Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - You, Again

i haven’t felt this level of heartache and frustration from a friends to lovers since reading People We Meet on Vacation

complex characters like ari can sometimes be a hard pill to swallow to swallow. the frustrating part wasn’t her immature coping mechanisms or avoidance techniques, but how she got in her own way on the path to happiness. tho we love a story where she overcomes her personal hurdles 🩵

i saw a tonnnnn of myself in josh. & if someone gifted me a little piece of myself back with a cereal bowl, that would have been it for me. best dust daddy ever.

inside jokes like the ones in this book are my absolute favorite, on par with emily henry’s books and giving me emotional turmoil all the same.

4 stars ⭐️

Content Warnings

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful sad slow-paced

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

3.25

This was such a frustrating reading experience, but in a way that was only possible because of how well it was written. You wouldn’t get so viscerally upset watching a best friend make poor life choices if you didn’t care so much about them. That’s how I felt about these characters.

I wasn’t quite expecting this to be as slow-paced as it was, and I’m not certain whether I believe the story’s resolution provides a catharsis proportional to the nearly 400 pages of agonizingly poor communication and bad timing.

A fade-to-black reunion? Seriously??

However, the writing was stellar, the dialogue was laugh-out-loud funny, and the characters were super endearing. I empathized with them almost as much as I thought they were being completely unreasonable for 90% of the story.

But that’s people. These characters were realistically flawed and acted in irrational ways that I’m all too aware mirror some of my own.

So all in all, I was impressed with the writing, but wanted a bit more from the romance besides a torturously prolonged angst phase followed by a hastily tacked on HEA.

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mangofraiche's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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lochnessvhs's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Kate Goldbeck posted a picture of my cat to her stories so realistically I should be giving this 5 stars.

I made an Ari & Josh playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0X3RSJ35Wr9wN2T7IlCEbD?si=54ac7047074f48e7

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lindseyhall44'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? Yes

5.0

There are no words to describe how much I adored You, Again. Not only is it based on the romance blueprint (When Harry met Sally), but it is modernized in such a fresh and hilarious way. Combining my two favorite tropes (slowburn and friends to lovers) it feels like this was made for me. Ultimately, You, Again is a beautiful reminder that no matter how broken or flawed we may feel, we are all deserving of love.

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samchase112's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

These people are kinda (well, not kinda) the worst, but… I still liked watching them find each other? Sort of? They have some serious issues, and we see them (sort of) work it all out throughout the book, leaning on each other as they've never leaned on others for one reason or another. But the problem remains: They're pretty deplorable. Glad they got their happy ending, and it's not Josh and Ari's fault they're terrible people, but… oh wait. It is. Books about awful people aren't necessarily doomed to failure, but it does highlight the worst parts of them, and in this case, just made me want to rewatch When Harry Met Sally :) Not a complete disappointment of a romance! Which is pretty good given the expectations I had via other reviews.

Oh, and Ari seriously needs to find a personality or hobby or whatever beyond simply sex.

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lermaline's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective sad slow-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

3.25

For fanfictions and New York fans (obviously)

I'm sorry that I didn't like this book more. I picked it up on the verge of a reading slump expecting it to spark my reading flame back up because I have a an autumn reading challenge to complete and I'm putting way to much pressure on myself, but I dragged throught it. I heard a couple good reviews about how it was sweet and funny, and it for sure is. It has fall/end of the year vibes, in fact I think I got hooked by the stunning cover. However I didn't expect it to hold so much heartbreak and difficult emotions. I adored the vast range of relationships, how people care about each other and remain in the other's lives over time. Besides that I had a hard time with the "grumpy" hero, to me he was oftentimes too rude and inflexible. There are many, many references that I didn't quite get (to the cooking world, the humor world, the New York of it all) as a non-New Yorker, hell I'm not even American. So I felt detached about the setting throughout the book, where I think a NY fan would precisely feel greatly immersed in the culture. In fact the author kindly included an extensive guide to NYC at the end including food places, museums, etc. It didn't come as a surprise when I discovered "You, Again" is a When Harry Met Sally fanfic and even has Reylo fanfic air to it. The ups and downs of the book are specifically inherent to the format of writing and uploading fanfic, the auhtor explained. I'm sure I would read another book from her again !

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Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck

geoalice23's review against another edition

bi_n_large's review against another edition

imds's review against another edition

kacyreadsbooks's review

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

mangofraiche's review against another edition

lochnessvhs's review against another edition

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

samchase112's review against another edition

lermaline's review against another edition