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fuguballoon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
This book made me very uncomfortable. I could not believe how much casual homophobia and cringey stereotyping of LGBTQ people was in this book, most of it spoken by the main character and her friends! Also, the story is set in Los Angeles, but (IIRC) basically everyone in this book is white?? It is truly bizarre that Nina is supposed to be a millennial living in a large, diverse city, and working in a public-facing job, and that she has no close relationships with LGBTQ people or POC. Her internal thoughts were shallow and ignorant, but not in an entertaining "bad person behaving terribly" way. On top of that, the poor portrayal of Nina's anxiety disorder and the reactions of the other characters are... not great.
So bad. So, so bad.
So bad. So, so bad.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia
rainbowrocky's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
If you are a cisgender straight white millennial woman, this book is for you. If you are not, then you might want to skip this one. It wasn't written for me, and normally I don't have a problem with that if a book is well written, but this one is not. The millennial speak was too strong. For a character who is supposedly neurodivergent, Nina speaks pretty much exclusively in sarcasm, along with everyone else around her. It made all the characters come across as inauthentic to me.
It really grated on my nerves how insensitive and flippant the author was with a lot of subjects, dropping quick references to prove her "wokeness" without understand what any of it means. I should have known when "Transgender Support Bridge Night" had me side eyeing on page 9 that things would get worse from there (first of all, make it Drag Bingo Night, that's an actual thing). A trans person is not ever mentioned in this book again, and all the Harry Potter references have not aged well. Nina does have a lesbian friend at her book club we only see one time, and she is unfortunately witness to some pretty graphic body shaming about male anatomy she shouldn't have had to be apart of. Again, she never shows up in the novel after that. Nina also inherits a gay nephew later on in the book who is a regular character and I did enjoy him, but her co-worker Polly makes some subtly homophobic comments about him becoming her Gay Best Friend TM. Big eye roll from me. Also I'm just realizing he mentioned having a fiancé when they first met, and then we never saw said partner. Hello? Why wasn't he at the will reading like the other spouses? Suspicious.
There is also a healthy dose of underlying but not explicit fat shaming and ableism in this book, for anyone weary of those themes. It's odd how the author discusses mental illness despite her main character having anxiety. Lots of words like "insane", "crazy", and "psycho" get thrown around, so if you're sensitive to that please pass on this book. I did not find my own experience with anxiety validated by this novel at all.
The romance itself was incredibly lukewarm for me. Tom never even got a physical description beyond that he's tall and has stong forearms and smells like sawdust lol. What color are his eyes? His hair? Is he white? I'm assuming everyone in this novel is, given the author is and didn't describe anyone in detail (except for Nina; for some reason we got a copius amount of descriptions on her slim figure and auburn hair, but how she's not "too pretty" like she's trying too hard--insert another eye roll).
The surprise family plot was interesting, and made me think about my own experiences with these kinds of things. Blended families are more common than you would think and it's fun so see that depicted on the page. The ending was, again, lukewarm. Nina's dad is a real piece of work and his letter, which I'm assuming was supposed to be heartfelt?, was again too flippant for me to take seriously.
Maybe I'm just not a fan of such a casual writing style. I probably would have DNFed it, and should have, if not for completing it for Book Roast's Orilium Magical Readathon 2024 for my Astronomy Class, prompt "recommendation based on your zodiac sign". As a Cancer, this book hurt my heart more than it healed it.
It really grated on my nerves how insensitive and flippant the author was with a lot of subjects, dropping quick references to prove her "wokeness" without understand what any of it means. I should have known when "Transgender Support Bridge Night" had me side eyeing on page 9 that things would get worse from there (first of all, make it Drag Bingo Night, that's an actual thing). A trans person is not ever mentioned in this book again, and all the Harry Potter references have not aged well. Nina does have a lesbian friend at her book club we only see one time, and she is unfortunately witness to some pretty graphic body shaming about male anatomy she shouldn't have had to be apart of. Again, she never shows up in the novel after that. Nina also inherits a gay nephew later on in the book who is a regular character and I did enjoy him, but her co-worker Polly makes some subtly homophobic comments about him becoming her Gay Best Friend TM. Big eye roll from me. Also I'm just realizing he mentioned having a fiancé when they first met, and then we never saw said partner. Hello? Why wasn't he at the will reading like the other spouses? Suspicious.
There is also a healthy dose of underlying but not explicit fat shaming and ableism in this book, for anyone weary of those themes. It's odd how the author discusses mental illness despite her main character having anxiety. Lots of words like "insane", "crazy", and "psycho" get thrown around, so if you're sensitive to that please pass on this book. I did not find my own experience with anxiety validated by this novel at all.
The romance itself was incredibly lukewarm for me. Tom never even got a physical description beyond that he's tall and has stong forearms and smells like sawdust lol. What color are his eyes? His hair? Is he white? I'm assuming everyone in this novel is, given the author is and didn't describe anyone in detail (except for Nina; for some reason we got a copius amount of descriptions on her slim figure and auburn hair, but how she's not "too pretty" like she's trying too hard--insert another eye roll).
The surprise family plot was interesting, and made me think about my own experiences with these kinds of things. Blended families are more common than you would think and it's fun so see that depicted on the page. The ending was, again, lukewarm. Nina's dad is a real piece of work and his letter, which I'm assuming was supposed to be heartfelt?, was again too flippant for me to take seriously.
Maybe I'm just not a fan of such a casual writing style. I probably would have DNFed it, and should have, if not for completing it for Book Roast's Orilium Magical Readathon 2024 for my Astronomy Class, prompt "recommendation based on your zodiac sign". As a Cancer, this book hurt my heart more than it healed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Fatphobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, Abortion, and Cultural appropriation
lindsayerin's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Abandonment
Moderate: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Homophobia and Racism