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greatestheights's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Grief
the_true_monroe's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
3.0
While the overall story was not for me, I connected greatly with Greta’s family dynamic, the struggles it caused in her interpersonal relationships, and her transition into her own person outside of the enmeshed family. I loved how her thought process and realizations were thoroughly communicated to the reader but also her partner.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Chronic illness, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Vomit, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Drug use, and Transphobia
annahamburger's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Cursing
Moderate: Dementia, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Infidelity
Minor: Homophobia, Vomit, Transphobia, Racism, Antisemitism, Child abuse, and Terminal illness
pitsikakku's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Drug use, and Dementia
Moderate: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia
bencaroline's review
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
(note: I wrote up a whole thing and then somehow deleted it without saving, so this is an extremely lackluster, months-later attempt at a review)
God, I wanted to love this book so bad! The Holiday but gay, and in novel form?? Sign me up!
Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me in the pathos department. It’s as if the stakes were told, but not shown nearly enough. And the whole thing has an undercurrent of pro-default-capitalism that I hate. Aside from the romantic storylines, each of our two protagonists has sort of a B-plot wherein they help people... be entrepreneurs, I guess? I'm all for the creative endeavors but there’s something about it where they are trying to Make Profits and somehow those methods endear them to a community more than anything else they do.
God, I wanted to love this book so bad! The Holiday but gay, and in novel form?? Sign me up!
Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me in the pathos department. It’s as if the stakes were told, but not shown nearly enough. And the whole thing has an undercurrent of pro-default-capitalism that I hate. Aside from the romantic storylines, each of our two protagonists has sort of a B-plot wherein they help people... be entrepreneurs, I guess? I'm all for the creative endeavors but there’s something about it where they are trying to Make Profits and somehow those methods endear them to a community more than anything else they do.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Sexual content
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Drug use, Grief, and Homophobia
ladythana's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Dementia, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity
Minor: Drug use, Mental illness, Homophobia, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia
spellygirl's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
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
3.0
Loved the Jewish stuff in this one, even tho gh it wasn't a huge amount, as it's not something I'm very familiar with. Loved the LGBTQ rep too. Otherwise it was an ok book. Liked the characters well enough and the plot line. Just felt a bit long/slow for me considering the amount of time passed in the book.
If you want a cute queer romance with reflections on how your upbringing and family impacts you, I'd recommend it.
If you want a cute queer romance with reflections on how your upbringing and family impacts you, I'd recommend it.
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia
imaginaryalchemist's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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
I felt like the characters' romances progressed too quickly, which is possibly due to not having as much time to focus on their respective romances.
I also felt like a lot of the side characters were flat and didn't add much to the story. Greta's story in particular suffered from this. She's introduced to several of Carys' friends and they barely had any relevance to the plot.
I wasn't really a fan of Carys as a love interest, her character kind of rubbed me the wrong way. She seemed needlessly harsh towards Greta. Her reactions seemed a bit overblown a few times. Carys was easily my least favorite of the characters and lessened my enjoyment of Greta's story, which I otherwise enjoyed. I liked seeing her learn to set boundaries with her overbearing family.
For example, Carys' reaction to Greta getting her ice cream and cleaning up after the party made no sense. It felt manipulative and petty.
I preferred Truman and Ash's romance overall. Truman was a little too pushy with his offers to help, but ultimately I felt their romance was really sweet. I felt like the plotline with Ash's mother was resolved a little too easily, as was the mystery with Truman's favorite author.
Minor nitpick, but I did notice some typos towards the end. There were also some sentences I thought were awkwardly worded. It felt like it could have used a bit more revision.
Overall, it was a quick, cute holiday read with plenty of queer representation.
I also felt like a lot of the side characters were flat and didn't add much to the story. Greta's story in particular suffered from this. She's introduced to several of Carys' friends and they barely had any relevance to the plot.
I wasn't really a fan of Carys as a love interest, her character kind of rubbed me the wrong way. She seemed needlessly harsh towards Greta. Her reactions seemed a bit overblown a few times. Carys was easily my least favorite of the characters and lessened my enjoyment of Greta's story, which I otherwise enjoyed. I liked seeing her learn to set boundaries with her overbearing family.
I preferred Truman and Ash's romance overall. Truman was a little too pushy with his offers to help, but ultimately I felt their romance was really sweet. I felt like the plotline with Ash's mother was resolved a little too easily, as was the mystery with Truman's favorite author.
Minor nitpick, but I did notice some typos towards the end. There were also some sentences I thought were awkwardly worded. It felt like it could have used a bit more revision.
Overall, it was a quick, cute holiday read with plenty of queer representation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Lesbophobia, Transphobia, and Homophobia
The sex scenes do get pretty detailed and might make some people uncomfortable. There are brief mentions of the homophobia, lesbophobia, and transphobia the characters have faced throughout their lives. The beginning of Greta's story in particular deals with a lot of the lesbophobia she faces.unwise_samwise's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Child abuse, Infidelity, and Dementia
Minor: Sexism and Homophobia
wardenred's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
3.25
It’s like…like I’ve been so deep in this whole thing for so long that I honest to god stopped trying to think of any solutions and just figured this was my life now.
Talk about mixed feelings! :D This book is basically two stories meshed into one, and I liked some of the things about each, while low-key disliking others. In terms of characterization and personal arc, I vastly prefer Greta to Truman. I feel like she was a lot more relatable and well-written, and I wanted to root for her every inch of the way. Her story about finding herself and slightly belated separation from her family really resonated with me. Truman's journey to sticking up for himself was interesting, but somewhat blander in comparison (and also, Greta kind of did a lot of the work for him, when their storylines intersected directly late in the book?). Although I must say I really loved how invested he was in his bullet journaling!
When it comes to romance, though, I actually liked following Truman's and Ash's relationship more. Despite the largely identical timeframes, it somehow felt less insta-love-y and developed more naturally, and the problems they were facing, especially on Ash's side, were a lot more interesting for me as a reader. I really loved the way they got to know each other while Truman helped with the shop, and Ash's insecurities, and his struggles with being his mom's sole caretaker. Honestly, Ash is probably my favorite character in this one. When it comes to Greta and Carys, though, I was kind of hooked on their story during their first accidental date, but afterward... I don't know, I just didn't *feel* it, and I'm not sure how good they are for each other. Carys has this very understandable thing about borders, being the daughter of a covert narcissist; the narrative seems to portray her as the queen of personal growth, but I got the feeling she isn't completely healed and in her efforts to maintain her own borders may intrude on other people's borders by accident. And Greta's borders are rather fragile as she's only learning to stand on her own as someone other than a sister and a daughter; at the same time, she's also not as careful as she should be around other people's borders, as shown in the story. I don't say that I'm certain they'll become to clash and hold each other back in the long run, but I get the feeling they might, despite all those careful conversations about healthy communication they've had.
In terms of characters who aren't the leads or the romantic interests, I feel like there were too many, and as a result few were fully realized. Like, Greta's sisters are basically "the mean one," "the peacemaker," "the twin," and "the youngest one who has a bit of personality." That's just one example. That's a pity, because all of them sounded really interesting. Perhaps the book would have benefitted from a more quantity over quality approach: a smaller cast with characters the reader could actually get to know.
In terms of plot, this is largely a slice of life story focused on inner journeys, and I'm very much digging that. There were a couple of hiccups I've noticed along the way. Like, there was a certain event that happened in Greta's storyline and then impacted Truman's. Truman didn't even learn about it from Greta, and it wasn't mentioned in any of her chapters at all. I get that it wasn't a super important part of her narrative, but I still feel like it should have been mentioned somehow? As a whole, I expected more intersections between the two lead's journeys to tie it more into a single book.
What I very much enjoyed was a sense of place and setting. The characters' homes, the small Maine town with all of its small businesses, the strees of New Orleans, the bayou, the community garden with the beehive, the cave by the ocean bay—all of those spots were really vivid and added a lot to my understanding of characters who hung around them.
This book also reminded me why I so seldom pick up Roan Parrish's books, even though a lot of them look so cool and when I do read them, I end up finding something to enjoy every time. Somehow, I just can't click with the author's prose. It's so... unobtrusive to the point of being distracting? I know that makes no sense, but that's how it feels. Maybe one day, I'll be able to put a finger on the source of that disconnect. After all, I'm sure I'll keep occasionally picking up Parrish's books, anyway. Like I said: a lot of them look cool!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Drug use
Moderate: Dementia, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia