Review by whatrinareads - Between Friends & Lovers

whatrinareads 's review for:

Between Friends & Lovers by Shirlene Obuobi

3.5

emotional funny inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The dedication healed my soul. The acknowledgement of strong women, particularly women of color, who save the world but have no one to protect them was a great pre-cursor to the love our main character will experience. (Also the Megan shoutout <3)

It’s a bit of a twist on the classic trope. Both guys are rich haha but one is a trust fund baby and the childhood friend while the other is a hopeless romantic and knight in shining armor. This works well with our influencer/doctor main character who is known for being intimidating because of her smarts, good looks, and style. They are all famous to varying degrees which is a common issue that arises in the book and blows up towards the end.

I liked, first and foremost, that the guy I liked won. He was set up to win, but it was still nice to see. I also loved the fact that we got to see a diverse cast with both jobs in STEM and the arts (I think they call this STEAM now actually lol)

The drawback was that everyone was a little too self-aware. It resulted in a lot of people telling the reader about themselves rather than showing. A lot of monologuing which made parts of it a little dull.

I would read more by this author though! Especially after learning that she is a Ghanian-American cardiologist that writes about black women in STEM!

Content Warnings