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letsgolesbians's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
a cute, quick final read for february ✨ Black and sapphic! dark-skinned rep, fat rep, a real person on the cover!
fall into you is a novella featuring imari (the cover character), who has recently moved to a small town in texas from houston after leaving her fiancé at the altar. while helping her friend at a local festival, she runs into an old childhood friend named cassidy she lost touch with…and cassidy happens to be hot as hell now. “tall, with a tight swimmer’s build,” dark umber skin, and long black hair that was pulled up into a sloppy bun to show off a neat fade underneath” (hello).
imari is dealing with an emotionally manipulative mother and by the end of the story leans into her found family. the romance is sweet and i loved their queer family they create. more Black sapphic joy, please.
“heather, it’s not fall” seasons aren’t the same in la as they are in other places, i can follow my own calendar! for example, in most of the country it’s winter right now and in la it’s awards season.
thank you @charlottelovestoread for buying this for me off my bookshop wishlist ❤️
TWs emotional manipulation, on-page sex
photo review here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3826RAvDch/?igsh=NzBmMjdhZWRiYQ==
fall into you is a novella featuring imari (the cover character), who has recently moved to a small town in texas from houston after leaving her fiancé at the altar. while helping her friend at a local festival, she runs into an old childhood friend named cassidy she lost touch with…and cassidy happens to be hot as hell now. “tall, with a tight swimmer’s build,” dark umber skin, and long black hair that was pulled up into a sloppy bun to show off a neat fade underneath” (hello).
imari is dealing with an emotionally manipulative mother and by the end of the story leans into her found family. the romance is sweet and i loved their queer family they create. more Black sapphic joy, please.
“heather, it’s not fall” seasons aren’t the same in la as they are in other places, i can follow my own calendar! for example, in most of the country it’s winter right now and in la it’s awards season.
thank you @charlottelovestoread for buying this for me off my bookshop wishlist ❤️
TWs emotional manipulation, on-page sex
photo review here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3826RAvDch/?igsh=NzBmMjdhZWRiYQ==
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
pucksandpaperbacks's review against another edition
lighthearted
tense
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? Yes
I received an advanced readers copy curtesy of the author. All thoughts are my own.
CW: Emotional abuse from a parent, (minor) homophobia, (minor) fatphobia
I enjoyed reading this snippet of a story about two women who were childhood friends and reunite in their adulthood. If you want to read a short autumnal read that is also sapphic, I encourage you to pick up this novella. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and how different Cassidy and Imari were. Imari is also dealing with a lot of turmoil as she left her fiancé at the altar and is struggling with cutting off her emotionally abusive mother. Whereas, Cassidy is the owner of a coffee shop and moved away from home like Imari. However, their situations are vastly different.
This novella does touch on Imari's relationship with her mother and trying to find her chosen family. This was a sweet read and I loved the scene where Imari and her friends go to a Fall Festival. That really made this novella feel autumnal. I would definitely read a larger novel with these two characters!
However, I did have some trouble with the writing. There were some issues with the grammar making it hard to follow at times. However, I did receive a digital galley from the author, so I'm hoping those issues are resolved in the published edition. I also agree with other reviewers who said the writing was hard to get into because it is written in third-person but the balance of pronouns isn't there. The character's names are used more often that being referred by their pronouns. It made it hard to follow some scenes, but I think you just get used to it!
Overall, I would recommend this novella. It was a cute sapphic read that will make you warm inside especially if you like the found family trope and childhood friends to lovers.
CW: Emotional abuse from a parent, (minor) homophobia, (minor) fatphobia
I enjoyed reading this snippet of a story about two women who were childhood friends and reunite in their adulthood. If you want to read a short autumnal read that is also sapphic, I encourage you to pick up this novella. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and how different Cassidy and Imari were. Imari is also dealing with a lot of turmoil as she left her fiancé at the altar and is struggling with cutting off her emotionally abusive mother. Whereas, Cassidy is the owner of a coffee shop and moved away from home like Imari. However, their situations are vastly different.
This novella does touch on Imari's relationship with her mother and trying to find her chosen family. This was a sweet read and I loved the scene where Imari and her friends go to a Fall Festival. That really made this novella feel autumnal. I would definitely read a larger novel with these two characters!
However, I did have some trouble with the writing. There were some issues with the grammar making it hard to follow at times. However, I did receive a digital galley from the author, so I'm hoping those issues are resolved in the published edition. I also agree with other reviewers who said the writing was hard to get into because it is written in third-person but the balance of pronouns isn't there. The character's names are used more often that being referred by their pronouns. It made it hard to follow some scenes, but I think you just get used to it!
Overall, I would recommend this novella. It was a cute sapphic read that will make you warm inside especially if you like the found family trope and childhood friends to lovers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Minor: Homophobia and Fatphobia
smartie_chan's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
CW: Mentions of Emotional Abuse
4 / 5 Stars
Could this have been a 5 Star book that makes me cry my eyes out? Sure. Was it? Nope. What we got instead was a cozy, Contemporary Sapphic Romance that put more effort into the Comfort of Hurt/Confort than the hurt.
Imari has a difficult relationship with her mother and from what we've seen, it's got a lot to do with neglect & expectations, nearing emotional parental abuse. It's sounds like it actually is abuse, but we don't learn enough for me to say for certain. I would have loved to learn more, to dive deeper, but I'm not too sad about the direction the book took instead: recovery & moving on.
I will say though, that I believe the whole ex sub plot - if one wants to even call it that- to not have been really necessary. Less ex, more mother and I would have been even happier.
The romance - which is kind of the main thing anyways - is cute and sweet and I could see the chemistry our two lead ladies had going on. I would have loved to see more of them, but what we got was fine as well.
Especially since Imari is a proud and confident plus-size woman and that's just great ^-^
Final Thoughts
Nice, short story.
4 / 5 Stars
Could this have been a 5 Star book that makes me cry my eyes out? Sure. Was it? Nope. What we got instead was a cozy, Contemporary Sapphic Romance that put more effort into the Comfort of Hurt/Confort than the hurt.
Imari has a difficult relationship with her mother and from what we've seen, it's got a lot to do with neglect & expectations, nearing emotional parental abuse. It's sounds like it actually is abuse, but we don't learn enough for me to say for certain. I would have loved to learn more, to dive deeper, but I'm not too sad about the direction the book took instead: recovery & moving on.
I will say though, that I believe the whole ex sub plot - if one wants to even call it that- to not have been really necessary. Less ex, more mother and I would have been even happier.
The romance - which is kind of the main thing anyways - is cute and sweet and I could see the chemistry our two lead ladies had going on. I would have loved to see more of them, but what we got was fine as well.
Especially since Imari is a proud and confident plus-size woman and that's just great ^-^
Final Thoughts
Nice, short story.
Content Warnings
Minor: Emotional abuse
lovelynovellas's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming and Emotional abuse
buttermellow's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
mousegoddess's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
4.0
So. Freaking. Cute. Liked the pacing, liked the length for the story being told (mostly), this was a short that worked for me. My quibbles have to do partially with a need for copyediting, there weren't copious errors but the ones that were there weren't errors I could just glide over so they jarred me from the story a little. The only other thing is a personal one of SO MUCH of the story happening off page. I think it's well-executed, but it's just not a method/style that I like.
Content Warnings
Minor: Emotional abuse
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