A review by analenegrace
Once More With Feeling by Elissa Sussman

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Her acknowledgments started off by saying, "There are few things more tragic than a theater kid who can't sing, dance, or act" and as a former (barely) theater kid who can't sing AT ALL, I felt that, and this book, so much. 

I loved Kathleen and Cal's relationship, especially because I love second-chance romances and celeb romances. Both felt very real and complicated, which I love in characters. Harriet also felt very real, and
that third-act fight scene
felt necessary to me for Harriet and Kathleen to continue their adult friendship. 

My criticisms are few but include disliking how Rachel James was written and some of the strange language used. Rachel James was a clear and not great character based on Lea Michele to some extent, and I think a character like that has to be written with some nuance. Women like Lea and Rachel is written are a bit more complicated than Sussman writes here, and it feels like some internalized misogyny to make this character consistently villainous without a particular reason. My language issue came with how Kathleen would talk at times, especially about her body. At times it felt like internalized misogyny from Sussman but also just awkward, like when Kathleen says Breasts during
sex with Cal;
women just don't really call them that, in my experience. 

All-in-all, a great and fun read! 
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