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ksuazo94's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Classism
camillej's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcohol and Classism
foreverinastory's review
emotional
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
4.0
Thank you to MTMC tours and Netgalley for an ALC in exchange for an honest review and promotion. All opinions are my own.
Must Love Books follows Nora Hughes. She's working for Parsons publishing and while she enjoyed her job when she started, her latest pay cut has made her expenses unaffordable. Nora begins to moonlight with a rival publishing house in order to make ends meet and steals some Parsons authors along the way. But when best selling author Andrew Santos is thrown in the mix, Nora doesn't know what's right anymore or what she wants to do.
I definitely enjoyed this one; however, I really wish I had known how much this would deal with depression and suicidal ideation, because from the cover and marketing I've seen I definitely thought it was just a cutesy romcom. I really enjoyed this adult contemporary fiction! I really loved seeing Nora navigate publishing, romance and figuring out her next steps. This had some similar vibes to Honey Girl where Grace was struggling with burnout and the unknown of life after grad school.
I'd love to see more books about publishing and working in the publishing industry come out. I find it all really fascinating, but I don't want to actually work in publishing. I loved seeing Nora and Andrew grow closer. I really liked these two together and seeing them become closer. Nora's struggle with what to do was so well crafted. I felt for her, trying to juggle both her loyalties and what was and what wasn't crossing her own personal line. It's so hard in a situation like hers when your home and more is on the line.
I loved the ending. It felt right for this book. Nora hasn't figured everything out, but she's picked a direction to start in. Can't wait to see what's next for this author!
Rep: Biracial Black cishet female MC with depression, biracial Filipino cishet male side character, cast is made up of mainly white straight characters, Black female side character briefly mentioned, queer side character mentioned.
CWs: Mental illness (depression), suicidal thoughts. Moderate: sexism, misogyny, racism, classism, Minor: closed door sexual content.
Must Love Books follows Nora Hughes. She's working for Parsons publishing and while she enjoyed her job when she started, her latest pay cut has made her expenses unaffordable. Nora begins to moonlight with a rival publishing house in order to make ends meet and steals some Parsons authors along the way. But when best selling author Andrew Santos is thrown in the mix, Nora doesn't know what's right anymore or what she wants to do.
I definitely enjoyed this one; however, I really wish I had known how much this would deal with depression and suicidal ideation, because from the cover and marketing I've seen I definitely thought it was just a cutesy romcom. I really enjoyed this adult contemporary fiction! I really loved seeing Nora navigate publishing, romance and figuring out her next steps. This had some similar vibes to Honey Girl where Grace was struggling with burnout and the unknown of life after grad school.
I'd love to see more books about publishing and working in the publishing industry come out. I find it all really fascinating, but I don't want to actually work in publishing. I loved seeing Nora and Andrew grow closer. I really liked these two together and seeing them become closer. Nora's struggle with what to do was so well crafted. I felt for her, trying to juggle both her loyalties and what was and what wasn't crossing her own personal line. It's so hard in a situation like hers when your home and more is on the line.
I loved the ending. It felt right for this book. Nora hasn't figured everything out, but she's picked a direction to start in. Can't wait to see what's next for this author!
Rep: Biracial Black cishet female MC with depression, biracial Filipino cishet male side character, cast is made up of mainly white straight characters, Black female side character briefly mentioned, queer side character mentioned.
CWs: Mental illness (depression), suicidal thoughts. Moderate: sexism, misogyny, racism, classism, Minor: closed door sexual content.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Classism, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Sexual content
16rcampbell's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
It was such a slog getting through this book. The main character Nora’s choices are so dumb and cringey. I understand doing things out of desperation but every choice she made was the wrong one, at some point I’m no longer rooting for her.
The love interest was flat, one-dimensional, and boring. He’s happy and positive all the time and that’s all there is to him.
Instead of being either (a) an escapist love story between a cynic and a perpetual optimist or (b) an in-depth commentary/exposé on the sexism, racism, and feelings of inferiority, insignificance and hopelessness inextricably tied into capitalism, this book forces you to experience the grueling day-to-day feelings of working in a mind numbing capitalist society in a way no different than what you’re already doing everyday. I don’t learn anything from this book and I don’t enjoy it - why is it worth reading? It’s not. This book is essentially too grounded in reality. It’s tiring - exhausting, really - and there’s no sense of triumph or success by the time you get to the end. I hardly feel like Nora grows at all. The love interest felt forced and kind of felt like click-bait. There was no spark between them.
My main issue with this book is that there is absolutely no warning or hint that the main character may struggle with (cw) suicide ideation. This book is presented as a happy, quirky story where a girl finds her way in life and might fall in love with handsome, caring man - right down to the bright colors and cutesie art style of the cover. It is not that at all. Had I known that, I would not have picked this book up. I found myself skipping several pages because the suicide ideation was written about at length, and it popped up frequently in the story. Not only that, but her suicide ideation is “resolved,” essentially, by one guy telling her to be happy and do happy things? If this story was meant to spread awareness or help with ending suicide, it should have included resources for people to go to, the main character should have been encouraged, at least ONCE, to go to therapy, and it would not have been presented in such a carefree manner. It is dangerous to have your character resolve her problems by relying on a single person’s input, which creates an unhealthy relationship dynamic and unrealistic expectations for anyone who reads this book and relates to Nora.
This story was irresponsible, but even if the suicidal ideation was excluded, it still wouldn’t have been worth a higher rating. The writing is monotonous, the main character is tragically boring, and there’s no payoff for reading.
The love interest was flat, one-dimensional, and boring. He’s happy and positive all the time and that’s all there is to him.
Instead of being either (a) an escapist love story between a cynic and a perpetual optimist or (b) an in-depth commentary/exposé on the sexism, racism, and feelings of inferiority, insignificance and hopelessness inextricably tied into capitalism, this book forces you to experience the grueling day-to-day feelings of working in a mind numbing capitalist society in a way no different than what you’re already doing everyday. I don’t learn anything from this book and I don’t enjoy it - why is it worth reading? It’s not. This book is essentially too grounded in reality. It’s tiring - exhausting, really - and there’s no sense of triumph or success by the time you get to the end. I hardly feel like Nora grows at all. The love interest felt forced and kind of felt like click-bait. There was no spark between them.
My main issue with this book is that there is absolutely no warning or hint that the main character may struggle with (cw) suicide ideation. This book is presented as a happy, quirky story where a girl finds her way in life and might fall in love with handsome, caring man - right down to the bright colors and cutesie art style of the cover. It is not that at all. Had I known that, I would not have picked this book up. I found myself skipping several pages because the suicide ideation was written about at length, and it popped up frequently in the story. Not only that, but her suicide ideation is “resolved,” essentially, by one guy telling her to be happy and do happy things? If this story was meant to spread awareness or help with ending suicide, it should have included resources for people to go to, the main character should have been encouraged, at least ONCE, to go to therapy, and it would not have been presented in such a carefree manner. It is dangerous to have your character resolve her problems by relying on a single person’s input, which creates an unhealthy relationship dynamic and unrealistic expectations for anyone who reads this book and relates to Nora.
This story was irresponsible, but even if the suicidal ideation was excluded, it still wouldn’t have been worth a higher rating. The writing is monotonous, the main character is tragically boring, and there’s no payoff for reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Toxic relationship
The main character has multiple consecutive pages talking about suicide and suicidal intent, and comes up unexpectedly in the story.
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