A review by lezreadalot
Worthy of Love by Quinn Ivins

4.0

Not a good person. The words clanged in Bella’s ears. She didn’t want to think of Nadine as a bad person. But would a good person do what Nadine had done?

This book is well-loved, but it includes a couple things that I don't usually gravitate towards. So I'm relieved and so happy to say that I really freaking liked it. It was sooooooo good; a swoony, character-driven romance that included a bunch of meaningful themes.

I really don't like books that deal with real world politics (especially USian politics), so I was leery about this one. But it handles the subject pretty well, I think? Nadine, an ex-lawyer who worked with a presidential candidate, has just been released from prison, having spent two years there after confessing to campaign fraud during the last election. Vilified and castigated from both sides of the aisle, she's having trouble finding a job, and finally manages to get one at a retail store. There, she meets Bella, cashier, college-dropout, freelance artist and all around sweetheart. At first, Bella hates Nadine just as much as the rest of the country, but soon, a friendship starts to build. I think the plot was really well handled; it was frank and did bring in a lot of real-world politics, but in interesting and meaningful ways. It did get a little bit forced maybe, but never unrealistic? I really enjoyed that this didn't do what a lot of other liberal media tends to do: pretend that all Democrats are perfect.

But the characters are where this really shines; I loved them ever so much. In Nadine we have an older Filipina heroine who's a little closed-off, but super loyal and protective. She's one of those characters who just sets your heart aflutter. I really loved the way the book, through her, looked at the prison system and the unfair treatment of ex-cons. And I loved Bella even more, possibly, because I always adore seeing neuro-divergent characters getting an HEA. Bella's been living with an undiagnosed condition all her life, and I loved the discussions around that, how frustrating it was for her, the descriptions of everyday things that were just a little bit harder for her. I really connected with her, especially feeling like she had wasted her life (and I appreciated the book doing things to refute that notion). This isn't quite slow burn in terms of the timeline, but they did take their time getting into a romance, and it created some really great tension. I adored their romance; equally sweet and steamy.

I'll admit nothing about the writing really blew me away, and I did have my nitpicks here and there. But this was easy to read, really enjoyable, and just super satisfying all in all. Kudos.