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wanderonwards's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
3.0
Thank you to Macmillan/St. Martin’s Griffin for sending me an ARC of this title. I received this copy for free and this review contains my honest opinions.
Fly With Me was a decent debut: I enjoyed the writing style and liked the meet cute romance between two lovable main characters. This book tackles some heavy subjects, and while I usually gravitate to lighthearted stories, I thought these subjects were handled with compassion and balanced with the romance plot so they never felt overwhelming.
However, some of the plot choices weren’t my favorite and for a book that’s projected to be 384 pages, I wish things felt both more developed and more resolved by the end of the story. This book tries to tackle so many different things, which means some things progressed too quickly and many things never really got the attention and development they deserved. Thank you again to the publisher for sending me a free ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Terminal illness
Minor: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Car accident
liligilsoul's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Dementia, Death, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Homophobia, and Grief
lololovesthings's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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
3.75
3.75 stars!
"Fly with Me" by Andie Burke is the kind of book that hooks you from the very first chapter. From moment one, I was enraptured with Olive and Stella's story, obsessed with finding out whether their fake dating scenario would pay off for them. I *love* a good fake dating scenario, and this story really handles the situation well! This book has a lot of heart, some drama, some tears, and some laughs. The connection between Stella and Olive starts out slow but ramps up as the story heads towards its conclusion. Personally, I think it veered on the side of lust more than the side of love, but it didn't turn me off or away from the story. Some of the miscommunications between Olive and Stella bothered me, but not so much that it hindered my enjoyment of the book. I loved the side characters, including Olive's best friend and Stella's dad. There are also some truly deplorable characters here, like Olive's ex-girlfriend and Olive's awful mother. All of these characters are extremely well-written and fully flushed out. They all feel lived-in as characters, and I appreciate that they feel realistic. Also, this is not just a surface-level story. It also deals with some very heavy, very deep subject matters, including sexism, misogyny, homophobia, car accidents, traumatic brain injuries, a fear of flying, panic attacks, long-term illnesses like Parkinson's, and death. The storyline involving Olive's brother broke my heart. It even made me tear up. My heart broke for Olive as she's torn between doing what's best for her brother and letting her mom have her final goodbye the way she wants it (even though she's totally in the wrong). As someone with an intense fear of flying, I related to this story on a deep, deep level! All in all, this is a cute story that is deceptively deep. It has wonderful characters and contains terrific chemistry and banter. Chelsea Stephens brings these characters to life with her excellent audiobook narration.
Thank you to NetGalley, Andie Burke, St. Martin's Press, and St. Martin's Griffin for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
"Fly with Me" by Andie Burke is the kind of book that hooks you from the very first chapter. From moment one, I was enraptured with Olive and Stella's story, obsessed with finding out whether their fake dating scenario would pay off for them. I *love* a good fake dating scenario, and this story really handles the situation well! This book has a lot of heart, some drama, some tears, and some laughs. The connection between Stella and Olive starts out slow but ramps up as the story heads towards its conclusion. Personally, I think it veered on the side of lust more than the side of love, but it didn't turn me off or away from the story. Some of the miscommunications between Olive and Stella bothered me, but not so much that it hindered my enjoyment of the book. I loved the side characters, including Olive's best friend and Stella's dad. There are also some truly deplorable characters here, like Olive's ex-girlfriend and Olive's awful mother. All of these characters are extremely well-written and fully flushed out. They all feel lived-in as characters, and I appreciate that they feel realistic. Also, this is not just a surface-level story. It also deals with some very heavy, very deep subject matters, including sexism, misogyny, homophobia, car accidents, traumatic brain injuries, a fear of flying, panic attacks, long-term illnesses like Parkinson's, and death. The storyline involving Olive's brother broke my heart. It even made me tear up. My heart broke for Olive as she's torn between doing what's best for her brother and letting her mom have her final goodbye the way she wants it (even though she's totally in the wrong). As someone with an intense fear of flying, I related to this story on a deep, deep level! All in all, this is a cute story that is deceptively deep. It has wonderful characters and contains terrific chemistry and banter. Chelsea Stephens brings these characters to life with her excellent audiobook narration.
Thank you to NetGalley, Andie Burke, St. Martin's Press, and St. Martin's Griffin for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism
caseythereader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
3.5
Thanks to St. Martins Press for the free copy of this book.
- FLY WITH ME has such a silly premise, and yet it's fairly serious for a romance novel. This book deals with everything from workplace sexism to end of life care for relative in a coma.
- As much as I loved the opposites-attract dynamic between Olive and Stella (and we know how much I love fake dating!), this book went around in circles, having the same conversation a few too many times for me. There was also a third act breakup a literal 20 pages from the end of the book, which felt totally unnecessary after all the previous back and forth.
- FLY WITH ME has such a silly premise, and yet it's fairly serious for a romance novel. This book deals with everything from workplace sexism to end of life care for relative in a coma.
- As much as I loved the opposites-attract dynamic between Olive and Stella (and we know how much I love fake dating!), this book went around in circles, having the same conversation a few too many times for me. There was also a third act breakup a literal 20 pages from the end of the book, which felt totally unnecessary after all the previous back and forth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Grief, Terminal illness, Cursing, Death, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Dementia and Homophobia
womanwill's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
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
3.75
FLY WITH ME is a sweet, faking dating sapphic dream!
Olive is making the motions of life, but not truly living after a tragic accident leaves her brother in a coma. When she is thrust into the spotlight after pulling a Super Nurse and saving a man on her flight, sexy pilot Stella Soriano proposes a fake dating scheme to get her long fought for promotion to captain.
This love story is chock full of tender and silly moments, set against a backdrop of family turmoil, grief, and caregiving. Burke does a deft job of balancing the heavy and light moments and letting her characters lean on each other while they work through their own stuff.
The basics:
- fake dating
- sapphic love
- bi rep & lesbian rep
- sexy pilot x ER nurse
- GLUTEN FREE COOKING SEDUCTION
- panic disorder & depression rep
- Parkinson's & caregiving rep
- Disney
- love letter to nursing
I really enjoyed this debut romance and can't wait to see what Burke puts out next!
Olive is making the motions of life, but not truly living after a tragic accident leaves her brother in a coma. When she is thrust into the spotlight after pulling a Super Nurse and saving a man on her flight, sexy pilot Stella Soriano proposes a fake dating scheme to get her long fought for promotion to captain.
This love story is chock full of tender and silly moments, set against a backdrop of family turmoil, grief, and caregiving. Burke does a deft job of balancing the heavy and light moments and letting her characters lean on each other while they work through their own stuff.
The basics:
- fake dating
- sapphic love
- bi rep & lesbian rep
- sexy pilot x ER nurse
- GLUTEN FREE COOKING SEDUCTION
- panic disorder & depression rep
- Parkinson's & caregiving rep
- Disney
- love letter to nursing
I really enjoyed this debut romance and can't wait to see what Burke puts out next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Sexual harassment, Death, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Homophobia
alexfromistemor's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, Death, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Terminal illness, and Emotional abuse
rickireadss's review against another edition
2.5
thank you to netgalley for the earc!
i wanted to like this more than i did, and i'm sad that it just didn't live up. while there were some aspects i liked, the bad heavily outweighed the good for me.
****potential spoilers below****
what i liked:
- our mc olive -> i related to a lot of her inner monologue and overall really liked her.
- olive's brother jake -> even though he wasn't even an active character, i could feel their love for each other.
what i didn't like:
- the love interest, stella -> she seemed like SUCH a flat character, and this may be due to the single pov. i honestly could not deal with her back and forth with olive, of wanting to be just friends or wanting to blur the lines. also, the fact that it wasn't made known that she was Latina until 25% in felt like that was just added in last minute. besides her mentioning it one or twice and her dad calling her mija or mijita, the rep felt really underdeveloped.
- ALL of olive's family (besides jake obvi). -> her sister needed to grow a backbone. her parents were THE WORST. i literally could not deal with them everytime they were on page. their treatment of olive was so uncalled for and i wish she had gone no-contact with them ages ago, but like i also know why she didn't. her mother rubbed me wrong the most and quickly made my list of "characters i hate".
- the side character lindsay -> not only was she a manipulative, selfish, ableist piece of shit, but i don't feel like olive truly dealt with what she did throughout the book but especially at the end. there wasn't really OW drama, but her constant addition to the plot was uncalled for and wasn't resolved.
there is probably more i didn't like, but i am tired of thinking of this book. i loved olive, i really like this cover, but this one just didn't do it for me.
⚠️: death, grief, toxic relationship (past ex), religious bigotry, gaslighting, emotional abuse, ableism, chronic illness (celiac), panic attacks/disorders, terminal illness (Parkinson's), lesbophobia, homophobia, misogyny, transphobia, medical content, car accident
i wanted to like this more than i did, and i'm sad that it just didn't live up. while there were some aspects i liked, the bad heavily outweighed the good for me.
****potential spoilers below****
what i liked:
- our mc olive -> i related to a lot of her inner monologue and overall really liked her.
- olive's brother jake -> even though he wasn't even an active character, i could feel their love for each other.
what i didn't like:
- the love interest, stella -> she seemed like SUCH a flat character, and this may be due to the single pov. i honestly could not deal with her back and forth with olive, of wanting to be just friends or wanting to blur the lines. also, the fact that it wasn't made known that she was Latina until 25% in felt like that was just added in last minute. besides her mentioning it one or twice and her dad calling her mija or mijita, the rep felt really underdeveloped.
- ALL of olive's family (besides jake obvi). -> her sister needed to grow a backbone. her parents were THE WORST. i literally could not deal with them everytime they were on page. their treatment of olive was so uncalled for and i wish she had gone no-contact with them ages ago, but like i also know why she didn't. her mother rubbed me wrong the most and quickly made my list of "characters i hate".
- the side character lindsay -> not only was she a manipulative, selfish, ableist piece of shit, but i don't feel like olive truly dealt with what she did throughout the book but especially at the end. there wasn't really OW drama, but her constant addition to the plot was uncalled for and wasn't resolved.
there is probably more i didn't like, but i am tired of thinking of this book. i loved olive, i really like this cover, but this one just didn't do it for me.
⚠️: death, grief, toxic relationship (past ex), religious bigotry, gaslighting, emotional abuse, ableism, chronic illness (celiac), panic attacks/disorders, terminal illness (Parkinson's), lesbophobia, homophobia, misogyny, transphobia, medical content, car accident
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Ableism, Death, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, and Misogyny
Minor: Car accident and Transphobia
dconlon's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-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
3.5
Overall this book had a cute story, and I appreciated how it talked about discrimination, mental health, and self confidence throughout. I liked how both main characters learned more about themselves and became more confident throughout the story. However, this story felt slow-paced and drawn out, and I thought it could have been shortened in some places. Also a lot of the situations felt over the top and required a suspension of disbelief in a way that felt more extreme than other books in the romance genre. Thank you to netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Car accident, Sexism, Racism, and Sexual harassment
spaghettireads's review against another edition
emotional
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
3.25
I was really intrigued by the premise of this book! Queer romance! A pilot as the love interest! I enjoyed both of the characters but I didn't find the writing to be convincing about their relationship. My brain cared about their relationship but my emotions did not. I think that the book was trying to do too much, Both characters had multiple non-romance storylines that didn't get a chance to be developed enough, or resolved enough by the end.
I am interested in what the author writes next because I think that this had some great parts, and a lot of potential but it didn't all come together for me in this one.
Thanks St. Martin's Press & Netgalley for ARC
I am interested in what the author writes next because I think that this had some great parts, and a lot of potential but it didn't all come together for me in this one.
Thanks St. Martin's Press & Netgalley for ARC
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
shector1's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, and Death
Moderate: Abandonment and Car accident
Minor: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Misogyny
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