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tbr_ianna 's review for:
Josh and Gemma Make a Baby
by Sarah Ready
The premise of Josh and Gemma Make a Baby was promising and full of potential for a cringey, funny story. Your brother’s best friend is your sperm donor? What could possibly go wrong!
Below, including the following content warnings, include spoilers -
Content warnings: infertility, IVF, false pregnancy, miscarriage, endometriosis, infidelity and death of a loved one.
Overall, I raced through this on audio, laughed a few times and enjoyed how it all wrapped up.
I had issues with Gemma in the beginning, as I felt she was lacking any awareness. In the end, she says “I had a lot of growing to do” so I suppose that was the point, but the drama that unfolded was not what I expected. I thought since she was trying to use the sperm of her brother’s long time best friend, that’s where the drama would stem.
Instead, a lot of the early drama came from the fact that her mom was an interfering matchmaker, and the available men in her life were terrible. The whole plot point that she was a “chubby” divorcee and that her own mother literally commented on her appearance made me feel really bad and awkward. Especially when the mother pulls a 180 at the end and is supposed to have had “good intentions” all along. It was taken too far for my taste.
Gemma also makes a lot of assumptions, especially around Josh. She didn’t really seem to think through how using his sperm would affect anyone. He often is included in family events, so it seemed inevitable he would be a part of their child’s life. I think because of how this book concluded, this issue wasn’t really explored.
I enjoyed how it came to light that Josh had been in love with her for awhile, and that he was a good guy. The comic was a really cute idea. I understand that in order for Gemma and Josh to connect at this point of their lives, Gemma did have to make inaccurate assumptions at the beginning in order to finally see who Josh truly was.
Thank you NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for the audiobook.
Below, including the following content warnings, include spoilers -
Content warnings: infertility, IVF, false pregnancy, miscarriage, endometriosis, infidelity and death of a loved one.
Overall, I raced through this on audio, laughed a few times and enjoyed how it all wrapped up.
I had issues with Gemma in the beginning, as I felt she was lacking any awareness. In the end, she says “I had a lot of growing to do” so I suppose that was the point, but the drama that unfolded was not what I expected. I thought since she was trying to use the sperm of her brother’s long time best friend, that’s where the drama would stem.
Instead, a lot of the early drama came from the fact that her mom was an interfering matchmaker, and the available men in her life were terrible. The whole plot point that she was a “chubby” divorcee and that her own mother literally commented on her appearance made me feel really bad and awkward. Especially when the mother pulls a 180 at the end and is supposed to have had “good intentions” all along. It was taken too far for my taste.
Gemma also makes a lot of assumptions, especially around Josh. She didn’t really seem to think through how using his sperm would affect anyone. He often is included in family events, so it seemed inevitable he would be a part of their child’s life. I think because of how this book concluded, this issue wasn’t really explored.
I enjoyed how it came to light that Josh had been in love with her for awhile, and that he was a good guy. The comic was a really cute idea. I understand that in order for Gemma and Josh to connect at this point of their lives, Gemma did have to make inaccurate assumptions at the beginning in order to finally see who Josh truly was.
Thank you NetGalley and Swift & Lewis Publishing for the audiobook.