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anniereads221's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, Body shaming, Vomit, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Infertility, and Ableism
Endometriosis chronic illness Toxic relationship with mother Survivors guiltkbairbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you Netgalley, and the publisher, for giving me an ARC of this book and allowing me to experience it in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to the author for being so incredibly vulnerable and sharing this piece of you with us.
This book has me speechless. I normally don’t rate books that have no magic/fantasy elements with five stars but this… THIS. Is beyond five stars. The humor had me genuinely laughing out loud. Multiple times. Genuinely the funniest book I’ve read in a long time if ever. There was so much personality and soul this book felt like a hug. The own voice chronic illness representation was incredibly honest, vulnerable, and raw. I want to put myself in financial distress to buy a copy for every single person I love so they can experience this magic for themselves. Beautiful. Brava!
Thank you to the author for being so incredibly vulnerable and sharing this piece of you with us.
This book has me speechless. I normally don’t rate books that have no magic/fantasy elements with five stars but this… THIS. Is beyond five stars. The humor had me genuinely laughing out loud. Multiple times. Genuinely the funniest book I’ve read in a long time if ever. There was so much personality and soul this book felt like a hug. The own voice chronic illness representation was incredibly honest, vulnerable, and raw. I want to put myself in financial distress to buy a copy for every single person I love so they can experience this magic for themselves. Beautiful. Brava!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcohol, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Blood
josephinecatherine's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Disclaimer: I was given an ARC of this release by the author in return for my honest opinion and review.
This is an Own Voices review for endometriosis representation.
I was in love at first sight (sigh of the dedication and the content warnings).
Over a year ago, I ventured into a university project which was entirely self-inflicted. The unit I was taking focused on disability and inclusivity and the coordinator asked us to create an assignment which related to the unit theme in some way. As an avid romance reader and person with disability, I decided to read the good, the bad, and the ugly of romance novels with disability representation.
The ten books I read largely fell into the ‘bad’ or ‘ugly’ category and left me feeling rather pessimistic. Even books I classified as ‘good’ were limited in their representation of my disability experience. I believe many sufferers of chronic pain will relate to the wider chronic pain and disability experience, but ache to feel drawn with detail. Detail that is not simply the pages of our medical history. Endometriosis is nowhere in romance books. In saying this, I discount those instances wherein endometriosis is used as a throwaway plot point to explain infertility or miscarriage. It is never explored or defined in a manner representative of most endo-sufferers. It is, in those cases, simply a means to justify tragedy by one’s own body.
As a young woman who is in daily pain, Finding Gene Kelly is a lifeline. I was diagnosed with endometriosis when I was 14 years old. Six years later, I am still learning how to navigate a life shadowed my condition. In order to picture myself as a romance novel heroine, I must omit endometriosis from my character background. It is another way in which my invisible disability remains invisible. I want to give my fourteen-year-old self a copy of this book before her diagnosis. I want that girl to have known that spending half your high school in hospital does not deem you in any way ‘unlovable’.
This could have easily been an angst-filled romance novel which represented the darkness of endometriosis. Torie Jean’s decision to lean against the inherently dark content was an expert one. I admit my hesitation when I saw a pink cartoon cover attached to the tag ‘endometriosis representation’. I thought that my condition could never be represented authentically in a romantic comedy, or any romance with ‘soft’ connotations. I never imagined an endometriosis romance could take place in the City of Lights as opposed to my hospital room...of fluorescent lights. I will forever be grateful to Torie Jean for proving me wrong.
Romance comes from your partner noticing the timer on your heat pack. Romance is being recognised for your strength when you feel your most fragile. Romance is writhing in pain but being held. Romance is being loved through pain with words and with actions.
For Evie, Liam is her Gene Kelly. This book, however, shows every Endowarrior (and disabled person) that we will not only experience love platonically, nor will we only experience romance through a television or book. We will find our Gene Kelly. A person who we love and who loves us in return.
The book not only explores romantic relationships, nor does it explore chronic pain from a purely romantic lens. It explores how endometriosis bleeds (pun intended) into every part of life.
Moments of celebration are simultaneously moments of pain.
The realities of pacing.
Surrendering to your body.
The anger, the sadness, the isolation, the self-loathing.
The pregnancy announcements.
The fatigue.
The nausea.
The bloating.
The brain fog.
The feeling out of control… constantly.
The relationships with family.
The relationships with friends.
The perseverance.
The constant decisions (if I take this medication now, I can’t do this, but if I don’t take it now etc).
This book could have been written had it not been for the author’s lived experience. You can feel the pain through these pages, but you can also feel the power. No one else can articulate the endometriosis experience like endometriosis sufferers can. Torie Jean writing this book has taken her pain and given us her heart. This would have been physically and emotionally draining, and yet I am grateful. I never thought this book would exist. If I did, I thought it would be my own.
This book made me cry and I am so glad that they were mostly happy tears. Happy because this book even exists. It hugged me through a flare up and understood. Torie – thank you for showing me my story can exist outside the tragedy genre. I wish I were more eloquent in my gratitude, but I look forward to seeing you grow. Thank you.
This is an Own Voices review for endometriosis representation.
I was in love at first sight (sigh of the dedication and the content warnings).
Over a year ago, I ventured into a university project which was entirely self-inflicted. The unit I was taking focused on disability and inclusivity and the coordinator asked us to create an assignment which related to the unit theme in some way. As an avid romance reader and person with disability, I decided to read the good, the bad, and the ugly of romance novels with disability representation.
The ten books I read largely fell into the ‘bad’ or ‘ugly’ category and left me feeling rather pessimistic. Even books I classified as ‘good’ were limited in their representation of my disability experience. I believe many sufferers of chronic pain will relate to the wider chronic pain and disability experience, but ache to feel drawn with detail. Detail that is not simply the pages of our medical history. Endometriosis is nowhere in romance books. In saying this, I discount those instances wherein endometriosis is used as a throwaway plot point to explain infertility or miscarriage. It is never explored or defined in a manner representative of most endo-sufferers. It is, in those cases, simply a means to justify tragedy by one’s own body.
As a young woman who is in daily pain, Finding Gene Kelly is a lifeline. I was diagnosed with endometriosis when I was 14 years old. Six years later, I am still learning how to navigate a life shadowed my condition. In order to picture myself as a romance novel heroine, I must omit endometriosis from my character background. It is another way in which my invisible disability remains invisible. I want to give my fourteen-year-old self a copy of this book before her diagnosis. I want that girl to have known that spending half your high school in hospital does not deem you in any way ‘unlovable’.
This could have easily been an angst-filled romance novel which represented the darkness of endometriosis. Torie Jean’s decision to lean against the inherently dark content was an expert one. I admit my hesitation when I saw a pink cartoon cover attached to the tag ‘endometriosis representation’. I thought that my condition could never be represented authentically in a romantic comedy, or any romance with ‘soft’ connotations. I never imagined an endometriosis romance could take place in the City of Lights as opposed to my hospital room...of fluorescent lights. I will forever be grateful to Torie Jean for proving me wrong.
Romance comes from your partner noticing the timer on your heat pack. Romance is being recognised for your strength when you feel your most fragile. Romance is writhing in pain but being held. Romance is being loved through pain with words and with actions.
For Evie, Liam is her Gene Kelly. This book, however, shows every Endowarrior (and disabled person) that we will not only experience love platonically, nor will we only experience romance through a television or book. We will find our Gene Kelly. A person who we love and who loves us in return.
The book not only explores romantic relationships, nor does it explore chronic pain from a purely romantic lens. It explores how endometriosis bleeds (pun intended) into every part of life.
Moments of celebration are simultaneously moments of pain.
The realities of pacing.
Surrendering to your body.
The anger, the sadness, the isolation, the self-loathing.
The pregnancy announcements.
The fatigue.
The nausea.
The bloating.
The brain fog.
The feeling out of control… constantly.
The relationships with family.
The relationships with friends.
The perseverance.
The constant decisions (if I take this medication now, I can’t do this, but if I don’t take it now etc).
This book could have been written had it not been for the author’s lived experience. You can feel the pain through these pages, but you can also feel the power. No one else can articulate the endometriosis experience like endometriosis sufferers can. Torie Jean writing this book has taken her pain and given us her heart. This would have been physically and emotionally draining, and yet I am grateful. I never thought this book would exist. If I did, I thought it would be my own.
This book made me cry and I am so glad that they were mostly happy tears. Happy because this book even exists. It hugged me through a flare up and understood. Torie – thank you for showing me my story can exist outside the tragedy genre. I wish I were more eloquent in my gratitude, but I look forward to seeing you grow. Thank you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Infertility, Ableism, Pregnancy, Body shaming, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Vomit and Toxic friendship
Tense relationship with mother
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