Reviews

Love by Molly McAdams

j_the_bookworm's review against another edition

5.0

Kinsley and Ariana's book. Well,  this book had so many emotions pulling from me. Molly McAdams truly wrote a beautiful story about 2 women falling for each other. I love how she told Kinsley's side of her feelings and how unexpected they were. Kinsley moves to LA for her dream job as a nurse,her family and friends do not support her at all and talk down to her , and her newfound sexuality. Her and Ariana have a connection right away,  they learn to navigate many different things and make mistakes and learn...this book is amazing.  Stevie is Ariana's best friend and has some high opinions that make navigating this new relationship harder then it already is for them.  The other roommate's are great and very supportive.  I love that Molly McAdams went away from " the norm" and wrote about two women falling in love,  and one who never had feelings like this for another woman. 
I just wish I didn't read it as fast as I did.

Merged review:

Kinsley and Ariana's book. Well,  this book had so many emotions pulling from me. Molly McAdams truly wrote a beautiful story about 2 women falling for each other. I love how she told Kinsley's side of her feelings and how unexpected they were. Kinsley moves to LA for her dream job as a nurse,her family and friends do not support her at all and talk down to her , and her newfound sexuality. Her and Ariana have a connection right away,  they learn to navigate many different things and make mistakes and learn...this book is amazing.  Stevie is Ariana's best friend and has some high opinions that make navigating this new relationship harder then it already is for them.  The other roommate's are great and very supportive.  I love that Molly McAdams went away from " the norm" and wrote about two women falling in love,  and one who never had feelings like this for another woman. 
I just wish I didn't read it as fast as I did.

lezreadalot's review

3.0

I leaned into her hand for a second, giving in just a fraction, and felt my entire being respond to that submission.There's a great romance trammelled up somewhere in this mess but it's unfortunately bogged down by a lot of annoying, unnecessary, and clumsily written details/plots. It's a toaster oven romance between Kinsley, who's just moved to LA to be a nurse, and Ariana, one of her new roommates who intrigues her and makes her question herself. I love gay-awakening/toaster oven stories, and I thought their romance was really sweet, intense, and electric where it needed to be.

But so many things about this felt so childish, and they put me right off. The characters are in their mid-20s, but everyone in this book reads like they just left high school, 19 at the most. I'm not saying that you can't be immature at 26, but so many of the conflicts in this book revolved around issues that... I don't know, it didn't seem credible. And it simply wasn't enjoyable to read. Like, all the best friend drama with Stevie. Stevie is so clearly being unfair to Kinsley, and just generally mean to everyone around her (no matter that she says she's never done anything, or she's just being real, she clearly knows she's out of line). The narrative isn't on her side, and we do realise that she's acting out because of her own problems, but it just didn't feel credible that a grown woman would be throwing tantrums and trying to control and monopolise the people around her like this? So while at first I was frustrated and annoyed by Stevie, that frustration and annoyance soon turned on the writing itself. Stevie COULD have been a complicated character who lashes out and clings to her best friend because of her abandonment issues. But instead, she just read like an empty, walking caricature. I felt a similar way about Kinsley's problems with her ex-boyfriend, her friends, her family, and everyone in her home town. Everyone was so over-the-top mean, judge-y, and condescending towards her, they stopped feeling like characters, and felt more like devices through which the author needed to deliver her Kinsley whump. Like, the moment where Delia and co. got sooooo annoyed at Kinsley for trying to get them food (while they were staying at HER house) because apparently that's a sign of Kinsley being controlling and making everything about her... what? Would anyone really think that? Really react like that? What kind of mental gymnastics do you have to do to contort an offer to provide food/plan some stuff into 'she's making everything about herself!' So again, they didn't feel like real people. And in any scenario where I COULD see them as real people, they felt very very young. Like petty teenagers in adult suits.

The writing also left something to be desired. It was fine overall, but the author had this habit of writing in incomplete sentences and phrases, and it drove me up a wall. Lots of gerunds in places where you could have really used the past tense verb. I guess it's maybe a stylistic thing, but it didn't actually add anything to the writing? Imo, at least. It just made it seem like the editor was asleep at the desk. 

So I had a lot of gripes, but I'm still coming out of this with mostly good feelings because I really really liked the couple. Ariana was soooo swoony, so patient and kind with Kinsley, pressing her only when Kinsley wanted, or when she needed it. I really liked the way Kinsley's gradual realisation about her sexuality was written, all of her early angst as she tries to figure out why she's reacting this way to Ariana. I loved when they got protective of each other, when they pushed each other's buttons in ways that were actually conducive to growth. I wish we'd gotten to see more of their time alone, away from the roommates and the friend group, maybe a few dates or something. That intense connection in the beginning maybe moved a little fast, and I wish we'd had more scenes of them together to really make it believable.

Listened to the audiobook as read by Sophie Daniels and Lauren Sweet, two narrators whom I already love, and they definitely made this a worthwhile listen. Especially with the writing, I don't know if I'd have finished this without the audiobook. They made the chemistry palpable, and the banter really fun. I doubt I'll read from this author again (seems like she writes mostly m/f, and and I don't think I could handle all these issues PLUS heterosexuality) but I'm still mostly glad I took a chance on this. I loved the main couple, even though I had issues with a lot of other stuff.

sarahcophagus's review against another edition

1.0

In the "Shittiest Friend" Olympics, this one takes all the medals. The most insufferable side character I've ever read.

laconni4's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.75

chickenquesadilla's review

0.5

first of all, kudos to MYSELF for making it through 400+ pgs of BS??? 

i fuckjng hated stevie and no attempt of redemption will change that. the excuse that she was a bitch cos she was preggo n had a fear of people abandoning her or whatever? bull. n the fact that 90% of the book was centered around her bs n how that affected kinsley and ariana relo bro. and i hated ariana for always choosing stevie and not stepping in to defend kinsley. kinda hypocritical cos she’d  get pissed at kinsley for not defending herself against her hometown friends when she’s doing the same???

anyway this was a total waste of time n not even the smut was good.

sstory's review against another edition

4.0

I will read whatever this woman writes. This book is about all kinds of love, romantic partners, family, and friends.

In the first book of this series, readers did not really get to know a lot about all of the roommates, so when it was announced that Ariana would have the next book, I did not have any idea what her story would be. I just think that Ariana is a strong and kick-butt person. The only downfall, was that she allowed her close friendship with Stevie mess with her life. I think she needed to communicate a little more, and she needed to stand up to Stevie to force her to be realistic. I will say, Ariana’s friendship with Adam, Hollis’s boyfriend was really cute.

Kinsley’s character was a little confusing at times. She was a bubbly and outgoing person, but the was try to isolate herself from the others. The way her so called “friends” and family treated her, was ridiculous. I would bite back if someone treated me this way, but then again, if she was raised this way, I get it.

I think this was a beautiful love story.

hm08's review against another edition

3.0

This would've been a 5-star read.

But WTF IS UP WITH STEVIE. She's selfish, rude as hell and too stubborn to work through her impossible mommy issues. I hated her so much. I've never detested a fictional character THIS much. My head hurts. She single-handedly destroyed my enjoyment of this book.

And ARIANA'S GROVEL????? WHAT???? I DON'T SEE HER.

I'm sorry but Ari and Stevie's friendship was TOXIC. Stevie was an emotional parasite and a veritable PITA. Kinsley is too good for this world (though she did come across as a doormat sometimes, but I love her. She's a good girl.) and she did not deserve Stevie's absolutely HORRID comments. Do people even act like that in real life?

Anyhow, that whole flaming garbage aside, I loved Ariana and Kinsley's actual relationship. I need more lesbian romances in my life, thank you.

jennkeefer's review against another edition

4.0

I utterly loved Kinsleys journey and the slowburn with Ariana as they both worked through their own barriers. My heart ached for Kinsley so many times, especially with her friends/family and watching her grow into her own was amazing.

Stevie was hard to deal with, I understand her role in the plot but she had to many mean girl vibes for me.

qraveline's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad

4.25

fortuna's review

emotional inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

So my one gripe with this book is the speed at which the two main characters fall in love. It's just too fast for my taste. 

Otherwise this book is an amazing story of overcoming personal trials with superb character growth. The main character, Kinsey, is a nurse who moved to LA for a better career against the wishes of her boyfriend, family, and friends. So she has to struggle with low support from them during the difficult time of her moving. 

Kinsey does have a gay/queer awakening that is shown really well in my opinion.

 

Arianna, the other main character, is a roommate and coworker to Kinsey. Arianna's type matches Kinsey to a T so there starts the insta-love (my personal dislike). The dilemma with Kinsey is that she has a childhood promise with her friend (essentially sister) to stay and support for basically forever which makes making a long term relationship difficult to say the least.  

So resolution of this issues, the character growth, love and support that the MCs give each other through these trials is amazing to see.