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A review by book_banshee
The Girl Next Door by Chelsea M. Cameron
3.0
Actual Rating: 3.25 stars
Welp, I devoured this book in a single evening. This sapphic summer romance was a cute, entertaining, and quick read. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, and I had some problems with the pacing and writing, but if you’re looking for a light, easy f/f romance, this is definitely one to consider!
The Girl Next Door follows 22 year-old Iris and 26 year-old Jude, who—as you would expect by the title—live next door to each other. Iris has just moved back in with her parents after being unable to get a decent job after college. Jude moved back into her parents’ house two years before, wrecked to her core by a traumatic event she refuses to talk about. The women are quickly attracted to one other, and together they must decide who they want to be, and what they’re willing to risk with each other.
One of my favorite parts about this book was how cute all the characters were. Iris’s dad literally spends the entire story reading YA books and even recommends queer YA books to Iris and Jude! Literally my new favorite parent character. Jude is your classic mysterious “bad girl” who rides a motorcycle and is super toned. Iris is a cute and bubbly young woman (who has a dog named Dolly Parton!) and is stressed about her future, which as a recent college grad myself, was totally relatable. I also adored how the characters showcased the importance of communication and consent in their relationship—I feel as though romance books often skip over these moments to make a scene more ‘sexy’.
But while I liked the idea of the story and the characters, I struggled a bit with the execution of the story. I was immediately annoyed with the writing style, which was awkwardly blunt and had a lot of over-telling and exposition. Additionally, the plot felt very unbalanced. The summary stated Iris and Jude decide to engage in a “no-strings summer fling” yet the story instead gave a weird insta-attraction and slow-burn tension that in the last quarter immediately rushed into instalove. The women didn’t even decide to engage in a summer fling until the 70% mark of the eARC. I feel like this decision should have come in the first half of the book??
Overall, I found this to be a decent romance, but it wasn’t a new favorite. I will say that I will definitely be keeping an eye on Carina Adores (a new trope-driven LGBTQ+ contemporary romance line!!) to see what they release in the future!
Trigger Warnings: grief, reflecting on the death and loss of a lover
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can see this review, my other reviews & additional bookish posts at my blog: Are You My Book?
Welp, I devoured this book in a single evening. This sapphic summer romance was a cute, entertaining, and quick read. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, and I had some problems with the pacing and writing, but if you’re looking for a light, easy f/f romance, this is definitely one to consider!
The Girl Next Door follows 22 year-old Iris and 26 year-old Jude, who—as you would expect by the title—live next door to each other. Iris has just moved back in with her parents after being unable to get a decent job after college. Jude moved back into her parents’ house two years before, wrecked to her core by a traumatic event she refuses to talk about. The women are quickly attracted to one other, and together they must decide who they want to be, and what they’re willing to risk with each other.
One of my favorite parts about this book was how cute all the characters were. Iris’s dad literally spends the entire story reading YA books and even recommends queer YA books to Iris and Jude! Literally my new favorite parent character. Jude is your classic mysterious “bad girl” who rides a motorcycle and is super toned. Iris is a cute and bubbly young woman (who has a dog named Dolly Parton!) and is stressed about her future, which as a recent college grad myself, was totally relatable. I also adored how the characters showcased the importance of communication and consent in their relationship—I feel as though romance books often skip over these moments to make a scene more ‘sexy’.
But while I liked the idea of the story and the characters, I struggled a bit with the execution of the story. I was immediately annoyed with the writing style, which was awkwardly blunt and had a lot of over-telling and exposition. Additionally, the plot felt very unbalanced. The summary stated Iris and Jude decide to engage in a “no-strings summer fling” yet the story instead gave a weird insta-attraction and slow-burn tension that in the last quarter immediately rushed into instalove. The women didn’t even decide to engage in a summer fling until the 70% mark of the eARC. I feel like this decision should have come in the first half of the book??
Overall, I found this to be a decent romance, but it wasn’t a new favorite. I will say that I will definitely be keeping an eye on Carina Adores (a new trope-driven LGBTQ+ contemporary romance line!!) to see what they release in the future!
Trigger Warnings: grief, reflecting on the death and loss of a lover
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can see this review, my other reviews & additional bookish posts at my blog: Are You My Book?