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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
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
Cute and Irish, can’t ask for anything better! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m looking up flights to Dublin…
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
Another lovely romance by Sarah Grunder Ruiz.
It had a wonderful sense of place and it went down easy, which isn't to say that the writing was simplistic, just smooth. I can't speak to the accuracy of the OCD portrayal and everyone will experience it differently anyway but I found it really interesting to read about.
My minor beefs are I thought the plot with Clara was too easily resolved. I have so many questions. And though the portrayal of Raine's ADHD rang true to some friends and loved ones, I did find it a little frustrating that she didn't seem to know much about it. She had a late diagnosis, didn't know much about accommodation, and clearly wasn't medicated (not that medication is the right course for everyone) but it felt more like she'd never explored it rather than made her own choice.
It had a wonderful sense of place and it went down easy, which isn't to say that the writing was simplistic, just smooth. I can't speak to the accuracy of the OCD portrayal and everyone will experience it differently anyway but I found it really interesting to read about.
My minor beefs are I thought the plot with Clara was too easily resolved. I have so many questions. And though the portrayal of Raine's ADHD rang true to some friends and loved ones, I did find it a little frustrating that she didn't seem to know much about it. She had a late diagnosis, didn't know much about accommodation, and clearly wasn't medicated (not that medication is the right course for everyone) but it felt more like she'd never explored it rather than made her own choice.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
“One beetle recognizes another”🪲(Translation from Irish: It takes one to know one”) and this perfectly imperfect couple makes for a very sweet read. The ADHD and OCD rep is *excellent* and brings together a couple that is so soft and accepting of one another’s quirks, desires, and hearts.
Lorraine (Raine) Hart is pursuing her passion for music by traveling and busking her way from one European city to another after dropping out of med school. That is, until her guitar and equipment is stolen in Cobh, Ireland, and she is offered a job by the handsome and heavily tattooed bartender/pub owner, Jack Dunne. While petting the resident pub cat, Sebastian (🐈⬛ AKA Princess Ugly), Jack asks Raine for her expert opinion - as a traveling musician who has visited many European pubs - on the bar’s atmosphere and design. He loves the ideas she shares for revitalizing the space that he and his older brother inherited from their abusive dad. Jack hires her as program coordinator on the spot - despite her lack of any experience - and moves in with his brother and his family so that he can offer Raine his apartment above The Local while she saves up money for her next adventure. Immediately natural and flirty chemistry turns into a deep friendship between Raine and her ‘most professional coworker,’ Jack, each bringing out the best in one another as they give the other person the space to be seen and appreciated for being completely themselves. The opposites attract dynamic between them - with Jack’s roots at the Local and travel-hindering compulsive thoughts and Raine’s free-spirited personality and unquenchable wanderlust - might pull them apart, but the strength of their bond may just survive the push and pull of their very different lives.
Spoilers ahead…
Raine’s ADHD and Jack’s OCD are such a fundamental part of the story that is woven so naturally into their dynamic as friends and eventually as a couple. Raine and Jack’s neurodivergence and the way each is established independently and in connection to the other person’s is a real highlight of this story. Getting to experience the chaos inside Raine’s ADHD brain and the compulsive thoughts from OCD in Jack’s brain was powerful. As they parse through the daily challenges inherent with these diagnoses, the author evokes such respect and empathy for those facing similar challenges as well as hope that every beetle will find its match.
I’m excited to read the other two books, one of which is about Jack’s brother, Ollie, and sister-in-law, Nina!
Memorable moments:
- Ciaróg (beetle) being Jack’s nickname for her 🥰
- Jack: “How can you think you’re too much when I can’t get enough of you?” 🫠
- Jack hunting the internet for Raine’s stolen and very sentimental guitar and buying it to return to her 🎸 so he can support her in making her own music to share her gift with the world.
- The way Raine supports Jack in facing his debilitating compulsive thoughts to get back his passion for tattooing, helping him fulfill his promise to ink her first tattoo.
- Raine: “If my life is a song, then the places I’ve been are the verses. New and varied. But Ireland? Ireland is a chorus, something to return to again and again. A place to land. Or maybe it isn’t Ireland, maybe it’s Jack.” 💚
Lorraine (Raine) Hart is pursuing her passion for music by traveling and busking her way from one European city to another after dropping out of med school. That is, until her guitar and equipment is stolen in Cobh, Ireland, and she is offered a job by the handsome and heavily tattooed bartender/pub owner, Jack Dunne. While petting the resident pub cat, Sebastian (🐈⬛ AKA Princess Ugly), Jack asks Raine for her expert opinion - as a traveling musician who has visited many European pubs - on the bar’s atmosphere and design. He loves the ideas she shares for revitalizing the space that he and his older brother inherited from their abusive dad. Jack hires her as program coordinator on the spot - despite her lack of any experience - and moves in with his brother and his family so that he can offer Raine his apartment above The Local while she saves up money for her next adventure. Immediately natural and flirty chemistry turns into a deep friendship between Raine and her ‘most professional coworker,’ Jack, each bringing out the best in one another as they give the other person the space to be seen and appreciated for being completely themselves. The opposites attract dynamic between them - with Jack’s roots at the Local and travel-hindering compulsive thoughts and Raine’s free-spirited personality and unquenchable wanderlust - might pull them apart, but the strength of their bond may just survive the push and pull of their very different lives.
Spoilers ahead…
Raine’s ADHD and Jack’s OCD are such a fundamental part of the story that is woven so naturally into their dynamic as friends and eventually as a couple. Raine and Jack’s neurodivergence and the way each is established independently and in connection to the other person’s is a real highlight of this story. Getting to experience the chaos inside Raine’s ADHD brain and the compulsive thoughts from OCD in Jack’s brain was powerful. As they parse through the daily challenges inherent with these diagnoses, the author evokes such respect and empathy for those facing similar challenges as well as hope that every beetle will find its match.
I’m excited to read the other two books, one of which is about Jack’s brother, Ollie, and sister-in-law, Nina!
Memorable moments:
- Ciaróg (beetle) being Jack’s nickname for her 🥰
- Jack: “How can you think you’re too much when I can’t get enough of you?” 🫠
- Jack hunting the internet for Raine’s stolen and very sentimental guitar and buying it to return to her 🎸 so he can support her in making her own music to share her gift with the world.
- The way Raine supports Jack in facing his debilitating compulsive thoughts to get back his passion for tattooing, helping him fulfill his promise to ink her first tattoo.
- Raine: “If my life is a song, then the places I’ve been are the verses. New and varied. But Ireland? Ireland is a chorus, something to return to again and again. A place to land. Or maybe it isn’t Ireland, maybe it’s Jack.” 💚