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anujab's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars rounded up to 3 because I want to respect the time and effort I put in to actually finish this unnecessarily long book.
I'm very lenient when it comes to rating books I've read but this one gave me a real headache. I fail to understand the fuss and the over hyped reviews or maybe, just maybe, I have outgrown lesflics.
I picked up this book because it has a gay doctor, a bisexual character and slow burn romance. The story is good and I wanted to like it, I tried so hard but it is stretched so much, it sucked all the fun out of it. I'm sorry to say but both Blair and Kylie bored me to death, Blair with her alternating spunk and crying spells, and Kylie with her borderline smothering behaviour and insecurities. Another annoying thing was how the surgeries were described in such a crass way. As a person belonging to medical field, the very same surgical branch so elaborately discussed in the book, I would suggest you don't include surgeries rather than including it only to make it so gross. Kylie could have well been an embryologist and their first meeting would have been the same. I sometimes felt that the surgeon part was added just to throw in the circumcision coversation and to add that extra bit of OT drama at the end. I just finished this book to honour my OCD of finishing what I started.
All I want to say is, I won't be recommending this book to anyone. If I could, I want to delete it from my brain.
I would prefer to read Chris and Laura's story any day than this extremely long tirade between Blair and Kylie.
I'm very lenient when it comes to rating books I've read but this one gave me a real headache. I fail to understand the fuss and the over hyped reviews or maybe, just maybe, I have outgrown lesflics.
I picked up this book because it has a gay doctor, a bisexual character and slow burn romance. The story is good and I wanted to like it, I tried so hard but it is stretched so much, it sucked all the fun out of it. I'm sorry to say but both Blair and Kylie bored me to death, Blair with her alternating spunk and crying spells, and Kylie with her borderline smothering behaviour and insecurities. Another annoying thing was how the surgeries were described in such a crass way. As a person belonging to medical field, the very same surgical branch so elaborately discussed in the book, I would suggest you don't include surgeries rather than including it only to make it so gross. Kylie could have well been an embryologist and their first meeting would have been the same. I sometimes felt that the surgeon part was added just to throw in the circumcision coversation and to add that extra bit of OT drama at the end. I just finished this book to honour my OCD of finishing what I started.
All I want to say is, I won't be recommending this book to anyone. If I could, I want to delete it from my brain.
I would prefer to read Chris and Laura's story any day than this extremely long tirade between Blair and Kylie.
netgyrl's review
5.0
5 Stars - kindle ebook
11/26/22 2nd read. Still 5 stars. This book is soooooo good.
Wow. I loved (like I was OBSESSED) with this book. I could not put it down. I had no idea how long this book was when I started it but I am so glad it was as long as it was. This story starts with a happily married straight couple tying to get pregnant. Be aware you are going to have to read a few m/f s*x scenes. They are not super graphic but they are there. Where a lot of wlw romance will start past the whole story of how one of the MCs came to be divorced, but I really enjoyed getting to know Blair way before anything happened between her and Kylie. You really get to see how the dynamic of her relationship with David worked and how it slowly started to crack as some fundamental differences started to appear and how when you love someone you try and make compromises to make them happy even if you are not sure you are making the right decision. Having a baby is a major life decision and when you add in complications of possible infertility and the emotions around biological children vs donor vs adoption you can really get into some complex emotions.
This book is a super slow burn. I enjoyed the realistic way the characters become friends and how they slowly become closer and closer. Everyone that says Kylie is a saint is not kidding. Blair is a bit high maintenance to say the least. And there is a bit of an inbalance in their friendship at first. In my opinion, I understand why Kylie behaves the way she does. She is falling in love with Blair (whether she is conscience of it or not) and when you are falling in love, it is very easy to give and give to the person your heart is pining for. Blair is not a bad person, she's actually a very good person, but she is in a horrible situation and a bit broken. The inbalance lasts awhile but they are actually really good communicators for the most part and so eventually things start to even out. Even so, Blair, is very logical and holds back a bit of herself. They are happy together but she is still not all-in.
There are a fews scene that show her coming to terms with being in love with someone in a way she has never felt and when she finally realizes what she had in Kylie it's awesome and the rest of the book will give you a sugar rush. It's toned down a bit with continuing drama outside their relationship and of course with the pregnancy and birth of the baby.
I can't wait to let a few months go by so I can re-read this story. I LOVED IT.
11/26/22 2nd read. Still 5 stars. This book is soooooo good.
Wow. I loved (like I was OBSESSED) with this book. I could not put it down. I had no idea how long this book was when I started it but I am so glad it was as long as it was. This story starts with a happily married straight couple tying to get pregnant. Be aware you are going to have to read a few m/f s*x scenes. They are not super graphic but they are there. Where a lot of wlw romance will start past the whole story of how one of the MCs came to be divorced, but I really enjoyed getting to know Blair way before anything happened between her and Kylie. You really get to see how the dynamic of her relationship with David worked and how it slowly started to crack as some fundamental differences started to appear and how when you love someone you try and make compromises to make them happy even if you are not sure you are making the right decision. Having a baby is a major life decision and when you add in complications of possible infertility and the emotions around biological children vs donor vs adoption you can really get into some complex emotions.
This book is a super slow burn. I enjoyed the realistic way the characters become friends and how they slowly become closer and closer. Everyone that says Kylie is a saint is not kidding. Blair is a bit high maintenance to say the least. And there is a bit of an inbalance in their friendship at first. In my opinion, I understand why Kylie behaves the way she does. She is falling in love with Blair (whether she is conscience of it or not) and when you are falling in love, it is very easy to give and give to the person your heart is pining for. Blair is not a bad person, she's actually a very good person, but she is in a horrible situation and a bit broken. The inbalance lasts awhile but they are actually really good communicators for the most part and so eventually things start to even out. Even so, Blair, is very logical and holds back a bit of herself. They are happy together but she is still not all-in.
There are a fews scene that show her coming to terms with being in love with someone in a way she has never felt and when she finally realizes what she had in Kylie it's awesome and the rest of the book will give you a sugar rush. It's toned down a bit with continuing drama outside their relationship and of course with the pregnancy and birth of the baby.
I can't wait to let a few months go by so I can re-read this story. I LOVED IT.
aleahjford's review against another edition
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
patricia71's review against another edition
3.0
Hmmm started out as a 5 plus book. And there were pieces later on that I liked maybe loved. And I laughed a lot. But...the book was to looonggggg for me. It could have moved faster. So I ended with 3 stars.
challonea's review against another edition
I liked this book it was a very good read
yulniverse's review against another edition
5.0
Now that's a good slow burn. Pretty long read but really really worth it. Great characters. Sizzling chemistry between the MCs. And a perfect, charming princess-surgeon. What else could one hope for?
brennooth's review against another edition
5.0
What a ride... I may have cried when I finished the book simply because I don’t like endings and I could’ve read about Kylie and Blair some more.
corrie's review
5.0
Susan X. Meagher’s All that Matters is about a woman trying to get pregnant, the pregnancy itself and the birth and when you’re done reading all 500 plus pages it feels like you’ve delivered a baby yourself.
Of course there is also a healthy amount of drama involved and a lot of love and self-realization, but the main theme is the pregnancy. I knew I had to read it someday (as a fairly big Meager fan you’re kind of obliged to do so) but the fact that Blair was a straight, happily married woman for a big portion of the book was a bit daunting. But I stuck with it and it was worth it in the end.
What I love about Susan’s lengthy books is that you really get to know the characters inside and out. No chance of insta-love or rushed scenarios here. If you don’t like pregnancies being followed from conception to birth and beyond, I suggest you skip this doorstopper.
m/f, f/f explicit
Themes: it’s a labor of love!, I’m straight but gay for you, Kylie is the dream woman really, so patient and understanding she’s one halo away from being a saint, the displays of love between these two were sometimes getting too syrupy for my tastes and I was afraid I would keel over in sugar shock, I’m just too old and cynical for that amount of twee, and again sooo glad I never had the urge to procreate.
5 stars
Of course there is also a healthy amount of drama involved and a lot of love and self-realization, but the main theme is the pregnancy. I knew I had to read it someday (as a fairly big Meager fan you’re kind of obliged to do so) but the fact that Blair was a straight, happily married woman for a big portion of the book was a bit daunting. But I stuck with it and it was worth it in the end.
What I love about Susan’s lengthy books is that you really get to know the characters inside and out. No chance of insta-love or rushed scenarios here. If you don’t like pregnancies being followed from conception to birth and beyond, I suggest you skip this doorstopper.
m/f, f/f explicit
Themes: it’s a labor of love!, I’m straight but gay for you, Kylie is the dream woman really, so patient and understanding she’s one halo away from being a saint, the displays of love between these two were sometimes getting too syrupy for my tastes and I was afraid I would keel over in sugar shock, I’m just too old and cynical for that amount of twee, and again sooo glad I never had the urge to procreate.
5 stars
synth's review
1.0
The one thing that made me rate it two stars is the fact that what's-her-name doesn't define sexuality as a black or white thing but a spectrum.
She isn't straight or bi or gay. She is a woman who happens to fall in love with another woman, even though she's loved men in the past. And no, sex with them wasn’t bad or unfulfilling, just different.
edit: In hindsight (and it's been a long time, so bear with me), this book is a 1/5. Also, it kinda falls into bi/pan lack of visibility. At least, it doesn't erase the fact that she likes both men and women, but seeing as bisexuality is so often dismissed in... everything, by "not wanting to label it", it might have been nice to see it explicitely mentioned.
She isn't straight or bi or gay. She is a woman who happens to fall in love with another woman, even though she's loved men in the past. And no, sex with them wasn’t bad or unfulfilling, just different.
edit: In hindsight (and it's been a long time, so bear with me), this book is a 1/5. Also, it kinda falls into bi/pan lack of visibility. At least, it doesn't erase the fact that she likes both men and women, but seeing as bisexuality is so often dismissed in... everything, by "not wanting to label it", it might have been nice to see it explicitely mentioned.
frankvanmeer's review
I'm sorry. I really tried, but at 70% I gave up.
It's not really bad, but it's too damn long and in places just drags on and on. When I started to see how the characters were described I got the feeling that this was a fan-fic o some sort. The Blonde woman, the tall woman, the dark-haired woman etc.
I'm not bashing the ratings here, but I wished I had read some of the two star reviews before I picked it up.
It's not really bad, but it's too damn long and in places just drags on and on. When I started to see how the characters were described I got the feeling that this was a fan-fic o some sort. The Blonde woman, the tall woman, the dark-haired woman etc.
I'm not bashing the ratings here, but I wished I had read some of the two star reviews before I picked it up.
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