Reviews with content warning for Biphobia - Kiss Her Once for Me

Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun

151 reviews

nere's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

6 May 2024

the plot contrivances felt unearned. and I couldn’t quite get myself to quite suspend disbelief. a lot of it hinges on the

miscommunication

trope, which I’m coming to realize I dislike. and although I did understand the affection between the two leads, the declaration of love occurs after knowing each other for

seven days and I’ve never really been a fan of instalove:(.

in short, it had tropes I don’t like and I didn’t know that going in. not necessarily the book’s fault. for what its worth. I kept reading until the end. which is more than could be said about most other romance books I start and promptly don’t finish.

Content Warnings

cats33's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.25

Content Warnings

sophie42's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.75

Content Warnings

bloomed's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

the good: this is a really easy read with a pretty heart-warming story and some funny moments. the cast of characters is extremely diverse (in race, gender, neurodivergence, and sexuality) and, overall, with a few exceptions, respectfully written. i’d love to see more books with this level of inclusion, especially ones this lighthearted! even during the more fraught parts, there was a fair bit of queer joy to be found here.

the so-so: some of the queer themes felt a little… introductory, like the characters were sometimes mouthpieces that were meant to explain certain identities to the reader, rather than believing the (ostensibly queer) target audience will inherently understand or have the wherewithal to educate themselves on things like, for example, demisexuality; it cropped up more often in the beginning, when the story’s foundation was being laid, but it really struck me and pulled me out of the moment every time it happened, because the characters would suddenly stop talking like actual, human people, and instead start to sound like they were speaking in clunky definitions, just to make absolutely sure that i knew what they were talking about. there were similar blips in the actual writing, where it would take a brief nosedive in (what i assume was) the author’s attempt to ensure that the reader understands what she was trying to communicate. see: the main character, ellie, often thinks of her love interest, a woman named jack, as… well, “the woman named jack”. it felt like she continually used that turn of phrase so as to avoid any confusion about jack’s gender identity, given the ambiguity of her name—but maybe it was just a stylistic quirk? either way, it bounced off of me every time it happened.

the ugly: while the first fifty to seventy-five percent of this was a fun, cute, queer, christmas-y romp, the meat of the conflict that arose in the back half of the story was frustrating, to say the least. the sheer amount of miscommunication (and there is a lot of it!) just didn’t work for me, and neither did the way the characters started to behave as a result of said miscommunication. usually, it’s a trope that doesn’t bother me (in fact, #hottake, i kind of enjoy it when executed properly!), but it just didn’t land for me here. it wasn’t enough to turn me off of the story completely, but i did find myself confused at why certain characters were being nailed for their perceived bad behavior, while others were given “get out of jail free” cards, especially toward the last handful of chapters. so many things would’ve been resolved immediately if the characters sat down and talked for a few minutes, and it felt like the only reason they didn’t was to draw the story out. at a few points, i had to put the book down and remind myself that it’s not, in fact, that serious, and that i shouldn’t be getting annoyed at fictional characters being weird, irrational assholes at each other.

still, this is a pretty solid 3/5 stars for me—but it would’ve been even better if it felt like the author trusted the reader to understand what she was putting down, and if the amount of miscommunication was scaled back, if only by a little bit.

Content Warnings

mbrogs2024's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

lizziaha's review against another edition

Go to review page

Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Now I’m not normally a miscommunication hater, but it felt unnecessary and played up in this book, and that’s truly the thing that’s holding me back from giving this book a higher rating. One tiny little conversation should have been had way earlier in the book. I guess that’s just part of accepting the premise, but it was distracting. Otherwise, i loved this! The relationships formed, the found family, the Christmas, the second (third) chance romance, the fake dating, the queerness, the characters (all pretty unique and fleshed out) were all fantastic!

Content Warnings

potatooftheworld's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Nice book but formulaic at times. It has the miscommunication trope and most of the character development is jampacked into the last 15% of the book which was slightly frustrating.

Content Warnings

the_rabble's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.5

This is a cute one. I'll be recommending it.

If you're looking for tall women protagonists with defined personalities including a big, loud, mid-20s butch love interest, and a minimal amount of hijinx for a fake relationship storyline, this is your book.

Structure: Cochrun does the best flashback structure I've seen in a romance, repeatedly going back to the day Ellie and Jack first meet.

Setting: Portland. I grew up in the PDX metro area, and this is probably the media- aside from Metal Lords- that best lives in the space. Very different vibes, but captures the Portland/west side PNW snow experience in a very real way. YMMV on hipster & transplant culture, but the rent woes are real.

Representation: MC is bi demi with anxiety, LI is biracial butch lesbian with ADHD, the brother is pan, LI's bff is a Spanish-speaking enbie. Notable side characters are trans and alphabet mafia. Nothing feels tokenized or preachy (aside from some hipster cultural touchstones)- it's all pretty natural, casual inclusion.

Narrator: Natalie Naudus is always stellar. This could have been done with someone with less dulcet tones, but I'm never going to turn down Naudus.

Sex Scenes: they happen, it's infrequent, and very well done.

Who I Wouldn't Rec This To: I would recommend this to pretty much anyone with a narrow exception: Our POV, Ellie has a toxic parental relationship and severe anxiety, on page one. If someone is dealing with depression or has similar anxiety issues, I'd be cautious to rec or be sure to let them know it's okay to drop it and come back or DNF.

By the end, Cochrun creates satisfying payoff regarding an overarching

fear of failure

that is empowering and lovely. However, the anxiety is in play the entire book (like actual anxiety disorders) which I could see being a lot for people experiencing severe symptoms.

Content Warnings

tierraskye's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.25

If you are looking for a sweet, genuine romance…look no further! I found myself giggling and squealing at these characters. I loved the diversity between the group of characters and the writing was smooth.

I’m so looking forward to reading Alison’s other novel, The Charm Offensive!

Content Warnings

illtakethenightshiftx's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

4.0

kicked my feet, cried a lil, suddenly wanted to know when my bookstore meet-cute will happen 🥹

Content Warnings

More...