3.5/5 ⭐️
Hear me out – I think this is a great story. I loved Ro and Matt from the first page; I wanted to hug them and tell them everything will be alright. This series has so much potential. The writer tackles painful (and in some circles taboo) topics in such a tactful way; this was definitely the highlight of the story for me.

That said, there are areas that need improvement. I was introduced to this story with the description of it being “an interconnected standalone,” and without thinking too much about it, I jumped into the second installment without reading the first. However, I eventually went back and read the first book before writing this review.

What I struggled with was feeling lost while reading Unloved. Some parts from the previous book were reintroduced with enough detail to give me a sense of understanding; others were overlooked or rushed in their explanation. For instance, Matt meets the brother of the FMC from the previous book at one point in Unloved, but their names are mentioned BY HIM in earlier chapters without any proper introduction or context. This is just one example, but there are quite a few similar moments in this book.

I’m also sad to say that the relationship between Freddy, Rhys, and Ben wasn’t developed enough. From Freddy’s POV, we understand how much he values these relationships – how unappreciated he feels and how much heart he pours into them. Yet, their story felt rushed and left me wanting so much more.

The second book often felt like a story about the characters from Unsteady. I believe the intention was to offer some Easter eggs, but in my opinion, this wasn’t executed successfully. Additionally, I feel that this installment did Sadie a disservice. She’s portrayed as an unlikable character who doesn’t seem to care about Ro (or at least not enough). This contradicts her POV in the first book, where her love and care for that friendship were so evident.

One final note: music seemed like an important element in Unloved. While it made sense for the characters in the first book, its significance in this one felt unnecessary and underexplained.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with these characters and am eagerly awaiting the next installment (hopefully about Ben). I hope the areas that made me lower my rating will be addressed, with the author honing her craft further. Fingers crossed for that, for sure!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ugh, this book is bad with missing information and flat characters. It’s disjointed, confusing, repetitive, too long and unrealistic. I’ve also read the same basic version of this story half a dozen times before. I will say, though, that the author’s depictions of emotional abuse and its effects are SPOT ON. (Book needs a trigger warning for it.) I also appreciated the author’s attention to learning disabilities.

To be fair, I didn’t read the first book, but for books like this, that really shouldn’t matter. It seems like they’re on the same timeline and should be read in tandem? I don’t know.

I didn’t like this book because of how disjointed it was, but I made myself finish it. Along with crippling grief, there’s too much anxiety and turmoil crammed into the pages for me to not get the satisfaction of a happy ending.

4.5/5 stars! I received an ARC of this book from netgalley, and I am so happy I decided to give Peyton Corinne and this series another chance after not fully loving Unsteady. If you were like me, I promise this book is worth the read!

I adored everything about Ro and Freddy both individually as characters and in their relationship together. The story was truly a character study into each person and I appreciated how Peyton explored each person's problems and insecurities and how the two really helped each other grow. I saw some of myself in both Ro and Freddy and reading this book really touched me. It was especially emotional for me to see Freddy come to understand that he was so much more than just his body and other's perceptions of him.

I did take off half a star because I was frustrated with the pacing slightly and upset that more didn't happen to hold that professor accountable! No spoilers, but I wanted more justice for Freddy with everything that happened.

Overall, I loved this book and will happily continue reading this series and probably everything Peyton Corinne writes. If you haven't read Unsteady yet, do it now before Unloved comes out on February 4th!

3.75/5: The beginning felt a bit slow for me, but it really picked up about 50% in. In my opinion, I think the first book in the series, Unsteady, was stronger. There was something missing in this one. That said, I absolutely adored Ro!!

I loved this book! So much so that I slowed my reading pace because I didn’t want it to end. Matt Fredderic + Rosalie Shariff honestly deserve everything good in this world. I adored each of them. The unconditional devotion and compassion shared between these characters made my heart unbelievably happy. Books like 𝙐𝙣𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 are truly why I love the friends to lovers trope. The slow burn was literal perfection. It gave readers the opportunity to see a genuine connection form, which was so important given Matty’s past. The emotional depth we got from both characters throughout this book was incredible. It was a beyond beautiful story of love, grief, and overcoming.

This series reminds me so much of the Boys of Tommen. I believe fans of that series will love this book.

“𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴-𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯, 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳.”

"𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎”

ᴛʀᴏᴘᴇꜱ:
🏒 Hockey Romance
⛸️ Athlete x Tutor
❤️‍🔥 Slow Burn
🧠 Mental Health & Learning Differences Rep
💚 Friends to Lovers
🫶🏼 Found Family

Thank you to Peyton Corinne, Atria Books, and NetGalley for the review copy of 𝙐𝙣𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙!

Thank you Atria books and Netgalley for the e-arc, I truly enjoyed reading this!

Where do I even begin???

I fear that Peyton Corinne simply gets better at writing angsty and beautifully written out characters (Good for her writing but Terrible for my sensitive heart). You cannot help but simply fall in love with her characters and their stories 💚

Ro and Freddy are so precious, and their love equates to the most precious. The way that both these characters understand each other and heal each other by simply showing up with love is emotional.

This book is in fact a romance, but it's also a book about healing. Freddy and Ro deserve the biggest hug, seeing what they both have endured and knowing that they get a happily ever after is so worth it!!

I would categorize this as a slow burn alongside friends to lovers with a hint of tutor x athlete alongside great mental health rep & learning differences rep.

I simply encourage everyone to read this. Despite their young age, both these characters are incredibly mature and emotionally well developed.

Ro has always been a hopeless romantic, but after what she thought was a perfect evening and first kiss with Matt Fredderic who ended up ghosting her, she settles for a relationship that is less than ideal. Freddy, the campus playboy and hockey star with a complex array of learning challenges, is used to being dismissed by all his professors and tutors but he is dedicated to passing his courses and getting his degree, not just running away to the NHL. While they start as athlete and tutor, the relationship between Ro and Freddy quickly becomes a beautiful friendship where both are fiercely protective of the other and they are able to truly SEE the other person for who they really are.

This book is the ultimate friends-to lovers story. The way that Ro and Freddy got to know the sides of each other that no one else saw or understood was absolutely beautiful to read. The development of their relationship from friends to lovers was so tender and real and authentic. Despite being a college romance, these characters demonstrated such emotional maturity as they came to terms with their past relationship baggage.

2🌶 The spice was well placed and progressed the plot perfectly without being overwhelming.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I dove into this book and devoured it in one sitting! Ro, the hopeless romantic, and Freddy, the reluctant playboy, captured my heart from the very first chapter! I haven't read Unsteady, so this is my first look into this world and I'm looking forward to reading all the other books in this series!

*Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the eARC!*

3.5/5 stars

Starting my 2025 off just as I did 2024 with a Peyton Corinne sports romance and I'm glad I did!

This book had such a nostalgic feel (completely unrelated given the actual plot of the book I know) but it harnessed the tropes and setting of a place we've been. At the beginning of our lives, in college tumbling through firsts... first classes, first kisses, first loves and first terrible horrible boyfriends (not the MC, I promise) that all the people in your life want you to leave for the better.

Both Ro and Freddie strive to people please, put on fronts for the world to see but when alone ache in loneliness. Ro struggles in secret, puts up with treatment she doesn't deserve because the idea of starting anew and not having that comfort is almost more frightening than putting up with the mistreatment. Freddie lets the world around him assume the worst, best and just about anything about him. He does so in fear that if people saw the real him, if he opened up, they wouldn't love him the same.

Two people who needed each other in different ways to fill the same lonely void, forging a love born between tutoring sessions and druken party adventures.

It was fun, emotional at some points and I found myself wanting to wrap Ro up and protect her at all costs. Never let someone dim your light, never let someone walk all over you, YOU DESERVE THE WORLD!!

A sports romance for my sports romance lovers out there :)

If I could, I’d give Unloved by Peyton Corinne six stars because this book made me laugh and cry—sometimes within the same chapter. Freddy and Ro are the epitome of the friends-to-lovers trope, and I adored every minute of their story. I could really relate to Ro, especially her toxic relationship with Tyler. It hit so close to home, and seeing her find herself, and someone who loves her for who she truly is—Matty (aka Freddy)—was like a mirror to my own experience.

Unloved is a heartbreakingly beautiful story about two soft, vulnerable people who just want to be loved but are scared of letting someone in. The love between Freddy and Ro is the kind of love everyone hopes to find—where you’re not loved for a version of yourself, but for who you truly are. Watching them fall for each other, discovering someone who actually sees them and listens, was so special. It was a love that felt real, raw, and so deeply tender.

Ro Shariff completely captured my heart. She’s just a girl who wants to be loved for who she truly is, and when she finally finds that with Freddy—someone who’s been through so much and just wants to be seen—it’s both gut-wrenching and beautiful. The way they care for each other is so evident. They take their time, letting their bond grow at its own pace, which makes their connection feel so incredibly real and authentic.

The way their friendship grew into something deeper was written so well—it was like watching something fragile and beautiful take shape. They were both soft, vulnerable, and real with each other. The struggles they faced felt so authentic; sometimes they could pull themselves out, and other times, they couldn’t, which only made their journey more relatable.

I’m excited to see what Peyton Corinne has in store next. With characters like Bennett and Kane, I’m already hooked. The brief glimpses we get of Bennett’s care for Paloma and Kane’s aggression in that fight scene with Freddy make me so curious about their backstories.

Thanks to Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Reading this a second time was the right choice. I love this book with my entire being! Freddy and Ro are IT for me. They are so soft and they love SO HARD. And I really loved watching them fall in love. They ARE friends to lovers in the absolute BEST WAY.

Although whatever is coming next might just be the end of me???? Bennett??? Kane??????? Hello????? I WILL BE UNDONE FOR SURE!

———

If theres one thing I love it’s a sad kissing book written by Peyton Corrine. Once again she’s written such a heartbreakingly BEAUTIFUL love story about two soft people who just want to be loved but are just a little afraid. She puts so much love and care into her books that it absolutely tears me apart every time. I loved the SOFT love that Freddy and Ro gave to each other. They desperately needed someone to see them and to listen and to just LOVE them and it was so beautiful watching them find that in each other.

Ro Shariff is a girl after my heart and I LOVED getting to know her. She’s just a girl who wants to be loved for who she is. And the fact that she got to have that, finally, with Freddy, a boy who’s lost so much and is seen a certain way and who also just wants someone to see him…makes my heart ACHE in the absolute best way. They were both so careful with each other, and they showed their love in ways that worked for them. Their careful friendship built such a solid foundation for their eventual relationship, and watching it unfold was written so well. I loved that they got to be themselves with each other. They were soft and sweet and so vulnerable with each other.

Like in Unsteady there is so much heaviness written throughout the book. But the way Peyton balances it with everything else is so perfect. We get to see how hard they’re both struggling but also see how they’re able to pull themselves out, and sometimes not able to as easily. And it just feels so authentic.

I also LOVED seeing Sadie and Rhys from another viewpoint. Much like we saw flashes of Freddy and Ro in Unsteady, seeing them this way made my heart ache to read their story again. There is truly no one like Sadie and Rhys.

Thank you so much to Atria for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.5⭐
The main characters are Ro and Freddy, whom we already know from Unsteady. These books are best read either in parallel or consecutively because the events intertwine and take place simultaneously.
Freddy has dyslexia, dyscalculia, and ADHD, which makes studying difficult for him, so he constantly works with tutors. His previous tutor gives up on him, and Ro takes over. She’s sweet and kind, always ready to help. However, she has a boyfriend, but their relationship is toxic, and he doesn’t appreciate her at all.
Tyler really annoyed me—I wanted Ro to stand up for herself more, and I couldn’t understand why she kept dating him. I was so relieved when she finally found the strength to leave him.
Freddy’s story moved me deeply, and I felt so sorry for him. He has the image of a cheerful playboy, but in reality, he’s a very sensitive and vulnerable guy. My heart ached every time he opened up to Ro.
Among the secondary characters, I also really liked Archer, and I’d love to see him find his happiness too.
I was a bit disappointed that the meaning behind Freddy’s tattoo wasn’t revealed—I thought it might have some connection to Ro.
I’m eagerly looking forward to books about the other characters, and I truly hope we’ll get to learn Kane’s story.

𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:
✓ college hockey romance
✓ friends to lovers
✓ athlete x tutor
✓ mental health
✓ learning differences rep
✓ slow burn

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks for Peyton Corinne and her team for letting read this as ARC. I went into blindly without reading the 1st book. I plan to soon. A hockey romance book falls in love his tutor. I fell this as college age setting. ❤️ He falls first for sure. Matt Fredrick is a main character that one's the hockey team. When he needs a tutor and meets Ro. He calls her princess for his nickname. It's so cute and reminds me of a fairytale. It deals with grief in it too. He lost his mom at young age when he was playing hockey. So it has heavy subjects in it. But overall a good hockey romance book.🏒

I really enjoyed this book. I was a little thrown off on the plot though in the first 50% because I didn't know it takes place at the exact same time as Unsteady. So I didn't overly enjoy that part because it just seemed repetitive and choppy. It picked up once it was just about Matt and Ro. I loved how their relationship started truly as friends. They were always gonna be friends before anything else, even with the history from freshmen year. Then when their loved blossomed they became each others person. Peyton did a beautiful job of writing two characters with completely different life problems.

This story is so sweet. I loved Matty and Ro’s relationship and how it developed. They do such a great job of loving and supporting each other, and helping each other heal from the toxic experiences and relationships that they’ve had before.

After seeing the glimpses and teases of these two getting together in Unsteady I was really excited to see their story and how everything played out, and I was not disappointed.

Simply put, I LOVED this book.

Once I started reading I could not put it down, dare I say, I love it more than the first. Of course unsteady is loved too, but this one throat punched me in the best way. So much so I couldn't stop thinking about it and actually got a little espresso depresso when I finished it. It had so much REAL feelings and maybe Identifed with it a little more than I thought I would but man was I thrown by how much it flowed and was cozy in a healing way. This author tackles hard dark tropes that lately authors don't often take on, and if they do they don't write it as well as this author has. The main characters were by far some of my favorites, and I'm so happy I got to read their story, because they were both so easy to love. I don't want to spoil anything, so again, this book was anything but Unloved by me. I highly recommend this book and cannot wait for my friends to read it and love it too. Thank you, Atria Books eGalley, Netgalley and everyone else involved for allowing me to read this ARC. Most of all, Peyton Corinne, for writing this book. Much love!

Ps. I cannot wait for a Toren Kane Book, a menace, and I am literally foaming at the mouth for it.

Thank you to Atria books for this incredible read!

Starting the year off with Unloved by Peyton Corinne was a bad idea… how can I move on when this is my first five star of the year?! Truly didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I did but based on my experience with her first book Unsteady I knew I would get everything I wanted and more from this one.

Rosalie and Matty are my perfect book couple. The type of characters I tell my friends about when I want them to experience a good romance novel. Although they start off in complete different worlds and perspectives we get to see a growth that lacks in so many young adult romance novels. Proper character development was completely met with this one and met all my standards.

The characters start off with their inability to understand their own personal merits as well as explaining their experience with feeling unappreciated in their relationships with peers and family. This completely bonds them the whole them in inexplicable ways the entire novel.

Matty is the goofball athlete who has a seemingly bad reputation on campus, but before he was a hot commodity Rosalie got to know him for a glimpse. This small glimpse carried into their last year of college and got them to where they are now.

Unloved was an automatic save to my favorites tab, the writing was completely satisfying and the light it brings to topics that need to be talked about more in todays world.

I will be thinking about this one for a long time, it’s that high up for me and I can’t wait to see more from this author!

5⭐

I absolutely adored this book. I related SO much to Ro, it was literally crazy. Going from seeing an outsiders perspective on Ro's relationship in Unsteady to diving into her thoughts and everything she was truly going through was heartbreaking. Seeing herself try to cut off parts of herself to for a boy who absolutely wasn't worthy of her?? Relatable and saddening. BUT getting to see her literally come back to life with Matt was absolutely everything🥰

Speaking of Matt, if you love golden retriever, jokester MMC who you come to realize actually holds so much emotional depth and hidden heartache/trauma, you will adore Matt (he gives me similar vibes to Gibsie from Boys of Tommen). I am so obsessed with both him and Ro; the relationship and they have is literally perfect. I was kicking and giggling my feet through no less than half of this book🤭

What an achingly sweet romance about two souls often overlooked in life but with such a vast inoamt to those around us. This friends to lovers is one for the books. Freddy and Ro are too seemingly opposites, a
Loud too cocky playboy on the hockey team and his sweet shy and beautifully spoken tutor Ro. A forgotten kiss and 3 years have separated these two until their brother together to help Freddy pass his last year. I love how compared to the first book in this series this is a slow burn based on one of the most beautiful friendships. It shows how pure it can be when someone understands your wants, needs and wants to know what you love, drawing out the inner most depths of us. I love the small scenes of these two slowly opening themselves up to each other and what the possibility could be, despite the beautiful friendship that theyve made.

As someone who enjoyed Peyton Corinne's first novel, Unsteady, I was thrilled to receive an ARC from NetGalley for the second book in the Undone series. I thunk this book, and all of the decisions that Corinne made in it, had such great potential. And while it did not fall completely flat for me, I think it wasn't as developed as it could have been. For example, the FMC, Ro, is tutoring the MMC, Freddy/Matty, because of his learning disabilities. However, there are many times that she leaves tutoring right in the beginning of the session because she is crying and overwhelmed. I am all for expressing emotions and being vulnerable, but I just wonder how much she was actually helping and how he was able to pass if she left so many times. I'm concerned with her ability to remain professional in any capacity.

Also this may be a bit spoiler-y, but it is also possibly a trigger warning, so proceed in this paragraph with caution. The MMC had a relationship with a professor his freshman year of college and he failed the course and is now being forced to take it again with said professor. She is also still coming onto him, and he is very uncomfortable with it. Now, I wouldn't be against this being in the book normally, but there is no resolution to it at the end of the book! She is never reported and there is barely even a confrontation-- a singular sentence from the FMC. Felt unresolved and unnecessary because of it.

There was just so much going on in this book, with every character and family member. I just wish Corinne weeded it out a bit. Too many plot lines and unfortunately, not all of them were wrapped up. For example, it seemed like there was a lot of tension and distance between Ro and Sadie, especially on Ro's side, and yet there was no discussion or even internal resolution.

Overall, I genuinely think this just needed a few more rounds of content editing. I wish I could rate it higher.

Thank you so much, NetGalley and publisher, for this ARC!

I was engrossed in the novel from start to finish. It kept me feeling a collector of emotions, from tears to giggles. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and would even go as far as to say this was even better than the first in the series. I adored the characters and their relationship, mainly how they communicated with each other so well, understanding and being respectful when the other needed space. My only critique is that while we got a happy ending, certain characters did not do good things, and we didn't intend to like it, and we didn't witness their downfall. I would have loved to see that, no matter how briefly.