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00leah00's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 Stars
TW for homophobia, internalized homophobia, and self-harm.
I think ‘Liquid Courage’ is one of the very few romance books where I did not want a happy ending with any of the relationships presented. I would have been happier to see the main character, Alex, single and working on herself.
This felt more like two books to me. In the first half, we have the small triangle between Alex, her best friend Ryan, and Dani, her coffee shop barista. It had the angst and emotions I expected with a new adult romance. There were some issues with this part of the story but I ignored them hoping things would get better. This is a new adult story so I just assumed it was part of them being young and transitioning into adulthood.
Then all of a sudden, 40% into the story, a completely new love interest, Frankie, and the onset of flashback scenes gets introduced. For the rest of the story, Dani and Ryan basically disappear and we get to know Frankie, Alex’s high school love, mostly through flashbacks. Usually I don’t mind flashbacks, but with these not starting until 40%, it was a little jarring. On top that, they were nonlinear so I was never completely sure when and where in the storyline they were happening. I needed a timeline of their past to try to be able to follow everything. There’s not a lot that happens in the present scenes with Frankie except to introduce a new flashback so I didn’t feel like I got to know her as she is now.
Now to the reasoning as to why I didn’t want a happy ending. Alex was not a likeable character for me. She came off as very selfish and unsure of herself. This leads her to hurting not only herself (emotionally as well as physically with her cutting herself), but her love interests and friends too. She was all over the place emotionally and was consumed with internalized homophobia for most of the story. That’s real and true for a lot of people but it was continuous for the whole story and there was never any relief from it. It made the book very heavy and I don’t feel like we got a payoff for it. I wanted to see Alex truly accept herself and to see a therapist. By the ending, she had gotten better with the homophobia but she was still having issues with being honest with herself and others.
Almost all of her thoughts were only known to the reader because it’s told from her point of view. She didn’t have a single meaningful conversation with anyone else until the epilogue. She’s forgiven for it because it’s “just her personality” by Dani and Frankie but honestly, how could any of them have a healthy relationship if she won’t open up to them? I felt Dani and Frankie were both more mature and too good for her in the end. I don’t mind flawed characters but I want to see some growth and change within them. I never got that feeling with Alex.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and NineStar Press in an exchange for an honest review.
TW for homophobia, internalized homophobia, and self-harm.
I think ‘Liquid Courage’ is one of the very few romance books where I did not want a happy ending with any of the relationships presented. I would have been happier to see the main character, Alex, single and working on herself.
This felt more like two books to me. In the first half, we have the small triangle between Alex, her best friend Ryan, and Dani, her coffee shop barista. It had the angst and emotions I expected with a new adult romance. There were some issues with this part of the story but I ignored them hoping things would get better. This is a new adult story so I just assumed it was part of them being young and transitioning into adulthood.
Then all of a sudden, 40% into the story, a completely new love interest, Frankie, and the onset of flashback scenes gets introduced. For the rest of the story, Dani and Ryan basically disappear and we get to know Frankie, Alex’s high school love, mostly through flashbacks. Usually I don’t mind flashbacks, but with these not starting until 40%, it was a little jarring. On top that, they were nonlinear so I was never completely sure when and where in the storyline they were happening. I needed a timeline of their past to try to be able to follow everything. There’s not a lot that happens in the present scenes with Frankie except to introduce a new flashback so I didn’t feel like I got to know her as she is now.
Now to the reasoning as to why I didn’t want a happy ending. Alex was not a likeable character for me. She came off as very selfish and unsure of herself. This leads her to hurting not only herself (emotionally as well as physically with her cutting herself), but her love interests and friends too. She was all over the place emotionally and was consumed with internalized homophobia for most of the story. That’s real and true for a lot of people but it was continuous for the whole story and there was never any relief from it. It made the book very heavy and I don’t feel like we got a payoff for it. I wanted to see Alex truly accept herself and to see a therapist. By the ending, she had gotten better with the homophobia but she was still having issues with being honest with herself and others.
Almost all of her thoughts were only known to the reader because it’s told from her point of view. She didn’t have a single meaningful conversation with anyone else until the epilogue. She’s forgiven for it because it’s “just her personality” by Dani and Frankie but honestly, how could any of them have a healthy relationship if she won’t open up to them? I felt Dani and Frankie were both more mature and too good for her in the end. I don’t mind flawed characters but I want to see some growth and change within them. I never got that feeling with Alex.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and NineStar Press in an exchange for an honest review.
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