Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - You Should Be So Lucky

5 STARS!

"You Should Be So Lucky" is the first Cat Sebastian novel I have read, and I cannot wait to read more of her novels because this book is TERRIFIC, an absolute freaking delight of a book. I relished and cherished every single page of this incredible, earnest, slow-burning story. This is the kind of story, the kind of writing, I yearn for, the kind of prose that warms and satisfies my cold, dark, pessimistic heart. I am just so overjoyed with this story. I could gush about it for years. Mark Bailey and Eddie O’Leary won't be leaving my mind anytime soon. They are both incredible main characters. Eddie is the new guy on his baseball team in 1960s New York. Eddie is being shunned by his new team because he's in a monumental career slump... and no one wants their team to suck as bad as he has been stinking. He wears his heart on his sleeve. Mark, on the other hand, is a grumpy, standoffish journalist tasked with writing the baseball beat for the time being. He is still grieving the loss of his romantic partner and is not looking to fall in love ever again. When Mark is asked to write some fluff pieces about Eddie to boost his popularity, the two strike up a friendship, mostly against Mark's better judgment. Slowly over time, Eddie confesses that he is, indeed, queer in the Big Apple without many friends or relatives to tell or guide him. These two men navigate around each other's orbits and find themselves falling desperately for one another despite the odds, despite their pasts, and despite a world that, unfortunately, doesn't accept them as who they are. Like I said, this book is simply incredible. It will have you laughing, it will make you cry, it will give you hope for a better, more accepting world. I am not a baseball fan, but Cat Sebastian weaves such an intricate tapestry of the sport and the people who play alongside Eddie that I found myself genuinely caring about that aspect of the story, too. This is not your typical baseball romance novel. It is about moving on, acceptance, grieving/overcoming loss, powering through life during the worst, most trying times it can throw at you, and finding connection and love despite those moments of sadness and adversity. This book is, frankly, special. I cannot wait to read more of Cat Sebatian's work because it was truly a privilege to read this.

Thank you to NetGalley, Cat Sebastian, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Content Warnings

ejpaskey's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

I love to see queer joy!!! I also love to see realistic queer romances!!!! I loved this book!!! I also greatly appreciated that it felt like a full love story, beginning to

happy

end, rather than just the beginning as romance novels often do. Undeniably one of my favorite romances.

Content Warnings

pstegosaurus's review

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a book about loss and grief and hope wrapped in a romance novel. Big topics and big feelings wrapped together beautifully, plus a charmingly spoiled dog.

I didn’t love it as much as other Sebastian books, maybe because I didn’t quite get Mark’s push-pull personality, but that’s a reflection of what I like, not the quality of the book

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jelkebooks's review

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emotional funny 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

I received a galley of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one didn't quite click for me. I don't know what it was about it though. I did quite like this book, but I just never really got invested in the story. I felt a bit of distance to whatever was happening, and I never really felt that attached to our cast of characters. I really can't explain what it was about this book that made me feel this way though.
I quite like the romance. They were really cute together, and it felt very wholesome. Yes, they both had their issues to work through throughout the novel, but they really were supportive of each other's issues. The developement of their relationship was also really well done. They had a lot of really cute moments together.
I also quite liked the storylines of our two main characters, and their developement throughout the book. I thought the discussions around grief especially were really interesting. Especially in the context of this book. Grieving someone you publicly barely knew must be difficult, and I loved how it was included in this book. Also the discussions around public queerness in a time where that wasn't allowed at all was also really interesting. I'm not a big sports person, but I did also like the baseball side plot as well. I thought it was really well integrated. I also liked the sports journalism angle to this book as well. I don't know, all the moving parts of this book just clicked together really well.

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attolis's review

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4.0

hey queen. girl you have done it again

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lovelyandmorbid's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

Cat Sebastian once again reminding me that she is my favorite author.

Content Warnings

gilberik's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Very sweet love story, loved the respect and understanding of grief that was integral to the book.

Content Warnings

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

4.25

The Run-Down:

Emotional and slow-paced, You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian is a perfect example of a queer romance book that transcends the typical limitations of the tropes it employs.

Review:

Marketed as a “slow-burn, grumpy-sunshine” 1960s sports romance, You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian follows a young pro baseball player named Eddie and a grieving news reporter named Mark. Mark is assigned to ghostwrite a series of diary entries for Eddie, who has had a rough start at the New York Robins—not only is he in a severe batting slump, but he’s also insulted his entire team and manager in front of the press. A clandestine romance blossoms between the unlikely pair, who must figure out how to navigate their relationship in an intensely homophobic culture.

Unlike many romance authors, Sebastian allows her two main characters to fully develop as people; this book is not mere fantasy fulfillment for one party at the expense of the humanity of the other. While Eddie and Mark certainly fit loosely into the categories of “grumpy and sunshine,” (with Eddie being the latter and Mark the former), Sebastian carefully builds these characters beyond the tropes. The result is a delightful romance between two characters who complement each other well.

The main barrier preventing their relationship from taking course is the homophobia of 1960s America. Some romance authors might use historical bigotry as a cheap and easy plot conflict, but Sebastian is not one of them. She beautifully and heartbreakingly conveys how bigotry creates unjust limitations for her characters; for instance, Mark cannot openly grieve for his dead boyfriend, and Eddie must keep his homosexuality strictly under wraps if he wants a career in baseball. By refusing to whitewash the struggles of closeted homosexual men of mid-nineteenth-century America, Sebastian does a service to the genre of historical romance. However, she also makes sure to include precious instances of joy, intimacy, and acceptance for her characters.

As a pure romance novel, You Should Be So Lucky represents one of the best the genre has to offer. The relationship between Eddie and Mark is slowly and impeccably developed; their HEA is earned rather than granted. As a historical fiction novel, the book perhaps leaves more to be desired; although not peppered with egregious historical inaccuracies, Sebastian appears uninterested in immersing the reader in 1960s New York City. Instead, she spends most of the 400 pages in the book exploring the emotions of her main characters. Many romance readers will celebrate the emotional slow-burn of the plot, but others might find the constant focus on the characters’ inner experiences a tad fatiguing. The author makes a couple of attempts to build out the plot and the lives of Eddie and Mark outside their relationship, but these attempts appear rather haphazard and half-baked compared to the central romance.

You might like this book if . . .

· You like emotional and well-written queer historical romances

· You appreciate historical romances that do not sugarcoat the social realities of the past

· You want to read a delightful opposites-attract romance between two complex but lovable main characters

You might not like this book if . . .

· You want to read a romance with a lot of explicit sex—the sex in this book is fairly tame and somewhat fade-to-black

· You don’t like reading books about closeted gay characters

· You like historical romances that are equal parts history and romance

· You prefer fast-paced romances or romances with a strong plot

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