Scan barcode
lauramparis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Cancer, and Domestic abuse
keden13's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Domestic abuse
lindsayerin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Stalking and Abandonment
staceface's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
boothdwellerbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Moderate: Death of parent and Domestic abuse
itschelseaw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Overall cute, a lot of heart and a feel good romance with some real hard spots in their relationship.
Graphic: Death of parent and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death
trinloyd's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Cancer
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"A Winter in New York" follows Iris, a woman who is trying to get a second chance in New York City. Following the death of her mother, Iris decides to try to go to places that can help her to feel connected to her mom, and one of the first places she decides to go is a gelato place. This gelato place is famous in the city because they only serve one flavor, and only two members of the family know the recipe at any given time. Except, Iris has a copy of the recipe, and she was under strict instructions from her mother not to tell anyone about it. When Iris finally ventures to the gelato shop, she cannot believe that she finds a family that loves her, a man to fall in love with, and pieces of her mom that she did not know about.
When I started this book, I thought it was going to be a cozy, winter romance, but I do not think it truly is. I think this book is more about Iris's journey to discover things about herself and her mom, and there happens to be a romantic interest. If we took the romantic interactions out of the story, I believe we would still have the same book. That is a big reason I felt it was middle of the road, because I did not have the right expectation going into the novel.
I did not love Iris as a character. Her reasoning for why she is keeping the secrets she does, seems kind of loose to me. I think she could have told Gio about the recipe pretty soon after meeting him, and I think she could have told him about her abusive ex right away as well. She just seemed ridiculous in her logic.
Gio is an AMAZING guy, and I loved seeing him and his daughter together. He is such an admirable single father, and he is doing an amazing job at raising his daughter. I would love to see a novella with just the two of them.
This book was fine, but not what I expected.
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Sexual content
angelarae235's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Stalking
chimichannika's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
Apart from these things, though, it was still a riveting book that I didn’t want to put down— the depictions of the utter depth, acceptance, loyalty, and love that the Belotti family had for one another had me in tears at several points, as did the beautiful friendship bonds in the book, as well. This is my second of Josie’s books that I’ve read, the first being The Two Lives of Lydia Bird, and in both of them she manages to depict all of the complicated emotions surrounding grief so relatably and so well. The scene near the end of this book where
Another thing I particularly appreciated about this book was the characters’ choices and motivations— while I didn’t agree with some of the choices characters made, or like to think I would’ve done things differently, I didn’t have a clear answer for what the “right” or “best” solution would be in the situations in the book; there was no clear, easy resolution, and it not only made the characters and their choices more sympathetic, but also made them seem more realistic, too.
All in all a sweet, emotional, riveting book, and the only reason it’s getting a 4.5 instead of 5 from me is for the detractors mentioned at the start of my review. I’m also very happy to report that nothing except good things ever happens to the kitty, and he is very well loved and cared for throughout the entire book ♡ a brief heads up that this book contains depictions of abuse and escaping/surviving abuse that may be triggering to survivors, but also a note that the survivor gets her abuser-free, safe future at the end of the book ❣️ please be sure to check the trigger warnings on this book if this is something that may cause you distress while reading 🫶🏻
p. s. the music references in this book were fun to see (although the
Moderate: Grief, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Cancer, and Drug use