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chocolatemeerkat's review against another edition
2.0
First off this isnt a historical romance this is barely a coming of age bildungsroman historical fiction. It is also poorly plotted. Poorly written and seriously you can write a historical romance where your lesbian characters are in fact not completely utterly miserable or hopeless or you know marry men. This was incredibly disappointing and not worth my time. I was excited for a mill girl romance set in my state and ultimately it was not even that.
theamandashelby's review against another edition
4.0
I love historical fiction. I wish there was more out there to read. It was an enjoyable read.
synth's review
2.0
I was leaning towards a 2.5 rounded up but, then I disliked how the more experienced and accepting of her sexuality, who had 5+ years to come to terms with it, barely need the other's consent, she only asks if she's sure, without any thought given to any other potentiality, like her maybe feeling like she has to sleep with her to keep her in her life, kinda like with a man out of necessity for her children and herself without the ownership aspect of marriage to a man, even on a subconscious level maybe. They never talk about any of it beforehand and it feels unhealthy and unrealistic given their background and past.
And then we never see the thought process the less experienced one does to finally be ok with it and with herself. We only get a halfhearted "I thought me keeping us apart before anyone else can do it would be less painful", which is valid, but that's all we get, and we never see it, and it feels like a rationalization a posteriori rather than the real thing she needed to work on. It's also presented as completely normal that she does the work it took 5 to 10 years for the other to do, in about 1 month, while she arguably has more hangups to work through, and more responsibilities that would be impacted by such a decision. None of it is ever explored, which is disappointing because the beginning hinted as better characterization, beginning in which we see a lot more of her friend's journey.
Which brings me to my last point, it felt that this book was way more centered around the more accepting/assertive/butch one, especially at the end, but even generally, we see the more femme one question what is her worth compared to the other one, who is basically pictured as very smart and going places, while she has simple dreams of being a mother, and only has her beauty and humor to offer. In the end, the fact that the butch one basically talks for and over the femme one to fix their problem, as is expected of her by herself and the femme one really drove that point home and rubbed me the wrong way.
So all that makes me lower my rating to 2.
And then we never see the thought process the less experienced one does to finally be ok with it and with herself. We only get a halfhearted "I thought me keeping us apart before anyone else can do it would be less painful", which is valid, but that's all we get, and we never see it, and it feels like a rationalization a posteriori rather than the real thing she needed to work on. It's also presented as completely normal that she does the work it took 5 to 10 years for the other to do, in about 1 month, while she arguably has more hangups to work through, and more responsibilities that would be impacted by such a decision. None of it is ever explored, which is disappointing because the beginning hinted as better characterization, beginning in which we see a lot more of her friend's journey.
Which brings me to my last point, it felt that this book was way more centered around the more accepting/assertive/butch one, especially at the end, but even generally, we see the more femme one question what is her worth compared to the other one, who is basically pictured as very smart and going places, while she has simple dreams of being a mother, and only has her beauty and humor to offer. In the end, the fact that the butch one basically talks for and over the femme one to fix their problem, as is expected of her by herself and the femme one really drove that point home and rubbed me the wrong way.
So all that makes me lower my rating to 2.
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