Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - La Chica del Tiempo

A good, sweet read with lots of heart! Fairly lighthearted and romantic but with great emotional depth and still covered meaningful subject matter in a sensitive way. I loved Ari & Russell together and the newsroom setting was a new one & very refreshing. I appreciated the nuanced take on Ari’s mental health and her struggle with depression, and how that related to her relationship with her mother.

I’m not Jewish, but Rachel Lynn Solomon is, and I really appreciate how she navigates the different characters’ relationships to their own faith and heritage. I loved all the moments of Jewish joy, from the family Shabbat dinner to the bat mitzvah towards the end. As an outsider looking in, it feels like a privilege to experience stories that are fictional and still feel informed by an authors lived experiences.

It definitely was a breath of fresh air to have a fat love interest in a romance! I’m pretty sure this is the first romance I’ve ever read where a man was anything but super jacked & thin. I appreciated the conversation around fat being a neutral descriptive word and calling out people who are “concerned for their health”. I would love to see the review / opinion of more fat folks re: how they felt about this representation.

Overall, not a mind-blowing or life-changing novel, but after this second 4-star read from RLS, I now know I can rely on one of her books for a pick-me-up romance & will be a go-to in the future!

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akswhy's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Adorable, important, and surprisingly steamy. I didn’t know I needed a romance novel featuring a heroine with depression until I read this book.

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emmysforeverbooked's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I loved this book so much. It was such an easy, light read for me and the cast was so loveable. Ari reminded me a lot of myself, between the depression and the loving the weather, I saw a lot of myself in her.

I loved how much representation there was spread throughout this book. The main character's depression rep, the love interest's plus size rep, the Jewish rep, the MC's brother's gay rep, multiple characters from multiple cultural backgrounds, there was so much rep and it's very hard to find all of that in one book. I really enjoyed learning more about the Jewish culture specifically, it was really fascinating to me to read about!

Overall, I think if you like Emily Henry or just rom-coms in general, this is a book for you!

The only reason this is lower than 4 stars for me is because there was a third act breakup. I will never understand the point of those, they always make me angry and sad. So that's why this is so low. Oh, and the proposal at someone else's wedding, that made me cringe fr.

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apolen's review against another edition

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4.0

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ell_n's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

She moved on from her ex-fiance weirdly quickly. I couldn't get over the fact that she'd been engaged to someone else only a couple of weeks before The premise for the third-act-breakup made no sense and was annoying- she was so hypocritical. Proposing at a wedding is always tacky.

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wilybooklover's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

4.5

This book had some of the most realistic characters I’ve ever read in a romance. Ari, Russell, and even the side characters felt like real people with real problems and I loved that. Ari and her mother are portrayed as having chronic depression and while I can’t speak to the accuracy, it felt like it was depicted with care and sensitivity. Russell was a teen dad and speaks about the hardships and judgment he faced because of it. It was lovely to read a close sibling relationship too!

I loved that Russell was a fat hero and that Ari still found him sexy and attractive from their first interactions. It’s such a nice change of pace from the usual muscular six-pack body type we usually see, and one that I personally find much more attractive. (Not that I think every hero should be personally attractive to me, just that it would be nice to have a little more diversity for those of us who don’t like abs!) There’s some discussion of fatphobia and Russell’s insecurities, but I thought his body was handled with love and care. Ari and Russell had great chemistry and tension together, and this book had some unexpectedly hot and creative sex scenes. Their romance was soft and tender and full of heart.

While I did think the third-act conflict was believable and in keeping with Ari’s characterisation, I hated that they didn’t reconcile until the very last page before the epilogue. I would’ve liked an additional chapter or two because I like to see the couple happy together after the reconciliation (otherwise the ending feels too abrupt). I also felt like the characters’ relationships with their bosses were a little weirdly close. And I'm sorry, but even if you ask permission

proposing at someone else's wedding is just odd.

I'm baffled as to why this was called a romcom though because it wasn't funny (a problem I have with most modern 'romcoms' to be honest!).

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Title: Weather Girl
Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 3.0
Pub Date: January 11, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Cozy • Feel-Good • Predictable

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Ari has always been fascinated by the weather, so working as a TV meteorologist is like living the dream. Unfortunately for Ari, her boss, the legendary Torrance Hale, is too preoccupied to mentor her properly. Russel, the sports report seems to be the only one who understands how she feels.

Following a disastrous holiday party, Ari and Russell team up to solve their bosses’ relationship issues. Between secret gifts and double dates, they start nudging their bosses back together. But their well-meaning meddling backfires when the real chemistry builds between Ari and Russell.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Weather Girl was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022, given the sweet premise and knowing there would be a mental health aspect. To say my hopes were high would definitely be an understatement. And unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations.

What I like:
• the representation. This book has excellent representation of mental illness, plus size portrayal, single parent, and a Jewish main character.
• the unique jobs. I loved that Rachel used such unique jobs as the basis for the story. An added bonus that the idea of a romance between a weather girl and a sportscaster seems fitting.
• the cover. Probably one of my favourite covers of the year.

What I didn't like:
• the romance. I get the romance isn't meant to be the main focus, yet the chemistry between the two main characters didn't feel all that believable.
• underdeveloped plot points. Some aspects of the plot were just left unexplored, which didn't feel quite right, even though this book already tackles a lot.

At the end of the day this was quick read with a cute plot, yet could have been better. For me, there was just something missing or maybe it's the fact it tried to do too much opposed to focusing on developing several aspects more broadly. I'm still glad I read it for the living with function depression aspect alone.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of The Ex Talk
• readers looking for mental illness representation

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"The people who love us the most have the power to hurt us the most, too."

"If anything could confirm that weather isn’t small talk, it’s this. Weather connects us. A shared experience, even when we aren’t in the same place."

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boba_n_books's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This romance that begins as a scheming partnership was so sweet. The book covered it all—mental illness, childhood trauma, breakups, and second chances. I loved the softer approach on women in STEAM with the main character being a meteorologist. The romantic interest being fat and not being ashamed was so refreshing, and I loved how the characters were Jewish and could bond over their shared heritage and beliefs. None of these were a huge focus of the book, but they made the characters unique and lovable.

My only complaint is the miscommunication trope that we so often see. It was a nice twist on it, but it felt almost forced and uncomfortable. However, the resolution is worth it.

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