Tropes: hockey, tutor/student, grief, college romance

Blurb: Rosalie “Ro” is enlisted to tutor Freddy after failing his courses, while harboring a crush on him since freshman year.

I love hockey romance and to me, this book redeemed itself in the end. The FMC, Ro, had a lot of qualities I admired, like how caring she was about everyone, and how she always stood up for Freddy and his learning disabilities. I also really liked Freddy as a golden retriever bf, like the scene where he takes one of her ribbons and puts it on his hockey bag knowing he was gonna get shitted on by his team but was proud to call her his gf? SWOON 😮‍💨

I didn’t like the beginning too much. The first half of it stressed me out. I’m not big on leads who don’t stand up for themselves and continue to take verbal abuse bc relationships are comfortable. BUT. When Ro learns her voice (like Freddy’s advisor meeting), she was force! So proud 😢

I wish there were better resolutions for some of the characters. Like Dr. Tinley deserved to be fired, Tyler should’ve gotten beat up more, WHY IS BENNETT SO STRESSED and what happened to Freddy’s dad?

All in all, I enjoyed this book, but it did leave me wanting to read Unsteady more 👀

Thank you NetGalley and Peyton Corinne for an ARC of this book in exchange for my opinion 🫶🏼

If Peyton Corinne writes it, I’ll read it. This is my second book by Peyton Corinne that I’ve read and both books have been a 5 star. I fell in love with Ro and Freddy. Their relationship was so sweet and the slow burn was written perfectly. I don’t typically like the friends to lovers trope but this was written so beautifully that I fell in love with Freddy from the start. These two gave each other what they needed in order to feel loved and that was so beautiful. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a slow burn, friends to lovers, hockey romance with a swoon worthy male main character and a strong female main character. Can’t wait for this book to release.

Thank you NetGalley, Peyton Corinne, and Atria Books for the ARC.

I adored this book so much. I wasn’t sure how anything could hold up compared to Sadie and Rhys but oh I just love Ro and Freddy 😭 This book was so good when it comes to seeing ways we view ourselves when it comes to relationships and friendships, especially in combination with book 1, you really see how easy it is for you to feel like a burden to your friends when your friends would never see you that way. And it was great in thinking about how our interactions with the people in our lives really shape how we view ourselves.

A huge thanks to NetGalley ARC for giving me access to this book early. I absolutely loved this one. After reading the first in the Undone series I was curious about Freddy and Ro's story but had no idea it would be as complex as it was. I was rooting for them the entire time and their collective and individual growth. I about yelled every time Tyler was involved and was ready for the verbal slaughtering he deserved. I adore how sensitive and caring she wrote these characters and I can't wait to read more in this series. Don't sleep on this series!!

This story was an emotional rollercoaster. I laughed, I cried, I swooned, I was so angry on Matt and Ro’s behalf, my heart ached for them but I left feeling so hopeful and full of love for Matt and Ro. I can’t remember the last time I was so endeared to characters so quickly. Unloved takes place at the same time as unsteady and the next book (I think!!?) I loved how much it added to unsteady and being able to spend more time with scenes we saw in unsteady.

As I read unsteady I loved seeing bits and pieces of Ro and Matt. In unloved, I loved being to able to see their raw and real emotions. Ro is one of the sweetest characters I think I’ve ever read. She loves her friends and family so hard and is so giving of her time and energy. Shes such an earnest, compassionate, loving person full of love and heart. Her story with Tyler truly broke my heart, to see her shamed and her spirits broken. The moments where she constantly questioned herself and felt completely torn down were so raw and heartbreaking to witness. Watching her grow in herself and learn to gain her power back after years of hatefulness spewed from her ex was so powerful and hopeful to witness.

Matt’s story truly broke my heart. This boy was let down by so many adults and was put in so many situations he shouldn’t have been. He was taken advantage of and berated and it lowered his self esteem so much. Reading the way he thought about himself, that he was only worth his body, made my heart ache so bad because were able to see what a good friend he is. He is so kind, generous, and loves his friends so hard. Witnessing him open up to Ro and learn that he can be loved for who he is made my heart so full!!

Matt and Ro are such gentle, kind, lonely people whose perception of themselves is completely shaped by people who treat them so poorly. I loved Matt and Ro’s journey from strangers to friends to lovers was so wonderful. Ro was so reserved and full of shame and Matt was so gentle with her heart and reassuring that she’s perfect the way she is. Matt thought he was only good for his body and Ro showed him that he was smart and kind and worthy of love. Their tension had me on the edge of my seat!!! I love how open and honest they were with each other. Corinne perfectly captures this desperation Matt and Ro have to be loved by someone for everything they are, this yearning to be loved and seen for who they really are and they find that in each other. They advocate for and support each other in such a beautiful way. They love each other with total acceptance and no shame. One of my favorite books I’ve ever read!

Ms Corinne writes flawed and troubled characters very well. My heart hurt for both of the main characters. I loved how they were able to help each other get through their individual struggles. Despite feeling thoroughly frustrated with Ro's character at times, I'm so proud of how she stood up for herself as well as Matt during the course of the book. Though this was a great read, the book seemd to drag on a little longer than necessary. I loved the first one in the series and felt that that was a pretty appropriate length given the story. I did like how this gave another perspective to UNSTEADY while the events in that book were happening.

I'd also like to add that I found quite a few typos and spelling/grammatical errors. I hope this draft will be looked over once more to fix these errors.

Thank you for approving an advanced copy for me to enjoy!

First things first, as this is the second in the series I feel it’s important to note that Unloved is told concurrently with the timeline in Unsteady. For that reason, if you haven’t read Unsteady, I’d highly recommend reading it first. If you have but it’s been a while, I’d recommend a reread to have it fresh in your mind. There are frequent asides referencing things happening with Rhys and Sadie, and I found myself trying to recall details of those events since it had been a few months since I read Unsteady.

Unloved has an intense emotional depth to it because both Ro and Freddy/Matt/Matty (I’m going to refer to him as Matt for the rest of this review) have experienced, and continue to experience throughout the book, various forms of trauma, manipulation, gaslighting, and toxicity. The friendship bond they form as they fall slowly in love is truly a light in the dark for both of them.

Ro has been made to feel childish, needy, “dirty” by her on/off boyfriend, Tyler (who is truly the WORST), for the ways she tries to express herself and has a deeply internalized shame in certain situations as a result. Matt has been conditioned (groomed — and I don’t use that term lightly) to believe he is only good for what his body can do. The slow burn of this book allows the two of them the time and space to learn who the other is and find a love language between them that speaks to the parts they’ve been manipulated to believe don’t exist or are shameful. It’s a beautiful journey for them.

There were some parts where I felt the pacing and things being told about rather than really shown had my attention going in and out, but overall I was very engaged with everything Ro and Matt were going through together and individually. I can think of at least three people I’d willingly throw down with for the way they treated Ro and Matt if I were the kind of person who actually did things like that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Friends to lovers is not my favorite trope but I really like this two. Is an amazing slow burn. Rosaline and Mathew are increíbles caracteres, they arre funny, sweet and they only have love for the other. And as always my favorite part was the way Matheuw do things for Rosaline. And the quotes… OMG i thing when I have my physical copy, I will annotate every single page. I wasn’t expecting to love this so much. 4.75

Oh my god!
Did I stay up to finish this book yes!
Did I cry during Freddy’s (Matt) pov Yes!
Are Matt and Ro my favorite couple YES!!!

I didn’t expect to go through such an emotional journey in this book I honestly thought it was going to be a smutty little hockey romance and it is so much more it’s about grief and love and how you truly can’t know one without the other. Matty and Ro went through the fuxking ringer but I’m so glad they made it through the end cause my god college classes crazy exs past lovers and hockey steam rolled around death and illnesss 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼 what a rebirth they had. Pls pls pls read the epilogue too it was adorable.
Thanks NetGalley for the arc

Thank you to Atria Books for giving me the chance to read this book!
I adored this book, being such an easy read to get into and want to finish. I found myself relating to Ro, searching for real love in a modern time where that's not easy to find. I loved the friends to lovers trope in the story, something I don't read as much of, but when I do, I always get drawn in like any other book. This was a great story to read and I can't wait to read the first one (because why would I read a series in order) and go into the story of Sadie and Rhys, two characters who I loved in this story.
Thank you to Atria again! I really appreciate the chance to read any book that is sent! :)

This series has quickly jumped to my go-to book recommendations. I am so lucky to have gotten an ARC of Unloved and I read through it in one sitting. This book was absolutely incredible and I still can't decide if I like this one or Unsteady more. The tropes in this one aren't usually my favorite but it just works in this book. Peyton Corinne writes angst so well and I am so ready to re-read this one again.

4.5/5⭐️ I really enjoyed this book, I actually haven’t read book 1…but I’ll definitely be going back to read Rhys & Sadie’s story.

Ro & Freddy are just so cute together. I’m not usually a friends to lovers fan but this is so well done. I really enjoyed the slowburn yearning from Ro & Freddy.

Thank you Atria & NetGalley for the e-arc

Matthew, Matt, Matty, the man that you are. This book was so adorable, and I really love Peyton Corinne handles mental health, abuse in relationships, and the lack of resources available for people that have learning disorders. I enjoyed that both Matt and Ro were dealing with their own struggles and neither were perfect, it's just realistic that both people in a relationship would come with "baggage." Overall I did really enjoy this book, and I rated a 4/5 due to a few downfalls, see below.

A few downfalls for me: the length and pacing - we really could have shaved off 50-70 pages (I had the same feeling with Unsteady), I felt that the wrong things were dragged out and other parts could have been built on a bit more (I would be specific but no spoilers).

✨Tutor Romance
✨Hockey Romance
✨Pining
✨Interconnected Series
✨Learning Disorder Rep.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this E-ARC.

I enjoyed how much Ro and Freddy helped each other heal from their pasts. Their friendship was so sweet and I appreciated that they focused on that so much before they actually got together. It was also fun to see scenes from Unsteady from a different perspective since this takes place in the same timeline. The ending gave me all of the warm fuzzies!

Where it started to lose me a little was the amount of frustration it made me feel. I wanted to shake Ro to make her see sense well before she did. I have trouble with pushover, people pleasing FMCs and I just wish her growth came around sooner. Tyler is the worst and I hated that he was around so much. Same with the person Freddy has to deal with. All of the OM/OW drama took away from their romance to me, and these two did not get nearly the amount of consequences that they should have. What they did was serious and deserved a lot more fleshing out to resolve it more satisfactorily. The amount of obstacles they encounter in general started to grate on me, I think more focus could have been put on fun, light moments between them to get a break from the drama. It also never sits well with me when the MMC is with women after he starts to have feelings for the FMC.

This was enjoyable and easy to read even though it felt like the story jumped all over the place. I liked most of the characters but Ro felt so immature to me. I didn’t understand why she put up with Tyler and his BS in the first place and it was frustrating that this made me unable to connect with her. Matt/Freddy seemed a little too good to be true but I guess that’s typical for these hockey romances - the characters aren’t always realistic. Overall it was an easy read and I’d still read other books by this author.

I loved it, one of the aspects that stands out the most for me about the story was the growth and development of the characters, I loved seeing everything that Ro and Freddy worked to achieve their individual happiness as well as a couple. I also loved the author's writing, the story follows a good pace and the themes addressed were well developed.

I have no words. This book was so beautiful, I loved it. It was kinda of a slow burn (I think) and loved that about it. Ro’s and Matt’s relationship is so well written, the grief, the insecurities, the struggles they were having with their past and present. I absolutely LOVED the communication. Also loved that it wasn’t as spicy, i don’t mind an excessive amount of spice but with everything that was going on in both Ro’s and Matt’s life, i liked that it was mainly focused on that and them healing from it.
Overall 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️’s !!!

Unloved is the book that perfectly shows that “to be loved is to be seen.” While both characters deal with different relationship insecurities, they understand each other in a way that no one else can.

I felt that the give and take between the characters was wonderfully done, and felt seen with the mental health representation.

While I love character driven stories with heaps of angst, this book felt like it was missing something. So much was happening to the characters, yet we only get a surface level glimpse of their healing. I found myself being taken out of the story with how fast the audience had to move on from each trauma the main characters were facing.

★★◆☆☆ (2.5/5)
🌶🌶 (2/5)

Listen, the story istelf is good, is cute and interesting but as a book is missing so much structure.

There is almost no plot, no storyline the book is following, shit is just happening out of nowhere and they are dealing with it.

I couldnt connect with the story, i feel like the epilogue was too far fetched from their reality and didnt match the vibes.

Besides i think it lowkey ruines the first book because the characters are nothing alike and you are given a wiplash which makes it hard to connect with the whole book

This just wasnt it.

Unloved by Peyton Corinne was such a cute book. I couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed the dynamics between Matty and Ro and loved them individually. The story felt fresh, despite the many hockey romances out there (which I eat up every time!). I enjoyed the second book in the series even more than the first one and I can't wait to read what comes next.