together. I loved that some handsome actor can find love with a plus sized girl. This is my first book by Olivia Dade and it won't be my last. I love discovering new to me authors.
There were things I liked about this book and things I really didn't. I did enjoy Alex and Lauren as characters and their relationship, although I did often struggle to feel the romantic chemistry between them. I think the story was fun and well-written. What I struggled with, aside from the lack of chemistry between the two main characters, was that it felt too long, like the pacing was off and it should have been about 100 pages shorter. I also really struggled with how often as a reader I was hit over the head with the idea that Lauren was unattractive. Inner monologues, said out loud, from almost all the characters, it just felt overdone. I think the intention was to show that Lauren could feel comfortable in her skin even if she wasn't "traditionally attractive" but it didn't feel empowering, it felt kind of gross. It didn't make me hate the book, but it did make it a book that I don't anticipate re-visiting.
I absolutely adored Spoiler Alert and was a little worried that the follow up wouldn't work for me as well, but this was fantastic. I had a smile on my face basically the whole time. Alex is wonderful and hilarious and I loved that Lauren did not have to be conventionally attractive for him to want her very badly. The fandom stuff was even more fun for me than it was in the first book. Dade is definitely an auto-read for me!
Super cute and a perfect read for when you’re looking for something fun! Olivia depicted an exciting story and simply loved both Lauren and Alex! I’ve become a lifelong reader of this author for sure!
I liked 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟𝗦 but didn't love it.
Here's why: the fact that Lauren, the heroine, is plus-sized and not conventionally pretty is a huge plus for the book but her love interest, Alex, (and in some ways the author) jokes about it in a manner which often felt wrong. I didn't feel like Lauren got to have any depth as a character aside from being someone we were constantly reminded was unattractive, and Alex's behavior took away from my belief that he was falling for her. I didn't want him to love her despite her looks; I wanted him to love her for the amazing woman she was and I felt like we never got to see that when all we heard about was how unattractive she was.
I know a lot of people loved this one so maybe I was being overly sensitive. I did enjoy Dade's writing and the fanfic subplot and will definitely read her first book, "Spoiler Alert."
3.5 stars.
Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for the copy to review.
I won’t lie, I did like “Spoiler Alert” and I would say the same about “All the Feels;” However, I have the same problem with both. Chemistry. Alex’s character was still fun but Lauren was something different and how she got into her situation did not really hit home to me. Now, that said the plot was fine, the characters lack chemistry but at least one of them was fun, but overall there are better novels out there that represent a full figured woman. I would like to see Dade’s work evolve some more because I did like Spoiler Alert a lot more than this one and some of her older novels show that she does get better so I will just wait it out until she hits us with something BIG.
Unfortunately, this was a major DNF for me.
It started off so off-putting....like, he was comparing her to a bird for several pages? It felt weird.
Then, I couldn't get engaged for the next 10% -- I was bored! I wanted more to happen. I felt like the fanfiction discussion about p*gging came out of nowhere and it put me off. The writing was lackluster for me. I know this book has a lot of hype, so maybe I'll have to try again when I'm in a better place to give it a try. But now, for me it was definitely a disappointment.
A thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the e-book in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.
Ahhhh this was just as cute and fun as Spoiler Alert! I listened to that one and read this one and I do prefer to listen to contemporary romances vs reading them but I still enjoyed this very much. I really liked Alex and Lauren's dynamic and Alex's camaraderie with his castmates. It *was* easier to read the in-between scenes/chapters than listening to them but overall, I prefer to listen. I loved how vulnerable Alex got, he was so endearing, he turned me into a puddle of mush!
A fun follow up to Spoiler Alert! As always, Olivia Dade's character do constant deep internal work, which is amazing, but it can often make things feel repetitive. This makes sense, as deep work in overcoming our deeply held mis-truths of ourselves is an ongoing process. In addition, Lauren's relationship with her body and her fatness was, while realistic, again a bit hard to read at times. I think more than Spoiler Alert, this book focused more on true neutrality of the body. Lauren understood her body, how other people would react to it, and the reality of moving through the world in a fat body.
I appreciated the way this book intertwined with the events of Spoiler Alert, deepening the reader's understanding of both books. As always, Dade zooms close into a couple and lets the characters interact almost constantly--there is never a moment when the reader might think "ugh, I wish we would just go back to the couple already!" All the Feels is a quiet love letter to the California coast and to unlearning the harmful things we have been taught about ourselves
This is a seamless sequel where context about the relationship from the first book adds to the fun when former side characters take center stage. In a magical use of overlapping timelines, the first half of the book covers a familiar window of time with new focus. Readers know about big plot points that are coming without full details of the journey that will take us there, from the hows and whys to the emotional quality. The fallout of a certain career implosion takes us into new territory in the second half of the book with an utterly delightful road trip, a trope I didn't know to be obsessed with previously, and self-aware guest appearances from "only one bed" and "cuddling for warmth" among other fabulous romance mainstays. I also didn't know extreme height difference was a trope I needed, but damn if it wasn't both cute and amazing banter fodder. 10/10 adding it to my ideal tropes list.
Hilarious interludes break up the plot, a device from the first book I was thrilled to see continue. Texts between besties Alex & Marcus gain new meaning now that we have seen events unfold from both sides. We have the privilege of understanding how Alex thinks in all his chaotic, caring ADHD glory and come in close contact with his wild sense of humor. The fanfiction-inspired laughs were multiplied and magnified in this book. It was one of my favorite elements of the first book, and in this one, I needed to pause lest I develop a breathing issue as I cackled.
On a more serious note, conversation around career burnout was well-timed for me, although I'm not sure when a bad time for that would be, to be fair. Lauren is an ER therapist, and there's a hard look at how she values her own well-being compared to others and how a job with high demands on empathy and with low funding/support can siphon off everything that makes you joyful. It also offers something not so narrow as to be classified as "body positivity." This is about a woman who isn't conventionally attractive, who suffers fat-shaming and other rude commentary as a matter of course, and who is a lovely, full person with aspirations, introspection, and a sexy af romance. The story focuses most on Lauren's struggle to find value in her feelings and prioritize them rather than disconnecting.
Finally, I learned the word virago, which I now intend to use at every opportunity.
This is such a funny romance with all the feels promised on the cover. I wholeheartedly recommend it and plan to lie in wait for more (Carah? *fingers crossed*). Thanks to Avon for my copy to read and review!
I haven’t read the author’s previous book SPOILER ALERT, but the setup for this one intrigued me so I decided to try her out and I’m glad I did.
I didn’t like Alex at the start but he grew on me and has become my favorite leading man I have read this year. I didn’t love Lauren as much and got frustrated with her (probably due to my growing infatuation with Alex) but I rooted for them all the same.
The plot was formulaic but the dialogue and certain situations were hilarious and overall was a story I thought about constantly when I wasn’t reading it.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eArc. All opinions are my own.
Olivia Dade has done it again. I love the body positive books that she writes and I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
I loved this book-even more so than Spoiler Alert! The writing and story hooked me from page one and I couldn't wait to see their relationship develop. Lauren has such an accepting but takes no-bs personality that it made it a joy to read her sections. And while it took a bit to get behind Alex, once I did, I couldn't help but root for him. The writing was easy to fall into and the chemistry between the two was great!!
This is a wonderful follow up to Spoiler Alert! Lauren is a character who, at least in body type, made me feel really seen for the first time in a book - which is cool! (Don’t even get me started on being a child and seeing myself represented for the first time by Miss Trunchbull in Matilda 😂 but also 😭) Alex was also the golden retriever hero we need and, frankly, deserve!
There were parts of this book that actively made me cry: there’s a scene where Alex makes sure Lauren has a chair without arms at a conference so that she can comfortably sit. There’s a scene where Alex makes sure to buy standard hotel robe that will fit Lauren. These are small and seemingly silly, but damn if someone did something like this for me - well, frankly, I can’t think of anything more romantic. This book continually reiterated the idea that love is making the lives of those around you easier. It’s a simple concept for sure, but damn if it isn’t a beautiful one.
I had a few grievances with the book, for sure. The miscommunication trope was STRONG with this one, and admittedly not my favorite. But beyond a few small things, this book was a beautiful and romantic one.
I will read anything by Olivia Dade at this point!