A review by lewnie
Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake

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

3.75

Delilah Green only came back to her small hometown of Bright Falls, Oregon to photograph her stepsister Astrid’s wedding and head back to Brooklyn $15,000 richer. She’s not interested in re-living any of the bad memories here or playing nice with Astrid and her two best friends, Claire and Iris. But when the focus turns from bridesmaid's activities to sabotaging Astrid’s relationship with her terrible fiancé, Claire and Delilah realize there might be something sparking between them. As their tension-filled flirting turns into more, Claire and Delilah have to face the reality of their situation: single-mother Claire isn’t interested in casual relationships but Delilah has a blossoming photography career waiting for her in New York.

The good: I was excited about the prospect of a f/f rom-com, particularly with such strong bisexual representation. I think that Blake really shines in her portrayal of bisexual women, and I personally felt very connected to her characters. I also appreciated the growth that both Astrid and Delilah show throughout the course of the book. They have each suffered their own childhood traumas that they are clearly continuing to work through and I enjoyed the way that Blake develops that growth without trying to jump to an immediate conclusion. 
The female relationships, good and bad, are front and center here. I loved the exploration of female friendship, sisterhood, and the different iterations of mother-daughter relationships. While there is pain and toxicity in some of these relationships, there is also beauty, growth, empowerment, and love.  

The bad: Astrid, Claire, and Iris clearly filled the role of the high school mean girls. However, Blake’s attempt to rehabilitate them fell a little flat for me. Claire’s obvious guilt for her role in bullying Delilah felt forced in her flashbacks, and I think Delilah let it go too quickly for how deeply it affected her life. 

(For me personally, I couldn’t get past the setting. Being from this area of Oregon myself, I want to believe that this quaint little town could exist. However the reality of it really drew me out of the story. For anyone else, I am sure that this would not be an issue but I really struggled with it.)

Overall: This checks all of my rom-com boxes. I loved the relationships and the representations of the queer characters. I think the relationship between Delilah and Claire’s daughter Ruby was very sweet and an excellent addition. I enjoyed the growth of Delilah and Claire’s relationship as well as the relationship between Delilah and Astrid. I also think the healing process Delilah grows through is powerful and lends the overall story a little more heft than a typical rom-com. While I may harbor some resentment for the past actions of Astrid’s mean-girl clique, I don’t think it detracts from the story in a negative way. Overall, I think this is a heartwarming comfort-read. While I probably won’t read this again, I absolutely see its value in the romance canon and would recommend it to anyone looking for a great Sapphic rom-com.  
For fans of Alexandra Bellefleur, Casey McQuiston, and Tessa Bailey. 

Rep.: f/f relationship; lesbian mc; bi mc; bi sc. 
CW: sexual content, death of a parent, grief, toxic relationship, abandonment, alcohol, bullying, misogyny.

 
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