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unsuccessfulbookclub'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
4.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent
nbreezy17'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? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Homophobia
ladythana's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, and Lesbophobia
thaliareads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer and Emotional abuse
Minor: Homophobia, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Emotional abuse isn't directly discussed as so, but the mother of Astrid comes off as emotionally abusive. Minor spoilers that shouldn't reveal too much:le3713'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
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment
Minor: Death of parent
kylieqrada'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
Graphic: Cancer, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Death of parent
duckyreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse
uraveragelesbianreader's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism and Cancer
Minor: Mental illness
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Some more things I loved:
- Jordan! Such a good love interest. Just the right balance of trauma and passion. Sensitive and understanding without compromising her own boundaries or needs.
- The reality TV show plot was actually very fun. I liked Natasha Rojas and her team. And at least this book has actual named people of color in it, unlike book one.
- Yay for queer siblings and all-queer friend groups!
- This is very much a romance book, but it's much more internal than most romances, and Astrid's personal growth and journey of self-discovery is very much the main thing going on here, and I love that a lot.
- Baking bi
Sapphics going into business together! - Jordan's character arc/career trajectory was also really satisfying to read
- Love that Ruby and Josh are still characters in this book and that Josh's character development from book one carried over
- Very happy that we spent more time with Iris in this one. I feel like I'll actually care about her when we get to her book.
- Clit necklace
- The first two sex scenes are SO GOOD
- The clear references to other popular sapphic romance books in Iris's library were really cute
- I liked whatever was going on with Iris and Simon's dynamic as well. They were fun.
And I'm glad that Simon got a bit of development and his own romance, even though it happened off-page - I just generally thought that the character dynamics and general story structure were even better in this book than in Delilah Green Doesn't Care
Things that I did not like:
- The opening was really rough
- I know it was thematically significant, but the love confession stuff got a bit too woo woo for me (and I say this as someone who does own a tarot deck)
I NEVER want to hear about two characters "rubbing their pussies together" and then spontaneously orgasming together ever again. That's not how anything works, and it was especially weird when the earlier sex scenes felt so realistic in the very best way. Letting the audience think that Meredith had DIED OF CANCER for over a third of the book was a very odd choice and I was not a fan - I am once again BEGGING Ashley Herring Blake to just say "lesbian" and "sapphic" instead of constantly saying "women and nonbinary people." This book was better about that than the first one (like Jordan is actually described as a lesbian at least once and some of the books were actually described as sapphic), but it was still weird and I wish authors would just use the very useful labels that already exist to describe their characters' queer identities. It's smoother and better and doesn't make it seem like you have something against the word "lesbian."
Misc thoughts:
- FUCK YOU MEREDITH
- FUCK YOU JILLIAN
Anyway, if you like antagonists to lovers sapphics with a small-town renovation show setting and a large dose of self-exploration, you should definitely pick up Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail.
Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia and Death of parent
mandaraffe's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness
Minor: Mental illness and Death of parent