Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

So, wie du bist: Roman | Die LGBTQI+-RomCom des Jahres: »Pride and Prejudice« meets »The L Word: Generation Q« | »Warm, witzig und wundervoll!« Alexandria Bellefleur, Bestsellerautorin von »Written in the Stars« by Camille Kellogg

19 reviews

joensign's review against another edition

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funny hopeful 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

4.0

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the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

This was a delightful take on a Pride and Prejudice retelling with lots of interesting references to modern queer culture and interesting twists to the original story. A really great read!
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micaelacccc's review against another edition

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.5

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yasidiaz's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

Just As You Are is a Sapphic retelling of the beloved Pride & Prejudice. Liz Baker is a writer for a queer magazine in New York. When Nether Fields is bought at the last minute after almost shutting down, Liz finds it hard to feel grateful when Daria Fitzgerald -the minor investor- is a big pain in her ass. Things, of course, when Liz and Daria spend more time together and the former wonders if maybe, just maybe, she was too quick to judge.

Let me let you in on a little secret. Pride & Prejudice is one of my favorite romance stories of all time. I read it for the first time during my teenage years and have been a big supporter of Jane Austen since then. I remember even fighting my favorite English teacher after I found out he didn’t like Pride & Prejudice. So when I hear about a retelling of my favorite book and it is queer? Of course, I have to read it. And this book seriously didn’t disappoint.

This book was so queer in the best ways possible. It made me miss my friends and all the stuff we would do together. Each character felt like someone I met at some point at my school’s Queer Student Association and any other queer spaces. Seeing so many queer characters just living their lives felt refreshing, I will never get tired of it. There will never be enough books that celebrate our lives for me. Please give me more.

I enjoyed seeing how they reimagined some of my favorite scenes and moments from the original. I knew what was coming but at the same time, I didn’t. However, since I knew where the story was going I was crushing on Daria way too fact. I spent most of the time yelling at Liz and had to remind myself I would react almost the same if I didn’t have the context. Especially when this book made me realize just how much I related to Lizzie Bennet and now Liz Baker. 

Her struggles with her gender expression also made me feel so seen and it made it easier to relate to Liz. This wasn’t hard anyway, since I already related to Liz's impulsivity, her struggles on writing, etc. But as a Trans Masc person who uses He/They pronouns, I struggle a lot with how to present myself. Sometimes I worry about not trying hard enough to be masculine and it doesn’t help when people comment on my makeup and even my body. So seeing Liz switch from femme to masc and the reactions from others, it hit close to home.

Just As You Are is a love letter not only to Pride & Prejudice but to queer culture as well, mainly Sapphic culture, which is something still so underrepresented. So if you love Austen and are queer, you will for sure love this book. 
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attolis's review against another edition

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4.0

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the_lesbrarian's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Just as You Are is a Pride and Prejudice-inspired romance about a late 20s fluff-piece writer 
working at a failing queer magazine as she finds herself falling for the rich, cold woman who is helping keep the magazine alive. 
The novel delves lightly into gender expression and butch identity and is one of few lesbian romcoms where both leads are somewhere on the masc-identifying spectrum. An old-fashioned feel-good, comforting love story. 
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hailstorm3812's review against another edition

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funny hopeful 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

4.0

I'm am so dumb. I just liked the cover and the fact that I saw (it's more complicated than that in the narrative but I'm judging books by covers here) a romance with butches. It took my 50 pages to put together the Pride and Prejudice references, but once I got that I was in. It's fun, it's stupid, it's heartfelt, and has a fun layer of meta in both the journey of the character and the references. I had a really great time.
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arizona_foster's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I loved every bit of this book! 
 
It was easy to relate to Liz and how she felt stuck, both in her current position at a magazine she worked for and struggling to find herself. Getting stuck in a comfortable work environment is easy, even if it’s not what you want to do for the rest of your life. It’s challenging to step outside your comfort zone and try something new, even down to what clothes make you feel comfortable or how you want to appear to certain people. 
 
I loved that rooms throughout the office were named after notable people in the LGBTQIA+ community; the Laverne conference room was named after Laverne Cox, and the Kiyoko Kitchen after Hayley Kiyoko. It added a little something extra that put a smile on my face. 
 
But most of all, I loved the friendships and relationships in this story. Friends looking out for friends. Authentic friendship fights and breakups. And, of course, one of my favorite tropes is the enemies-to-lovers relationship. Liz shows some real growth toward the end, partly because she has some really great people to help her along the way. 

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️
 
Just as You Are was easy to get into and immediately hooked me. The ending was perfect and tied everything together unexpectedly but wonderfully.   
 
Thank you, Dial Press, Camille Kellogg, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this book! 

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booksdogsandcoffee's review against another edition

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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

3.75

THE QUEER EXPERIENCE!

Kellogg builds a comprehensive story around a queer magazine on the brink of closure. While discussing topics of gender expression, how dating works in the big city, an enemies to lovers plot line that you can't help routing for and friendships that ebb and flow through it all.

I think so many queer folks will see themselves in this novel. There is wonderful representation across the board.
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ladythana's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

3.5

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