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lucindanorine's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is very cute. The struggles the to MC's face are, in my opinion, fairly relatable. I very much enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Grief and Torture
jennyslibrary's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-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
This book!!
🌶🥰
It had me on a chokehold the entire time, love blooming on all the pages. Finally a book with a good anxiety disorder representation! The quotes and writing was beautiful, will definitely be picking this up again to browse for ideas for my own book, and also to fall back into the pleasure of meeting the characters again. You grow to love them all, with their different personalities and traits. Harper and Dans love is out of this world, with Judy (Harpers giant cat) adding to the cuteness of it all. Recommend a thousand times! And the love between Alex (Dan’s roommate), and Thu’s (one of Harpers bests friends) love story, it sweetens the plot even more / This book was funny, sad, tense, and extremely romantic. Every page had me drooling for a love like theirs, and with a happy ending/ I will definitely be reading a brush with love again.
🌶🥰
It had me on a chokehold the entire time, love blooming on all the pages. Finally a book with a good anxiety disorder representation! The quotes and writing was beautiful, will definitely be picking this up again to browse for ideas for my own book, and also to fall back into the pleasure of meeting the characters again. You grow to love them all, with their different personalities and traits. Harper and Dans love is out of this world, with Judy (Harpers giant cat) adding to the cuteness of it all. Recommend a thousand times! And
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident
kingrosereads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book had me by the heartstrings after the first couple chapters. And instalove is my least favorite trope, it’s super cringe to me, but I LOVED this book. It had me laughing OUT LOUD and I even teared up a few times. A Brush with Love is this fluff filled, instalove but also kind of friends to lovers romcom that literally made my heart dance. It even have a decent spicy scene (not quite smut) definitely like a 🌶🌶/5.
TW: This book also contained sexism, grief, deaths of a parent, ableism, and mental illness.
Okay, this book follows Harper Horowitz and Dan Craig’s who are 26-year-old dental students. Harper’s in her final year and Dan’s in his first year. The timeline’s a bit weird but I think it starts in November then goes through January before the last few chapters each take place in March, April, and May (like one chapter per month). I only say that because that kind of makes this an Autumn/wintery romance and the perfect cuddle-by-the-fire book. It also takes place in Philadelphia. Which only matters because it’s a contemporary romance not taking place in NYC or LA for once, but also near where I grew up.
It’s the first chapter, and Harper enters the scene. She’s a serious student that’s passionate about oral surgery and she’s anxious about matching with a program after she graduates. Then suddenly, BAM, she falls down a flight of stairs in the middle of the dentistry school and crashes into our unsuspecting love interest, Dan. They’re fine but Dan’s teeth impression mold is not fine. Immediately the two are attracted to one another. I mean, they’re both ogling one another when they nearly died from a tumble down the stares. The physical attraction was intense. Sexual tension could be cut with a knife. #cantrelate. Harper offers to help Dan make another model as she is a dental rockstar. Thus beginning their relationship.
Despite obviously liking one another (like a lot), Harper insists they can’t act on it and should just remain friends because she’s leaving in 5 months and she doesn’t think they can just be sex. Dan reluctantly agrees. And for the next few weeks they build a very flirty friendship.
Harper has this friend group Thu (a fellow dental student), Indira (a med student at the school), and Lizzie (a barista and Indira’s roommate). Now her friend group is hilarious, but also pushy, meddling, and teases Harper relentlessly. They never seem to notice that she has severe anxiety, but Dan can at least see the signs after only knowing her for a few weeks? Alex Huang is Dan’s friend and roommate, and he’s…there. And Alex and Thu start a thing.
There were several scenes where Harper is really struggling with her anxiety. She has a lot of internalized abelism and tries very hard to be “normal”. She’s always been anxious and had panic attacks, but it got worse after her mom died when she was 12. Her aunt and uncle raised her and took her to psychiatrists and she had a terrible experience. So now she strives to be perfect and doesn’t believe she needs therapy. She eventually has a panic attack at a party, and just as she and Dan are about to leave, she gets harassed by a sexist fellow student. But after she puts him in his place, Dan puts the fear of god into this guy. And let me tell you, that maybe a red flag, but it was soooooo hot.
Dan has had a few eye openers in the book about what it’s like to be a women in STEM and how patients, colleagues, and advisors will belittle her or ask how she’ll have a family AND be a surgical resident. Dan on the other hand, isn’t even in dental school because he wants it and he’s only able to attend the school, because he’s a legacy. Dan’s dad is a dental legend who was a shit father to Dan because Dan didn’t want to be a dentist. He went for finance in undergrad and had a successful, blooming career before his dad dies. After his death, his mother guilts him into leaving NYC and his job, return to school, and help her keep his father’s practice going.
Eventually the heat turns up in their friendship and they cross that line. It’s great for a while until the pressures of her final year catch up to Harper and she ends up blaming Dan for distracting her.
Then a bunch more happens. There’s arguing, a break up, healing, and reuniting. Yaaaay. All very heartfelt and cute and sad.
When I tell you this book had me smiling like an idiot I am telling you I was giggling and grinning throughout the whole thing. It’s so very cheesy and funny. I think the mental illness representation was pretty spot on, though I hated that Harper lashed out on her friends and Dan several times and they just instantly forgave her. Having a mental illness doesn’t give you a license to be a shitty friend, and I feel like the forgiveness shouldn’t have been automatic. I think the struggle to admitting you need help and actually getting it was depicted well. I was also happy that Dan recognized he needed help dealing with his guilt and grief.
The Jewish and Arab representation are very minimal. It’s basically just them saying they’re Jewish and Arab without actually diving into what that means for their identities. I guess Dan gets a pass since his dad forces his mom to assimilate to Western culture. But Harper claims that being Jewish is this big part of her identity, yet it’s only mentioned in the very beginning, then they go to a Jewish deli, and then she does Sabbath once. After these first few chapters it’s never brought up again. I mean the bulk of the book takes place between November and January but there’s no mention of Hanukkah? It doesn’t need to be a Hanukkah themed book, it’s just odd it’s never brought up.
I also have a hard time believing a 26 year old would drop their life and career and be guilt tripped into going to dentistry school (a subject they vehemently hate) to then take over his late father’s practice (which he also hates). I could see his guilt forcing him to somehow use his finance degree to help with the business aspect of the private practice, but to go back to graduate school and switch careers? Nah. Maybe if he was younger or already in a different graduate program. Because he wouldn’t have an established career and fresh graduates and grad students have lower social and emotional development since they’ve been in school for 13+ years straight, i think it would’ve been easier to guilt them. I actually would’ve liked it better if Dan was a couple years younger than Harper. They didn’t need to be the same age. It’s just weird how Harper’s friend group were all the same age and at the same point in their education. I think Alex was the only one that wasn’t 25-27. He’s probably 21/22.
I don’t care what anyone says, I love a man in a book who falls in love first and does the chasing. Like full on simps after this woman. And it’s nice to see a guy be as consumed by a crush as women are. I also love that Harper had the technical and academic advantage over Dan. And Dan didn’t mind it, and he actually wanted to learn from her. And Harper didn’t tease him about it. She was patient and tried to teach him. Dan might have been conventionally hot with his brown hair, tanned ski, muscles, and green eyes, but he was such a softie. So in touch with his feelings.
After all that, I think it did well balancing comedy, romance, and spice with the serious topics of sexism, grief, the deaths of a parent, mental illness and ableism. It’s a solid debut novel.
TW: This book also contained sexism, grief, deaths of a parent, ableism, and mental illness.
Okay, this book follows Harper Horowitz and Dan Craig’s who are 26-year-old dental students. Harper’s in her final year and Dan’s in his first year. The timeline’s a bit weird but I think it starts in November then goes through January before the last few chapters each take place in March, April, and May (like one chapter per month). I only say that because that kind of makes this an Autumn/wintery romance and the perfect cuddle-by-the-fire book. It also takes place in Philadelphia. Which only matters because it’s a contemporary romance not taking place in NYC or LA for once, but also near where I grew up.
It’s the first chapter, and Harper enters the scene. She’s a serious student that’s passionate about oral surgery and she’s anxious about matching with a program after she graduates. Then suddenly, BAM, she falls down a flight of stairs in the middle of the dentistry school and crashes into our unsuspecting love interest, Dan. They’re fine but Dan’s teeth impression mold is not fine. Immediately the two are attracted to one another. I mean, they’re both ogling one another when they nearly died from a tumble down the stares. The physical attraction was intense. Sexual tension could be cut with a knife. #cantrelate. Harper offers to help Dan make another model as she is a dental rockstar. Thus beginning their relationship.
Despite obviously liking one another (like a lot), Harper insists they can’t act on it and should just remain friends because she’s leaving in 5 months and she doesn’t think they can just be sex. Dan reluctantly agrees. And for the next few weeks they build a very flirty friendship.
Harper has this friend group Thu (a fellow dental student), Indira (a med student at the school), and Lizzie (a barista and Indira’s roommate). Now her friend group is hilarious, but also pushy, meddling, and teases Harper relentlessly. They never seem to notice that she has severe anxiety, but Dan can at least see the signs after only knowing her for a few weeks? Alex Huang is Dan’s friend and roommate, and he’s…there. And Alex and Thu start a thing.
There were several scenes where Harper is really struggling with her anxiety. She has a lot of internalized abelism and tries very hard to be “normal”. She’s always been anxious and had panic attacks, but it got worse after her mom died when she was 12. Her aunt and uncle raised her and took her to psychiatrists and she had a terrible experience. So now she strives to be perfect and doesn’t believe she needs therapy. She eventually has a panic attack at a party, and just as she and Dan are about to leave, she gets harassed by a sexist fellow student. But after she puts him in his place, Dan puts the fear of god into this guy. And let me tell you, that maybe a red flag, but it was soooooo hot.
Dan has had a few eye openers in the book about what it’s like to be a women in STEM and how patients, colleagues, and advisors will belittle her or ask how she’ll have a family AND be a surgical resident. Dan on the other hand, isn’t even in dental school because he wants it and he’s only able to attend the school, because he’s a legacy. Dan’s dad is a dental legend who was a shit father to Dan because Dan didn’t want to be a dentist. He went for finance in undergrad and had a successful, blooming career before his dad dies. After his death, his mother guilts him into leaving NYC and his job, return to school, and help her keep his father’s practice going.
Eventually the heat turns up in their friendship and they cross that line. It’s great for a while until the pressures of her final year catch up to Harper and she ends up blaming Dan for distracting her.
Then a bunch more happens. There’s arguing, a break up, healing, and reuniting. Yaaaay. All very heartfelt and cute and sad.
When I tell you this book had me smiling like an idiot I am telling you I was giggling and grinning throughout the whole thing. It’s so very cheesy and funny. I think the mental illness representation was pretty spot on, though I hated that Harper lashed out on her friends and Dan several times and they just instantly forgave her. Having a mental illness doesn’t give you a license to be a shitty friend, and I feel like the forgiveness shouldn’t have been automatic. I think the struggle to admitting you need help and actually getting it was depicted well. I was also happy that Dan recognized he needed help dealing with his guilt and grief.
The Jewish and Arab representation are very minimal. It’s basically just them saying they’re Jewish and Arab without actually diving into what that means for their identities. I guess Dan gets a pass since his dad forces his mom to assimilate to Western culture. But Harper claims that being Jewish is this big part of her identity, yet it’s only mentioned in the very beginning, then they go to a Jewish deli, and then she does Sabbath once. After these first few chapters it’s never brought up again. I mean the bulk of the book takes place between November and January but there’s no mention of Hanukkah? It doesn’t need to be a Hanukkah themed book, it’s just odd it’s never brought up.
I also have a hard time believing a 26 year old would drop their life and career and be guilt tripped into going to dentistry school (a subject they vehemently hate) to then take over his late father’s practice (which he also hates). I could see his guilt forcing him to somehow use his finance degree to help with the business aspect of the private practice, but to go back to graduate school and switch careers? Nah. Maybe if he was younger or already in a different graduate program. Because he wouldn’t have an established career and fresh graduates and grad students have lower social and emotional development since they’ve been in school for 13+ years straight, i think it would’ve been easier to guilt them. I actually would’ve liked it better if Dan was a couple years younger than Harper. They didn’t need to be the same age. It’s just weird how Harper’s friend group were all the same age and at the same point in their education. I think Alex was the only one that wasn’t 25-27. He’s probably 21/22.
I don’t care what anyone says, I love a man in a book who falls in love first and does the chasing. Like full on simps after this woman. And it’s nice to see a guy be as consumed by a crush as women are. I also love that Harper had the technical and academic advantage over Dan. And Dan didn’t mind it, and he actually wanted to learn from her. And Harper didn’t tease him about it. She was patient and tried to teach him. Dan might have been conventionally hot with his brown hair, tanned ski, muscles, and green eyes, but he was such a softie. So in touch with his feelings.
After all that, I think it did well balancing comedy, romance, and spice with the serious topics of sexism, grief, the deaths of a parent, mental illness and ableism. It’s a solid debut novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Mental illness
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism
boris's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse
arthur_ant18's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Sexism
Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Ableism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol
now_booking's review
emotional
reflective
medium-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
3.25
This was an absolutely adorable romance featuring two lovely but somewhat broken characters finding each other and kind of piecing each other back together. It skews new adult-ish and a little wanting more maturity, even though the characters are in their mid-20. This could be because they’re students but I think it’s also because of the way they’re written and the sort of coming of age conflicts they face in the story. Despite the heavy mental health themes, it’s more light and bubbly than it is dark and hopeless.
The premise is that Harper is a high-achieving final year dental student struggling with an intense anxiety disorder, PTSD and a fear of failure who meets Dan, a former financial sector guru turned dental student bearing the crushing weight of expectation to carry on the family dental business. Sparks fly immediately and “Dental Dan” is all in till their unresolved issues get in the way of their happiness.
I think this was written with a lot of understanding and empathy for people with anxiety disorder. It dealt with themes of parental death and grief and anxiety and pressure really well and I think those parts of the book were dealt with the best. I really enjoyed the secondary characters (Thu, Indira, Lizzy, even Alex) but I felt like more could have been made of them to make a richer, more balanced story. Everytime they were on the page, they shone but I think sometimes they disappeared a lot. I also felt that for being so nosy, they kind of didn’t speak up to Harper in ways they could have before things got really bad. I couldn’t tell if this was because they didn’t know how bad her mental health was or if it was that they didn’t want to rock the boat, but there was some dissonance with how intrusive they otherwise were as a trait of their friendship. I think Alex could have been better utilized as a friend for Dan, giving him someone else to talk to and to develop as a character within his complex relationship with his mother rather than just Harper and internal monologues. I also think it would have been good to see that relationship in person especially since she wasn’t live particularly far away so that we could make our own judgements.
One thing I really liked about Harper and Dan was that they were (eventually) good commmunicators and the development of the friendship and transition to lovers was a delight to read. For an Instlove-based plot, their coupledom was very believable. I’m glad I read this and would read something else from this author.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publishers.
The premise is that Harper is a high-achieving final year dental student struggling with an intense anxiety disorder, PTSD and a fear of failure who meets Dan, a former financial sector guru turned dental student bearing the crushing weight of expectation to carry on the family dental business. Sparks fly immediately and “Dental Dan” is all in till their unresolved issues get in the way of their happiness.
I think this was written with a lot of understanding and empathy for people with anxiety disorder. It dealt with themes of parental death and grief and anxiety and pressure really well and I think those parts of the book were dealt with the best. I really enjoyed the secondary characters (Thu, Indira, Lizzy, even Alex) but I felt like more could have been made of them to make a richer, more balanced story. Everytime they were on the page, they shone but I think sometimes they disappeared a lot. I also felt that for being so nosy, they kind of didn’t speak up to Harper in ways they could have before things got really bad. I couldn’t tell if this was because they didn’t know how bad her mental health was or if it was that they didn’t want to rock the boat, but there was some dissonance with how intrusive they otherwise were as a trait of their friendship. I think Alex could have been better utilized as a friend for Dan, giving him someone else to talk to and to develop as a character within his complex relationship with his mother rather than just Harper and internal monologues. I also think it would have been good to see that relationship in person especially since she wasn’t live particularly far away so that we could make our own judgements.
One thing I really liked about Harper and Dan was that they were (eventually) good commmunicators and the development of the friendship and transition to lovers was a delight to read. For an Instlove-based plot, their coupledom was very believable. I’m glad I read this and would read something else from this author.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publishers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Classism, Grief, Sexism, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Car accident
Moderate: Abandonment and Ableism
Minor: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting
shannon_magee's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I think Eddings is a strong writer and clearly captures her character's anxiety. For me, the struggle with this book was the characters themselves more than the writing or even the plot. I had a very hard time sympathizing with Harper because she lacked empathy when it came to how her actions were affecting those around her--throughout the book. Her acknowledgement of this and her steps to remedy this seemed too little, too late, and anxiety does not and should not equal a lack of empathy (if anything, myself and those I know with GAD over-empathize, which makes the anxiety worse when you feel neglectful of friends & loved ones, so this character trait just made Harper read as unsympathetic to me.) And I appreciate that not every character needs to be 100% likeable and all can have many flaws! It just made it difficult for me to sympathize with her during the climactic moments, and I always want to sympathize with the heroines.
On the other hand, Dan almost read as too invested, too soon to me. He was pure candy of a man. Very sweet, if that's what you're in the mood for--he delivers. But it did frustrate me that when he voiced his own conflicting thoughts/emotions to Harper she seemed to encourage him to stay in a toxic situation??? Like, when he confessed he was failing and didn't even want to become a dentist in the first place, her first response wasn't "what would you like to do?" or "have you talked to your mom about this" and given him room to talk out his options, but instead ignored all of that and basically encouraged him to stay on the same path as her by saying "I'll help you study" ??? I HATED that. Not only did it show Harper's lack of seeing potentially fulfilling goals for people that were not her own goals (again, lacking empathy), but to encourage someone to stay in an academic environment when there are alternatives that would be more fulfilling and there's no real need for them to stay? To me, that's the crux of everything wrong with higher ed/academia/medicine. These fields can be mentally and emotionally draining, and even toxic when you're passionate about pursuing your degree or doctorate as is. And the value placed on them above other professions by parents/guardians/social structures only exacerbate pressures of feeling not enough, stupid, and anxious for so many. It frustrated me that Harper, someone who is suffering from anxiety heightened by this system, couldn't recognize it hurting someone else and try to support him in the way he needed, instead of encouraging him in that moment to just put his head down and study through it. And it frustrated me that the story left that unaddressed, for the most part. Once again, when Dan had to unpack that for her later on and spell it out, Harper's sadness about it felt like too little, too late and instead became yet something else for Dan to do--cheer her up from being upset over his reality. I would have been more interested in seeing Harper offer Dan great advice and insight, that she could have benefited from herself, but failed to see was needed for her own situation. Because isn't that relatable! But I guess that goes back to my earlier hang-up.
Overall, this wasn't my cup of tea. The panic attack/anxiety sections were so well written they were very immersive, to the point of being triggering at times (But I really LOVED that this book began with a content warning for us about these things--top points for CWs, I wish more authors/publishers would include them). But the visceral panic scenes to the really sweet moments felt a little jarring to me. But it might just be that I'm not suited to that level of sweetness!
On the other hand, Dan almost read as too invested, too soon to me. He was pure candy of a man. Very sweet, if that's what you're in the mood for--he delivers. But it did frustrate me that when he voiced his own conflicting thoughts/emotions to Harper
Overall, this wasn't my cup of tea. The panic attack/anxiety sections were so well written they were very immersive, to the point of being triggering at times (But I really LOVED that this book began with a content warning for us about these things--top points for CWs, I wish more authors/publishers would include them). But the visceral panic scenes to the really sweet moments felt a little jarring to me. But it might just be that I'm not suited to that level of sweetness!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
aweightytome's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I love the scene where Harper talks about honey mushrooms relating it to her anxiety. That had me feeling things. The book was a bit too insta-lovey for me and the last 20% had me a little underwhelmed. But, I enjoy the characters, I like Harper’s drive and determination.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Cancer, Grief, and Mental illness
michaela999's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Sexism, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship
i_am_selinam's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Ableism, and Grief