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A review by bookish_kristina
No Going Back by Janice Whiteaker
4.0
low key, low angst, refreshing small town romance
This was a really light, easy read. It was an age-gap, small town trope, with two more mature characters. The heroine, a bakery owner in her 30s, is recovering from an abusive marriage and trying to learn to love herself. The hero, a semi-retired entrepreneur/mechanic in his late 40s, moves to town to be closer to the adult son he recently learned about.
Both characters are trying to better themselves and recover from past trauma as a result there is a little negative motivation because both try to resist a relationship. It did make sense to the plot though so I tried to roll with it (even though I hate negative motivation most fervently).
Overall this story was very refreshing in how it approached a lot of conventional tropes and I was impressed by it.
Firstly, it really normalized therapy for trauma and working through issues. Both characters in this sought therapy and didn’t expect the other to carry the load of their healing.
Secondly, the body issues that the heroine dealt with were presented in a realistic way. She did have moments of being down on herself because of her trauma, but she grew and changed how she talked to and about herself throughout the book. Her inner voice wasn’t cruel and her entire personality wasn’t about being less than slim. No women were brought down to lift up her curvy self. Overall this author is really kind and progressive in how she presents her women characters, the mains as well as the sides.
Thirdly, the hero had issues and was completely aware of them. He faltered a few times but kept trying and worked hard at earning his place beside the heroine.
This was a very relationship driven book. The plot centred completely around the two of them and most scenes were at each of their houses. As a result it did restrict the plot a bit and there were times when it lagged.
The writing itself was also just ok. I’ve read this author for awhile and see a marked improvement in her writing and the editing of her books. I would still love to see more growth in her craft, as her ideas are sound, her viewpoint important but her writing skills are not complex and she REALLY needs to learn how to structure longer sentences and use a semicolon. I rarely get this nitty gritty in my reviews, but the short sentences and choppy, partial phrases got annoying to me and I’d love the fluidity that comes with more intricate prose.
That being said I’m just going to jot some highlights and lowlights below. Warning for spoilers.
Things I liked:
This was a really light, easy read. It was an age-gap, small town trope, with two more mature characters. The heroine, a bakery owner in her 30s, is recovering from an abusive marriage and trying to learn to love herself. The hero, a semi-retired entrepreneur/mechanic in his late 40s, moves to town to be closer to the adult son he recently learned about.
Both characters are trying to better themselves and recover from past trauma as a result there is a little negative motivation because both try to resist a relationship. It did make sense to the plot though so I tried to roll with it (even though I hate negative motivation most fervently).
Overall this story was very refreshing in how it approached a lot of conventional tropes and I was impressed by it.
Firstly, it really normalized therapy for trauma and working through issues. Both characters in this sought therapy and didn’t expect the other to carry the load of their healing.
Secondly, the body issues that the heroine dealt with were presented in a realistic way. She did have moments of being down on herself because of her trauma, but she grew and changed how she talked to and about herself throughout the book. Her inner voice wasn’t cruel and her entire personality wasn’t about being less than slim. No women were brought down to lift up her curvy self. Overall this author is really kind and progressive in how she presents her women characters, the mains as well as the sides.
Thirdly, the hero had issues and was completely aware of them. He faltered a few times but kept trying and worked hard at earning his place beside the heroine.
This was a very relationship driven book. The plot centred completely around the two of them and most scenes were at each of their houses. As a result it did restrict the plot a bit and there were times when it lagged.
The writing itself was also just ok. I’ve read this author for awhile and see a marked improvement in her writing and the editing of her books. I would still love to see more growth in her craft, as her ideas are sound, her viewpoint important but her writing skills are not complex and she REALLY needs to learn how to structure longer sentences and use a semicolon. I rarely get this nitty gritty in my reviews, but the short sentences and choppy, partial phrases got annoying to me and I’d love the fluidity that comes with more intricate prose.
That being said I’m just going to jot some highlights and lowlights below. Warning for spoilers.
Things I liked: