Scan barcode
littleflowerfairy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Drug abuse, Sexism, Addiction, Cursing, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Moderate: Classism, Deadnaming, Violence, Dysphoria, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and War
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, and Vomit
The sexual harassment warning is very minor, nothing really happens,kato_goldacker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Friends to lovers slow-burn with good Trans Representation.
(go to end for conclusion)
Loved it. When I found this one I knew I had to read it simply because it is exactly what I wanted.
Alexis Hall has some really beautiful writing and ways of describing things, as well as the ability to spark inspiration or thought with the way he puts things. This had a lot of inspiring, beautiful lines and romantic, soft, yearning moments that I really enjoyed, I marked a lot of parts in this book. Hall did a great job with writing a relatable trans character, too.
I did feel that, overall in its execution it’s not a masterpiece of a book, as I still felt like some things were perhaps missing or too simple. I also wasn’t always entirely sure about the pace of the book, I would call it a slow-burn romance, which I liked, but it did change pace a bit later. I don’t think it’s extraordinary story-writing or anything -generally I felt like there were things missing for me to make it a GREAT book, but I couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was. Depth, the feeling of a more detailedly thought-through plot / story, most likely.
Still, I loved it, and I’m so happy there’s a book with this story.
The characters were lovely and the playful, intimate and teasing interactions and the yearning and pining between Gracewood and Viola were really fun to read.
I’m also really happy we got a bit of spicy/intimate scenes, which I think is great seeing trans characters nicely represented in.
I don’t think you always need an absolutely great story with a unique plot that wasn’t ever written before. Popular tropes can still be enjoyable, and I don’t think it’s necessary to have an entirely period-accurate representation in every LGBTQIA+ novel, especially since -some people argue- it can be nice for us to have something simple, cheesy and stereotypical for once too, just like there’s tons of (non-LGBTQIA+) straight fiction like that.
Conclusion
So I’d say, if you’re not looking for a terribly original storyline but for a happy, hopelessly romantic, historical friends to lovers slow-burn, featuring good and positive trans representation, you will really like this.
About Triggers
I put all from this list I think are (briefly) in the book,
Of course it is for yourself to know but I just need to say I didn’t find this much triggering, even though I am quite sensitive to a lot of those. If drug use is really triggering for you it might be a different thing, for me it is mainly violence related as well as any sexual abuse or transphobia related ones, but I was mostly fine reading this and, despite containing all of those listed triggers, I found this was book that still felt light.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Drug abuse, Ableism, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Outing, War, Gun violence, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Grief
Minor: Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Lesbophobia
what_karla_reads's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Violence
froukjemelenhorst's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was extremely devoid of plot, so much so that the middle 250 took me like 2.5 weeks because nothing was happening and I was so bored because of it.
I also felt like the relationship was so quickly developed (which does make sense with Viola and Gracewood’s history), but then afterwards every scene between them felt the same. In a book with a focus on these two main characters I found myself looking forward to the scenes with the side characters, because they felt new and fun every time.
I will say that the trans rep, which was one of the things that initially drew me to this book, was really great and you could feel the care put into it. Combine that with the great writing, this book was very enjoyable to read, but the aforementioned things made me rate it 3.5 stars.
Moderate: Deadnaming, Ableism, and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Deadnaming
Moderate: War, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Mental illness
Minor: Vomit
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Ableism, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: War, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Blood, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Deadnaming
takarakei's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I’ve heard people say this book is too long and I think if you’re reading a physical copy I could see that - I didn’t quite feel that way with the audiobook (except for a few parts where I felt things dragged a touch). Overall this was a beautiful poignant historical love story between two people growing together in unlearning what the gender binary tells them they are each supposed to be/do/feel/ etc. There are some absolutely beautiful sweeping dialogue passages. This book and mainly it’s side characters are also supremely hilarious which I enjoyed immensely.
3.5/5 🌶️
Graphic: Sexual content and Addiction
Moderate: Bullying, Alcohol, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexism, and Violence
Minor: Deadnaming and War
As the author states misgendering of Viola happens in relation to talking about her past Gracewood suffers from severe PTSD from the war and is recovering from using drugs to cope with itkelisabeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Homophobia, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Infertility, Classism, Violence, Biphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Transphobia, Vomit, War, Grief, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse
scoobygirl93's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content, War, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Deadnaming, and Injury/Injury detail
caitlinemccann's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Ableism, and Addiction
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, War, Blood, and Deadnaming