A review by jencolumb0
Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail by Ashley Herring Blake

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A truly lovely story about Astrid Parker & Jordan Everwood starting to hear and trust themselves, together. AHB’s first novel for adults was a bit too heavy on the tragedy for my tastes (though Delilah Green *is* a delightfully impeccable messy lesbian), this novel finds a much more solid balance and is charmingly self-aware. (Bonus for the She-ra nods.) Though, I still find the plot element relating to cancer to be confusing.
It is shocking (and clever, to the extent that someone else revealing your assumptions can feel like a clever slight of hand) to discover that Meredith didn’t die, but that shock fades pretty quickly and it is not, ultimately, an element that prompts character development. The character development that centers on what happened with Meredith is motivated by the fact that she just left one day without talking to Jordan about it . . . and the fact that she had only been in remission for a month doesn’t inherently change the truly garbage or gutting (for Jordan) nature of that action.
It felt more like a particularly sh*tty thing AHB needed to excise and not something that actually brings anything to the novel. 

Nonetheless, I am very much looking forward to Iris’s story and more from AHB.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings