Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Written in the Stars

I love an Austen retelling. I liked both of the main characters, but their families were pretty terrible which kind of brought the mood down. The third-act breakup was kind of contrived (but when isn't it?).

The way that Darcy's brother pressured her into dating again and outs the (fake) relationship to Elle's family (without knowing whether or not she was out to them or even if it was safe to do so) was really not cool either. I wish the characters had called him out a bit more on his behaviour.

Overall though a very cute read with some pop astrology, an escape room, and fake dating.

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eviecate's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

I found this book cute but cliche. Of course I knew that it was just a sapphic holiday romcom going into it and it delivered on that front. I just felt that very little of it was original and the plot felt overused. I also didn't particularly like the writing style, switching between Elle and Darcy's POVs without any rhyme or reason with no indication other then context clues. I thought the romance was cute and I like each characters little charms and quirks. It felt very millennial with the jokes about Harry Potter and the way the texts were written. I don't particularly like a lot of pop culture references so a lot of the jokes fell flat. Overall a fun light read if that's what you're looking for.

Note: Why do so many sapphic books directly identify characters as bi, pan, etc. but never lesbian?? As a lesbian this is very disheartening.

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sarahsthoughtsonbooks's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Sorry this review isn't helpful.

Loved it. Want more. Enjoyed the homage to P & P

There's a bit that's unresolved, or I might have missed it since I did the audio version, and could have possibly been in a groove and missed a scene.

Need to get it in print. Now to go read the follow up with Brandon and Annie.

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empathephant's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

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

2.0

Okay, I will preface this by saying this is the first adult romance I have ever successfully read. I don't know which of the things that irritated me are a product of the genre vs the book. On the other hand, this is the first adult romance I have successfully read, so that says something I think. I nearly put it down at the beginning for the cheesiness and predictability, but I'm glad I decided to roll with it and stick around for the journey.

I had a lot of fun with these characters. I loved the pop culture references and the name-dropping of real places and restaurants in Seattle (drooling over these new additions to me To Eat list!) I even learned a lot about astrology, something I've never had much of an interest in, and am more open to exploring that now. So good job, book. It's set around the holidays, which I didn't know before reading, so perfect Hallmark Christmas movie fodder. Get on that Netflix.

My main complaint was (vague/general spoilers about character development)

Elle's lack of character development, whereas Darcy was the one who had to do all the growing. Both characters had interesting flaws and backstories and I liked seeing them play against one another. But it wasn't until the very end that Elle had any aha moments, and even then Darcy was the main focus. It made if feel a little like the book was passing moral judgement on personality styles - Elle was a bit of a MPDG, perfect the way she is, just misunderstood, while Darcy had (understandable given her background but unfortunately) The Wrong Attitude. Like I get that this is a romance novel so it's probably going to side with the hopeless romantic in order for the plot to like, function. But I wanted to see a *little more* of Elle at least recognizing what made Darcy's inherent personality great and not just having fun changing her or seeing what's underneath.

NEVERTHELESS! I will probably read the second novel in this series despite not being as into it because it isn't an f/f relationship. So take that as you will.

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