Reviews

Paint Eater by Marina Vivancos

allie8973's review against another edition

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5.0

Really good ADHD rep, rich/poor Logan and jay

ashlikes's review against another edition

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

3.5

nina_readsbooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

non_zero_probability's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

writtenechoes's review against another edition

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4.0

Logan was used to wanting things he couldn’t have. This, though—Jay and everything he brought with him—was something he hadn’t been able to prepare for.

This hurt so good. It really did not go where I expected either. And Dual POV? Wow, thanks Marina!!!! I’m not gonna write a long review for this one because honestly it made me kind of speechless. I have a soft spot for FWB stories and this one had the perfect amount of pining and lack of communication (NOT miscommunication). I loved Logan and Jay and their dynamic and how they fell in love. Jay really SAW Logan and Logan LET Jay see him. Maybe one day I’ll read a Marina book and not love it but today was not that day.

alexisisreading's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a short read but man did it hit me in all the feels! Normally with shorter books I feel like I don't really get to know the characters enough to care about their happy endings but this was not the case with this book! I loved Logan and Jay - they were both so easy to root for. I loved the sort of second chance aspect of this book...not exactly second chance romance but the whole "so we meet again" kind of vibes. I liked the dual pov - it made their past and present read so different knowing what both were feeling at the moment. I liked this a lot, it was typical Marina with being sweet yet super emotional.

marlobo's review

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2.0

I'm not sure if it's a meh or if it's an >"it's me" case, but the plot was boring and irritating to me.

The writing was really good, so I'll try again with this author.

haloblues's review against another edition

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3.5

This was sweet and fluffy. Not rated higher just because I prefer a little more plot in my books.

Details: Alternating POVs, third-person, past tense
Favourite character: Logan
Happy ending?: Yes 

Favourite quotes:
Quite the contrary, his capacity for empathy was so deep that she often wondered where it could possibly come from, for neither she nor what she had known of Joe displayed anything similar. Jay was capable of being moved by anything—people, animals, insects, fish. Sofia could stick googly eyes on a curtain rod and Jay would suddenly turn sympathetic, would wonder if it didn’t grow stiff and bored, jammed in one place all day, or if it was content that way, looking out into the world, a calm observer.

Rudeness, in her mind, was not just a lack of manners, but a disregard for other people in favour of self-interest. Jay, even as a little boy, however, often seemed to have the opposite problem. If the children he was playing with wanted him to be ‘it’ all the time, he’d do it. If they played Red Light, Green Light and someone declared that Jay had moved and had to go to the back again, he wouldn’t complain, even when he clearly hadn’t, even if he was one step away from winning. He was desperate to make friends. He just didn’t seem to know how to.


It’d been difficult to make it as a female tattoo artist in the 1990s, but at that point, she wouldn’t have known what to do if she didn’t have to fight for her place in the world. Every taunt and incredulous look thrown her way was powder in the keg.

She wasn’t going to be good. She was going to be explosive.


“Don’t tell me you’ve gotten a blowjob under the stars before.”

Logan snorted. “What stars?”

Jay glanced up for a moment at the decidedly starless sky. “Don’t tell me you’ve gotten a blowjob under the polluted night sky before,” he amended.


Jay crawled closer between Logan’s parted legs—and wasn’t that its own benediction—


The way his usually stern expression peeled away petal by petal to reveal a soft, wanting thing that Jay couldn’t hope to resist.


That had been a hell of a fight, his mom furious at his decision to become a photographer.

“You’re going to throw everything away and take pictures of weddings and bar mitzvahs for the rest of your life?” she’d demanded, eyes almost glowing with rage.

Logan had known, of course, that his mother didn’t actually think he’d ever make it as an artist. He’d realised then, though, that even the worst-case scenario of photographing other people’s happy events was better than the life she wanted for him.

“Yes,” he’d said and walked out.
 

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astral_disaster's review against another edition

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fast-paced

3.5

paracosmere's review against another edition

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4.0

What a sweet story! I don't have my usual ott comment but just know that this is one of the sweetest and in a way purest stories out there. Jay is just a ball of sunshine and fits perfectly with Logan. Opposites definitely attract!