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penandpages's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Acephobia/Arophobia, Ableism, and Homophobia
marieintheraw's review against another edition
4.0
so soft like I was when I felt seen by the love interest being panromantic and having ADHD.
damianameade's review against another edition
5.0
Adorable and there's Brioche!
I won Learning Curves in a Twitter raffle and feel amazingly lucky!
The main characters, Elena and Cora, are the cutest! I just wanna squish them both.
The people and romance felt so real.
My partner has ADHD and Ceillie wrote Cora's experience with it in a way that I felt was truly genuine. My partner has had very similar issues as those mentioned here.
I loved seeing the LGBTQ+ especially the ace aspect of their relationship handled so sweetly. Cora's fears and concerns felt real but we're so quickly soothed that my anxiety for her didn't make me uncomfortable to keep reading (an issue I've had with other books).
The foodie part of the romance was awesome. I love Brioche, I'm already making a shopping list to try out coquito, and that stew at the beginning is on my to-try list!
Elena's family were so sweet, I'm jealous. It would have been cool to see Cora's family response too though. I can't help but wonder how they handled Cora having Christmas at a friend's place.
Learning Curves is officially a favorite holiday story for me. I highly recommend!
I won Learning Curves in a Twitter raffle and feel amazingly lucky!
The main characters, Elena and Cora, are the cutest! I just wanna squish them both.
The people and romance felt so real.
My partner has ADHD and Ceillie wrote Cora's experience with it in a way that I felt was truly genuine. My partner has had very similar issues as those mentioned here.
I loved seeing the LGBTQ+ especially the ace aspect of their relationship handled so sweetly. Cora's fears and concerns felt real but we're so quickly soothed that my anxiety for her didn't make me uncomfortable to keep reading (an issue I've had with other books).
The foodie part of the romance was awesome. I love Brioche, I'm already making a shopping list to try out coquito, and that stew at the beginning is on my to-try list!
Elena's family were so sweet, I'm jealous. It would have been cool to see Cora's family response too though. I can't help but wonder how they handled Cora having Christmas at a friend's place.
Learning Curves is officially a favorite holiday story for me. I highly recommend!
annuhfloor's review
5.0
This is absolutely adorable and it hit me in so many ways with its 89 pages. How, nobody knows, but you bet I'm continuing soon with the next ones asap!
lezreadalot's review against another edition
4.0
A very cute friends to lovers novella with a fresh simple style and really likeable characters. Queer girls falling in love! And one of them is ace! <3
3.5 stars.
3.5 stars.
coffeedragon's review against another edition
3.0
I received a free e-copy via the author in exchange for an honest review. I was also part of the Learning Curves blog tour!
This book really had me interested from the first few pages. I just really liked how Elena described Cora and no lie, if Cora had been in my class, I think I’d consider her cute as well! I loved their initial interaction and even after, it was all just completely sweet. I mentioned that after reading this I had to go read some zombie slaying novel. So if you like the fluff and cute, this is definitely one you’ll enjoy
But I also had a couple “issues” with the story. I’m just used to reading books with heavy narration or at least a good balance between narration and dialogue. In Learning Curves, most of the book is dialogue, which makes it hard to imagine the space the characters inhabit and what they’re doing. There was also a lot of food bonding, which is really a hit or miss. For me, it was a miss. Yes, I loved how Elena and Cora were cooking together and bonding, but I think there was a lot of time spent on explaining the recipes, especially for a book of this size (it’s a really short read). I sort of wish we’d spent most of that time just with the characters and getting to see more of their interaction.
The book does span about three months and I really loved how it took that long for them to get together. We could obviously tell that Elena and Cora liked each other but we got to see them in the pre-dating phase, which all novels seem to forget exists. One other thing I really enjoyed in this book was the Spanish dialogue. While I’m not Puerto Rican, I am a Spanish speaker and it was nice to read those few sentences. I can’t really say much about how that works for someone who doesn’t know Spanish since there wasn’t an “in case you don’t know what’s going on, here’s a translation” section.
Overall, I wasn’t completely in love with this book but I did enjoy reading it. In fact, I had a dumb smile on my face the entire time and even chuckled a couple times.
This book really had me interested from the first few pages. I just really liked how Elena described Cora and no lie, if Cora had been in my class, I think I’d consider her cute as well! I loved their initial interaction and even after, it was all just completely sweet. I mentioned that after reading this I had to go read some zombie slaying novel. So if you like the fluff and cute, this is definitely one you’ll enjoy
But I also had a couple “issues” with the story. I’m just used to reading books with heavy narration or at least a good balance between narration and dialogue. In Learning Curves, most of the book is dialogue, which makes it hard to imagine the space the characters inhabit and what they’re doing. There was also a lot of food bonding, which is really a hit or miss. For me, it was a miss. Yes, I loved how Elena and Cora were cooking together and bonding, but I think there was a lot of time spent on explaining the recipes, especially for a book of this size (it’s a really short read). I sort of wish we’d spent most of that time just with the characters and getting to see more of their interaction.
The book does span about three months and I really loved how it took that long for them to get together. We could obviously tell that Elena and Cora liked each other but we got to see them in the pre-dating phase, which all novels seem to forget exists. One other thing I really enjoyed in this book was the Spanish dialogue. While I’m not Puerto Rican, I am a Spanish speaker and it was nice to read those few sentences. I can’t really say much about how that works for someone who doesn’t know Spanish since there wasn’t an “in case you don’t know what’s going on, here’s a translation” section.
Overall, I wasn’t completely in love with this book but I did enjoy reading it. In fact, I had a dumb smile on my face the entire time and even chuckled a couple times.
hualianr's review against another edition
1.0
thought i'd give this a go bc i wanted some sapphic ace rep but romance novels aren't really my thing - this was also very dialogue heavy and (maybe i'm being cynical) a little cringey at times djfhdjdb
hellomadalyn's review against another edition
5.0
This review originally appeared on Novel Ink.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
*4.5 stars*
When I saw that my friend Ceillie was publishing her first novella– a cis ace f/lesbian f novella with #ownvoices ace, ADHD, and anxiety rep– I immediately jumped at the chance to review it. And, friends, it was exactly the sweet f/f story my heart needed!
Learning Curves follows two main characters whose friendship soon grows into a romance. Elena is a Puerto Rican law student, and Cora is working toward her MBA. The two meet in a business law class, and their romance develops over the course of library study sessions, cooking dates, and snow days. The romance felt so natural and simple. Cora identifies as panromantic and asexual, and though I am not ace and can’t speak personally to the representation, I thought it was really refreshing to see an allosexual love interest who just got it and who accepted Cora just as she is. There is a bit of discussion about gatekeeping in the queer community (especially as it pertains to bi, pan, ace, and aro folks), which is, unfortunately, an all-too relevant topic.
The mental health rep was also fantastic! I related hardcore to Elena’s anxiety and her aversion toward loud noises/loud people. Cora has ADHD, and there’s a scene in which Elena inadvertently mentions Cora’s ADHD to her family, which Cora is uncomfortable with– and, get this, the two have a conversation about it and Elena apologizes! Communication: what a concept. 🙂
While the novella primarily focuses on the girls’ relationship, we get glimpses into their lives and their families that I really loved. I enjoyed all of the delicious food and drink descriptions, too!
Great representation aside, this was such a well-written novella. Everything felt so real. The romance was SO sweet and so natural. Plus, I loved that this book dealt featured two protagonists in grad school, since that’s an age/life event we don’t see too often in literature. If you’re looking for more f/f, I can’t recommend this one highly enough.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
*4.5 stars*
When I saw that my friend Ceillie was publishing her first novella– a cis ace f/lesbian f novella with #ownvoices ace, ADHD, and anxiety rep– I immediately jumped at the chance to review it. And, friends, it was exactly the sweet f/f story my heart needed!
Learning Curves follows two main characters whose friendship soon grows into a romance. Elena is a Puerto Rican law student, and Cora is working toward her MBA. The two meet in a business law class, and their romance develops over the course of library study sessions, cooking dates, and snow days. The romance felt so natural and simple. Cora identifies as panromantic and asexual, and though I am not ace and can’t speak personally to the representation, I thought it was really refreshing to see an allosexual love interest who just got it and who accepted Cora just as she is. There is a bit of discussion about gatekeeping in the queer community (especially as it pertains to bi, pan, ace, and aro folks), which is, unfortunately, an all-too relevant topic.
The mental health rep was also fantastic! I related hardcore to Elena’s anxiety and her aversion toward loud noises/loud people. Cora has ADHD, and there’s a scene in which Elena inadvertently mentions Cora’s ADHD to her family, which Cora is uncomfortable with– and, get this, the two have a conversation about it and Elena apologizes! Communication: what a concept. 🙂
While the novella primarily focuses on the girls’ relationship, we get glimpses into their lives and their families that I really loved. I enjoyed all of the delicious food and drink descriptions, too!
Great representation aside, this was such a well-written novella. Everything felt so real. The romance was SO sweet and so natural. Plus, I loved that this book dealt featured two protagonists in grad school, since that’s an age/life event we don’t see too often in literature. If you’re looking for more f/f, I can’t recommend this one highly enough.
menshevixen's review against another edition
4.0
A fast, super-sweet read filled with queerness, Brain Stuff, fun college vibes, and so much good food!