Reviews with content warning for Miscarriage - The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany

A little slow to start but the pace picks up about 3/4 of the way through. The growth of Emilia throughout was inspiring and emotional. This book made me cry more than once.

Content Warnings

amberjackonski's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

Content Warnings

mildlypretentiousreader's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-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

1.0

The Star Crossed Sisters of Tuscany promises to be a lighthearted yet whimsical book about unraveling the true story behind the Fontana Second-Daugther Curse as well as looking beyond strenuous family ties--all while set behind the angelic and captivating backdrop of an Italian summer. If you are looking for that kind of book, promptly tuck this book away and look elsewhere.

The Star Crossed Sisters of Tuscany might have been one of the most disappointing and boring books I have read to date.

In the Italian-American Fontana family, a curse was placed on all second-born daughters of Fontanas in which they are destined to never find lasting love. Over two hundred years later, this curse remains steadfast--no Fontana second-born daughter has had meaningful love. Two cousins, Emilia and Lucy, happen to be in that bunch. Their great-aunt, Poppy (a fellow second-born daughter), swears that if the three of them return to Italy, the curse will be broken. Deeply skeptical, both Emilia and Lucy reluctantly agree. Little do the two cousins know, Aunt Poppy's Italian past provides for an ulterior motive for their return to Italy. Thus, the story ensues... filled with a number of love interests, old and young, past and present, and thrilling experiences.

All the characters, except Poppy, were one-dimensional at best. Most were flat and felt more like filler characters rather than key components of the story. For instance, our main protagonists: Emilia and Lucy, are both tiresome. Emilia, who is almost 30 years old, is pushed around by her family and bends at their every will. Lucy is written off as a spoiled, annoying, and hypersexual young adult. Neither of the two girls is given any chance to grow into their selves. Both are incredibly flawed as well to the point where it seems almost comical. Emilia regularly slut-shames Lucy for being more provocative than herself, while Lucy enjoys being inconsiderate to her elderly Aunt Poppy. Neither is likable, and both of their developments make me cringe.

At its core, The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany attempts to be a feminist novel. However, all it does is project sexism and internalized misogyny. Lucy is continuously oversexualized.

As we learn later on, Lucy is actually gay, but still her romantic and sexual relationships with people feel incredibly rushed and unrealistic.<spoiler/> Again, Emilia is a fan of slut shaming.

To make it worse, Emilia's entire character arc revolves around her becoming more feminine and confident about men. According to many of the book's characters, that's what makes a woman a woman. To me, this thinking is incredibly stupid. Why is womanhood defined as just femininity and men? What about women who dress more androgynous or masculine? What about the women who are not into men? Or who are into multiple genders?

Essentially, the entire thesis of The Star Crossed Sisters of Tuscany is that having men falling at your feet = being a confident woman. Yet, Lucy ends up gay. That just seems antithetical to the whole plot, does it not?<spoiler/>

Content Warnings

filipacarvalho's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

Was this book over the top? Subtle as a brick? Completely predictable? Yes. Did I still love it? Absolutely!

Content Warnings

thereadingsaint'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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

rebeccarudisill's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

Content Warnings

amandalawrance's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. I saw reviews that applauded how vivid the author made Italy through their writing and that is what initially led me to reading it. It was great though and there were parts that really hit home for me so I felt such a deep connection to this book. Definitely made me cry more than once.

Content Warnings

carolibrary's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

1.0

Content Warnings

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