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A review by lezreadalot
To Have Loved & Lost by Eliza Andrews
4.0
The girl with the strange jagged lightning bolt of a tattoo, who sometimes plays like ice-water runs through her veins instead of blood; other times plays as if her heart is a mass of white hot flames.
Overall? This was really really enjoyable. This is my second experience with an Eliza Andrews novel, and apparently it was her first foray into f/f adult romance? I could definitely see the difference; I didn't fall in love with the writing here like I did in Reverie, which was written more recently (I ADORED how she wrote that book... though I didn't adore everything ABOUT the book). But in general, it was well-written, angsty, deals a lot with grief, family, trying to move on after personal tragedy.
One of the things I appreciated the most about the book is that it was butch/femme. Like I think I've said before, I like femme/femme books as much as the next gal, but oh man we don't give butch women the love they deserve in romance novels. And this did! And I loved it! (I really adored and appreciated the author's mini-essay about it at the end, and how she talks about her own personal experience being butch, and some of the fallacies about butch women in popular culture. Actually, I really enjoyed her mini-essay after Reverie too. I just really enjoyed how she grounded the whys and wherefores behind the writing of the book.)
But yeah, this had great characters whom I came to like a lot. It was paced well (...except when it wasn't, and we'll get to that) and I felt like their relationship moved at a believable clip, given everything that was happening and had happened in their lives. It was slow at first, but in a way I enjoyed. I don't often read sports romance (this might have been my first one) and tbh I don't... care........ or understand......... jack shit.......... about basketball.......... at all............................ So honestly the author deserves an award for making me invested in the games, and Alex's trajectory as a player, and making me feel the excitement. The way Alex herself was described was just...
Overall? This was really really enjoyable. This is my second experience with an Eliza Andrews novel, and apparently it was her first foray into f/f adult romance? I could definitely see the difference; I didn't fall in love with the writing here like I did in Reverie, which was written more recently (I ADORED how she wrote that book... though I didn't adore everything ABOUT the book). But in general, it was well-written, angsty, deals a lot with grief, family, trying to move on after personal tragedy.
One of the things I appreciated the most about the book is that it was butch/femme. Like I think I've said before, I like femme/femme books as much as the next gal, but oh man we don't give butch women the love they deserve in romance novels. And this did! And I loved it! (I really adored and appreciated the author's mini-essay about it at the end, and how she talks about her own personal experience being butch, and some of the fallacies about butch women in popular culture. Actually, I really enjoyed her mini-essay after Reverie too. I just really enjoyed how she grounded the whys and wherefores behind the writing of the book.)
But yeah, this had great characters whom I came to like a lot. It was paced well (...except when it wasn't, and we'll get to that) and I felt like their relationship moved at a believable clip, given everything that was happening and had happened in their lives. It was slow at first, but in a way I enjoyed. I don't often read sports romance (this might have been my first one) and tbh I don't... care........ or understand......... jack shit.......... about basketball.......... at all............................ So honestly the author deserves an award for making me invested in the games, and Alex's trajectory as a player, and making me feel the excitement. The way Alex herself was described was just...