Reviews

How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow

mashley14's review against another edition

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cutie book

simonisafangirlie's review against another edition

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3.0

A pretty heavy holiday book!!! More emotional than expected for a cozy holiday read!!! But the ending really got me in the best way!!!

krakow54's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

moonsmistress's review against another edition

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4.0

just too cute. i'm a sucker for a lesbian holiday book with some yearning in it

zolree's review against another edition

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4.0

this book was super comforting and the setting of it was super fluffy and soft too. the love between shani and may was SPECTACULARRR like hello?!! the ending way different than I expected but still a really good ending and a really good book!

ventiristretto's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

- Not huge on first person POVs, but I liked how this one was handled :) 

- The book made me feel annoyed at the characters in the start. And that is a good thing! Because there is character development happening and I loved slowly warming up to them as I got to know them more 

- I enjoyed the side characters, the banter between the MCs and the depiction of "young love" (I'm 26, I'm not THAT old, but certain things are just different haha)

- Don't expect spice, but expect heart-fluttery scenes!

- This story makes you care about more than just the main characters and I find that very lovely

- Comedy aspects were handled nicely and I could definitely see this filmed as a movie 

4 stars from me :) 

burningupasun's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a cute little young adult (in the college freshman sense) romance about two Jewish girls falling in love over Christmas. I didn't realize just HOW young they were, so some of the communication issues were driving me nuts—JUST TELL EACH OTHER WHAT YOU'RE THINKING!!!—but it was a really nice read overall and it's always great to read not just Jewish representation but QUEER Jewish representation.

samlm23's review against another edition

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4.0

i really enjoyed this! coming of age lesbian film when???? i expected it to be just a lighthearted romance just based on the cover but it turned okay to be a lot heavier and emotional(there is a trigger warning at the beginning which i also appreciated!) but overall it was still a really fun read! i think my rating may actually 4.5, the more i think about it, the more i love it

isabellamariew's review against another edition

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3.0

I don’t know if maybe I just wasn’t in the right headspace to read this or if I just didn’t vibe with the book as much as a I wanted to, but it was enjoyable and I would still recommend it.

girasoleille's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

3.5