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lucyhargrave's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Alcoholism
Minor: Islamophobia, War, Violence, and Rape
aquietglow's review against another edition
4.0
I imagine reading wlw romance is like reading thrillers: "are they gonna die? the author wouldn't do that, would they? this is a romance? they get a happy ending, right?" I got nervous and peeked through other reviews before finishing. I do think it's fair to say this book is realistic to the point of being stressful and a little dark, not quite a carefree romance story. Not necessarily a bad thing, but something to be aware of.
Spoiler
The good news, they do get together in the end!emkc23's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
sahaharaa97's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
elementarymydear's review against another edition
1.0
I’m not really sure who this book was for.
It’s about queer characters, but is almost exclusively about the trauma they face. It’s set in the early 2010s, and regularly makes fun of millennials (who, I might point out, is currently anyone aged roughly 27-40, a large part of this book’s demographic). It’s a romance in that the couple were together at the end, but otherwise rejected any of the emotional draw of romance novels. It could be literary fiction, but despite having two first-person perspectives we never once tapped into the emotional depths of either character. The cover screams romance, the blurb tells us its ‘women’s fiction’ (which we don’t have time to unpack) and I honestly don’t think it’s really either.
📚Blog📖YouTube📖Instagram📚
So, we have a book with an identity crisis and a marketing crisis. First, let’s talk about the queer aspect of the story. The book is filled with both direct and indirect homophobia, with added biphobia on the side for extra flavour. It exclusively focuses on the negative aspects of being queer, with one character being an alcoholic and another estranged from her family, having a secret affair with a married woman. All of the layers of relationships (and I mean layers, this book is more like a love octagon than a love triangle) are so messy and convoluted, and ultimately it made the characters unlikeable. Even the most villainous character, Sophie’s manipulating husband, was handed a happy ending BY SOPHIE on a silver platter.
Both of these storylines particularly were handled especially poorly. Sophie, who is a recovering alcoholic, at one point serves everyone margaritas at a dinner party, and at another takes her underage daughter to the bar where she hit rock bottom. She dismisses Nora’s concerns about beginning a relationship while in the early stages of recovery, and the whole storyline just felt incredibly frustrating.
I really hoped that the romance itself would be the redeeming feature, but I struggled to find an emotional connection with it. They kept telling us how they’d been each other’s first and one true love, but I never got a sense of the reality of those feelings. As I mentioned before the book is in first-person with a dual perspective, so it wouldn’t have been hard to have occasional paragraphs describing how they felt when they looked or thought of the other person.
Ultimately, this book was a let-down on all fronts. It was frustrating because I desperately wanted to enjoy it, and sometimes it would look like it was coming close, but then fall short at the last minute. I might try another of the author’s books, see if I enjoy those more, but safe to say this isn’t one I will be returning to.
I received a free copy for review. All opinions are my own.
It’s about queer characters, but is almost exclusively about the trauma they face. It’s set in the early 2010s, and regularly makes fun of millennials (who, I might point out, is currently anyone aged roughly 27-40, a large part of this book’s demographic). It’s a romance in that the couple were together at the end, but otherwise rejected any of the emotional draw of romance novels. It could be literary fiction, but despite having two first-person perspectives we never once tapped into the emotional depths of either character. The cover screams romance, the blurb tells us its ‘women’s fiction’ (which we don’t have time to unpack) and I honestly don’t think it’s really either.
📚Blog📖YouTube📖Instagram📚
So, we have a book with an identity crisis and a marketing crisis. First, let’s talk about the queer aspect of the story. The book is filled with both direct and indirect homophobia, with added biphobia on the side for extra flavour. It exclusively focuses on the negative aspects of being queer, with one character being an alcoholic and another estranged from her family, having a secret affair with a married woman. All of the layers of relationships (and I mean layers, this book is more like a love octagon than a love triangle) are so messy and convoluted, and ultimately it made the characters unlikeable. Even the most villainous character, Sophie’s manipulating husband, was handed a happy ending BY SOPHIE on a silver platter.
Both of these storylines particularly were handled especially poorly. Sophie, who is a recovering alcoholic, at one point serves everyone margaritas at a dinner party, and at another takes her underage daughter to the bar where she hit rock bottom. She dismisses Nora’s concerns about beginning a relationship while in the early stages of recovery, and the whole storyline just felt incredibly frustrating.
I really hoped that the romance itself would be the redeeming feature, but I struggled to find an emotional connection with it. They kept telling us how they’d been each other’s first and one true love, but I never got a sense of the reality of those feelings. As I mentioned before the book is in first-person with a dual perspective, so it wouldn’t have been hard to have occasional paragraphs describing how they felt when they looked or thought of the other person.
Ultimately, this book was a let-down on all fronts. It was frustrating because I desperately wanted to enjoy it, and sometimes it would look like it was coming close, but then fall short at the last minute. I might try another of the author’s books, see if I enjoy those more, but safe to say this isn’t one I will be returning to.
I received a free copy for review. All opinions are my own.
sunny_pipes's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jeansbookbag's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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
3.0
I enjoyed this story quite a bit, and isn’t one I’ve seen a lot, involving older queer people coming out. This isn’t a light read by any means, but had it’s moments of brevity and told a very compelling story. It did feel a bit rushed in parts, but overall I think Lenhardt is an excellent writer and look forward to reading more from her.