Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from Smith Publicity. Thanks! All opinions are my own. 

 

Book: Love and Other Sins 

 

Author: Emilia Ares 

 

Book Series: Standalone 

 

Rating: 2/5 

 

Diversity: MC that was in foster care 

 

Recommended For...: young adult readers, contemporary 

 

Publication Date: October 19, 2021 

 

Genre: YA Contemporary 

 

Recommended Age: 17+ (sexual assault, recollections of child abuse, foster care system, discussions of suicidal thoughts, and mention of miscarriage) 

 

Explanation of CWs: Sexual assault and Miscarriage is mentioned. Child abuse is shown in recollections. The foster care system is present in the book. There are discussions of Suicide. 

 

Publisher: SERA Press 

 

Pages: 326 

 

Synopsis: Mina’s life is going according to plan; she’s acing AP Calc and is perfectly content with her nonexistent social life. Though only a high school junior, Mina knows time is an investment, and she’s putting all her capital into academics. Oliver, a child abuse survivor who grew up in the foster care system, is ready to burn down his old life and start from scratch—complete with a new name and emancipation papers—in L.A. When the two are thrown together through circumstance and develop an unexpected connection, they discover how hard it is to keep the past in the past. 

 

Review: This was a so-so book for me. I felt like the characters were well developed and I liked the story for the most part. The book also did well with the world building and after I was able to get into the book it was a sweet romance. The book also did well with complex themes. 

 

However, I really didn’t like this book. The book was not well written in my opinion. I say this because there was a time, when Oliver is being introduced, that the author just info dumped all of this trauma about the character. The amount of trauma dumping that happened was really off-putting and it triggered me a little bit too. The author also just told all of this information instead of letting it come out naturally. The book was also weirdly paced as it alternated between fast and slow and I really couldn’t connect with Mina at all and ended up skimming a lot of her chapters. 

 

Verdict: It wasn’t for me but might be for you.