Reviews with content warning for Death - Six Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did)

i have 4% charge left on my phone so i'll try to be brief.

please check the trigger warnings for this one. this is not really a cute summery romcom!! there's ableism, character death, graphic scene of character death & injury, grief from losing a loved one, bad parenting, ptsd, major surgery of a loved one etc. go into this book taking your mental health into account!!

now if the formalities are over with, onto my review:

THIS BOOK WAS MADE FOR ME!!! like handcrafted & thought for me idcidcidc. i just, god, the characters are SOOOOO human and flawed and i was crying so many times & my herat was in my throat because god, this felt tooooo real. tess sharpe didn't hold back AT ALL. like ok here's the thing, this is the PERFECT™ love story for me. the way the entirety of their relationship is shown ughhh it's sooo *screams & starts chewing on walls*.

the scenes where they are comforting each other but can't say what they feel for each other while DESPERATELY pining for each other is just TOP TIER!! THE YEARNING, THE PINING, THE EMOTIONS, THE WAY THESE BITCHES FUCKING TOUCH EACH OTHER & HUG EACH OTHER (SHE'S THE ONLY ONE THAT PENNY ALLOWS TO TOUCH HER HANDS!!!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS SHIT!!!!) BUT STILL CANNOT SAY WHAT THEY THINK BECAUSE THEY'RE AFRAID OF THE CONSEQUENCES & THERE'S TOO MUCH HISTORY ON THEIR SIDES — i'm telling you once again this book was written for me actually idec about anyone else.

the romance aside, this is also such a brilliant depiction of grief and complex familial relationships and it hurts to see both penny & lottie hurt each other because they're both grieving and neither of them can't help themselves and there's so much anger and love in here, both of them at the exact same time, they both wrong each other in so many ways but it's sooo realistically portrayed. it's all just done so so so well. it's so dysfunctional and it was just portrayed sooo well (also penny's last thoughts about how she wants to have a relationship with her mom but it seems growing apart is inevitable and how we are left hanging at the end — it's so so so so so messy yet satisfying in its own way).

idk i have SOOOO many thoughts about this book — the portrayal of mother-daughter relationships (and oh the contrast between penny & tate and lottie & anna killed me!!! it was so cruel but that is life), the romance, the fucking prose at some specific moments — all of them *chef's kiss*

idk girl just read it. this took me a month to read ('cause exams & college & life & mental health & global issues stuff) but i'm sooo glad i did read this!!! and my phone will switch off at any moment. so parting words: READ IT!!!

Content Warnings

sapphic_alpaca's review

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dark emotional funny reflective sad

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Content Warnings

alisonchen's review against another edition

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emotional sad

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

Perhaps I just don’t like this genre, but this book follows fanfic tropes beat-by-beat, which felt repetitive. The main problem is that I didn’t like the characters. Penny is insufferable and Tate is long-suffering; I honestly couldn’t tell why she liked Penny so much. I liked their friends, but side characters can’t make up for an annoying first-person POV. I skim-read through most of the family troubles and traumatic backstory.

Content Warnings

beesneysbooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.25

i love queer stories that are nuanced and about more than JUST a relationship. i knew i loved this authors work, but this book truly sealed the deal.
penny and tate deserve nothing but love and happiness.
docked .75 because i WIIIIISSSSSHHHH we had like? an epilogue or something. i’m not a fan of the story ending right when they come together with no final wrap up.

Content Warnings