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sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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
3.75
There were lots of things I loved, including Ray as a whole, an enby love interest, the found family, exploration of gender and performative workplaces, the food descriptions, and top surgery representation. I felt a lot of this was done well and I was invested in that part of the story. However, some things didn't sit great with me. In particular, I didn't particularly like Simone as a character and this this would've been amazing from Ray's point of view. Simone's early inbuilt prejudices against herself and Ray were never completely addressed, which I felt cheapened some of the discussions around misgendering and transphobia/homophobia, and she was also just kind of rude a lot of the time for no real reason. She did get a character arc and these behaviours stopped but I felt that she never really took responsibility for the fact that she was doing these things in the first place, which would've made it better for me. This took me out of the romance and meant I didn't care too much for it by the end. In saying this, it felt like the romance was a small portion of this story overall, so I did have an enjoyable time overall and the more I think back on this, the more the good parts stick out for me over the parts I didn't enjoy as much, so I'm sitting at about a 3.75 stars at the moment. I would recommend this if solely for the representation of an enby love interest!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Deadnaming, and Homophobia
Minor: Alcohol
louisekf's review against another edition
emotional
informative
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
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deadnaming, Medical content, and Transphobia
Minor: Alcohol and Sexual content
bookishmillennial's review
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
I read this on the plane ride back home from my work trip and it was an absolute delight!
I adored the grumpy x sunshine dynamic between Simone and Ray — they were equally hilarious and awkward, which made it especially entertaining for me as a third-party removed from the fictional situation hahaha. Not only that, but the found family dynamics tugged at my heart. I am still giddy over them (the entire crew) all giving each other nicknames teeheeeee
While their love story is slow but steady, I also appreciated the commentary on how workplaces can be per formative and only focus on optics and how harmful that is! I was stressed for Ray but I want to assure you there is indeed a happy ending here!
I actually have the ARC of Chef’s Choice on NetGalley so I’m excited to dive into that one next hehe.
I read this on the plane ride back home from my work trip and it was an absolute delight!
I adored the grumpy x sunshine dynamic between Simone and Ray — they were equally hilarious and awkward, which made it especially entertaining for me as a third-party removed from the fictional situation hahaha. Not only that, but the found family dynamics tugged at my heart. I am still giddy over them (the entire crew) all giving each other nicknames teeheeeee
While their love story is slow but steady, I also appreciated the commentary on how workplaces can be per formative and only focus on optics and how harmful that is! I was stressed for Ray but I want to assure you there is indeed a happy ending here!
I actually have the ARC of Chef’s Choice on NetGalley so I’m excited to dive into that one next hehe.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Medical content, Deadnaming, and Transphobia
Minor: Fatphobia, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Child abuse
sage_alexandra's review
funny
lighthearted
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: Homophobia, Deadnaming, and Transphobia
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Medical content
Minor: Blood, Dysphoria, Excrement, Biphobia, Alcohol, Misogyny, and Ableism
I only gave it 4 stars because I'm not a huge fan of reading queer fiction that isn't "anyone who is queer is established as such from the get go."starlitpage's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Alcohol, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Sexual content
Moderate: Medical content and Outing
Minor: Racism and Emotional abuse
minimaiasaura's review
challenging
emotional
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Deadnaming, Transphobia, and Medical content
Minor: Biphobia, Alcohol, Homophobia, Racism, and Gaslighting
kleinekita's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Medical content, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol and Homophobia
Minor: Biphobia and Racism
novella42's review
emotional
funny
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? It's complicated
4.0
Queer romance with an enby love interest, an autistic-coded protagonist, and tons of phenomenal food writing? Yes, please!
(For context, I'm a cis omnisexual woman with a partner of 11 years who came out as genderfluid three years ago. At this point I'm the only cis person in a polycule of five, so I made a lot of the same mistakes Simone made.)
I read this in two days. While I wish it had spent more time on the romance than the discrimination the characters went through, the discrimination was 100% believable and the author did a damn good job of telling the story they wanted to tell. The protagonist/audience gets a friendly and thorough primer in Trans 101, so if you're new to all of this or want practice learning about the transmasc and nonbinary queer experience, this would be a great place to start.
The food descriptions were my favorite part. Lines like "her patience was dissolving like salt in boiling water." Love this characterization, she is SUCH an Enneagram 5:
""Yes, but the kale craze is pretty much over by now," Simone pointed out. A few years before, it had been pomegranates, which Simone had hated passionately. They were the least logical fruit ever conceived. If something was that difficult to open up, it should be allowed to keep its secrets, was her opinion."
I really enjoyed how well Ray and Simone worked together once they warmed up to each other. I think that can sometimes fall by the wayside with the enemies-to-lovers trope, and seeing two people genuinely vibe well and complement each other was a pleasure. I just wanted more time with them!
(For context, I'm a cis omnisexual woman with a partner of 11 years who came out as genderfluid three years ago. At this point I'm the only cis person in a polycule of five, so I made a lot of the same mistakes Simone made.)
I read this in two days. While I wish it had spent more time on the romance than the discrimination the characters went through, the discrimination was 100% believable and the author did a damn good job of telling the story they wanted to tell. The protagonist/audience gets a friendly and thorough primer in Trans 101, so if you're new to all of this or want practice learning about the transmasc and nonbinary queer experience, this would be a great place to start.
The food descriptions were my favorite part. Lines like "her patience was dissolving like salt in boiling water." Love this characterization, she is SUCH an Enneagram 5:
""Yes, but the kale craze is pretty much over by now," Simone pointed out. A few years before, it had been pomegranates, which Simone had hated passionately. They were the least logical fruit ever conceived. If something was that difficult to open up, it should be allowed to keep its secrets, was her opinion."
I really enjoyed how well Ray and Simone worked together once they warmed up to each other. I think that can sometimes fall by the wayside with the enemies-to-lovers trope, and seeing two people genuinely vibe well and complement each other was a pleasure. I just wanted more time with them!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Deadnaming
Moderate: Medical content and Blood
Minor: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
maeverose's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
3.5
I was worried based on the synopsis that it would be overly cheesy but it’s really not. It is funny though, and the humor worked for me. You can tell a trans person wrote this book, they definitely understand trans issues and it’s reflected in the book. I loved the conversations about how trans people shouldn’t be expected to teach cis people everything about gender.
My only complaints are the misunderstanding trope and how long it takes for them to finally get together. I do like how everything played out in the end but it was mild torture having to read Simone constantly convince herself Ray didn’t like her. I just wanted them to make out already. But those are mild complaints, overall I had a good time.
I do want to note that there is a lot of misgendering of Ray throughout the story. For the first half everyone, including the main character uses she/her pronouns for them because they aren’t out yet, then once they do come out the antagonists of the book purposefully misgender them every time they interact, and it’s quite infuriating. So if that’s a trigger for you I’d be prepared for that.
I do want to note that there is a lot of misgendering of Ray throughout the story. For the first half everyone, including the main character uses she/her pronouns for them because they aren’t out yet, then once they do come out the antagonists of the book purposefully misgender them every time they interact, and it’s quite infuriating. So if that’s a trigger for you I’d be prepared for that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual content, Transphobia, Bullying, and Deadnaming
Moderate: Dysphoria, Homophobia, Medical content, and Vomit
Minor: Blood, Excrement, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, and Cursing
Graphic: misgendering, handling of bodily fluids after surgeryjourdanicus's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I liked a lot about this book, but it started to lose me in the middle when it felt like the story turned into a Gender 101 lesson. I appreciate that other readers new to understanding the gender spectrum might need that information, but I wanted more from the characters.
It didn't feel very believable that Simone would have such difficulty using they/them pronouns after having had a transgender roommate for 5 years who she basically paid in baked goods to school her in what it's like to be trans/nb. Even if she was a Luddite without a single social media account... And apparently zero social life.
Also, I'm a bit of an impatient romance reader, so the slow burn here was a little too slow for me.
It didn't feel very believable that Simone would have such difficulty using they/them pronouns after having had a transgender roommate for 5 years who she basically paid in baked goods to school her in what it's like to be trans/nb. Even if she was a Luddite without a single social media account... And apparently zero social life.
Also, I'm a bit of an impatient romance reader, so the slow burn here was a little too slow for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming
Moderate: Transphobia, Medical content, and Sexual content
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Alcohol