Reviews

Trouble by Lex Croucher

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tamtam's review

lighthearted 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

3.25

2.5 rounded down. A decent read from Croucher, but not my favorite. While I enjoyed Emily's dynamics with Edwards's children, I feel like I didn't really believe in the romance between the two characters. but the writing style did. It was definitely an easy breezy read and Grace is really my favorite. I did appreciate Captain Edwards as a character, but wish we got to see more of him. It felt like we got more with Emily and the bigger plot as well as the staff that the buildup didn't quite work for me. Aster and Grace were definitely the highlight though.

babyjay's review

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adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was lovely and I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes we lived in a world that didn’t care so much about who you are or who you love. Anybody who loves someone with a chronic illness or has one themselves. Anyone who is contrary and self flagellating and a little bit mean. Anyone who feels unworthy of love and unwittingly needs to see that it’s possible to find people who will freely give it to you. Force it on you, actually, and eventually you learn to live with it.

jshoss's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

3.25

lindzmace's review

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4.25

i liked this a lot! as always, lex croucher stresses me out beyond belief but the good thing is it is usually at least partially resolved in a chapter or two so my heart rate is able to come down fairly quickly.

purrson's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing tense 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

5.0

I’m giving an extra star for the bi4bi rep and the chronic illness rep (both of which I loved and related to, and together was just personally so enjoyable), and the normalized queerness of the whole story cements it as 5⭐️ for me.

There’s a few scattered remarks aimed at modern readers that pull you a bit out of the story occasionally, so Trouble is not as thoroughly immersed in the period as others I’ve read, but this historical novel was so delightfully queer and realistic about poverty, the working class, and the revolutionary pro-worker spirit that England crushed thoroughly (The Oak and The Ash by Annick Trent is a good queer, well-researched historical novel if you want more about that), and illness, health, etc. that I was engrossed. It’s a generous length, which I enjoyed, has moderate spice (3/5🌶️) that works well for the plot (and isn’t just contained to the part of the book where things are tense or in disarray—which I appreciated). I really loved the characters, who are wonderfully fleshed out, and real and diverse in a way England really was but which historical fiction often whitewashes. I had a bit of trouble liking Emily at first, because she is so determined to be contrary and to not enjoy herself that her mind is a little too tightly closed (a little of that disliking was down to my having felt that way at times when I was young, and recognizing it as silly now), but her character growth is well done, slow and enjoyable, and the communication (and miscommunication) between her and the love interest makes sense and isn’t unnecessarily dramatic. I definitely related to her though, grumpy as she is.
Asher and Grace are very believable teenagers for then and now, trying hard to be adults (jaded or overly-prepared, respectively), and the frequent sarcasm was delightful.

I read this too quickly on Libby and absolutely enjoyed it, so I’ll likely buy it just to have at hand again.

Content Warnings

cobaltbookshelf's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 stars

This book was so fun. Another Lex Croucher historical romance that is really charming. It's humorous and cute with characters representing a range of queer identities, this series should be on everyone read list.Trouble was the light-hearted romp and I am excited to read Croucher's next book.

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.