Reviews

Finding Joy by Adriana Herrera

mattiehatter's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

• 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

5.0

ameliarose529's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

ericawrites's review against another edition

3.0

Super sweet romance about Desta, an American temporarily living in Ethiopia doing aid work, and Elias, an Ethiopian man who is one of his coworkers. A lot of the tension is around culture differences, especially in how the two navigate getting to know each other, flirting, and finally getting together. Homosexuality is illegal in Ethiopia.

Finding Joy is from Desta's point of view in first person, and at times, I really wanted to know what Elias thought about their situation. A huge part of their disconnect is around Desta trying to make "the best decision" about how to proceed with their relationship, both from the secrecy aspect and because Desta is only in Ethiopia for a handful of months.

It's clear that Herrera very much loves Ethiopia and the Ethiopian people, and in many ways, this is also a love letter to the place.

dsauriol1991's review against another edition

3.5

A quick little love story where we follow Desta & Elias finding love and joy with one another. It's also a story of being brave enough to follow your dreams and it was super sweet!

handmaderiot's review against another edition

3.0

There is so much to love about this book. The first third, or perhaps even half was great- I loved the characters, their interests and histories, the plot, the setting- all of it. The main downside is that the main character, Desta, is self-absorbed. This was especially irritating when the love interest, Elias, was going through some real hard shit, and Desta kept droning on and externalizing his feelings toward Elias. It's a called a friend. Or a therapist. Phone them. How does the person not directly affected by the conflict have more feelings and needs more caretaking than the person actually experiencing the conflict. Not into it. Very irritating. Now I get not all protagonists can be entirely lovable- flaws are necessary. However, in a context that is so much about the work of people/orgs from the Global North and the tensions that exist with the local people, prioritizing the feelings of the Global North person feels...wack. The second downside, which perhaps is just a me thing, is that there seemed to be a disconnect between the mannerisms and predispositions of the two characters outside the bedroom, and when they would have sex. I really think that this is an issue in the writing rather than the actions themselves. It's like the characters walk into a space, and suddenly there's a finger up someone's butt. That part is all well and good but can we get some other cues about urgency that are not just like the thumb goes from the door lock to being inside a butt. They walked in clothed and thus far they haven't been presented as having any magical powers, so what am I missing here?

The ending was quite satisfying which raises the rating by .5 to 3.5 stars.

niajade123's review against another edition

lighthearted relaxing slow-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

3.75

thisboricuareader's review against another edition

4.0

This book was so goddamn cute.  Like I loved this story so so much.  I loved Desta trying to find himself while Elias is trying to be true to himself.  I thought this book had a lot of cute moments. Such a fun read. 

xlpver's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

alexandryareads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Sexual content

Moderate: Death of parent and Homophobia

lezreadalot's review against another edition

4.0

“You have to do the work that feeds you. Find the joy in it.”

3.5 stars. Super duper cute; I feel all warm inside. <3 Desta, an emergency relief worker, travels to Ethiopia for a new project, and slowly bonds with one of his new co-workers while working on a surveying project. Desta has a lot of family history with the country, and is at a pivotal moment in his life, and we follow him through his romance with Elias and as he makes some big decisions. This was just so wonderful and light to read; pretty low angst, all in all. I just love reading romances that don't take place in the West; it makes for a great change. And I always think it's so beautiful, seeing a country through a writer's eyes, and even more so through a romance writer's eyes, while a couple is getting to know each other and falling for each other. It's playful and sweet about the cultural differences, but also gets serious when it needs to. I love that the author touches on Western attitudes towards African countries, and how harm can be perpetuated even when people are trying to do good.

And man, I just really liked this romance. I'd forgotten how good Herrera is at making me absolutely fall for her couples. They're SO good together, and I love that they build a friendship first. I think this is the most slow burn thing I've ever read from her, which, of course, I was super happy about. Elias is so caring and considerate and strong; a cinnamon roll I'd die for. The conflict was a little weak; even though I saw the reasons and logic behind it, I got so frustrated with Desta. Thankfully it doesn't last long. There's some stuff said about the necessity of coming out that I wasn't a fan of, but I'm always picky about that.

Listened to the audiobook as read by Braeden Sinclair, which was pretty good. I didn't really love his narration; there were some parts that needed emotion and I felt like he wasn't giving. But I did like his voice overall. I'm always glad to read from this author, and this was a happy reminder that she has more stuff in her backlist for me to check out.

Content warnings:

Spoiler

grief, past parental death, homophobia

In the place where I was supposed to be finding myself, I would lose myself in him.