Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Elle & Darcy

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Elle & Darcy by Alexandria Bellefleur

34 reviews

readwithria's review against another edition

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

3.5

Written In The Stars was a cute, heartfelt book. If you’re looking for a lighthearted sapphic romance, I would definitely recommend it.

Elle and Darcy are so adorable together! All of the scenes of them getting to know each other are so cute, and I really enjoyed reading about their relationship. They really balance each others’ strengths and weaknesses quite well.

Where I think this book was a little lacking was in its secondary characters. I wish we had spent a little more time with Margo and Brandon, or that the time we did spend with them fleshed out their relationships with Ella and Darcy a bit more.

This is a bit of a personal note, but I think the astrology aspect of the book was a tiny bit heavy handed. I don’t think it needed to get cut down a lot, but I do think what was there could have maybe been simplified a bit. As a skeptic myself it was hard to keep track of what Elle was talking about, and some of the more offhanded comments she made (eg: it’s bad to sign contracts when Mercury is in retrograde) seemed to contradict her assertion that astrology is about self reflection and introspection.

Overall this book was cute and fun. Would recommend! 3.5 stars

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lolajh's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

Quite possibly THE most rushed ending ever.

What about Darcy’s very apparently important exams (that we never even saw her study for LOL) and Christmas and lunch with Jane and Daniel? Like Elle’s entireeeee arc with her family was just left completely unfinished

The journey getting there was a lot better, if a little corny with not the best writing and dialogue hard to understand like “The corners of her mouth puckered, her nose flaring delicately” (no bc what the fuck does that mean)

Beyond the fake-dating, rom-com trope-iness of it all, Darcy and Elle complemented each other quite nicely. Whilst not very well-developed characters, their bond beyond their chemistry was nice, and I’m gonna be honest I wasn’t completely mad with how the book handled the fake dating thing transitioning into reality.

I like that happened halfway into the book, where I was expecting it to be more the end and I’m so glad it didn’t drag on that long.

The external issues coming between them aren’t the fact that they’re closeted or have internalised homophobia like sooo many sapphic books; them being gay comes second to them just being complex female characters with family issues and past relationship trauma and insecurities.

Them working through all these things together, communicating with each other, expressing their love through acts of service and gifts and engaging with each other’s interests and Darcy DEFENDING ELLE TO HER FAMILY was all quite refreshing and beautiful. I just wish that the writing was better, the characters were more complex and that ending was more drawn out, god it felt so unfinished.

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cats33's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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bjww34's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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lady_valhella's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-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

4.0

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genevieve_eggleston's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

4.25

I loved the story and the characters, but the romance got a little too steamy for my taste. However, the story is fun and the characters definitely pull at your heartstrings.

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