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madamenovelist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Cursing
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Alcohol
SA is listed as moderate because there is 1 scene mentioning briefly a previous instance of assault while MC is drunk and can’t remember, and a couple other scenes hinting that the MC’s discomfort with sexual intimacy may be related to SA.amberinpieces's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Alcohol, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual content, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Vomit
lady_valhella's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
3.75
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Sexual assault
Minor: Toxic relationship, Car accident, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Gaslighting
kickitupanotch7's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Alcohol, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Acephobia/Arophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Rape, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
dododenise's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
4.0
This book turned into more than I expected. The cover alone promises a very sweet romance and that’s certainly what I got. I grew to love these characters so much. It’s easy for the characters in these sweet romances to pass me by without too deep of an attachment, but at some point I just wanted to give these characters hugs and advice. The struggles of being young, figuring out your emotions and really just dealing with yourself was done so well. Shani definitely had some very irritating moments, but they were real and understandable. It never caused me to let her go. If anything, it made me want to help her.
This was a beautiful journey, perfect for this time of the year.
This was a beautiful journey, perfect for this time of the year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual assault and Medical content
stacy837's review
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Grief
Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Cursing, and Gaslighting
tmkutawrites's review
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
cw: previous sexual assault, previous emotionally abusive relationship
Okay. You know how you start a book and immediately go "....I am not the target audience for this?" That was me with this book.
Coming of age sapphic "YA" (New Adult) romance set in D.C. (more on that later). The romance is your classic 18tween year old toxic lesbian romance. The coming of age is very 18 year old (which is good! we love that representation for them!) but dear god the MC's thought process, self-deprecation, and self-centered outlook on life made this healed, Farther Along In My Life Journey queer want to crawl out of my fucking skin. Like honey, no, you don't need romance you need THERAPY. A LOT OF IT. AND ANXIETY MEDICATION. Lots of the reviews for this book are like "IT'S SO IMMATURE, THE CHARACTERS ARE SO IMMATURE" and like...yes. The characters are 18. They are first year college students who have just realized they are queer and have just come out to themselves and haven't yet told their parents they are queer. Of course they are immature. Of course they are messy. What 18 year old baby lesbian ISN'T messy?
Beyond looking in a mirror and going "damn, I used to be like that and I've come a long way, thank god for therapy and growth," overall the book was....meh. It was a "HFN" ending (which I don't mind) but if that was an IRL relationship it was doomed to crash and burn. There was very little romantic about it. It was billed as "enemies to lovers", which I guess yes, but because they never really dropped the antagonistic aspect of their relationship, it just felt gross. It reminded me a lot of the emotionally abusive relationships I was in once upon a time and it pained me to see Shani think some of that stuff was romantic.
As a DMV native, the "descriptions" of DC were painful. The author apparently spent a summer in DC as an intern and spent all of their free time "in the Smithsonian museums." You could tell. Dear god you could tell. I feel extremely bad for all the SI employees who were slandered in this book by giving them un-DC employment like behavior. There is more to DC than the SI Museum and the Mall! Also, the idea of DC getting a foot of snow at Christmas was so laughable I about died. (Yes, we do occasionally get snow at Xmas--looking at you snowmageddon--but overall the weather described was very un-DC like and it was clear the author has never spent a winter here. "Unseasonably warm" at the end of December...no that's just regular weather in D.C. )
Also the fact the two POC characters in the book were either a) a supportive sounding board for the MC's pathetic life who we know nothing about other than she is Desi, queer, and has a girlfriend, or were b) a sub-tertiary character who got maybe a dozen speaking lines...the looks aren't good. Especially for a book that banged on with some otherwise kind of performative commentary. It felt very much like a "why aren't we practicing what we preach" kind of deal.
One of the things I did enjoy that the character's Judaism featured heavily, was a large part of the MC's view on life, and was discussed openly. The lovebirds have an adorable "Jewmas" celebration of movies and Chinese food which, honestly, loved that. There are some very cute tongue-and-cheek poking-fun-at-our-own-stereotype Jewish Mom jokes which made me smile. There was also some good discussion about how complicated it feels to be Jewish during Goy holidays and the dichotomy of enjoying the commercialism and "culture" of Christmas (Xmas lights, fun drinks, Santa hats, etc) while also being not Christian and not celebrating the day itself.
Another thing I did enjoy was the lack of the annoying A Giant Misunderstanding Is Had/Betrayal Occurs trope that breaks the characters up 3/4 of the way through the book. Or, in this case, there is a "misunderstanding" but it is centered around real, actual trauma that would happen IRL and is something that could actually have the relationship come back from instead of a lot of the misunderstandings/betrayals in romances which would imo ruin anything with that person forever. The two MC's also have a very real, almost Adult conversation about said misunderstanding, and I feel like it was handled decently enough. Especially since the misunderstanding grows out of the MC's history of sexual assault and how to impacts her desire/ability to be sexually intimate with her love interest, I think it was realistic and as maturely handled by the characters as possible considering their age.
Overall... The MC was kind of toxic, the romance was mid, everything else... meh. I probably would have DNF'd the book except it made me so annoyed I had to finish to see what kind of trainwreck it would resolve into. It is realistic, and messy, and a relationship I could see rising and falling and dumpster fire-ing IRL, so that is definitely points in its favor. I want a an entire book about Mandira bc she deserves better than the role she was given in this novel.
Okay. You know how you start a book and immediately go "....I am not the target audience for this?" That was me with this book.
Coming of age sapphic "YA" (New Adult) romance set in D.C. (more on that later). The romance is your classic 18tween year old toxic lesbian romance. The coming of age is very 18 year old (which is good! we love that representation for them!) but dear god the MC's thought process, self-deprecation, and self-centered outlook on life made this healed, Farther Along In My Life Journey queer want to crawl out of my fucking skin. Like honey, no, you don't need romance you need THERAPY. A LOT OF IT. AND ANXIETY MEDICATION. Lots of the reviews for this book are like "IT'S SO IMMATURE, THE CHARACTERS ARE SO IMMATURE" and like...yes. The characters are 18. They are first year college students who have just realized they are queer and have just come out to themselves and haven't yet told their parents they are queer. Of course they are immature. Of course they are messy. What 18 year old baby lesbian ISN'T messy?
Beyond looking in a mirror and going "damn, I used to be like that and I've come a long way, thank god for therapy and growth," overall the book was....meh. It was a "HFN" ending (which I don't mind) but if that was an IRL relationship it was doomed to crash and burn. There was very little romantic about it. It was billed as "enemies to lovers", which I guess yes, but because they never really dropped the antagonistic aspect of their relationship, it just felt gross. It reminded me a lot of the emotionally abusive relationships I was in once upon a time and it pained me to see Shani think some of that stuff was romantic.
As a DMV native, the "descriptions" of DC were painful. The author apparently spent a summer in DC as an intern and spent all of their free time "in the Smithsonian museums." You could tell. Dear god you could tell. I feel extremely bad for all the SI employees who were slandered in this book by giving them un-DC employment like behavior. There is more to DC than the SI Museum and the Mall! Also, the idea of DC getting a foot of snow at Christmas was so laughable I about died. (Yes, we do occasionally get snow at Xmas--looking at you snowmageddon--but overall the weather described was very un-DC like and it was clear the author has never spent a winter here. "Unseasonably warm" at the end of December...no that's just regular weather in D.C. )
Also the fact the two POC characters in the book were either a) a supportive sounding board for the MC's pathetic life who we know nothing about other than she is Desi, queer, and has a girlfriend, or were b) a sub-tertiary character who got maybe a dozen speaking lines...the looks aren't good. Especially for a book that banged on with some otherwise kind of performative commentary. It felt very much like a "why aren't we practicing what we preach" kind of deal.
One of the things I did enjoy that the character's Judaism featured heavily, was a large part of the MC's view on life, and was discussed openly. The lovebirds have an adorable "Jewmas" celebration of movies and Chinese food which, honestly, loved that. There are some very cute tongue-and-cheek poking-fun-at-our-own-stereotype Jewish Mom jokes which made me smile. There was also some good discussion about how complicated it feels to be Jewish during Goy holidays and the dichotomy of enjoying the commercialism and "culture" of Christmas (Xmas lights, fun drinks, Santa hats, etc) while also being not Christian and not celebrating the day itself.
Another thing I did enjoy was the lack of the annoying A Giant Misunderstanding Is Had/Betrayal Occurs trope that breaks the characters up 3/4 of the way through the book. Or, in this case, there is a "misunderstanding" but it is centered around real, actual trauma that would happen IRL and is something that could actually have the relationship come back from instead of a lot of the misunderstandings/betrayals in romances which would imo ruin anything with that person forever. The two MC's also have a very real, almost Adult conversation about said misunderstanding, and I feel like it was handled decently enough. Especially since the misunderstanding grows out of the MC's history of sexual assault and how to impacts her desire/ability to be sexually intimate with her love interest, I think it was realistic and as maturely handled by the characters as possible considering their age.
Overall... The MC was kind of toxic, the romance was mid, everything else... meh. I probably would have DNF'd the book except it made me so annoyed I had to finish to see what kind of trainwreck it would resolve into. It is realistic, and messy, and a relationship I could see rising and falling and dumpster fire-ing IRL, so that is definitely points in its favor. I want a an entire book about Mandira bc she deserves better than the role she was given in this novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse
sophie42's review
emotional
hopeful
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Alcohol and Sexual content
Minor: Vomit and Toxic relationship
thebookpaiges's review
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Cursing
Minor: Rape