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goingforgoldilocks's review
When I want to avoid my life’s problems for a weekend I binge read romance. Glad I found Dahlia Adler this weekend.
alexalovesbooks's review
4.0
FIRST THOUGHTS: Lovely and fluffy and wonderful! I really enjoyed reading about Van and Josh, two characters that really stood out to me in Behind the Scenes.
themaliciousreader's review
5.0
Well this book was pretty damn perfect too, especially since it was partly f/f... I really needed that. Thank you.
beyondthebig5's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
littlemissstar55's review
3.0
This book took me a while to get into. I kept picking it up, getting frustrated, and then I'd put it back down again after a chapter, if I was lucky.
I positively loathed Josh's character right up until about half way, if not the last 100 pages of the book. He was an absolute arsehole with no redeeming qualities in my mind at all. He, thankfully, did get a little better, but still was a right twat.
Vanessa, however, I really enjoyed.
I loved watching her and Bri's relationship begin, develop, and grow in this novel.
Granted, I haven't read the first Daylight Falls novel, despite the fact that I own it. Maybe I'll get there, maybe I won't.
I'm glad that this book didn't completely suck for me. Especially since it is so hard to find decent lesbian and/or f/f novels anywhere. So that was a good thing.
I'd love to read more about Vanessa and Bri's relationship, though. That'd be awesome.
All in all, this was rather sweet.
3.5/5 stars (I wish Goodreads did half stars!!)
I positively loathed Josh's character right up until about half way, if not the last 100 pages of the book. He was an absolute arsehole with no redeeming qualities in my mind at all. He, thankfully, did get a little better, but still was a right twat.
Vanessa, however, I really enjoyed.
I loved watching her and Bri's relationship begin, develop, and grow in this novel.
Granted, I haven't read the first Daylight Falls novel, despite the fact that I own it. Maybe I'll get there, maybe I won't.
I'm glad that this book didn't completely suck for me. Especially since it is so hard to find decent lesbian and/or f/f novels anywhere. So that was a good thing.
I'd love to read more about Vanessa and Bri's relationship, though. That'd be awesome.
All in all, this was rather sweet.
3.5/5 stars (I wish Goodreads did half stars!!)
bedsidestack's review
3.0
i bought this not knowing that it was the second in a series and i didn’t want to buy the first one, so i didn’t, and i won’t.
i wanted to read this because someone had recommended it to me when i asked about f/f books and i was very excited for it. the relationship was cute and believable. i really liked their arc. too bad it was shat upon by the trash bag that was the character of josh.
josh is a fucking asshole. you get the impression that josh is supposed to be this lovable misogynist, but guess what? there’s nothing lovable about a sexist, kind of racist guy. at some point, i started skipping his chapters. like i did not care!!!!!at all!!!!!! he was not charming whatsoever and his character made me not like the book as much. i would have cut all of his chapter and just focused on vanessa and brianna’s storyline. it was a thousand times more compelling than any page josh was in.
if you want to read this book, i recommend skimming all of josh’s chapters
i wanted to read this because someone had recommended it to me when i asked about f/f books and i was very excited for it. the relationship was cute and believable. i really liked their arc. too bad it was shat upon by the trash bag that was the character of josh.
josh is a fucking asshole. you get the impression that josh is supposed to be this lovable misogynist, but guess what? there’s nothing lovable about a sexist, kind of racist guy. at some point, i started skipping his chapters. like i did not care!!!!!at all!!!!!! he was not charming whatsoever and his character made me not like the book as much. i would have cut all of his chapter and just focused on vanessa and brianna’s storyline. it was a thousand times more compelling than any page josh was in.
if you want to read this book, i recommend skimming all of josh’s chapters
notagreatreader's review
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Well, this book was sure a series of decisions that the author made. There were some good ones but I'll get to that.
First, I sure would like to know what went through the author's head when choosing to write a sapphic romance told from two POVs and make one of those POVs the most obnoxious mysoginistic racist dudebro on the planet? Like, how would that be appealing to a target audience for a sapphic romance? What's worse, the book starts off with the chapter from the dudebro's perspective and I almost stopped reading then and there, but I knew the romance was coming so I just skimmed the dudebro's chapters. I did, however, read enough to notice that like 95% of stuff coming out of his mouth was racist nicknames and objectification and insults to women. And it's one thing that his dudebro friends barely objected to this behavior, but he had one female friend who was just like oh he's not so bad when you get to know him. And she was otherwise a smart discerning girl. Like, seriously? I'm supposed to buy that? To add insult to injury, throughout the course of the book even the girl he keeps calling a racist nickname among other things somehow becomes friends with him, even though he doesn't change his behavior in any significant way. Like, it's somehow charming that he's a racist asshole who only talks to women to objectify them and to have sex with them? Like, sure, he does a couple barely decent things, like letting her crash at his guest house, meanwhile this girl fucking bails him out of a drunk tank and solves a bunch of problems for him to a rather great personal cost to herself, as it turns out. But no one points that out. Somehow, over the course of the book he becomes just slightly less of an asshole (still uses racist nicknames though), and I could appreciate this type of arc if he suffered some sort of significant personal consequence for his actions, but he didn't.
So, onto the half of the book that was actually kind of enjoyable. Vanessa's story line was quite interesting. I liked the portrayal of what it's like to be a young actress of color in Hollywood and the pressure coming with that, especially concerning the public image one is pressured to maintain. One good thing Josh's POV gave this story is to show how much more a white straight dudebro can get away with compared to queer actors of color.
I enjoyed Vanessa's self-discovery and coming out arc, which was obviously the key of this book. I appreciated that the major source of panic and apprehension in this case wasn't so much they gay thing but more the choice Vanessa had to make in respect to whether publicly come out or not. I liked that she waffled a bit on that, how important it was to her to protect her career.
I also liked the portrayal of behind-the-scenes Hollywood life. And the relationship between the two love interests was cute. They were both vulnerable despite one of them having more experience in that respect, I liked that. Oh, and the emphasis on continuous consent during sex was lovely too.
First, I sure would like to know what went through the author's head when choosing to write a sapphic romance told from two POVs and make one of those POVs the most obnoxious mysoginistic racist dudebro on the planet? Like, how would that be appealing to a target audience for a sapphic romance? What's worse, the book starts off with the chapter from the dudebro's perspective and I almost stopped reading then and there, but I knew the romance was coming so I just skimmed the dudebro's chapters. I did, however, read enough to notice that like 95% of stuff coming out of his mouth was racist nicknames and objectification and insults to women. And it's one thing that his dudebro friends barely objected to this behavior, but he had one female friend who was just like oh he's not so bad when you get to know him. And she was otherwise a smart discerning girl. Like, seriously? I'm supposed to buy that? To add insult to injury, throughout the course of the book even the girl he keeps calling a racist nickname among other things somehow becomes friends with him, even though he doesn't change his behavior in any significant way. Like, it's somehow charming that he's a racist asshole who only talks to women to objectify them and to have sex with them? Like, sure, he does a couple barely decent things, like letting her crash at his guest house, meanwhile this girl fucking bails him out of a drunk tank and solves a bunch of problems for him to a rather great personal cost to herself, as it turns out. But no one points that out. Somehow, over the course of the book he becomes just slightly less of an asshole (still uses racist nicknames though), and I could appreciate this type of arc if he suffered some sort of significant personal consequence for his actions, but he didn't.
So, onto the half of the book that was actually kind of enjoyable. Vanessa's story line was quite interesting. I liked the portrayal of what it's like to be a young actress of color in Hollywood and the pressure coming with that, especially concerning the public image one is pressured to maintain. One good thing Josh's POV gave this story is to show how much more a white straight dudebro can get away with compared to queer actors of color.
I enjoyed Vanessa's self-discovery and coming out arc, which was obviously the key of this book. I appreciated that the major source of panic and apprehension in this case wasn't so much they gay thing but more the choice Vanessa had to make in respect to whether publicly come out or not. I liked that she waffled a bit on that, how important it was to her to protect her career.
I also liked the portrayal of behind-the-scenes Hollywood life. And the relationship between the two love interests was cute. They were both vulnerable despite one of them having more experience in that respect, I liked that. Oh, and the emphasis on continuous consent during sex was lovely too.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Racism
Minor: Homophobia and Drug use
candise's review
3.0
Full disclosure: I read this book for free via NetGalley. Honestly, I'd just finished All the Light We Cannot See, and I wasn't ready to delve into another book of that size or emotional commitment. I wanted a trashy summer read. I'd heard pre-publication hype about this novel on After Ellen, and when I saw it available on NetGalley, I just picked it up on a whim. It was perfect.
So first off, I HATED both of the main characters for at least the first three chapters, and it took me nearly the whole book to even begin to warm up to Josh (one of the two alternating POV characters). Beef #2: It seems like every other lesbian "new adult" book lately is set in LA with very beautiful and mostly rich ladies. I'm all for fantasy, but I'm also kind of over it.
Now that all the shit-talking is out of the way, I still genuinely enjoyed this book. I read it obsessively for two days, and the lady-lady romance was hella cute. And since it is "new adult," it would be remiss of me to not mention that there is definitely sexy times in this book. I know this is the second book in a series, but you don't need to read the first book to dive into this one -- the author catches you up quickly. So if you are in the mood for a super short and cute summer read, there you go.
So first off, I HATED both of the main characters for at least the first three chapters, and it took me nearly the whole book to even begin to warm up to Josh (one of the two alternating POV characters). Beef #2: It seems like every other lesbian "new adult" book lately is set in LA with very beautiful and mostly rich ladies. I'm all for fantasy, but I'm also kind of over it.
Now that all the shit-talking is out of the way, I still genuinely enjoyed this book. I read it obsessively for two days, and the lady-lady romance was hella cute. And since it is "new adult," it would be remiss of me to not mention that there is definitely sexy times in this book. I know this is the second book in a series, but you don't need to read the first book to dive into this one -- the author catches you up quickly. So if you are in the mood for a super short and cute summer read, there you go.
laurenjamesauthor's review
This book is the follow up to Behind the Scenes, a straight contemporary romance about teenagers involved in the Hollywood celebrity world.
The story is divided between Josh and Vanessa, two teenage actors who are both struggling to reconcile their fame with growing up. Despite the rare situation the characters find themselves in, I think there will be a lot of modern teenagers to relate to. Both have to face their own goals compared to their parents’ expectations of them, and make huge decisions about their future at a very young age - all on top of Vanessa’s struggles with her sexuality.
I really enjoyed the love story between Brianna and Vanessa, it was very sweet and enjoyable. I’ve not read many LGBT books that use the teenage TV show style melodramatic plotlines in their romance/drama/angst. It was a refreshing take on common tropes; full of misunderstandings and unnecessary jealously and accidental flirtations. I think it’s going to appeal hugely to younger teenagers, and it’s the perfect book for fans of the first book who weren’t necessarily expecting an LGBT follow-up.
I did find the Josh scenes dragging a little - his journey wasn’t entirely satisfactory to me - but I did enjoy his character. He was really well written, and the book perfectly captured the kind of terrible teenage boy we all know and love to hate. It was nice to find a romance-less storyline for a protagonist too, which are still pretty rare in YA.
Overall this was a lovely, easy read. I would recommend it for fans of the first book, and Everything Leads to You.
The story is divided between Josh and Vanessa, two teenage actors who are both struggling to reconcile their fame with growing up. Despite the rare situation the characters find themselves in, I think there will be a lot of modern teenagers to relate to. Both have to face their own goals compared to their parents’ expectations of them, and make huge decisions about their future at a very young age - all on top of Vanessa’s struggles with her sexuality.
I really enjoyed the love story between Brianna and Vanessa, it was very sweet and enjoyable. I’ve not read many LGBT books that use the teenage TV show style melodramatic plotlines in their romance/drama/angst. It was a refreshing take on common tropes; full of misunderstandings and unnecessary jealously and accidental flirtations. I think it’s going to appeal hugely to younger teenagers, and it’s the perfect book for fans of the first book who weren’t necessarily expecting an LGBT follow-up.
I did find the Josh scenes dragging a little - his journey wasn’t entirely satisfactory to me - but I did enjoy his character. He was really well written, and the book perfectly captured the kind of terrible teenage boy we all know and love to hate. It was nice to find a romance-less storyline for a protagonist too, which are still pretty rare in YA.
Overall this was a lovely, easy read. I would recommend it for fans of the first book, and Everything Leads to You.