A review by nadrojeiliah
Only When It's Us by Chloe Liese

emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Cute story! Just overall might not be for me. Was a bit too slow moving and felt repetitive with how Willa behaved. Loved how openly emotional she was with her mom and how the author portrayed her grief! Those emotional aspects, our lovable side characters, and being in Ryders head are really what saved me from DNFing. I just didn’t vibe with Willa most of the time and also didn’t enjoy how juvenile her and Ryder acted towards each other. They’re a couple that I wouldn’t expect their HEA to be lasting.
Loved the diversity with Ryders hearing loss and how he worked through his emotions regarding that happening later in life. Would’ve liked to see him adapt more with learning ASL on screen, feel like the author focused more on getting his hearing or some semblance of it back instead of embracing ASL. 
I do appreciate the growth Willa and Ryder make towards the end! It just felt like we rushed through that after all the build up though.

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