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A review by plumjam
The Secret of You and Me by Melissa Lenhardt
3.0
While an easy and engaging read, the endless amount of tropes and constant arguing between the two main characters hindered how much of that was an enjoyable experience. I can't help but feel let down by what this book could've been. You see, the first four chapters of this book grabbed my full attention with it's seemingly nuanced character dynamics and I excited to see where the story went, expecting something different which may have been naive of me in retrospect. [the rest of this review won't make much sense without have reading the book]
I personally think it would have been a lot more interesting to see Sophie and Charlie have an actually functioning relationship. Not romantically or sexually considering Sophie being a closeted lesbian, but maybe have a life as best friends, and an open relationship that they keep hidden from their small town. Maybe Charlie had a lover or just had flings, the difference being it was communicative. Same for Sophie. Maybe she was even secretly (to the town not, Charlie) apart of an LGBT community out in Austin. It wouldn't be ideal for either of them, but the best they felt they could do for the sake of their reputation, their daughter, and their lasting guilt of betraying the girl they were both once in love with. Of course, this alternative would require completely changing Charlie's character and to that, I say: yes, please. This premise would've relieved the story from a number of its tropes such as the girl who dreamed of leaving for the city but didn't, the wife of a man running for senate being a closeted lesbian, the husband being a cheating and controlling asshole, and it could go on.
Overused tropes aren't the end of the world if the story has more to offer than said tropes, and to a degree The Secret of You and Me does. The characters are interesting, though not as much as I hoped based on the first four chapters. Sophie and Nora would've certainly saved themselves quite a bit of likability if it weren't for the constant, repetitive arguing. It's really a shame too because the fights that came in the later chapters were clearly meant to feel climactic and emotional and genuinely could've been if I weren't exhausted from reading it over and over in every chapter leaving the climax feeling melodramatic and anti-climatic. Even when Sophie is out to her family and dating Nora they managed to get into three different arguments within four pages.
I'm also very tired of coming out being the end all be all in every LGBT story. These are women almost in their forties for christ's sake. That's not to say people can't come out or realize they're gay at all ages, but it's somewhat frustrating that this trend can't be shaken off even in a story about queer women well into adulthood. It's not even Sophie being in the closet that bothers me so much as coming out being the conclusion to her character arc. Why does the conclusion to every gay characters' arc have to be them coming out? It's also fairly ironic that the main character arc revolves around coming out when almost every situation Nora and Sophie were outed was against their will and not their decision.
I personally think it would have been a lot more interesting to see Sophie and Charlie have an actually functioning relationship. Not romantically or sexually considering Sophie being a closeted lesbian, but maybe have a life as best friends, and an open relationship that they keep hidden from their small town. Maybe Charlie had a lover or just had flings, the difference being it was communicative. Same for Sophie. Maybe she was even secretly (to the town not, Charlie) apart of an LGBT community out in Austin. It wouldn't be ideal for either of them, but the best they felt they could do for the sake of their reputation, their daughter, and their lasting guilt of betraying the girl they were both once in love with. Of course, this alternative would require completely changing Charlie's character and to that, I say: yes, please. This premise would've relieved the story from a number of its tropes such as the girl who dreamed of leaving for the city but didn't, the wife of a man running for senate being a closeted lesbian, the husband being a cheating and controlling asshole, and it could go on.
Overused tropes aren't the end of the world if the story has more to offer than said tropes, and to a degree The Secret of You and Me does. The characters are interesting, though not as much as I hoped based on the first four chapters. Sophie and Nora would've certainly saved themselves quite a bit of likability if it weren't for the constant, repetitive arguing. It's really a shame too because the fights that came in the later chapters were clearly meant to feel climactic and emotional and genuinely could've been if I weren't exhausted from reading it over and over in every chapter leaving the climax feeling melodramatic and anti-climatic. Even when Sophie is out to her family and dating Nora they managed to get into three different arguments within four pages.
I'm also very tired of coming out being the end all be all in every LGBT story. These are women almost in their forties for christ's sake. That's not to say people can't come out or realize they're gay at all ages, but it's somewhat frustrating that this trend can't be shaken off even in a story about queer women well into adulthood. It's not even Sophie being in the closet that bothers me so much as coming out being the conclusion to her character arc. Why does the conclusion to every gay characters' arc have to be them coming out? It's also fairly ironic that the main character arc revolves around coming out when almost every situation Nora and Sophie were outed was against their will and not their decision.