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wilybooklover's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
4.5
This was just the kind of slow, quiet read I love. Introspective, contemplative, and utterly focused on the main characters and their emotions. The writing was just gorgeous, too. So lyrical and romantic and evocative. Reading this book felt like a comforting hug.
Will and Nora were so adorable together. Love at first sight is not ordinarily my favourite trope to read but I loved the way it played out here, how it was still a slower-burn. Reading the way Will felt so much but so desperately didn't want to turn into his parents, the way that Nora clung to the past and was so averse to change, and the way they both overcame those struggles to become stronger together was so heartwarming. I really enjoyed that although they faced multiple conflicts with each other there wasn't a huge dramatic fight and breakup near the end that derailed the romance. And I'm always here for a hurt/comfort trope and a found family aspect in any book.
The only thing that I didn't quite enjoy was the involvement of so many side characters in the resolution of the final couple of conflicts, nor the very public nature of Will's declaration (public grand gestures horrify me, in all honesty, although the heroine loved it so...).
Will and Nora were so adorable together. Love at first sight is not ordinarily my favourite trope to read but I loved the way it played out here, how it was still a slower-burn. Reading the way Will felt so much but so desperately didn't want to turn into his parents, the way that Nora clung to the past and was so averse to change, and the way they both overcame those struggles to become stronger together was so heartwarming. I really enjoyed that although they faced multiple conflicts with each other there wasn't a huge dramatic fight and breakup near the end that derailed the romance. And I'm always here for a hurt/comfort trope and a found family aspect in any book.
The only thing that I didn't quite enjoy was the involvement of so many side characters in the resolution of the final couple of conflicts, nor the very public nature of Will's declaration (public grand gestures horrify me, in all honesty, although the heroine loved it so...).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Blood and Terminal illness
frantically's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
4.25
just ALL the found family feels
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Mental illness and Blood
quasinaut's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A fun but maybe-too-forgettable romance. I like having a cast of quirky characters, especially nosy neighbors (even if I'd abhor them in my personal life), to round out the story so it's not all about the destined couple-to-be. This felt particularly necessary here because Will and Nora are drawn together by an immediate attraction, and of course none of the minor obstacles in their path will keep them apart.
I suppose my main complaint is that it just felt too easy; a character would make a hard decision once, and then have no trouble making it happen. I also don't tend to like/believe "love at first sight" stories, but I knew what I was getting into with this title, so the fault is my own for perhaps wanting more build up! Minor spoiler:I do adore the idea that they wouldn't have been right together if they'd met as teens. They needed to grow as individuals so that when they really met as adults, they'd actually be suited for each other!
I suppose my main complaint is that it just felt too easy; a character would make a hard decision once, and then have no trouble making it happen. I also don't tend to like/believe "love at first sight" stories, but I knew what I was getting into with this title, so the fault is my own for perhaps wanting more build up! Minor spoiler:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Abandonment, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Blood
meganpbennett's review
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Will first met Nora when he was a teenager, but it wasn't really a meeting - she was throwing tomatoes at a squirrel and he was sitting under a tree watching. It was cuter than it sounds. Flash forward and Will's just inherited his uncle's apartment in a very small apartment building, for no reason that Will can figure out. After all, his uncle refused to help his mother, so why did he leave the apartment to Will? And Nora, she now lives in her late grandmother's apartment - the same one from earlier - working remotely and not changing a thing in the apartment.
Will, not wanting a thing to do with the inherited apartment, decides the best thing to do is to rent it out. And the neighbors do not approve. Including Nora, who Will thinks he might have fallen for all those years ago. Can they work through the renovations and problems?
Will, not wanting a thing to do with the inherited apartment, decides the best thing to do is to rent it out. And the neighbors do not approve. Including Nora, who Will thinks he might have fallen for all those years ago. Can they work through the renovations and problems?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Medical content, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Blood
stromjm's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Medical content
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, and Cancer
spearly's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Hm hm hm... this is an interesting review to write.
SPOILERS. You've been warned.
I started off this book with a near certainty that it was a bust. And the first half totally was. Honestly, it was nearly a DNF for me until we finally got to some juicy bits and things started to pick up.
So, in the end, a solid 3 stars. Nothing special, not the worst book I've ever read, and certainly not the best.
I feel a little mislead by the blurb. We get a total of ONE whispered 4am conversation from Nora's and Will's balconies before they come face to face. That was one of the things that drew me to this book - that these two might be having deep, lovely conversations at 4am before ever coming face to face. Actually, the whole 4am Golden Hour thing is abandoned pretty quickly, too, until the end of the book where it's suddenly relevant again.
Also, the whole feud thing just fell short. I could have gotten behind some sort of instant attraction turned full-out rivalry over Will's plans to rent out his unit. Nora could have been a little more cut throat. I like the idea of an unwitting attraction, a need to one up each other, to win, to battle it out. Then slowly, we see them soften up, open up, turn all that hot-and-bothered attraction into something deeper.
Everything here just felt incredibly mundane, which I'm sure was Clayborn's intention. Will was nice. Nora was nice . The main conflict of the book was fine.
And yes, I can accept that the main themes of the novel were family, community, loyalty, loss. Clayborn did all that, and well. It's just, for me, it wasn't enough to be captivating.
Honestly, the standout characters to me were the neighbours. I loved them! I wanted more of them! I wanted to see them bond with Will. We got hints of it, especially with Jonah and Marian, and that felt natural to me. I even liked Gerald, the seemingly personalty-less character who actually had quite a drastic arc in the novel.
I will give credit where it's due, though. I LOVE romance books with dual POVs, and though Clayborn captured Will's voice really well. I was skeptical of his reasoning for holding back with Nora at first, but the more we got into his history with his parents and uncle, the more it made sense. The more I could actually kind of see where he was coming from.
So, Love at First remains solely middle of the pack contemporary romance for me. Do I regret reading it? No. Will I almost certainly forget about it in a day or so? Almost certainly.
SPOILERS. You've been warned.
I started off this book with a near certainty that it was a bust. And the first half totally was. Honestly, it was nearly a DNF for me until we finally got to some juicy bits and things started to pick up.
So, in the end, a solid 3 stars. Nothing special, not the worst book I've ever read, and certainly not the best.
I feel a little mislead by the blurb. We get a total of ONE whispered 4am conversation from Nora's and Will's balconies before they come face to face. That was one of the things that drew me to this book - that these two might be having deep, lovely conversations at 4am before ever coming face to face. Actually, the whole 4am Golden Hour thing is abandoned pretty quickly, too, until the end of the book where it's suddenly relevant again.
Also, the whole feud thing just fell short. I could have gotten behind some sort of instant attraction turned full-out rivalry over Will's plans to rent out his unit. Nora could have been a little more cut throat. I like the idea of an unwitting attraction, a need to one up each other, to win, to battle it out. Then slowly, we see them soften up, open up, turn all that hot-and-bothered attraction into something deeper.
Everything here just felt incredibly mundane, which I'm sure was Clayborn's intention. Will was nice. Nora was nice . The main conflict of the book was fine.
And yes, I can accept that the main themes of the novel were family, community, loyalty, loss. Clayborn did all that, and well. It's just, for me, it wasn't enough to be captivating.
Honestly, the standout characters to me were the neighbours. I loved them! I wanted more of them! I wanted to see them bond with Will. We got hints of it, especially with Jonah and Marian, and that felt natural to me. I even liked Gerald, the seemingly personalty-less character who actually had quite a drastic arc in the novel.
I will give credit where it's due, though. I LOVE romance books with dual POVs, and though Clayborn captured Will's voice really well. I was skeptical of his reasoning for holding back with Nora at first, but the more we got into his history with his parents and uncle, the more it made sense. The more I could actually kind of see where he was coming from.
So, Love at First remains solely middle of the pack contemporary romance for me. Do I regret reading it? No. Will I almost certainly forget about it in a day or so? Almost certainly.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content and Sexual content
Minor: Blood, Death, and Death of parent
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