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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
I’ve not read a book like this for a long time! So utterly relatable in life, you feel like you’re living alongside Julia. Up until she’s getting fisted, at least.
I don't know where to start with this book. It did turn out a lot more interesting in the end than I first expected but I still have quite a few things that I feel weird about.
There was just so much that felt off to me about this book:
1. The way Julia had one bad one-night-stand with a man and then one good one with a woman and suddenly she was a lesbian (and the fact that it was phrased like that!?) and it all happened within about a week as well and suddenly she had completely come to terms with being gay. I do think a coming out story like that can work and obviously everyone's story is different (and I liked that it wasn't a book about coming out!) but I just think it would have to have been written better, like any narrative indication of Julia being into women before she slept with Jane would have been nice.
2. I've read porn with less horny protagonists than Julia, it really felt like a bit much sometimes. I get it, sexuality was a really important part of the story but I just feel like sometimes she could have thought about things other than sex, especially at the beginning there was basically no other topic than how badly she wanted to have sex. (Hasn't she heard of Victorian repression??)
3. However, I do think the way the book connected sexuality and the abusive relationship was really interesting and it did the blurring of lines between Julia enjoying rough(er) sex and finding herself in non-consensual situations without being able to name them as such really well. But while it felt like there was an attempt to not portray kink as being automatically linked to abuse, I do feel like it failed at that sometimes.
4. The pacing felt off for so much of this for me. Not just with Julia's identity as a lesbian but also with the relationship and how fast it was progressing.
5. It felt very British in a lot of ways (like the characters all lowkey being alcoholics) but I think sometimes British humour is just not my thing. But I enjoyed that it took place in London and it actually made me really excited to finally go back this summer!
6. I just didn't really like Julia or any of the other characters much. I was rooting for her to get out of the relationship at the end but I also didn't really care much about her as a character.
What I did really enjoy was the progression of the relationship and how it turned more and more controlling and abusive. The book did a really good job of making clear to the reader both that Sam was behaving in abusive ways and why Julia couldn't register it as that and I think it did a really good job of kind of building up the dread of things getting progressively worse and Julia not being able to let herself realise what was going on and so not being able to get herself out. I also generally liked the ending, even if it was a bit too easy and rushed for me.
There was just so much that felt off to me about this book:
1. The way Julia had one bad one-night-stand with a man and then one good one with a woman and suddenly she was a lesbian (and the fact that it was phrased like that!?) and it all happened within about a week as well and suddenly she had completely come to terms with being gay. I do think a coming out story like that can work and obviously everyone's story is different (and I liked that it wasn't a book about coming out!) but I just think it would have to have been written better, like any narrative indication of Julia being into women before she slept with Jane would have been nice.
2. I've read porn with less horny protagonists than Julia, it really felt like a bit much sometimes. I get it, sexuality was a really important part of the story but I just feel like sometimes she could have thought about things other than sex, especially at the beginning there was basically no other topic than how badly she wanted to have sex. (Hasn't she heard of Victorian repression??)
3. However, I do think the way the book connected sexuality and the abusive relationship was really interesting and it did the blurring of lines between Julia enjoying rough(er) sex and finding herself in non-consensual situations without being able to name them as such really well. But while it felt like there was an attempt to not portray kink as being automatically linked to abuse, I do feel like it failed at that sometimes.
4. The pacing felt off for so much of this for me. Not just with Julia's identity as a lesbian but also with the relationship and how fast it was progressing.
5. It felt very British in a lot of ways (like the characters all lowkey being alcoholics) but I think sometimes British humour is just not my thing. But I enjoyed that it took place in London and it actually made me really excited to finally go back this summer!
6. I just didn't really like Julia or any of the other characters much. I was rooting for her to get out of the relationship at the end but I also didn't really care much about her as a character.
What I did really enjoy was the progression of the relationship and how it turned more and more controlling and abusive. The book did a really good job of making clear to the reader both that Sam was behaving in abusive ways and why Julia couldn't register it as that and I think it did a really good job of kind of building up the dread of things getting progressively worse and Julia not being able to let herself realise what was going on and so not being able to get herself out. I also generally liked the ending, even if it was a bit too easy and rushed for me.
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship
Minor: Rape
Not funny at all, spends a significant chunk of the book romanticising abuse.
Tää oli jotenkin omituinen sekoitus mulle. Kevyt viihdekirja, mutta toisaalta salakavalasti manipuloiva ihmissuhde joka kuvasi kaasuvalottamista. Hirveesti seksiä ja ihmissuhteita jostain queer-näkökulmasta tai ehkä erilaisistakin sellaisista, mut ei kuitenkaan kauheen tunnistettavasta/tunnistettavista. Halusin tietää aina, mitä tapahtuu, mut kuitenkin tiesin koko ajan mitä tulee tapahtumaan. En tiiä, outo teos.
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The book was so funny, especially in the beginning. The story was really catchy and we can watch the the signs of an abuse relationships unfold as the story continues. What I didn’t like was that the coming out story of the main character was very shallow and rushed. Not the fact that it only took an ONS (sometimes that’s absolutely all it takes) but I didn’t feel like the inner processes had any depth. Also I felt we didn’t really get to know the supporting characters (such as Julia’s friends). The “therapist” made me anxious because she was doing her job so poorly, but I get that’s part of the joke. Even though the book was full of sex, I feel like it was very shallow. There were a lot of “extreme” buzzwords, everyone had sex all the time and everyone had 1000 orgasms. I would have loved if the sexual part story (not the abusive part, but the “awakening” story line) had more elements of self discovery, aspects of learning and details (not just for the sexual content but for the depth of the emotional journey).
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting
Moderate: Drug use, Self harm, Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent
Loved the performance of the narrator! Was pretty annoyed with Sam’s voice, but I guess that was the point, because she was an annoying character.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a hard book to read. The narrator is supposed to be a newly out lesbian and is willing to embrace the community in a way that’s over the top cringe. But it reads in a way that seems more 21-23ish than however old the character is supposed to be. And the book sells itself on lesbian rom-com but turns into abusive relationship reaaaaal fast. Didn’t particularly feel like the personalities of any of the main characters, or side characters, were well characterized. Still, I stuck with it until the end.