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A review by nerdybookqueen
Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
I got an e-arc of this book from Netgalley in exchange for fair and honest feedback.
A queer romance set against a backdrop of the parent trap and the politics of protecting women from abuse, named after a Taylor Swift song? This book was amazing, I adored these characters, and I can't wait to buy it.
This book follows Gwen and Beth, two sapphic women in the mid-1800s, in the midst of Beth's first season and Gwen's...fourth, if I recall correctly. It is through their friendship that they discover tthe past romance between Gwen's father and Beth's mother, both single. And of course, the only logical conclusion is for them to attempt a parent-trap style scheme and get their parents together.
And of course, while they do this, they fall in love. And it is sweet and messy and chaotic. And of course, there are the perils of the time period, and being queer during that era. To add to the mess, there is Beth's suitor, which they think will become a safe beard for their relationship, allowing them to stay together as "friends."
Alas, surprise, the suitor's father is fighting against a law supported by Gwen's father, one that would give women the right to divorce their husband's for abuse (something Beth's mother suffered from at the hands of her father). As such, both women are forbidden from seeing Gwen and her father. How they solve it? That's the rest of the story.
This book was such a wonderful, sweet romance between these two girls, and getting to watch their parents fall back together from afar was also so nice. Additionally, Gwen's family staff features to older sapphic women, and it is so, so nice to see elder LGBT women, both in general and for the time period. I adore Gwen and Beth, and I think other readers will too. And the ending? Fantastic, in more ways than one, and more than I expected.
A queer romance set against a backdrop of the parent trap and the politics of protecting women from abuse, named after a Taylor Swift song? This book was amazing, I adored these characters, and I can't wait to buy it.
This book follows Gwen and Beth, two sapphic women in the mid-1800s, in the midst of Beth's first season and Gwen's...fourth, if I recall correctly. It is through their friendship that they discover tthe past romance between Gwen's father and Beth's mother, both single. And of course, the only logical conclusion is for them to attempt a parent-trap style scheme and get their parents together.
And of course, while they do this, they fall in love. And it is sweet and messy and chaotic. And of course, there are the perils of the time period, and being queer during that era. To add to the mess, there is Beth's suitor, which they think will become a safe beard for their relationship, allowing them to stay together as "friends."
Alas, surprise, the suitor's father is fighting against a law supported by Gwen's father, one that would give women the right to divorce their husband's for abuse (something Beth's mother suffered from at the hands of her father). As such, both women are forbidden from seeing Gwen and her father. How they solve it? That's the rest of the story.
This book was such a wonderful, sweet romance between these two girls, and getting to watch their parents fall back together from afar was also so nice. Additionally, Gwen's family staff features to older sapphic women, and it is so, so nice to see elder LGBT women, both in general and for the time period. I adore Gwen and Beth, and I think other readers will too. And the ending? Fantastic, in more ways than one, and more than I expected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Death of parent