Review by jennameyer - It's Different This Time

jennameyer 's review for:

It's Different This Time by Joss Richard

5.0

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

🍂 roommates to lovers with a lot in between

🌆 dual timeline

🍂 first person single POV

🌆 actress & chef

🍂 autumn in New York

🌆 second chance

🍂 forced proximity

🌆 found family

🍂 “it’s always been you”

🌆 Broadway references

Joss Richard’s debut novel, It’s Different This Time, is a beautiful story of love, loss, coming into one’s own, and finding your way back home. I found the writing style to be warm and inviting while building characters with rich backstories and personalities, and settings that I couldn’t help but to picture in my mind as I read. I’m not typically a person who visualizes a book as she reads it, but I could actually see this book play out in front of me like a film. It would make a brilliant movie. I appreciated that each of the side characters were every bit as developed as the main ones, not merely thrown in as an afterthought. It gave the story such depth and kept my interest piqued.

Being able to watch June and Adam skirt around their mutual attraction, see everything fall apart, and to witness them ultimately fall in love (again) felt like a privilege, like I was granted access to someone’s real life and I got to see it all from the sidelines in the best way. I couldn’t help but to smile so many times while reading. Theirs is the sweetest love story, although a bit rocky in the middle, and an absolute joy to read.

“For the first time, I finally know what it feels like to be wanted, to be loved… and it’s the best feeling in the world.”

“It feels like we're two kids back on the fire escape, looking over New York. The concept of love and happiness is something that would solve everything. Here we are, almost a decade later, and that sentiment still rings true.”

“It’s a moment in time that looks just like ones years before, but it’s not. It’s different this time.”

Trigger warnings for cancer and Alzheimer’s

Thank you to Netgalley and Dell/Ballantine for the early copy of this book! Receiving a free advanced copy of this book did not influence my opinions or the content of my review.

Content Warnings