letsgolesbians's reviews
2164 reviews

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

i'm used to reading dual pov romances, and i enjoyed the single pov and not having all the information about how the love interest is feeling and thinking. i enjoyed the two women falling in love with both dealing with so much outside of their relationship.

but there were several things i did not love.

1. the only time race was mentioned was at stella's events, describing a white woman and her Black wife and the white men they were sitting with. the description of stella doesn't have any skin tone description. most people don't. i hated this, especially when we learn that stella is mexican. if she's white and latina then there's colonizer blood in her and she's aware of it and it's likely a conversation they would have had.
2. the amatonormativity. stella seems so reluctant to be in a real relationship and the author tried to make us believe it was because she had bad previous relationships, but i kept thinking that maybe she was on the aro spectrum. but of course that couldn't be a possibility because even queer authors forget to think about the a in lgbtqia+.
3. the language. "a fake hooker" yes let's use pejoratives for sex workers "overdose on embarrassment" and "addictive kind of witty banter" please talk to addicts and stop being casual about addiction thanks "nodded feebly" ableism in front of a disabled person cool "you make me sound all loose and slutty" and slut shaming to top it off
4. why was olive's ex so terrible? it's not that i didnt find it believable because some people are vindictive and ruthless but i still didn't fully feel it

i wasn't really rooting for them after their argument and breakup. i received an earc of this from netgalley (thank you!) and also listened to an audiobook i checked out from the library, and i didnt like the narrator's performance. she pronounced "papi" as "poppy" and her stella voice irritated me a little.

cws: acute depressive episode; anaphylactic allergic reaction; anxiety; caregiving; depression; end of life decision making; grief; management of a parent’s diagnosis of a progressive neurological disease; misogyny; panic attack; parent with parkinson’s; sibling death; sibling with fatal tbi

Content Warnings

Don't Let It Break Your Heart by Maggie Horne

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 14%.

was overdue at the library, and i could tell where the story was going so i skimmed ahead but wouldn’t consider it completely read.

The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington

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3.5

I'll Be Gone for Christmas by Georgia K. Boone

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emotional funny relaxing 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

3.5

for the most part, i enjoyed the writing and pacing and character growth. i just don’t love wealth, even when it’s in the hands of marginalized folks; i don’t care that a Black queer woman is buying her partner a tesla when musk sucks and there’s such a wealth disparity in san francisco. i also wanted a little more with the sapphic romance—we see clover and beth interacting a few times but are told that they’re constantly texting, and i know it’s silly but i wanted to see the texting. i’m demisexual, i love the conversations and the falling in love.

that said, i will definitely continue reading books by this author, and im glad there are increasingly more bipoc holiday books out there. i’m writing a long review here because im probably not going review on ig.

Content Warnings