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A review by anya_reads
Finding Gene Kelly by Torie Jean
4.0
Finding Gene Kelly is a charming romance novel set in Paris, full of humour, sweetness, and great representation.
When I heard that there was a romance novel featuring endometriosis representation coming out, I JUMPED at the chance to read it. As someone who suffers from this disease myself, I was so incredibly grateful for the way it was handled and for how prominent it was in the story. The unrelenting pain, mobility aids, damaged relationships, self-esteem issues, etc, were presented so well that I had to put the book down a few times because I was overcome with emotion. Evie's journey was so relatable to my own. The only thing I wish we'd seen more of in terms of endometriosis was to do with Evie's process of first getting diagnosed - other than that though, some of the best chronic illness representation I have ever read.
As for the romance itself, it had fake dating, hurt/comfort, and childhood-friends-to-(kind of) rivals-to-lovers. There were cheesy jokes and puns and I loved the dynamic between the main characters. Were there clichés? Yes. Did that make me like it even more? Yes.
I do wish there had been a few more rounds of edits - I did notice some mistakes, but overall, it was a solidly good debut novel!
Overall, if you're looking for a fun romance that also deals with the reality of endometriosis (not so fun, in my experience), definitely give this one a read!
Thank you to the author and to Netgalley for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
When I heard that there was a romance novel featuring endometriosis representation coming out, I JUMPED at the chance to read it. As someone who suffers from this disease myself, I was so incredibly grateful for the way it was handled and for how prominent it was in the story. The unrelenting pain, mobility aids, damaged relationships, self-esteem issues, etc, were presented so well that I had to put the book down a few times because I was overcome with emotion. Evie's journey was so relatable to my own. The only thing I wish we'd seen more of in terms of endometriosis was to do with Evie's process of first getting diagnosed - other than that though, some of the best chronic illness representation I have ever read.
As for the romance itself, it had fake dating, hurt/comfort, and childhood-friends-to-(kind of) rivals-to-lovers. There were cheesy jokes and puns and I loved the dynamic between the main characters. Were there clichés? Yes. Did that make me like it even more? Yes.
I do wish there had been a few more rounds of edits - I did notice some mistakes, but overall, it was a solidly good debut novel!
Overall, if you're looking for a fun romance that also deals with the reality of endometriosis (not so fun, in my experience), definitely give this one a read!
Thank you to the author and to Netgalley for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.