Reviews with content warning for Cursing - How to Excavate a Heart

I was considering not finishing the book because how you gonna have a romance novel with a college aged student and a 17 year old. But then I was like, that is not really the direction we are actually headed. I listened a little more closely and realized they are both college students, one is 18 and the other 3 days from 18. Also, this was not the typical romance novel so there is no crossing the lines which had me totally weirded out for a hot minute. So, if like me you find yourself horrified, give the book a chance because we do touch on some important stuff that is not often discussed in the wlw queer community.

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kickitupanotch7's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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

4.75

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stacy837's review

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lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

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thebookpaiges's review

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.75

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

I loved how wintry this book was. I also thought that Shani being a dead fish nerd was a wonderful choice and reading about her experience in the lab was great. Seeing Shani and May explore their DC setting was lots of fun, too!!

Unfortunately I didn’t click with the romance enough. I didn’t like that Shani and May were awkward around each other for the entirety of the book as it was hard to grasp their emotional connection and also made the fact that they loved each other within four weeks unbelievable. As the romance is the main part of this book, this a major sticking point with me.

As a final note,

I didn’t love that the climax of the book was an elderly person having a medical emergency, essentially a plot point engineered to get the MCs in the vicinity of one another again

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writerkit's review

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funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.5

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taylorsevalia's review

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challenging emotional funny 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

4.5

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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3.5

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. There were a lot of chapters that I mostly skimmed because they were inundated with marine evolution information that I didn't particularly care about, but everything else was pretty cute.

I was surprised at how underwhelming the conflict was. While I did like the decision the characters came to at the end of the book, it felt rushed to me after such a drawn-out romance through the beginning. Also, the enemies-to-lovers happened SO abruptly that it felt like they had never needed to be enemies in the first place?

I wouldn't read it again, but it was enjoyable for the most part and I loved that it was a sapphic Jewish couple getting together at Christmas. A fun holiday read!

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