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bookishmillennial's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not, regardless if I add stars or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial
I can't believe this is a debut! I am truly so impressed and can't wait for pub day so everyone else can read this.
This romance tackles race, culture, identity, spirituality, trauma, grief, hope, and so much more! I loved the representation of BIPOC (Black & Korean) Jewish main characters (the FMC is bisexual & there's also a side character who is nonbinary). Daniel is the soft, sweet cinnamon roll love interest of my dreams, and he hates big pharma. What a guy! Liyah on the other hand, was fighting her romantic feelings and burying her trauma deep in order to avoid true intimacy and vulnerability. She continued to hide beneath her prickly exterior because it acted as an armor for her. I felt for her but I think Rachel wrote this so tenderly and with so much care. Liyah isn't all grumpiness and skepticism though; like any good millennial, she is nostalgic for the decade in which Hollywood decided the world needed modern American teen remakes of British classic literature, like 10 Things I Hate About You, Clueless, and Mean Girls. Now, she is just waiting for the next phenomenon like this to hit, but queer retellings this time! GIRL SAMEEEEE.
With second-chance romances, I sometimes roll my eyes to the back of my head when the event that caused our main characters to stop speaking is finally revealed. However, without spoiling, I totally empathized with Liyah's anger, shame, and disappointment when I learned of what happened all those years ago. Things can certainly feel heightened when we are in middle school, but that doesn't make the pain or embarrassment any less valid. I also sympathized with how Daniel perceived the event, because the devil works hard but toxic masculinity and the patriarchy work HARDER. I think what matters most is how they approached the topic in the present, as adults, and how accountability was taken.
This book is set in Chicago, IL, but Liyah's best friend Neen (they/them) is in San Francisco, CA. Neen does provide levity and much-needed tough love from California at times to Liyah, and I think we should all aspire to be the kind of friend Neen in, because they don't have any qualms about being honest with Liyah when she is acting childish or conflict avoidant.
Tropes:
-dual third-person limited POV
-second-chance romance
-childhood friends
-grumpy x sunshine
-cinnamon roll love interest
-only one bed
-forced proximity
-slow burn
-found family
-SO MUCH ANGST, TENSION, AND LONGING
-the banter was BANTERING
I especially adored the found family of their Friday night Survival Club with Jordan (Black colleague of Daniel) and Siobhan (Irish immigrant and colleague of Liyah). Their meeting notes were hilarious, contained so much millennial existential angst and humor, and the rules for the club were also an absolute hoot. I loved that this was their unofficial group therapy, and it did invite them all to explore different aspects of their lives, such as work, dating, and personal goals or ambitions. I would love to be part of this friends' group!
Honorable mention to Daniel's cat named Sweet Potato -- SO STINKING CUTE !!!
Anyway, I want more stories like this. PLEASE! This was open-door but not TOO steamy. Maybe a 1.5/5 on the steam scale!
cw: mentions of rape, death, loss of a parent, cancer, and racism
Quotations that stood out to me:
I can't believe this is a debut! I am truly so impressed and can't wait for pub day so everyone else can read this.
This romance tackles race, culture, identity, spirituality, trauma, grief, hope, and so much more! I loved the representation of BIPOC (Black & Korean) Jewish main characters (the FMC is bisexual & there's also a side character who is nonbinary). Daniel is the soft, sweet cinnamon roll love interest of my dreams, and he hates big pharma. What a guy! Liyah on the other hand, was fighting her romantic feelings and burying her trauma deep in order to avoid true intimacy and vulnerability. She continued to hide beneath her prickly exterior because it acted as an armor for her. I felt for her but I think Rachel wrote this so tenderly and with so much care. Liyah isn't all grumpiness and skepticism though; like any good millennial, she is nostalgic for the decade in which Hollywood decided the world needed modern American teen remakes of British classic literature, like 10 Things I Hate About You, Clueless, and Mean Girls. Now, she is just waiting for the next phenomenon like this to hit, but queer retellings this time! GIRL SAMEEEEE.
With second-chance romances, I sometimes roll my eyes to the back of my head when the event that caused our main characters to stop speaking is finally revealed. However, without spoiling, I totally empathized with Liyah's anger, shame, and disappointment when I learned of what happened all those years ago. Things can certainly feel heightened when we are in middle school, but that doesn't make the pain or embarrassment any less valid. I also sympathized with how Daniel perceived the event, because the devil works hard but toxic masculinity and the patriarchy work HARDER. I think what matters most is how they approached the topic in the present, as adults, and how accountability was taken.
This book is set in Chicago, IL, but Liyah's best friend Neen (they/them) is in San Francisco, CA. Neen does provide levity and much-needed tough love from California at times to Liyah, and I think we should all aspire to be the kind of friend Neen in, because they don't have any qualms about being honest with Liyah when she is acting childish or conflict avoidant.
Tropes:
-dual third-person limited POV
-second-chance romance
-childhood friends
-grumpy x sunshine
-cinnamon roll love interest
-only one bed
-forced proximity
-slow burn
-found family
-SO MUCH ANGST, TENSION, AND LONGING
-the banter was BANTERING
I especially adored the found family of their Friday night Survival Club with Jordan (Black colleague of Daniel) and Siobhan (Irish immigrant and colleague of Liyah). Their meeting notes were hilarious, contained so much millennial existential angst and humor, and the rules for the club were also an absolute hoot. I loved that this was their unofficial group therapy, and it did invite them all to explore different aspects of their lives, such as work, dating, and personal goals or ambitions. I would love to be part of this friends' group!
Honorable mention to Daniel's cat named Sweet Potato -- SO STINKING CUTE !!!
Anyway, I want more stories like this. PLEASE! This was open-door but not TOO steamy. Maybe a 1.5/5 on the steam scale!
cw: mentions of rape, death, loss of a parent, cancer, and racism
Quotations that stood out to me:
The universe must be conspiring against him. There’s no other explanation. Accidentally making a beautiful girl hate you once is one thing—but twice, a decade and a half apart? He’s cursed.
“You’re too good at guilt-tripping,” Liyah says after she pulls back.
“Well, I was raised Catholic.” Siobhan winks.
“Half of our sorrows are caused by dealing with the middle-aged men in our department.”
House Rules Meet: Friday nights, 10 9 (Siobhan wakes up early), at Prohibition Anything said here stays here No toxic masculinity Jordan Ames, Aliyah Cohen-Jackson, Siobhan Gallagher, Daniel Rosenberg And thus, the Speakeasy Survival Club is born.
“I didn’t say I hated coding, I said I hated my job. Do you think everybody feels this way?”
“What way?”
They sigh. “I don’t know. Restless?”
“To varying degrees, probably.” Restless is exactly how Liyah felt before she started this new exhibition. Now her work feels interesting, maybe even meaningful, but sometimes she worries that if she slows down for a moment, that feeling will set in again.
(A man admitting he was wrong? In this economy? I’m in love)
Her mother has never been great at fielding her and Avi’s experiences with white-assimilated Jews. They’ll repeat one of several common invalidations, and her mom freezes up completely, tears welling. As if Liyah communicating the reality of her experience is a personal attack.
“That’s because you’ve been brainwashed by mass media into believing intellectual women must reject traditionally feminine interests!” She fires back, barely stopping to breathe. “Because God forbid a teenage girl likes a movie about a—gasp—teenage girl. These movies got me through middle school and high school.”
The anonymity is more intoxicating than any liquor.
Maybe crafting her life so the only person she lets see all the way through her lives thousands of miles away is less of a safety net and more of a way to ensure a certain level of loneliness.
Daniel stops in his tracks. Done for doesn’t cover it. He’s in love with her. Not enamored. In love. Like, stupidly. It’s effervescent and fizzing painfully through his arteries from his heart to his extremities, and he has to lean against a nearby building so that he doesn’t collapse with the weight of it all.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Rape
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Death, and Cancer
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