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banrions's review
3.0
EJ Noyes has been a little hit or miss, for me. I heard so many ppl raving abt her and then the first couple of books I read I enjoyed, but didn’t love the way so many ppl seemed to—then I read a couple more, and enjoyed the hell out of them. She’s now a must read for me, but part of what I like and appreciate abt Noyes is how often she changes things up. She writes what she wants and takes big swings with the plots; they all RLLY differ in fun ways that I can rlly respect.
However… this one didn’t rlly do it for me. The first book, Gold, was one of those not favs for me, so I already was going into this less fond that I would have for a sequel to one of her other books (a pov of Olivia from Alone plsssssssss
However… this one didn’t rlly do it for me. The first book, Gold, was one of those not favs for me, so I already was going into this less fond that I would have for a sequel to one of her other books (a pov of Olivia from Alone plsssssssss
misthios_pat's review against another edition
4.0
NGL, I bought it without reading the blurb, well is E.J. Noyes, I trust her! But when I started reading I realised it was following the kids and I'm not a fan of YA, but once in a blue moon I give it a try and enjoy the experience. And it was the case here.
They were soooo adorable and wholesome and with realistic flaws and I really liked every bit of it. How they dealt with conflicts, personal and not so much, how silly things turn into bigger ones in their head, but being who they are and how they were brought up how they managed to deal with it all. Ah how I don't miss the teenage drama haha. I hope to see them all again in the future, winning more gold medals ;)
They were soooo adorable and wholesome and with realistic flaws and I really liked every bit of it. How they dealt with conflicts, personal and not so much, how silly things turn into bigger ones in their head, but being who they are and how they were brought up how they managed to deal with it all. Ah how I don't miss the teenage drama haha. I hope to see them all again in the future, winning more gold medals ;)
soniasideup's review
4.0
3.7 stars
if this book were a Taylor Swift song: You Belong with Me (Taylor's Version)
I loved Gold. This is no secret because I comment on every Gold review that pops up on my updates page. Gold started me on a journey of reading through all of E. J. Noyes's work and I am constantly amazed by their ability to adapt to new styles and weave intricate stories.
This was a fun YA novel! Gemma and Stacey were cute and it was fun to watch them be kids and admit their feelings. I felt like we were missing something that would've pushed this over the 4 star mark for me. Maybe it was a lack of pining between the two characters or maybe it just lacked the angst I'm used to from Noyes. I still really enjoyed it and loved getting to see more of Aspen and Cate as parents and a couple.
if this book were a Taylor Swift song: You Belong with Me (Taylor's Version)
I loved Gold. This is no secret because I comment on every Gold review that pops up on my updates page. Gold started me on a journey of reading through all of E. J. Noyes's work and I am constantly amazed by their ability to adapt to new styles and weave intricate stories.
This was a fun YA novel! Gemma and Stacey were cute and it was fun to watch them be kids and admit their feelings. I felt like we were missing something that would've pushed this over the 4 star mark for me. Maybe it was a lack of pining between the two characters or maybe it just lacked the angst I'm used to from Noyes. I still really enjoyed it and loved getting to see more of Aspen and Cate as parents and a couple.
misha_ali's review
3.0
This started off really slow for me. For about fifty perfect of the book, not a lot was happening aside from setting the scene and introducing an annoyingly one-dimensional character and relationship so the premise of the central relationship felt very low stakes to me. Enjoyable still, but not my favorite EJ Noyes book.
jennabeebs79's review
4.0
I enjoyed everything about this book, including the highly appropriate title. You learn something new every day!
Stacey has been honing her skiing for years on the pro-circuit and her life revolves around training, eating, sleeping, and competing. She loves skiing more than life itself, but she also loves and is in love with her best friend. Gemma. She doesn’t want to ruin her friendship with Gemma by revealing her true feelings so she has spent the last few years dating (dare I say) superficial, narcissistic women. As she comes to realize why she’s doing this, the walls she erected around herself begin to crumble. Stacey’s love for all things skiing makes me want to throw my fears of breaking my body out the window and strap on a pair of skis this winter to see what it’s really all about!
Little did Gemma know that 4 years ago when she was vacationing in Australia and took skiing lessons from Aspen Archer, her whole life would change for the better. From the moment Gemma and Stacey met through Aspen, they clicked. Their friendship has grown over the years into one where they know everything about the other. The respect, support, comfort, and love they have for one another is something quite special. Gemma’s been in love with Stacey since, probably, the first moment they met and is afraid to reveal her true feelings. She’s about to graduate high school and deciding where to go for college along with her mounting feelings for Stacey leave her feeling overwhelmed. She’s such a sweet young woman with a good head on her shoulders. While on one hand, she is wise beyond her years, on the other, she’s still a scared young girl. The way she navigates this time in her life shows her courage and bravery. Cate and Aspen have done a wonderful job raising such a smart, kind, loving, and passionate young woman.
Stacey and Gemma are both in the in-between stage of being legal adults but still often feel like kids and it was so endearing to watch them walk the fine line. With the help of their parents, they are able to navigate their way. The conversations between them are so real and so heartfelt that they brought tears to my eyes. These two are so lucky to have the love and support of their parents. Gemma’s moms’ nuggets of advice made me laugh so hard and nod my head because yes, they are spot on!
E.J. Noyes is a master of writing in the first person. She seamlessly went from writing the point of view of a forty-something combat surgeon in her last book writing this story from both Stacey and Gemma’s points of view. This is her first foray into writing from the perspective of new adults and she’s killed it. I’m in awe of her ability to clearly voice these two distinct characters.
I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Stacey has been honing her skiing for years on the pro-circuit and her life revolves around training, eating, sleeping, and competing. She loves skiing more than life itself, but she also loves and is in love with her best friend. Gemma. She doesn’t want to ruin her friendship with Gemma by revealing her true feelings so she has spent the last few years dating (dare I say) superficial, narcissistic women. As she comes to realize why she’s doing this, the walls she erected around herself begin to crumble. Stacey’s love for all things skiing makes me want to throw my fears of breaking my body out the window and strap on a pair of skis this winter to see what it’s really all about!
Little did Gemma know that 4 years ago when she was vacationing in Australia and took skiing lessons from Aspen Archer, her whole life would change for the better. From the moment Gemma and Stacey met through Aspen, they clicked. Their friendship has grown over the years into one where they know everything about the other. The respect, support, comfort, and love they have for one another is something quite special. Gemma’s been in love with Stacey since, probably, the first moment they met and is afraid to reveal her true feelings. She’s about to graduate high school and deciding where to go for college along with her mounting feelings for Stacey leave her feeling overwhelmed. She’s such a sweet young woman with a good head on her shoulders. While on one hand, she is wise beyond her years, on the other, she’s still a scared young girl. The way she navigates this time in her life shows her courage and bravery. Cate and Aspen have done a wonderful job raising such a smart, kind, loving, and passionate young woman.
Stacey and Gemma are both in the in-between stage of being legal adults but still often feel like kids and it was so endearing to watch them walk the fine line. With the help of their parents, they are able to navigate their way. The conversations between them are so real and so heartfelt that they brought tears to my eyes. These two are so lucky to have the love and support of their parents. Gemma’s moms’ nuggets of advice made me laugh so hard and nod my head because yes, they are spot on!
E.J. Noyes is a master of writing in the first person. She seamlessly went from writing the point of view of a forty-something combat surgeon in her last book writing this story from both Stacey and Gemma’s points of view. This is her first foray into writing from the perspective of new adults and she’s killed it. I’m in awe of her ability to clearly voice these two distinct characters.
I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
kn1231's review
4.0
Gold is one of my favorite sapphic books I have experienced so far, so I was excited to see that this story existed. And while I didn’t like this one as much, it was still an excellent story and I was very pleased to be back in this world again. I was surprised that Noyes went there with some steaminess, with Gemma only being 18. Yes, I know that 18 is an adult, but she was also still in high school. However, I didn’t find it cringy which I was pleased about.
My main complaint comes with the fact that I listened to the audiobook version for both this book and Gold, and I was really bothered that the voices of the characters were not consistent between the books. There is only a 4 year jump between both books, and to me that’s not enough time to justify the much different voices. And this may not have been something I even noticed if I didn’t listen to the two books back to back. But this has nothing to do with the author, and ultimately it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book.
My main complaint comes with the fact that I listened to the audiobook version for both this book and Gold, and I was really bothered that the voices of the characters were not consistent between the books. There is only a 4 year jump between both books, and to me that’s not enough time to justify the much different voices. And this may not have been something I even noticed if I didn’t listen to the two books back to back. But this has nothing to do with the author, and ultimately it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book.