Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Reggie and Delilah's Year of Falling

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Reggie and Delilah's Year of Falling by Elise Bryant

7 reviews

escapismforlife's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

This was a cute and quick YA with growth and self-love. Both Reggie and Deliah had quit a story of becoming a couple. Not only that but finding out its okay to be themselves with each other. Definitely liked this one and the evolution of their relationships and identity.

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tinytrashqueen's review

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hopeful lighthearted 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

3.5

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dinipandareads's review

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emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Special thanks to SparkPoint Studio and Balzer + Bray for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

TL;DR: This was a fun coming-of-age YA contemporary that was a well-balanced mix of fluffy and serious. It tackles themes of racism, identity, mental health, learning disability and bullying in a sensitive and well-rounded way. Both of the characters felt like real teenagers who are simply doing their best and despite being frustrated by their actions sometimes, it was easy to root for them to find their happiness. The romance was admittedly a bit too cheesy for me at times and I felt like the build-up of the story felt too drawn out, I still enjoyed this and I think many YA readers will too!

What worked for me:

This was a great coming-of-age contemporary that was a well-balanced mix of fluffy and sweet, as well as serious. Bryant covers some important themes including racism, identity, mental health, learning disabilities, and bullying and I think the themes were handled sensitively. I enjoyed seeing how Reggie and Delilah dealt with these issues individually and how they grew from their struggles.
Reggie and Delilah were easy characters to root for. They both had their struggles to deal with but I liked how they supported and buoyed each other especially when they were together. I admit that the decisions these characters made were oftentimes frustrating but... Teenagers? 😂 I felt like these were very realistic portrayals of teens who are confused about who they are and where they fit in, on top of finding and embracing their passions, as well as dealing with both familial and societal expectations.
Of the two, I think Delilah's personal arc had the most satisfying growth. She starts as this shy, uncertain young woman who doesn't have a lot of self-confidence or worth. She sees herself in a very unworthy light despite her talent and she would constantly let others take advantage of her kindness and willingness to accept things as they are. It was so great to see her realise her worth and find confidence in herself, even if that growth resulted from someone being dishonest with her. I think Delilah is someone many readers will be able to relate to and it was a joy to see her find peace with her identity, embrace her talent, recognise her worth and stand up for herself!
Reggie experienced growth but it took slightly longer for him to get there. I kept waiting for him to embrace who he was, D&D nerd and all, and each time that didn't happen the further the story progressed, the more I found myself feeling disappointed. I'm not a fan of lying and although he definitely didn't have any bad intentions, he approached the whole thing very poorly. I mean, it was comical in a way and I guess somewhat (stereo)typical for a young teen wanting to very badly impress a girl with a certain level of cool. But I did like his realness when he was being himself with his friends. They were a great group of teens and I loved their delightful banter—reading about them goofing around was kinda infectious!
The romance, while definitely on the cheesier side of cheesy, was full of angsty teenage moments wondering whether the pining and crushing were mutual. I really liked the premise of them always ending up in the same place on holidays and it gave the story a solid timeline structure. I thought these two were perfectly cute and fit well together.

What didn't work for me:

This was slightly instalove on both ends but most definitely for Reggie. As much as I liked their romance and the holiday meet-up premise, the nature of it meant that we didn't get to see them spend much time together for a good portion of the book. I wished that we had more scenes with them actually hanging out and getting to know each other earlier in the story rather than leaving it all until the very end when it felt a little too late.
This brings me to how I felt the build-up of their story was a little too drawn out and I think the back-and-forth nature of both these characters' thoughts made the narrative feel slightly repetitive, especially when it kept repeating. With this taking up so much space, it made it feel like Reggie's character growth got pushed to the sideline and his arc didn't get fully realised. I think this element is what disappointed me most because I would've loved to have the resolution of Reggie's storyline with his parents and brother be more fleshed out; it was good but it could've been great if there was more depth!
I wished some of the side characters had gotten more page time. I would've loved to see some of these characters play more of a role but they felt pretty two-dimensional and served only to push the romance along.

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rickireadss's review against another edition

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Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

AMAZING. this has me giggling and swooning and kicking my feet. i just had the best time while listening to this! the character development of delilah was so fun to see and watch her grow into herself. reggie >>> i love that nerd so much. they were amazing individually, and even better together!!

⚠️: racism, chronic illness, bullying, gaslighting, panic attacks/disorders

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bookbuyingwithkatie's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

4.5

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imstephtacular's review

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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readingwithtrey's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Delilah has recently joined a punk rock band with a few of her friends. Though her sister, Georgia, is typically the star of the family with a huge talent for singing and acting. Delilah has never sang for real before and isn’t quite sure she’s any good.But after the band’s first gig featuring Delilah singing, they gain notoriety overnight. They begin to get more and more opportunities and gigs. While Delilah is growing to love performing, she still isn’t sure that she truly belongs in the band. She questions her talent and identity as a Black girl in the genre. Until one day she meets Reggie. He exudes confidence and doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him. He seems too good to be true.

Reggie would prefer to play Dungeons and Dragons over going to see a band play on New Year’s Eve. But after one too many taunts and jokes from his older brother, he decides to use it as an excuse to escape. When he arrives at the venue, he sees Delilah commanding the stage and its love at first sight. He runs into her after her performance and decides he has to play it cool. He presents the Reggie that he wishes he was. They continue to have chance encounters on holidays and their relationship slowly builds over the course of the next year. But Reggie gets in over his head with pretending to be someone he’s not.

While the title is literally “Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling,” I still didn’t really have too much of an idea of how it would play out. But let me tell you, it was SO cute and precious. This was such a unique story line that kept me smiling. There was so much of this story that I could relate to, and I appreciated it so much. I really could have used a book like this growing up. It took me well into my adult years to truly be comfortable with just being myself. I’m a little awkward and nerdy and enjoy “nerdy” things, and that’s totally okay. Life is too short to live it trying to be someone you aren’t.

This was an awesome read, and I have no complaints. It tackles some current social issues extremely well, and the overall message surrounding embracing what makes us who we are was *chef’s kiss.*

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