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sapphic_library's Reviews (279)
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
YOU'RE THE PROBLEM, IT'S YOU is a queer historical romance about a young lord and a second son who can't stand each other, and their meddling cousins who won't stop trying to force them together anyway. it's the follow up to DON'T WANT YOU LIKE A BEST FRIEND, which was one of my favorite reads of 2024 and i was so excited to get to read it!!
we all know i'm a huge historical romance girlie and even more so if it's queer, and alban's second novel did not disappoint. the tension and build up to the enemies becoming lovers had a great payoff and i loved seeing more of beth and gwen being adorably in love (and meddling like always). this is not for the fans of historical accuracy, but it does still touch on the history of queer communities.
read if you like:
- enemies to lovers
- angry kisses
- queer joy
thanks to netgalley and avon for the advanced copy! YOU'RE THE PROBLEM, IT'S YOU comes out august 27th.
we all know i'm a huge historical romance girlie and even more so if it's queer, and alban's second novel did not disappoint. the tension and build up to the enemies becoming lovers had a great payoff and i loved seeing more of beth and gwen being adorably in love (and meddling like always). this is not for the fans of historical accuracy, but it does still touch on the history of queer communities.
read if you like:
- enemies to lovers
- angry kisses
- queer joy
thanks to netgalley and avon for the advanced copy! YOU'RE THE PROBLEM, IT'S YOU comes out august 27th.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
HOW COULD YOU is a fun, queer graphic novel about a bunch of messy college students and the myriad of ways they fuck up in one single semester. molly and lou, having been dumped by their girlfriends, decide to find rebounds to help them put their exes behind them. in the meantime, olene and yona are studying abroad in france, exploring the queer scene and spending time together.
i love graphic novels and this was definitely one i'll be recommending to my friends, though it wasn't without its issues. mainly, it felt like the pacing was SO fast and i'm not sure that the story really felt like it was wrapped up by the end of the book. that being said, i loved how messy and complex all the characters were—it felt very realistic for a bunch of queer 20-somethings who are still figuring their lives out. i think this would have benefitted from being longer or being split up into two volumes to allow the story more time to develop and the characters more room to grow, but it was still a really fun read!
thanks to netgalley and oni press for the advanced copy. HOW COULD YOU is out december 17.
i love graphic novels and this was definitely one i'll be recommending to my friends, though it wasn't without its issues. mainly, it felt like the pacing was SO fast and i'm not sure that the story really felt like it was wrapped up by the end of the book. that being said, i loved how messy and complex all the characters were—it felt very realistic for a bunch of queer 20-somethings who are still figuring their lives out. i think this would have benefitted from being longer or being split up into two volumes to allow the story more time to develop and the characters more room to grow, but it was still a really fun read!
thanks to netgalley and oni press for the advanced copy. HOW COULD YOU is out december 17.
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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:
No
CASH DELGADO IS LIVING THE DREAM is a small town, friends-to-lovers sapphic romance that is, quite honestly, one of my new favorite books. cash is a single mom, a bartender, and straight. she's straight!! except she starts having recurring sex dreams starring her best friend, inez, which force her to wonder if she's actually as straight as she thinks she is. as if that weren't stressful enough, her old manager/past hookup is back in town with plans to open a bar that could mean the end of joyce's bar, where cash and inez work. as they work together to come up with a way to save joyce's, cash can't keep ignoring the attraction she feels toward her best friend.
i loved this book so much that i wish i could read it again for the first time but i already know this will be one of my rereads because that's how much i enjoyed it. single parent is one of my favorite tropes, even more so when it's a single mom. and seeing the relationship cash and parker have and how cash was raising parker was so beautiful. parker is officially one of my favorite fictional children and i would read an entire book about her.
and we all know i'm a diehard friends-to-lovers girlie, so combining that with a single mom AND it's a sapphic book? the perfect book of my dreams tbh. cash and inez's relationship was so special from the beginning and i loved seeing them fall in love. of course, it's a bit of a slow burn because of cash's journey of self-discovery, which was wonderful on its own, and the love story is absolutely worth the wait.
read if you like:
- later in life queer awakening
- best friends to lovers
- spunky six-year-olds
- quirky small towns
thanks to netgalley and dell for the advanced copy! CASH DELGADO IS LIVING THE DREAM is out july 2nd.
i loved this book so much that i wish i could read it again for the first time but i already know this will be one of my rereads because that's how much i enjoyed it. single parent is one of my favorite tropes, even more so when it's a single mom. and seeing the relationship cash and parker have and how cash was raising parker was so beautiful. parker is officially one of my favorite fictional children and i would read an entire book about her.
and we all know i'm a diehard friends-to-lovers girlie, so combining that with a single mom AND it's a sapphic book? the perfect book of my dreams tbh. cash and inez's relationship was so special from the beginning and i loved seeing them fall in love. of course, it's a bit of a slow burn because of cash's journey of self-discovery, which was wonderful on its own, and the love story is absolutely worth the wait.
read if you like:
- later in life queer awakening
- best friends to lovers
- spunky six-year-olds
- quirky small towns
thanks to netgalley and dell for the advanced copy! CASH DELGADO IS LIVING THE DREAM is out july 2nd.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
MAKING IT is a heartfelt and relatable story about isobel "issy" bailey, a girl whose life consists of her part-time job at a pottery studio, her mom, and her pet chinchilla, abigail, and the art she makes of abigail. when elizabeth staggs, a famous artist whose work issy loves, shows up at her house and offers her a job in london, issy packs up her life and abigail's cage and moves into a flat in london with three quirky roommates. moving to a new city is no small feat, and issy attempts to balance her depression along with her new job working with elizabeth, her burgeoning crush on her roommate robin, and life in a new city.
while i didn't immediately connect with issy and her story, the more i read, the more i related to her struggles and anxieties. beyond a romance novel, this is a story about mental health, identity and community, and i found it so heartwarming and emotional. issy was a very realistic heroine—she was kind of a mess in a lot of ways, she fucked up, she struggled, but that made her all the more relatable to me because she was deeply human. i loved seeing how her relationships with her roommates and her friends developed, how she found herself and became more comfortable with who she was, and how she grew throughout the course of the book.
read if you like:
- found family
- mental health rep
- pet chinchillas
thanks to netgalley and vintage for the advanced copy! MAKING IT comes out july 2nd.
while i didn't immediately connect with issy and her story, the more i read, the more i related to her struggles and anxieties. beyond a romance novel, this is a story about mental health, identity and community, and i found it so heartwarming and emotional. issy was a very realistic heroine—she was kind of a mess in a lot of ways, she fucked up, she struggled, but that made her all the more relatable to me because she was deeply human. i loved seeing how her relationships with her roommates and her friends developed, how she found herself and became more comfortable with who she was, and how she grew throughout the course of the book.
read if you like:
- found family
- mental health rep
- pet chinchillas
thanks to netgalley and vintage for the advanced copy! MAKING IT comes out july 2nd.
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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
DO ME A FAVOR is a small-town, later-in-life romance set in an idyllic island on the PNW. when willa inherits her great aunt catherine's house, she took it as the perfect chance to start over after her husband's death. she's struggling to get back into her old career as a cookbook ghostwriter, because her latest project—a cookbook for a "sexy chef" influencer—has her completely stuck. but when she meets her new neighbor, the charming handyman hudson, their sizzling chemistry simply cannot be ignored... and, as a bonus, it provides the much-needed inspiration for her work. but with both of their pasts to contend with, willa and hudson navigate what it means to start a relationship as two forty-something year olds.
as a very firm proponent of later-in-life romances, i absolutely loved willa and hudson's relationship and how they fell for each other. not only that, but i really appreciated that the book didn't just focus on their romance—instead, it also talked about willa dealing with her grief over losing her husband and the series of events that followed, along with hudson's experience raising twins as a very young single father.
read if you like:
- middle aged MCs
- it takes a village
- so much good food
thanks to netgalley and montlake for the advanced copy! DO ME A FAVOR comes out july 23rd.
as a very firm proponent of later-in-life romances, i absolutely loved willa and hudson's relationship and how they fell for each other. not only that, but i really appreciated that the book didn't just focus on their romance—instead, it also talked about willa dealing with her grief over losing her husband and the series of events that followed, along with hudson's experience raising twins as a very young single father.
read if you like:
- middle aged MCs
- it takes a village
- so much good food
thanks to netgalley and montlake for the advanced copy! DO ME A FAVOR comes out july 23rd.
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
THE BACKTRACK is a funny and charming romance set in the quaint tybee island, georgia. it's all about sam, who left her hometown as quickly as she could so she could travel the world as a pilot. but when her grandma pearl asks her to come back home so she can help her pack up her childhood home to be sold, sam finds her old CD player with a mixtape by her best friend, damon. when the nostalgia hits and sam puts her headphones on to listen, she finds herself transported back in time to 2005, where she watches what she thinks is a memory of her teenage self about to kiss damon. except, she remembers things a little differently... turns out, each track on the CD shows her a different vision of what her life might have turned out if she had kissed actually kissed him that day. as she grapples with what these visions mean, along with reconnecting with damon as adults, and unpacking her childhood home and the memories it brings (both physically and psychologically), sam wonders whether she missed her chance with damon all those years ago.
this romance had some of my favorite tropes: childhood friends to lovers, second chance, small town romance... all with a side of millennial nostalgia that had me reminiscing for the mid to late 2000s. i found sam and damon's relationship (both past and present) to be so sweet. there's just something so special about being known so deeply and for so long. along with that, i absolutely loved grandma pearl, her best friend jessie, and all the other side characters, and i found the whole family story to be really touching.
read if you like:
- emo millennials
- sassy octogenarians
- a touch of magical realism
thanks to netgalley and canary press for the advanced copy! THE BACKTRACK comes out july 16.
this romance had some of my favorite tropes: childhood friends to lovers, second chance, small town romance... all with a side of millennial nostalgia that had me reminiscing for the mid to late 2000s. i found sam and damon's relationship (both past and present) to be so sweet. there's just something so special about being known so deeply and for so long. along with that, i absolutely loved grandma pearl, her best friend jessie, and all the other side characters, and i found the whole family story to be really touching.
read if you like:
- emo millennials
- sassy octogenarians
- a touch of magical realism
thanks to netgalley and canary press for the advanced copy! THE BACKTRACK comes out july 16.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
JUST PLAYING HOUSE is a sweet and funny celebrity romance about two high school exes reuniting under unexpected circumstances. marley kamal has been waiting years for her stylist career to get a big break, and it seems like it's about to happen when her boss tells her she's been hired to style a super-secret VIP... only for it to turn out to be the prom date who ditched her right after they slept together. nikhil shamdasani has just been cast as a beloved superhero but he's struggling with being in the public eye and apparently, marley is the only one who can help him. except marley is weeks away from a double mastectomy, which will require an extensive recovery, so nik offers to move into her house and take care of her so she can still style him for his appearances.
i absolutely loved marley and nik's dynamic, i loved their connection, the way they opened up to each other and let the other in. i also really loved the side characters and now i really wanna know if we'll be getting a novel about ruby in the future. 👀
read if you like:
- golden retriever MMCs
- forced proximity
- friends to prom dates to exes to coworkers to lovers (ish)
thanks to netgalley and forever for the advanced copy! JUST PLAYING HOUSE comes out july 2nd.
i absolutely loved marley and nik's dynamic, i loved their connection, the way they opened up to each other and let the other in. i also really loved the side characters and now i really wanna know if we'll be getting a novel about ruby in the future. 👀
read if you like:
- golden retriever MMCs
- forced proximity
- friends to prom dates to exes to coworkers to lovers (ish)
thanks to netgalley and forever for the advanced copy! JUST PLAYING HOUSE comes out july 2nd.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
THE NEXT BEST FLING is a swoony romance about two broken hearts who enter a no-strings-attached relationship to help each other get over their first loves. marcela has been in love with ben young for over 10 years, even though he broke up with her because he thought they'd be better off as friends. when he proposes to his long-time girlfriend, marcela is understandably heartbroken and ready to move on and leave the past behind. theo young, ben's football player brother, stumbles into her life, revealing that he's carrying a torch for alice, ben's now-fiancée. messy, right? when they show up at a family brunch together, everyone assumes they hooked up and they decide to keep the lie going because after all, their rebound is working... a little too well. i loved this book and everything about it. i loved seeing theo and marcela's relationship flourish and the spice?? no notes.
read if you like:
- messy love square
- hot af plus sized FMC
- they're each other's rebound
thanks to netgalley and forever for the advanced copy! THE NEXT BEST FLING comes out july 9th.
read if you like:
- messy love square
- hot af plus sized FMC
- they're each other's rebound
thanks to netgalley and forever for the advanced copy! THE NEXT BEST FLING comes out july 9th.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
CURSED BOYS AND BROKEN HEARTS is a queer YA romance about grant rossi, a boy from a superstitious italian family with a decades-long legacy. when he was 13, grant made a wish on his family's iconic wishing rose, but instead of granting his wish, he was cursed to doom any romantic relationship. he goes back to his family's rundown B&B and breakfast to help refurbish it and finds himself face to face with ben, the boy who broke his heart all those years ago. overall, i really liked the book and the premise, but i felt like everything should have taken place five years later. the backstory didn't feel very believable knowing they were 13 when it all went down and only 18 when they reunite and it did affect my enjoyment of the book a bit. that being said, i still enjoyed it and would recommend it for anyone looking for a queer summer romcom!
read if you like:
- second chances
- childhood friends to lovers
- ~there was only one bed~
thanks to netgalley and viking for advanced copy. CURSED BOYS AND BROKEN HEARTS comes out july 16th.
read if you like:
- second chances
- childhood friends to lovers
- ~there was only one bed~
thanks to netgalley and viking for advanced copy. CURSED BOYS AND BROKEN HEARTS comes out july 16th.