celinbean 's review for:

Woodworking by Emily St. James

4.0

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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really loved it. The characters were stressing me out bc some decisions were so obviously bad and they either kept making them or almost going through with them and only changing their mind in the last second. I think its also just bc these people were all in a small repressive town and they were so focused on these gender roles and the societal norms and trying to fit in so hard (cis women included) that they kind of ruined their own lives a little and caused quite a bit of collateral damage in the process 🥴 im honestly mostly looking at constance here bc girl why were you in that relationship 🫩 so some of these characters made me want to shake them a little but its okay they figured it out in the end. Good for them 🙂‍↕️

And I just love books about community and finding out what you really want (and not just as a teenager). And i think that was the main message. Don’t hide yourself (especially not from yourself) and the power of being around people who understand and accept you.