Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Sorry, Bro

This is def a culturally specific book. Its brilliant writing is what makes it so good. The way the author was able to weave Armenian culture into a coming out narrative is awesome! I loved every minute of it!!!!

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jane_cs's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

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amberinpieces's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

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lunep's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I liked learning about Armenian culture, and I saw myself in the main character a little bit, but I didn't fall in love with the characters or their romance, I was left feeling very "eh" about it, which makes me sad because I seem to have no luck with sapphic romances.

It was cute, but overall I didn't feel super invested. Nareh stressed me out sometimes, and Erebuni felt too perfect, and the other suitors and some other secondary characters felt like they were designed to be shitty so Erebuni could look like the perfect woman:

-Trevor: misogynist, subconsciously racist/xenophobic, didn't seem to pay attention to the person Nareh actually was and what she liked.
-Raffi: misogynist, self obssesed.
-Arek: ok, nothing wrong with him. But Nareh didn't feel attracted to him (which is fair)
-The engineer guy: makes a joke about how he feels pain by proxy when cutting up an eggplant bc eggplant emoji.
-Artur: misogynist.
-Sako: nothing wrong with him either, just gay.
-Ara: self-obssesed, interrupting Nareh every time she talks.
-Kevork: pedantic.

-Kiki: sexist, very conservative, rude, she believes she's better than everyone.

Also, the cover says "From wingwoman to the woman of her dreams", and the synopsis says "Suddenly, with Erebuni as her wingwoman, the events feel like far less of a chore, and much more of an adventure." but there wasn't much wingwoman-ing, and I expected more overall. It ended up being a just-ok book for me, which again, sad about that.

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applejacksbooks's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

So I think this book was incorrectly marketed. I think it should have been marketed as a "reconnecting with their culture" type book more so than a "choosing between the man I've been dating and the new women that I keep seeing around" type vibe. I think it does a disservice to the book, because I found myself really enjoying the parts where Nareh was reconnecting with being Armenian after spending most of her life avoiding that and less enjoying the romance parts (not that those were bad either).

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booksandbesitos's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I picked this up because I really liked the title lol, but I didn’t really have any expectations going into it. It turned out to be coming of age but as an adult. And I really liked that. Our main character starts off as a reporter who is sort of engaged to a man with a couple friends. And by the end of the book she’s

a journalist, with a girlfriend, and a few new friends.

I liked that the book showed that finding your self, and where you belong isn’t something that ends in high school and it’s some thing lifelong. I also really liked how our main character struggles between the sexuality and her culture. It’s something very real for a lot of us POC. I’m not Armenian but I’m Mexican and there was so many similarities between what I dealt with and what happened in the book. (I had tías instead of aunties but the writing still makes it oh so relatable)

The only thing keeping me from giving this five stars is that Nareh kept making really questionable decisions. Like girl please get a grip I’m begging.

But all in all, it was a really nice read, and a really good mix of emotional and heartfelt scenes and some that were pretty funny.

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james1star's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative 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? It's complicated

4.25

I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it. In Sorry, Bro we follow the mc Nar, an Armenian-American news reporter living in San Francisco who’s recently proposed to by her longtime boyfriend but isn’t too keen on the idea. Instead, with the encouragement of her mother, she decides to attend an Explore Armenia event to find a good Armenian husband. But it’s none of the men there who catch her eye, it’s the fun, witchy and passionate Erebuni… a woman. That’s because Nar is bisexual and has known for a long time but has been hiding this part of her identity from her family and external Armenian diaspora community that’s seemingly not the most accepting. Erebuni is an amazing character and as she gets to know Nar, becoming friends and maybe something more, she is able to share her love and connection to Armenian culture and history. This I think is the part of the book and what I loved the most was how Nar is able to reinvigorate herself back into her heritage during the Explore Armenian events and getting to know Erebuni (and her friends) with the author allowing the reader, like Nar, to learn about Armenian food, dances, the history (with a focus on the genocide and it’s importance), songs, politics, art and many more - each chapter begins with an Armenian proverb which I was looking forward to every time and they held lots of meaning in a small number of words… great! Like Erebuni, Nar is quite a developed and complex character and I did enjoy reading into her a lot, I say this but there was some times I felt her actions weren’t the best but I can see where she was coming from or at least the pressures placed on her. Nar’s mum and grandma definitely stole the show for me I feel, again a few issues but I just loved them and they’re funny too.

I think an issue comes in the marketing with this book because it’s billed as a romance but I’d definitely place it in the contemporary genre more so. I found the fluffy romance elements where there and I did enjoy them BUT these are very well balanced with the more heavier topics that Voskuni implements into it too. That being said, for me it’s not a hindrance as I prefer this genre but the romancey stuff does take the back burner.

More Armenian and Queer Armenian stories please!

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koplomps's review against another edition

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Didn't really enjoy or care about any of the characters, other than Erebuni.
LOVED the start of the book with the horrible proposal, but after skimmin through to the end, nothing really piqued my interest. Not saying this is a bad book, it just wasn't for me.

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