Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Only When It's Us

Overall, I really liked this. The deaf representation was great (in the revised 2021 version). But some of the pacing and plot flow was a little off. And one big moment for the MMC happened for a reason that felt a little strange to me. I did really enjoy it, though, and will definitely read more of the series.

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abby_can_read's review

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emotional 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

3.0

📱
While I had a good time with this book, it was a struggle. I adored Ryder. He kept me interested. Willa fell flat and I found her to be annoying. Since I didn't like both of the main characters, the romance didn't give me everything I wanted.

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annick's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed it. But not sure I’ll read it again. I do recommend it.

The writing tempts me to want more from this writer and lucky me there are six more books already published.

I liked the pacing and the reflection of interpersonal emotions. The scenes of her mum and MMC made me cry.

I know some Swedish so it was fun to see recognisable words among the book. The football references (I don’t call it soccer) were specific and felt authentic but I don’t follow the spot so can’t be sure.

I don’t find Willa annoying like other reviewers. I can see why she is defensive and self reliant.

This is slow burn. Grumpy grumpy.

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whitebear08's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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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jaynovara's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted sad 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

3.0

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rose_reads_at_dusk's review against another edition

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emotional funny relaxing fast-paced

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

3.5

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kaitrates's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

2.0

Let's start with what I liked about this book.

First, the chemistry between Willa and Ryder. I loved watching these two circle closer and closer until they finally came together (literally and figuratively). I also adore a prickly (err...tempestuous) heroine like Willa who's a total firecracker with a big heart. I also mostly enjoyed the sex scenes and their creative use of the shower and the mirror. Bonus points for some light spanking and actually talking about it before doing it! Lastly, I appreciated the late deafened rep - we don't often see this in romance and I'm always here for more disabled main characters!

Oh! I also adored the roomies and every time they were on the page I was smiling.

Now, onto my issues with it.

First and foremost, there were three HP references and apparently these were not removed in the Berkley edition. They violently tore me out of the story, especially knowing Liese already pulled this book to improve the late deafened rep. Like show your trans readers the same care please and thank you.

Some of my other gripes are more objective. For example, there was a lot of inconsistency from characterisations to plot points. Time is spent telling us tha tWilla and her mom read anatomy textbooks but then she uses euphemisms for genitals? Ryder is all "it was the men, not you!" but then trashes romance novels? Money is tight but Willa has an apartment with her friend?

Similarly, there was enough telling that it got to me. Truly, this isn't something I usually notice but DAMN it was rough here! With these info dumps, there often was extraneous info that never came back up or was contradicted (see above).

I also hated that we didn't get to see Willa's growth through her grief. We get maybe a page where we're told she's really struggling

after her mom dies

but then Rooney puts her foot down and then Willa is fine-ish and back with Ryder and saying ILU? We get one reference to her work with a therapist through her inner monologue around the ILU but again: its just being info dumped to us.

Now, there were also a bunch of things that I disliked that are more subjective. Let's just make a list, shall we?

Choo cha and log(jam). 🤢
He's SO BIG and she's so ~~wee~~ compact. Like, is she a sedan?
Magic voice/hands/peen. 🤬 I hate it SO much.
Miscommunication upon miscommunication upon miscommunication. Thankfully, not because of Ryder's hearing loss though.
Adrian.
The Bergman parents meet cute aka the embodiment of "well if a boy teases you its because they like you" patriarchal BS.
7 kids in this economy?! NVM the impact on sustainability...👀
Adrian was forgiven WAY too easily.
The ILU was absolutely not earned (and he realises when he sees her naked WHAT?! THEN CRIES THE SECOND TIME?!)
His voice just comes back and he's able to use it consistently...?

I think what Liese is doing is really important AND I promised my friend I would try another Bergman book if I didn't love this one since apparently her craft improves throughout the series. So I will give her work another chance and hope there aren't nearly as many things pulling me out of the story and diminishing my enjoyment of it.

Original Review
…what?

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porqueerestanvicky's review against another edition

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emotional 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

2.75

This book finally drove the point home: I’m just not the target audience for romance. Not romance with ✨spice✨ in it, anyway —I hate it when the characters’ horny thoughts about one another get in the way of the plot, however little of it there is, and I felt like that happened here every five minutes or so.

Also, how can they be so in love if they literally got to know each other in the tail end of the story? And it all happened after they got each other off?? Wasn’t that kind of the whole conflict of the book, that they don’t talk about anything personal, like ever? Is this how allosexuality works? Am I just too asexual to get it? Okay, spoilery rant over.

I was pleased to see disability rep —especially the takes on how hearing aides are not all what they’re cracked up to be in fiction— but I’m not sure how I feel about the execution as a whole.

All in all, a fun palate cleanser, just not something to rave about, in my opinion.

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