Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Sing Anyway

The only complaint that I would have about this book is that it isn't longer, but since it's a novella, I'll just say that Anita Kelly absolutely DID THEIR THING for only doing it in ten chapters.

This book is about Sam (they/them) and Lily (she/her). They're both shy (even though Lily is "Bold Lily" for the first half of the book) and absolutely adorable. Sam's had a crush on Lily for forever and when Lily sees them alone at karaoke she decides to make her move. There's lots of of flirting and lots of ~~drunk~~ serious conversations through the night, and that is all I will say about the plot for the sake of spoilers.

Some highlights:

Lily is fat and as a fat character, she is written SO WELL. So many books miss the mark on fat characterization and reading about Lily almost made me cry (in like, an "I feel seen" way, not because it's sad).
The book is about two characters that are not in their early 20s! Which is not normal for romance! Lily is 32, I believe, and Sam is in their 40s. It's as if single grown-ass adults exist.
Honestly the fact that this is very much not erotic fiction but the author managed to fit 2 sex scenes is pretty impressive -- also, they contributed to plot progression and didn't feel forced at all.
Sam's whole *flails arms* thing with gender is incredibly relatable and is a reminder of how complex gender can be for someone. I think the fact that they figured it out later in life (or, rather, realized they didn't have it figured out) is another thing that isn't represented often in fiction.

ESCAPES Rating:
Enjoyment - 10 | Start - 9 | Characters - 10 | Atmosphere - 8 | Plot - 8 | Ending - 9 | Style - 10

This author absolutely has me in a chokehold. This was the start of me working through her backlog after reading and loving Love & Other Disasters, and um.....if I wasn't convinced I'd read everything they've written before now, I'm convinced now.

Content Warnings