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sofiarmz13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Vomit, Medical content, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
valeria_gzz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I’m giving it a 4,5 instead of a 5 because sometimes the way the topic of Ryder’s deafness and muteness was handled made me uncomfortable.
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism and Cancer
Minor: Abandonment
hanelliott7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Sexual content, and Grief
Minor: Gun violence, Vomit, Alcohol, and War
chronicallybookish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is actually my second time reading Only When It’s Us—the first time was about two years ago. I really enjoyed it then, but I <i>loved</i> it this time around.
Willa is so spunky and fun to read about. Ryder is stoic and swoony. The chemistry between the two of them is sizzling and their banter had me kicking my feet.
I had forgotten how deeply this book dives into grief and the experiences of losing a parent. Chloe Liese’s books always have emotional depth, but this one is on a different level. The exploration and discussions of grief were beautiful, and I cried my way through several chapters. Liese is such a skilled writer who seamlessly captures and portrays emotions in a way that is impossible for you to remain unaffected by them.
Only When It’s Us, like every book Chloe Liese writes, has simply fantastic disability representation. Ryder has relatively recently become deaf, and throughout the book we see him begin to process and come to terms with that. Though not in the same way, I think his storyline is a bit of a parallel exploration of grief as well. Willa is grieving the thought of a future without her mother and Ryder is grieving the thought of a future without full hearing. They are different, of course, but there are parallels there.
As I am not deaf, I can’t comment of the accuracy of those aspects of representation. However I am disabled, and I found a lot of truth in the representation of dealing with a sudden disability. The specifics of Ryder’s experiences may differ from mine, but there are many aspects of the disabled experience that are more universally true, and Liese captures those flawlessly.
It was also interesting to reread this book, her debut, and compare it to Better Hate Than Never, her most recent release. As incredible as this book is, I was aware of the aspects of prose and character in which Chloe Liese has improved in the 3 years and 8 books since this one was first written. It leaves me excited to read what more she comes out with in the future and how she improves from here.
My Review of the self-published edition circa Jan 2022
Quick Stats
Age Rating: 18+
Over All: 4.5 stars
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Disability Rep: 5/5
My first Chloe Liese book! I learned about The Bergman Brothers series last year—and about their incredible disability rep—and have really been interested in reading them since. But they’re adult romances, which I don’t tend to read, and they’re self published which means they aren’t available at my library, so I kept putting it off.
But a few weeks ago I figured I’d check one more time, and lo and behold: My library had ebooks! I now have holds on every book in the series and am excited to get into them.
Yes, they do have some spice. I’d say maybe 2.5 stars? Too much for what I enjoy, but within the amount that I’m willing to skim over when there’s disability rep. I never factor spice into my ratings when reading adult books, so even if I don’t enjoy that aspect, I rate books based on how I enjoyed the other aspects of plot, character, and writing.
I really enjoyed the book. The banter and chemistry between Ryden and Willa was top notch from the start. I’m thinking “frenemies-to-lovers” may be one of my new favorite tropes. Both characters were so real, I felt as if they could climb right of the page. I cried when they cried and laughed when they laughed. Sure, they infuriated me at times with their willful blindness to each other’s real feelings in the first half (and Willa’s bullheaded refusal to acknowledge her own feelings). But while it drove me crazy, it was written in a way that felt natural and real.
I also really appreciated that this is a “revised edition”. In the front of a book there was an authors note saying the book had been updated and revised in 2021 with the help of someone who had lived Ryden’s disability. Chloe Liese acknowledged that in her first printing, there were aspects that were innacurate to the representation of Deaf people who lost their hearing later in life, and did what she could to correct that. Is it the bare minimum? It should be. But so many authors would never take the steps to fix what they wrote, so I appreciate it all the same.
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism
ericaereads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
Guys guys! Chloe Liese heard the people and released an revised edition of this title in late 2021 after consulting with a Deaf/HOH sensitivity reader. She offers a wonderful explanation of this process on her website at https://chloeliese.com/bergman-brother-books. Beware spoilers on her website, but based on the revisions she outlines I'm going to bump this up to four stars. Kudos to Chloe for doing the allyship work!
Original 2021 Review
Before I begin: Dear Authors: If you are writing a character with a marginalized identity in 2021, that marginalization is a key part of the plot, and it is not clear from your author bio whether or not you are part of that marginalized group then you are obligated to cite your sources/process in an author's note or acknowledgments. That Chloe Liese gave no context for the deaf/HOH representation means I cannot in good conscience give this book more than three stars.
While I enjoyed the banter and chemistry between Willa and Ryder, I was frustrated by how...disconnected their individual plotlines felt. On the one hand I love when romances have external-non-romantic plotlines that affect the characters' personalities and decisions, but on the other hand in this instance all the character growth felt related to those separate plotlines and therefore separate from the romantic relationship. Is this realistic and more like what happens in real life? Yes. But when I read a romance the romance has to matter and be at the center of the story and here it just wasn't.
Other frustrations included repeated phrasing and descriptions, as well as concern about the deaf/HOH representation that felt increasingly ableist as the story continued (and, as I said above, Liese doesn't offer any information about research, sensitivity readers, or her own experiences in the community in her acknowledgments, which makes this aspect especially problematic).
However, the relationships and plotlines outside the romance were well developed and, if I'm honest, were what kept me invested in the story and characters. So give this a try if you're interested in romance that feels more like literary fiction with some steam on the side.
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism and Cancer
I wouldn't call the death in this book graphic, but Willa's emotions of the caregiving and grieving are intense (and well-written) enough that I decided to list it as graphic. Please use care if this is a trigger for you.madmordigan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Ableism and Death of parent
Moderate: Abandonment
hayleehar93's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, and Death of parent
sringdahl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, and Death of parent
decklededgess's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was such a spectacular start to the series. It's one of the few genuine hate to love/enemies to lovers I've read that has actually pulled off a short "enemies" period without compromising the trope at all.
Willa and Ryder were such spectacular leads. I loved the learning curve for both of them as they start to like each other as people but are still so confused that they're on the verge of murder every time they have a conversation. It's chefs kiss.
Aiden's meddling ass got a great intro here too because I was ready to kill him. It sets him up really well for the third book because Aiden and Freya's marriage problems bleed through a bit here too.
LOVEEEEE
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
_skyler's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Ableism and Cancer