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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
karsyn's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
2.0
Honest review provided in exchange for an ARC of this book: A cute story and I liked reading about Imari’s shyness and hesitation to pursue Cassidy. The inclusion of the ex-fiancé felt a bit unnecessary as in novella format we didn’t get to see much happen with it, same goes for the mom. The technical issues took me out of it a lot, which was a bummer. Imari’s thoughts were all in quotation marks, many sentences had grammatical errors or repeated words that a beta or editor could’ve caught.
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia and Fatphobia
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