Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly

2 reviews

purplepenning's review

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Read during the #TransRightsReadathon March 20-27, 2023..

Sweet, silly, spicy, serious, sensual. This is a contemporary rom-com between two cooking show contestants who are each experiencing a bit of a quarter-life crisis. Dahlia (f/queer) is recently divorced from her high school sweetheart and feels disappointing and directionless. Teaching herself how to cook and develop warm, comforting flavors has helped her get through the worst of it. Winning the $100k competition prize might help her get through the rest. London (nb/pan) is settled in their non-binary identity even if they're still unsettled by their father's lack of acceptance. They're hyper-focused and prepared — to put the strained relationship with their father aside, to ignore the trolls, and to establish their place as the first non-binary contestant winner of a major cooking competition so they can use the prize money to start a nonprofit for LGBTQ kids. There's an undeniable spark between the two, but is there a future together ahead of them? 

An entertaining and enjoyable read that had me laughing out loud in places even as I cringed at others. The writing is vivid and tactile. Which is generally great, but ... I don't ever want to recall someone's hands working with raw chicken when they're in the middle of a sensual massage. There's also a large cast of secondary characters and not nearly enough time to develop them, and a background of socioeconomic disparity that's not explored much. Overall, a really good debut with excellent LGBTQ rep!

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toofondofbooks_'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? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


A romance novel set against the backdrop of a cooking competition show, a queer leading lady and a pansexual nonbinary love interest. I was like - say less, I'm down, and I'm so glad I did.

This was just so damn good. The chemistry between these two was almost too much for me most of the time. They were incredibly steamy together - way steamier than I expected the book to get, but it wasn't unwelcome at all. It had me WIDE EYED a lot of the time in that regard. I also just thought that these two characters, as people, felt really real. They were extremely imperfect and stumbled a ton, but in the end, they were perfect together and I just loved them.

I had little issues here and there, but they were just that: little. Like, they were such non-issues that I never once considered giving this any less than 5 stars. I have nothing intelligent to say about this, just vibes. The best vibes in the *world.*

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