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thereadinghammock's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
"I will not be a footnote. I'm the whole damn book."
What a fiery pair Emmy and Ryan are. I loved how Emmy could always put Ryan in his place and show him that things were most definitely not so easy for those outside the well funded science departments, or the highly educated, straight, white, male demographic. Ryan, we love a man who does his homework, puts in the effort, and does the extra credit. How much pleasure he took from Emmy's magnetism, and ensuring her overall pleasure was *chef's kiss*. I was dying for then to get together and once they did it was straight fire.
The overall setting was a love letter to working in academia/higher education/non-profits and all of the little quirks that come with the territory. (Almost) everything is done on a shoe string and everyone pitches in to get the job done.
What a fiery pair Emmy and Ryan are. I loved how Emmy could always put Ryan in his place and show him that things were most definitely not so easy for those outside the well funded science departments, or the highly educated, straight, white, male demographic. Ryan, we love a man who does his homework, puts in the effort, and does the extra credit. How much pleasure he took from Emmy's magnetism, and ensuring her overall pleasure was *chef's kiss*. I was dying for then to get together and once they did it was straight fire.
The overall setting was a love letter to working in academia/higher education/non-profits and all of the little quirks that come with the territory. (Almost) everything is done on a shoe string and everyone pitches in to get the job done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Sexism
roget's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Such a cute premise with some adorable moments, but Emmy (despite raising some valid points about mistreatment of women and humanities scholars in the academy) never really confronts her tendency to jump to the worst possible take on the other person as aggressively as possible.
Anxiety is an explanation (as are some of the cultural/social trends that squash women’s agency and contributions), but mental health issues don’t excuse mistreating others who have demonstrated a proactive habit of caring and acting in a relatively healthy manner in the relationship. It also drove me up the wall when she mentioned him not fighting for her when she’d laid out a CLEAR boundary in the breakup for him to not do that. We never see her really learn or grow in that struggle. Yet Ryan’s holding almost all the responsibility for the breakup, even though she dumped him, didn’t let him get a word in, and set a boundary that their relationship would be strictly professional.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
rambling_reader17's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Having a museum background myself I was worried I'd focus too much on things that might not be so accurate. But I found it so relatable instead! And the characters were fantastic. The care that Ryan gives Emmy at every step in their relationship was flawless.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
General anxiety disorderjuffnstuff's review
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexism and Alcohol
mega_reader's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
jmyers1's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Overall, I did enjoy this book - I thought the setting and premise was really good and I thought it was a good read. Saying that, I found Emmy hard to like at times. I understand her anxiety influenced a lot of her actions, but she was quiet rude and abrasive at times and didn't seem to suffer any consequences of it. I think it could have been a a really great character arc for her to acknowkage it properly, but it never happened.
I loved Ryan, but I would have loved to explore his character a bit more. He touched on feeling lonely and not having a anyone, and I would have loved to have seen that explored a little more. This POVs only seemed to exist to remind us he was attracted to Emmy. The third act breakup was a little contrived, but their make up was adorable.
I loved Ryan, but I would have loved to explore his character a bit more. He touched on feeling lonely and not having a anyone, and I would have loved to have seen that explored a little more. This POVs only seemed to exist to remind us he was attracted to Emmy. The third act breakup was a little contrived, but their make up was adorable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content
unfiltered_fiction's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
This is an absolutely adorable romance, with just the right amount of spice to balance out the sweetness. Some of the structural points were a tad weak and trope dependent, and the contextual narrative elements could have had a bit more pep, but personally I was very drawn in to the cultural setting because of my own background. I also loved how important friendship was shown to be. A really lovely story, and I'll definitely read from this author again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol
sylviehelen's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
I was so excited for this but it was not great 😬
I'll start with the only positive I can think of right now - I liked the academic setting. As an archaeologist myself, I sit in the juncture between history and science in a lot of ways, and bringing those two perspectives together through its romantic leads was something the book was obviously trying to do.
Ultimately, this was not exactly the grumpy-girl/sunshine-boy trope that was pitched. Instead, we follow an actively hostile Emmie (a historian) who doesn't seem to like or respect Ryan (a scientist), at any point in the book. They both work in university museums and are brought together with the announcement that the science and history buildings are merging.They are both curators, and so on a level professionally, and neither one had any hand or influence in the merger or any prior knowledge. Despite this, Emmie sees Ryan as a threat because he is a man and a big bad scientist come to steal her job - ironically, she jumps at the chance to tell Ryan off for making assumptions (which were often him simply believing something a senior member of staff had said that later turned out to be incorrect) and yet she herself is assuming that he even would want to take her job. This goes unchallenged.
Emmie is treated as the main character of this story, and Ryan either needed more attention from the author or his pov chapters scrapped. His character and personal world is so flat that his chapters only served to reassure us that Emmie's behaviour doesn't stop her being hot. I will hold the rant about Emmie's characterisation, which is partly a matter of personal taste, but I think the author was trying for strong and independant and ended up with woman who is strong, physically, because she lifts weights and neither her or Ryan will ever stop talking about it. She also has an anxiety disorder, which is also brought up frequently, but as this is something that very much can take over a person's mind and life I don't critique it in the same way. The critique I do have is that it is used as a justification for any of Emmie's rash or rude behaviour, and so she is never held accountable. To be clear, I believe there should be a distinction between anxiety being the trigger for someone's behaviour, and it being used as a way to dismiss the impact of that behaviour on another person. Ryan, for his part, is simply bewildered by how 'prickly' she is but his whole characterisation is being easygoing so it (almost) never becomes the source of any inter-personal tension between them.
The third-act breakup was one of the most contrived I've readRyan assumes she will eventually want to get a doctorate or move to a more senior role or bigger museum. She had never previously talked to him about her career goals, but dumps him quite literally on the spot for 'making an assumption' and walks out. .
The reunion was just as frustrating - they barely spoke for weeks while she waited for Ryan to win her back - which he did by changing his future plans to fit her, because she's set up by the author to be in the right about everything.
One of the most frustrating parts of this book is that it gives what could be an interesting commentary on privilege in academia, but only gets as far as Emmie hating Ryan on-sight for being a white, cis-het man in science. Emmy in turn is a white, cis-het woman in the humanities but the privilege she has in her respective position never considered. There were a couple of throwaway comments about NAGPRA (the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) but the only voice she is interested in amplifying is that of the woman her own research is focussed on. Yes, sexism in academia is very much a problem and yes, the humanities are under-funded and under-respected compared to the sciences but I was really hoping that this would involve more nuance. As it was, Emmie seemed to take the line of dismissing any of Ryan's achievement or work simply because he's a man and his department has more funding, which is not the feminist hot take I was hoping for.
Was it good? No
Did I enjoy it? No
Would I recommend it? Noooo
I'm begging for more romances set in academia (about adults, because I'm not 21 any more) because this was not it.
I'll start with the only positive I can think of right now - I liked the academic setting. As an archaeologist myself, I sit in the juncture between history and science in a lot of ways, and bringing those two perspectives together through its romantic leads was something the book was obviously trying to do.
Ultimately, this was not exactly the grumpy-girl/sunshine-boy trope that was pitched. Instead, we follow an actively hostile Emmie (a historian) who doesn't seem to like or respect Ryan (a scientist), at any point in the book. They both work in university museums and are brought together with the announcement that the science and history buildings are merging.
Emmie is treated as the main character of this story, and Ryan either needed more attention from the author or his pov chapters scrapped. His character and personal world is so flat that his chapters only served to reassure us that Emmie's behaviour doesn't stop her being hot. I will hold the rant about Emmie's characterisation, which is partly a matter of personal taste, but I think the author was trying for strong and independant and ended up with woman who is strong, physically, because she lifts weights and neither her or Ryan will ever stop talking about it. She also has an anxiety disorder, which is also brought up frequently, but as this is something that very much can take over a person's mind and life I don't critique it in the same way. The critique I do have is that it is used as a justification for any of Emmie's rash or rude behaviour, and so she is never held accountable. To be clear, I believe there should be a distinction between anxiety being the trigger for someone's behaviour, and it being used as a way to dismiss the impact of that behaviour on another person. Ryan, for his part, is simply bewildered by how 'prickly' she is but his whole characterisation is being easygoing so it (almost) never becomes the source of any inter-personal tension between them.
The third-act breakup was one of the most contrived I've read
The reunion was just as frustrating - they barely spoke for weeks while she waited for Ryan to win her back - which he did by changing his future plans to fit her, because she's set up by the author to be in the right about everything.
One of the most frustrating parts of this book is that it gives what could be an interesting commentary on privilege in academia, but only gets as far as Emmie hating Ryan on-sight for being a white, cis-het man in science. Emmy in turn is a white, cis-het woman in the humanities but the privilege she has in her respective position never considered. There were a couple of throwaway comments about NAGPRA (the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) but the only voice she is interested in amplifying is that of the woman her own research is focussed on. Yes, sexism in academia is very much a problem and yes, the humanities are under-funded and under-respected compared to the sciences but I was really hoping that this would involve more nuance. As it was, Emmie seemed to take the line of dismissing any of Ryan's achievement or work simply because he's a man and his department has more funding, which is not the feminist hot take I was hoping for.
Was it good? No
Did I enjoy it? No
Would I recommend it? Noooo
I'm begging for more romances set in academia (about adults, because I'm not 21 any more) because this was not it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
juliana_reads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed this. As a museum worker, it was so fun to read a book in such a familiar setting. The funding issues, the grant writing, the musty historic house- very relatable. I also liked how Emmy and Ryan tussled and bickered with each other, professionally and intimately. They were cute.
I do have two main criticisms. First, I have a pet peeve with books that mention COVID and take place “post-pandemic” but don’t actually present the long-term implications. Yes, the two museums faced challenges, both MCs had to pivot during closures, but you’re telling me anxious Emmy went on a plane without a mask? They hosted a gala in peak flu/COVID season and didn’t have a vaccine requirement? If authors want to incorporate the pandemic, that’s fine, but it does nothing for the story if you just mention it in past tense and don’t factor in the way the world has changed since 2020.
The second is that I wanted Ryan to hold Emmy accountable for her outbursts! Them going back and forth was fun most of the time, but her storming off, especially during the big fight, was really unhealthy and counterproductive. I understand she has anxiety, but that doesn’t absolve you from being cruel to your partner. When Ryan confessed his love in Boston, I wanted him to say “I love you, I’m sorry for making assumptions about your career, but I also need you to talk with me instead of walking away in anger.” If he is a people pleaser, he also should work on that by speaking up for himself, ya know?
I received an ARC, I do look forward to the book being published and future interconnected books.
I do have two main criticisms. First, I have a pet peeve with books that mention COVID and take place “post-pandemic” but don’t actually present the long-term implications. Yes, the two museums faced challenges, both MCs had to pivot during closures, but you’re telling me anxious Emmy went on a plane without a mask? They hosted a gala in peak flu/COVID season and didn’t have a vaccine requirement? If authors want to incorporate the pandemic, that’s fine, but it does nothing for the story if you just mention it in past tense and don’t factor in the way the world has changed since 2020.
The second is that I wanted Ryan to hold Emmy accountable for her outbursts! Them going back and forth was fun most of the time, but
I received an ARC, I do look forward to the book being published and future interconnected books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content
Minor: Ableism
katiehasanxiety's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content