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stacy837's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Alcohol, Sexual content, Infidelity, and Dementia
Minor: Toxic relationship and Bullying
infectedarea's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content
pitsikakku's review
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Drug use, and Dementia
Moderate: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia
bencaroline's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
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.
Graphic: Alcohol and Sexual content
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Drug use, Grief, and Homophobia
ladythana's review against another edition
- 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
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
imaginaryalchemist's review
- 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 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.
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.nickoliver's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol and Dementia
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Transphobia
unwise_samwise's review
- 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
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Child abuse, Infidelity, and Dementia
Minor: Sexism and Homophobia
kathrynhoss's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse
I also found it a bit unrealistic how many small businesses were started during the course of this book :Pcgbr's review
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Dementia, and Infidelity
Minor: Ableism