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lezreadalot 's review for:
Set the Love
by Rowan Bilbrew
fast-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
“You were my standard, Noa.”
Sadly, I didn't like this as much as I wanted to. It was fine! It just felt really under-baked and unfinished in general. Which is a frequent problem with novellas, and it's why I don't read romance novellas often. But sometimes they're good! And this seemed cute! I wanted to give it a try! So here I am, doing the thing where I say "This novella would have been better if it weren't a novella." Which, I realise, is a very annoying thing to say, since the author set out to write a novella and I can't judge the book based on something that it's not. But even as a novella, it didn't really work.
This is a volleyball romance between Noa and Minji, professional players who've had a rivalry since college. When a little spat between them gets negative press, they're disqualified from an event they were both looking forward to. But not long after, they're given the opportunity to play together at a tournament, and animosity turns to attraction, and more.
- The book doesn't say anything. And I mean, it's a cute little sports romance; it doesn't NEED to say anything. But there were several moments where I felt like something important was being set up, and we just glossed over it. One example is when Noa is criticised in the press for her behaviour/words in their rivalry, and it feels like Minji gets none of the same censure. I thought there would be some comment about how black women are treated in the media, respectability politics, et cetera. But nope. We got none of that. This isn't really a critique, but I was kinda disappointed.
- The pacing was weird. There's nothing like getting hit with the sentence "We've been dating for nearly two months now," and you're like huh?? I thought a few weeks had passed. More could have been done to make the passage of time clearer. Or, ideally, there would have just been more of the relationship on page. Like, they describe a time when they went on a date at a dog café. That sounds cute as fuck! Why wasn't the reader invited along for that?
- Lots of typos and mistakes, which I can ignore, I guess. What DID make this kinda difficult to read was the constant switching between past and present tense. IDK if it was deliberate, but I didn't like it.
This was sexy, and had some cute moments. I'm partial to single POV romance, and I do like when a love interest YEARNS. Minji had a couple lines that had me twirling my hair around a finger. Otherwise, this was just okay. Give it a try if you like sports romances, and if you like novellas. I hope this will find its way into the hands of readers who will enjoy it more than I did.