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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
One of the books this year that felt really enjoyable from start to finish.
The few things that I didn't like were the excessive use of the word "bitch" that felt really annoying and the time jump at the end. The story would have been more complete if we could've also witnessed
all the messy, sad, happy emotions that undoubtedly the two women went through during those 5 years time.
The few things that I didn't like were the excessive use of the word "bitch" that felt really annoying and the time jump at the end. The story would have been more complete if we could've also witnessed
all the messy, sad, happy emotions that undoubtedly the two women went through during those 5 years time.
ARC. Did not like the last part of this book and the being was confusing and abrupt and I had to re-read it a few times to understand what was going on.
Also for an LGBTQ book, in the earlier part of the book there were two of times the author called a character’s friends “girlfriend” which is problematic as it was used in a hetronormative way.
Also for an LGBTQ book, in the earlier part of the book there were two of times the author called a character’s friends “girlfriend” which is problematic as it was used in a hetronormative way.
This compulsively-readable book straddles the line between the contemporary romance genre and literary fiction, and its refusal to pick-a-side renders it off-balance. Our protagonist is Merit, a mother of two in a marriage to a workaholic who leaves her most of the child-rearing. When she returns to work and immediately hits it off with her new female boss, Jane, it becomes obvious that the pair's "friendship" is going to lead to romance and distraction from Merit's dull life.
This book is fun and easy to read, chatty and light... until it's not. TW for miscarriage, which very much took me by surprise and destroyed the easy-breezy tone of the first half of the book. It left me feeling kinda ick, to be honest. I dislike it when writers use sexual assault as a way to bring romantic relationships closer and I don't like it any more when it's the death of a fetus.
The protagonist also suffered from an inability to make a decision and wanted her cake/affair and marriage at the same time. It felt like a lot of soul-searching happened off-screen (there are lots of time-jumps) and that didn't make the main couple any easier to root for. Merit's husband isn't great, to be sure, but he also deserved honesty. We never saw him get it.
This book was well-written, but it was just too disjointed and left too much of the good stuff for characterization "offscreen". I did enjoy that Merit discovered her sexuality later in life, and thought that was well-handled.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC!
This book is fun and easy to read, chatty and light... until it's not. TW for miscarriage, which very much took me by surprise and destroyed the easy-breezy tone of the first half of the book. It left me feeling kinda ick, to be honest. I dislike it when writers use sexual assault as a way to bring romantic relationships closer and I don't like it any more when it's the death of a fetus.
The protagonist also suffered from an inability to make a decision and wanted her cake/affair and marriage at the same time. It felt like a lot of soul-searching happened off-screen (there are lots of time-jumps) and that didn't make the main couple any easier to root for. Merit's husband isn't great, to be sure, but he also deserved honesty. We never saw him get it.
This book was well-written, but it was just too disjointed and left too much of the good stuff for characterization "offscreen". I did enjoy that Merit discovered her sexuality later in life, and thought that was well-handled.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC!
I had difficult time with this book. While there were parts that I liked and identified with - the struggle of the main character who struggles to find her place and finds herself questioning her marriage, her life choices, doing everything to handle the high stress of her profession. However, most of her issues she held back and hid from her husband. She never said what she needed or wanted from him. Instead, she escaped and found solace in the someone else. Because of this, I could not empathize with her. Also, the romance portion was underdeveloped and rushed. I was really uncomfortable with the disloyalty and cheating in this book. Ultimately, the end was heart wrenching to me, and I can't imagine what her husband felt like in that last scene. While I understand finding herself and being true to herself, I feel like it could have been done with more grace and not starting the relationship until she had ended things with her husband. The cheating was a deal breaker for me to enjoy this book.
Absolutely loved this! And that ending?! Amazing and will be in my top 10 for the year without a doubt
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 A quick read. Well written though I think there were a aspects that could have been developed further. It was interesting to read about of an affair from the POV of the pursuer. I actually think the husband deserved more credit a lot of the time.
The dialogue was just bad, and unconvincing throughout. It was painful to have to read Merit’s repetitive thoughts and not get to know her as a person at all. It felt like things happened for no reason, and there wasn’t much substance there outside of Merit and Jane hooking up. Save for some great descriptions of desire, there was little payoff.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
For the most part, i really enjoyed this. it was a nice slow burn that explored the topic of discovering your queerness as an adult. as someone who didn’t realize they were queer until i was 18, i can only imagine what the journey would be like for someone in their thirties with a spouse and kids. i think this is an important topic and the author handled it well for the most part (though i didn’t like both women’s insistence on not being gay- doesn’t that defeat the point of the journey? maybe a little bi-erasure?).
I liked the portrayal of Merit’s husband and their relationship. The husband was a perfect example of weaponized incompetence and mediocracy. i appreciate that the author didn’t make the husband a villain- he wasn’t a bad dude. he just was lacking in responsibility and initiative and ultimately left his partner feeling deeply dissatisfied. not all divorces happen because someone is horrible; sometimes people fall out of love.
With that being said, i do think Merit could’ve fixed some of her own problems by speaking to her husband. he seems like someone who would benefit from constructive criticism but she never gave him that chance. even the ending reflects that he’s a decent guy who really does care about his wife and kids. and while i’m not saying Merit shouldn’t have pursued happiness, i do think she could have been more fair to her husband (because really cheating should never be the answer).
My other issue with the book was the abrupt ending. the whole novel was a slow burn that did a good job covering multiple years…until the end where suddenly 5 years have passed and everything has changed. while i understand the book would need to be double the length to cover 5 additional years at the same pace as the rest of the book, i do think more could have been done to set up the ending. it felt like the author got to where the story she had to tell ended and then realized she didn’t like the ending so she tacked on an epilogue to change everything without having to put in the effort of telling the story of what led to the epilogue.
With all that being said, there were things i did and didn’t like about this book, but i did find it to be an important and enjoyable story so i’m giving it a high 3 star.
I liked the portrayal of Merit’s husband and their relationship. The husband was a perfect example of weaponized incompetence and mediocracy. i appreciate that the author didn’t make the husband a villain- he wasn’t a bad dude. he just was lacking in responsibility and initiative and ultimately left his partner feeling deeply dissatisfied. not all divorces happen because someone is horrible; sometimes people fall out of love.
With that being said, i do think Merit could’ve fixed some of her own problems by speaking to her husband. he seems like someone who would benefit from constructive criticism but she never gave him that chance.
My other issue with the book was the abrupt ending. the whole novel was a slow burn that did a good job covering multiple years…until the end where suddenly 5 years have passed and everything has changed. while i understand the book would need to be double the length to cover 5 additional years at the same pace as the rest of the book, i do think more could have been done to set up the ending. it felt like the author got to where the story she had to tell ended and then realized she didn’t like the ending so she tacked on an epilogue to change everything without having to put in the effort of telling the story of what led to the epilogue.
With all that being said, there were things i did and didn’t like about this book, but i did find it to be an important and enjoyable story so i’m giving it a high 3 star.