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A review by terzza
With This Kiss by Carrie Hope Fletcher
3.5
Massive thank you to Harper Collins for this advanced copy in exchange for a review!
Film, books, theatre, magic, friendship, love and something dark...
Reading this book gave me the same warm, fuzzy feeling that you get when watching a cosy, familiar rom-com on a rainy day. It only took two chapters to fall in love with Lorelai and Joanie, their friendship was so real.
At times it felt like I was reading a book written just for me. It was just what I needed to escape into and it was so easy to fall in love with this colourful cast of characters. The settings were so rich and alive and the magical element was really unique. It was easy to read and I flew through it, I wish I'd made it last longer.
Lorelai is carrying so much and it's effecting all sorts of things in her life, I thought it was such a good metaphor for so many things, really beautifully told.
I only had one negative for the book (which isn't really a negative and more of a 'this didn't feel quite right). Joy and her boyfriend - the whole interaction with "ladies and gentlemen" at the first book club meeting felt slightly... Off? I understood completely what the goal of that section was and it was almost lovely, Lorelai was clearly learning and making a mistake but then correcting herself under Joy and James' instruction. It was a good explanation and handled thoughtfully. But the fact that everyone else in the group is described and has a defining characteristic but Joy's only description is that she's a trans woman makes the whole thing hit differently. Even if it was just that she's wearing a brightly coloured coat or smiles a certain way it would feel like she was an actual person and not just a device. I could picture everyone else in my head from how they were described but Joy was just "trans woman", it was important to mention that she was trans but there was no other descriptor. I don't think she was written as a device however, as she's written well later on, but you have a room full of thoughtfully described characters and then "trans woman". It sounds nit picky but I wanted to mention it from a trans person's perspective. I liked the fact that Lorelai wasn't getting it right at first but was trying her hardest, that's a really nice message to get across.
Film, books, theatre, magic, friendship, love and something dark...
Reading this book gave me the same warm, fuzzy feeling that you get when watching a cosy, familiar rom-com on a rainy day. It only took two chapters to fall in love with Lorelai and Joanie, their friendship was so real.
At times it felt like I was reading a book written just for me. It was just what I needed to escape into and it was so easy to fall in love with this colourful cast of characters. The settings were so rich and alive and the magical element was really unique. It was easy to read and I flew through it, I wish I'd made it last longer.
Lorelai is carrying so much and it's effecting all sorts of things in her life, I thought it was such a good metaphor for so many things, really beautifully told.
I only had one negative for the book (which isn't really a negative and more of a 'this didn't feel quite right). Joy and her boyfriend - the whole interaction with "ladies and gentlemen" at the first book club meeting felt slightly... Off? I understood completely what the goal of that section was and it was almost lovely, Lorelai was clearly learning and making a mistake but then correcting herself under Joy and James' instruction. It was a good explanation and handled thoughtfully. But the fact that everyone else in the group is described and has a defining characteristic but Joy's only description is that she's a trans woman makes the whole thing hit differently. Even if it was just that she's wearing a brightly coloured coat or smiles a certain way it would feel like she was an actual person and not just a device. I could picture everyone else in my head from how they were described but Joy was just "trans woman", it was important to mention that she was trans but there was no other descriptor. I don't think she was written as a device however, as she's written well later on, but you have a room full of thoughtfully described characters and then "trans woman". It sounds nit picky but I wanted to mention it from a trans person's perspective. I liked the fact that Lorelai wasn't getting it right at first but was trying her hardest, that's a really nice message to get across.