A review by thegreatmanda
We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this so much that I don't know how to talk about it. I never thought I'd read a book about two men falling in love in the 1950s that has a happy ending.

Favorite Quotes:

Andy flashes Nick a smile, a thousand watts of professionally straightened teeth, and it's like a two-by-four to the head. It takes Nick a minute to arrange his face.

He braces his hands on the edges of the sink and looks at his reflection, surprised to see that he looks normal, almost calm. He feels as if he's been turned inside out, as if he just learned that a part of his heart is on the outside of his body, in the possession of somebody else entirely.

Being a part of that large, loud, fractious Russo family is as much a part of his identity as being a reporter or a baseball fan—or queer. But the knowledge that his belonging to that family is contingent on keeping a secret—on implicitly agreeing that a part of him needs to be hidden away—makes him feel fragile in a way he hates, and so he keeps his distance.

He thinks of Sunday lunches at his brother's house, of weddings and Christmases where he holds himself carefully aside, not even thinking about the truth.

And if Andy hadn't already known he loves Nick—if Andy had managed to tuck that truth away where he keeps everything else he doesn't want to deal with—he would have known it then, watching Nick laugh with the butcher on a sunny May morning.

"I got these for you." Andy makes himself tag on those last two words so Nick will know this wasn't an errand; it's a gesture. It's someone bringing flowers to the person he loves. Simple as that.

Sticking out from between the couch cushions, he sees a corner of white linen. It's one of Andy's handkerchiefs. He wonders how many others are in there. Is that where they all go? If Nick took the cushions off, would he find two hundred linen handkerchiefs? Suddenly, he knows exactly what he'd tell his fourteen-year-old self:  You'll be loved by the best person you know. And that's—Christ, it's not enough, but it's enough to start with.