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A review by the_rabble
Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail by Ashley Herring Blake
emotional
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
A good follow up to Deliah Green Doesn't Care.
2 POV, wlw bad first impression romcom with home design, reality TV, and a lot of tarot. Those trepidatious about Astrid taking the MC/POV slot should feel fine picking this up- it works. (Bonus Points: Astrid is a narrator who owns her shit a lot better than book 1's Claire.)
Solid prose, good sex scenes. Emotional beats are good. Both main characters are well fleshed out.
The background vibe of both books re: the core group of in this series thus far is "semi-reformed mean girls"/"queer sorority house alums" and that's not energy I'm familiar with in the wild, so there's some stuff that's probably going over my head and just not hitting.
Narrator - Kirsten DiMercurio does a great job. Particularly on the two POV characters having unique voices.
The only thing that's a little odd isn't on her- the type of rich lady the Parker-Green family is on paper and this in audio has a real east coast blue blood frame that's kind of hard to find- let alone maintain- in exurban Oregon. We have rich fucks, but it's a different, more Nike/landed gentry flavored rich fuck.
That and a rogue society page reference (which is not a thing in the PNW) make it feel like the author wanted the setting to be Connecticut, but Oregon was gayer. Which is fine, but there were little discordant moments that stacked.
On the plus side for setting, the "hotel"/house they work on did seem like a dope craftsman style home and I appreciated the author lightly dunking on how trendy redos fuck those places up fast.
She also does a good job on some small town set pieces that felt really natural.
2 POV, wlw bad first impression romcom with home design, reality TV, and a lot of tarot. Those trepidatious about Astrid taking the MC/POV slot should feel fine picking this up- it works. (Bonus Points: Astrid is a narrator who owns her shit a lot better than book 1's Claire.)
Solid prose, good sex scenes. Emotional beats are good. Both main characters are well fleshed out.
The background vibe of both books re: the core group of in this series thus far is "semi-reformed mean girls"/"queer sorority house alums" and that's not energy I'm familiar with in the wild, so there's some stuff that's probably going over my head and just not hitting.
Narrator - Kirsten DiMercurio does a great job. Particularly on the two POV characters having unique voices.
The only thing that's a little odd isn't on her- the type of rich lady the Parker-Green family is on paper and this in audio has a real east coast blue blood frame that's kind of hard to find- let alone maintain- in exurban Oregon. We have rich fucks, but it's a different, more Nike/landed gentry flavored rich fuck.
That and a rogue society page reference (which is not a thing in the PNW) make it feel like the author wanted the setting to be Connecticut, but Oregon was gayer. Which is fine, but there were little discordant moments that stacked.
On the plus side for setting, the "hotel"/house they work on did seem like a dope craftsman style home and I appreciated the author lightly dunking on how trendy redos fuck those places up fast.
She also does a good job on some small town set pieces that felt really natural.