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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
emotional
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
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
fast-paced
Cover Story had so much potential. Queer Hollywood, secret relationships, media manipulation. But unfortunately, it fell flat for me. The premise sounded sharp and timely, but the execution felt muddled and emotionally shallow.
One of the biggest issues was the setting. The book is supposed to take place in 2005, but it just doesn’t feel like 2005. Characters casually reference “social media,” talk like they’re living in a post-Instagram world, and act with a level of public awareness that’s much more 2025 or even 2015. These anachronisms pulled me out of the story constantly.
Ali’s character had real potential, and I appreciated the exploration of grief and anxiety, but it quickly became overloaded. Every emotional trauma and diagnosis was stacked into her arc, and it left little room for believable growth or relationship development. The romance with Cara felt rushed and lacked depth, especially with no real insight into Cara’s perspective.
There are some clever structural choices, like the redacted celebrity names, but ultimately, the story didn’t land for me. If you’re looking for queer Hollywood drama with more depth and emotional payoff, I’d suggest picking up The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo instead.
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Used the R word to what, set the scene? The character thought for 2 seconds about speaking to the people utilizing it then doesn't so what the fuck was the point. It was also a little too white lesbian in her privilege
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
I liked the first 200ish pages but then it was so long and boring, I just kind of skimmed until the end. It was just too long for the story to hold me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Rape
I didn't even make it 50 pages in before I decided to DNF.
The writing already had me debating throwing in the towel, but then the author decided to use the r-word written out in full 4 times for no real reason. Granted it was so the main character could "fantasize about lecturing the young women about their word choice," (how noble of her obviously 🙄) but I'm pretty sure we could've had the same impact made without including harmful language.
The writing already had me debating throwing in the towel, but then the author decided to use the r-word written out in full 4 times for no real reason. Granted it was so the main character could "fantasize about lecturing the young women about their word choice," (how noble of her obviously 🙄) but I'm pretty sure we could've had the same impact made without including harmful language.
Content Warnings
Author uses the r-slur
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-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
Sad but cute. Age gap was meh but the rest was good. Five peppers.