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this_girl_reads_a_lot's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
oliviaaschmitz's review
3.0
me and the main character have the same type of OCD so mad respect to her
laura_cs's review
4.0
I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Quinn Berkowitz has spent a lifetime attending weddings. After all, her parents run one of Seattle's most successful wedding planning businesses, Borrowed and Blue. Quinn acts as an assistant and frequently plays her harp for processionals, but with her anxiety and OCD, she can't quite bring herself to tell her parents that she doesn't want a future in the business, despite her parents' having perfectly mapped out her college career in business to do just that. She's just sick and tired of weddings, and even playing the harp has lost the luster she once had. And now her last summer before college has taken another dip when she finds out that Tarek Mansour is back.
Tarek's parents run a successful catering company that works with Borrowed and Blue for nearly every event, which means that Quinn and Tarek have spent most of their lives attending other people's weddings together. While weddings have lost the appeal for Quinn, Tarek loves them. He's a romantic at heart, and loves big romantic gestures--and why not? His parents got together because of one. Plus, Tarek's dream is to create wedding cakes for celebrating Happily Ever Afters. And he also hasn't spoken to Quinn in nearly a year, ghosting her after she poured her heart out to him in an email about her crush on him.
Yeah. The summer is not looking great for one Quinn Berkowitz. Unless.... Tarek does actually feel the same way? Maybe? One way or another, they can't keep meeting like this....
This is as much of a story about self-love and self-care as it is a romance, as both Quinn and Tarek navigate young adulthood and all that comes with it (such as sex and interpersonal relationships with family, friends, and romantically) but also their mental health and trying to determine where they fit in the world. While initially there was a bit of drama because neither of them were good at talking to each other about how they felt (Tarek leans towards "actions speak louder than words" and Quinn is incredibly uncomfortable with grandiose displays of love), they both have a lot of conversations as they go from awkward ex-friends/coworkers, to friends, to lovers. They've got problems to sort out, yes, and they don't always handle situations well, but they present a very realistic relationship as they talk about problems and feelings and why they do the things they do and how they feel about certain aspects of relationships (again, such as physical intimacy, other expressions of love, and emotional vulnerability). You don't see that a lot in most romance novels, but especially not YA, and I'm happy to see Rachel Lynn Solomon not only break that barrier, but smash it into a gazillion pieces with how realistically she portrays these conversations and emotions!
Quinn Berkowitz has spent a lifetime attending weddings. After all, her parents run one of Seattle's most successful wedding planning businesses, Borrowed and Blue. Quinn acts as an assistant and frequently plays her harp for processionals, but with her anxiety and OCD, she can't quite bring herself to tell her parents that she doesn't want a future in the business, despite her parents' having perfectly mapped out her college career in business to do just that. She's just sick and tired of weddings, and even playing the harp has lost the luster she once had. And now her last summer before college has taken another dip when she finds out that Tarek Mansour is back.
Tarek's parents run a successful catering company that works with Borrowed and Blue for nearly every event, which means that Quinn and Tarek have spent most of their lives attending other people's weddings together. While weddings have lost the appeal for Quinn, Tarek loves them. He's a romantic at heart, and loves big romantic gestures--and why not? His parents got together because of one. Plus, Tarek's dream is to create wedding cakes for celebrating Happily Ever Afters. And he also hasn't spoken to Quinn in nearly a year, ghosting her after she poured her heart out to him in an email about her crush on him.
Yeah. The summer is not looking great for one Quinn Berkowitz. Unless.... Tarek does actually feel the same way? Maybe? One way or another, they can't keep meeting like this....
This is as much of a story about self-love and self-care as it is a romance, as both Quinn and Tarek navigate young adulthood and all that comes with it (such as sex and interpersonal relationships with family, friends, and romantically) but also their mental health and trying to determine where they fit in the world. While initially there was a bit of drama because neither of them were good at talking to each other about how they felt (Tarek leans towards "actions speak louder than words" and Quinn is incredibly uncomfortable with grandiose displays of love), they both have a lot of conversations as they go from awkward ex-friends/coworkers, to friends, to lovers. They've got problems to sort out, yes, and they don't always handle situations well, but they present a very realistic relationship as they talk about problems and feelings and why they do the things they do and how they feel about certain aspects of relationships (again, such as physical intimacy, other expressions of love, and emotional vulnerability). You don't see that a lot in most romance novels, but especially not YA, and I'm happy to see Rachel Lynn Solomon not only break that barrier, but smash it into a gazillion pieces with how realistically she portrays these conversations and emotions!
tizzyxlish23's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
spiritualeigh's review
0.5
If i had known she was a Zionist I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near this book. Very glad I did not spend money to read this.
christiana's review
3.0
I think the hard thing with this one is that it's marketed as a teen book but the premise makes the character's behaviors and situations a lot more A than Y, if you get me. There's nothing wrong with this, but it does affect how often and to whom I can recommend this book (I'd be much more likely to recommend it to the 18-24 crowd than 16-18, for example, based on drug references early on and the amount of sexual situations described).
That being said, I get why it has these things based on how the character came to be--she basically is treated as being much older than she is which doesn't allow her the time to be her own age and make mistakes and explore the way other teens her age do. Not a deal breaker or a bad book, but something to know if you're looking for books to recommend to your high school crowd.
That being said, I get why it has these things based on how the character came to be--she basically is treated as being much older than she is which doesn't allow her the time to be her own age and make mistakes and explore the way other teens her age do. Not a deal breaker or a bad book, but something to know if you're looking for books to recommend to your high school crowd.
mj_dor7's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
cutesy little read
violetlanguage's review against another edition
3.75
Like other Rachel Lynn Solomon books, I enjoyed the banter and chemistry between the leads, but I'm not convinced YA is her strong suit (even setting aside that she had teenagers in 2021 talk about Facebook event RSVPs).
Pretty early on I found myself really annoyed that Quinn wouldn't just tell her family she didn't want to work at their business. I wanted to be sympathetic that her OCD might make her more afraid of things like her parents getting divorced or her catastrophizing the possible outcomes of her taking different classes at college, but it quickly just felt so frustrating and immature, especially when it came up so frequently, so I was more annoyed than sympathetic.
Once Quinn and Tarek started spending more time together, I started enjoying the book a lot more, but Quinn's self sabotage in their relationship also drove me crazy. It just didn't make any sense and I just couldn't find a way to sympathize with her situation when she was causing most of her problems. And at other times, her family was almost cartoonishly evil with how little they cared about her or her wishes, only to of course pull a 180 and end up being completely fine and supportive in the end.
Overall, I liked a good chunk of this book, but it was so frustrating that I would really hesitate to recommend it to others
Once Quinn and Tarek started spending more time together, I started enjoying the book a lot more, but Quinn's self sabotage in their relationship also drove me crazy. It just didn't make any sense and I just couldn't find a way to sympathize with her situation when she was causing most of her problems. And at other times, her family was almost cartoonishly evil with how little they cared about her or her wishes, only to of course pull a 180 and end up being completely fine and supportive in the end.
Overall, I liked a good chunk of this book, but it was so frustrating that I would really hesitate to recommend it to others