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alice_mac's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I enjoyed this book enough to stay up much later than planned reading it, but didn’t quite love it enough to stay up all night to finish it in one go. I liked the first 3/4 of the book and then felt like the ending didn’t quite satisfy me. Calla and Jonah were a fun couple and i really liked seeing their relationship begin and evolve, but some of the teasing and jokes early felt a little too unnecessarily unkind and I didn’t feel like I got a great feel for their relationship even thought it was clear there were big, important feelings happening.
I know that this is the 1st in a series and I wish I’d known that Calla and Jonah’s story would continue in other books before reading this one. While the wrap up of this book makes sense in the context of a series, I’m not satisfied with book 1’s ending or convinced to continue with book 2. I’m used staying in the same town and being introduced to a new couple for each book in a series, so my lack of excitement is definitely a result of not having a good understanding of this series before starting, which I can only blame on myself.
I also just want to flag that I found the representation of the Native people in this book a little off. The descriptions of Native characters seemed more detailed than the way white characters were described which felt like a bit of a weird fixation to me. Also, the physical characteristics that were highlighted for Native characters seemed to leaned into stereotypes and not in a respectful or aware way. It was also a bit bizarre that the native communities were only included when white main characters were “helping” them and that there was no reference to the fact that white people had stolen their land and profited off of Native people’s trauma. I know in the US it’s not typical to have cultural awareness or competence but i feel like non-Native authors have a responsibility to educate themselves and hire sensitivity readers. It seems like other people didn’t have this reaction to this book, so maybe I’m picking up on something that that isn’t there.
I know that this is the 1st in a series and I wish I’d known that Calla and Jonah’s story would continue in other books before reading this one. While the wrap up of this book makes sense in the context of a series, I’m not satisfied with book 1’s ending or convinced to continue with book 2. I’m used staying in the same town and being introduced to a new couple for each book in a series, so my lack of excitement is definitely a result of not having a good understanding of this series before starting, which I can only blame on myself.
I also just want to flag that I found the representation of the Native people in this book a little off. The descriptions of Native characters seemed more detailed than the way white characters were described which felt like a bit of a weird fixation to me. Also, the physical characteristics that were highlighted for Native characters seemed to leaned into stereotypes and not in a respectful or aware way. It was also a bit bizarre that the native communities were only included when white main characters were “helping” them and that there was no reference to the fact that white people had stolen their land and profited off of Native people’s trauma. I know in the US it’s not typical to have cultural awareness or competence but i feel like non-Native authors have a responsibility to educate themselves and hire sensitivity readers. It seems like other people didn’t have this reaction to this book, so maybe I’m picking up on something that that isn’t there.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Colonisation, and Cancer
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