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tinytrashqueen's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Police brutality, and Dementia
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, Death of parent, and Outing
Minor: Abortion and Sexual harassment
sunnivab's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
criticalgayze's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
First, I'd like to hop on the Bahni Turpin love train. The Final Revival of Opal & Nev on audio was my final read of 2021, and she is an incredibly enjoyable narrator.
As for the book itself, the first thing I will say is that it is funny, which I was not expecting. When I first began to see the title and cover on Bookstagram last year, I thought this was a science fiction title. Then, I started hearing synopses of the book, and I assumed it was gonna be a domestic-ish drama. Instead, you get something that leans more towards Hell of a Book, without the biting satire. Sometimes the humor was a little too ridiculous, but I really appreciated and enjoyed its incorporation.
Also, I love the Queer community here. You get Queers of all stripes in a way that you don't often see, two bisexual leads of varying degrees of gender preference plus transgender and lesbian friends. And the romantic tension between the two felt more than just plausible.
Now, while I enjoyed the kid inclusion in the romance more than I usually do (I think because of the connection of the MC to the child), I think the presence of the kid here is a little cheesy because of the audio format. Children's voices are often difficult in audio, and I think its the one voice Turpin doesn't quite pull off, which makes it sound a little too Saturday morning cartoon.
I also *do* have to return to a problem I touched on in my Payback's a Witch review from earlier this month: "Realizing your hometown is where you're meant to be" is just very clearly NOT in my list of favorite tropes. While I think that the connection here is more believable than in Payback, I still don't think Skye does the work of truly grappling with her issues enough for her hometown to have earned her renewed devotion. I really need authors to start sending their characters to REAL therapy and not the "one intense talk with a friend/family member and a few really great sexual encounters" therapy that seem to do the trick for these main characters.
Romance is a genre that I am still finding my way around, so I ask that you take my reviews with a grain of salt. More than any other genre, it relies heavily on tropes, so finding your groove requires finding your tropes. If the tropes I hated on here *are* your speed, then I think you will really enjoy this book because I found plenty to enjoy even with those roadblocks in my way.
One last thing: There is a police brutality storyline that I thought was a little unnecessary because it is not brought to fruition until the 90% mark. I don't think it was NECESSARY to the story, and it bothered me that it also seemed to be used as a way to bring the MC and her romantic interest back into focus for each other.
As for the book itself, the first thing I will say is that it is funny, which I was not expecting. When I first began to see the title and cover on Bookstagram last year, I thought this was a science fiction title. Then, I started hearing synopses of the book, and I assumed it was gonna be a domestic-ish drama. Instead, you get something that leans more towards Hell of a Book, without the biting satire. Sometimes the humor was a little too ridiculous, but I really appreciated and enjoyed its incorporation.
Also, I love the Queer community here. You get Queers of all stripes in a way that you don't often see, two bisexual leads of varying degrees of gender preference plus transgender and lesbian friends. And the romantic tension between the two felt more than just plausible.
Now, while I enjoyed the kid inclusion in the romance more than I usually do (I think because of the connection of the MC to the child), I think the presence of the kid here is a little cheesy because of the audio format. Children's voices are often difficult in audio, and I think its the one voice Turpin doesn't quite pull off, which makes it sound a little too Saturday morning cartoon.
I also *do* have to return to a problem I touched on in my Payback's a Witch review from earlier this month: "Realizing your hometown is where you're meant to be" is just very clearly NOT in my list of favorite tropes. While I think that the connection here is more believable than in Payback, I still don't think Skye does the work of truly grappling with her issues enough for her hometown to have earned her renewed devotion. I really need authors to start sending their characters to REAL therapy and not the "one intense talk with a friend/family member and a few really great sexual encounters" therapy that seem to do the trick for these main characters.
Romance is a genre that I am still finding my way around, so I ask that you take my reviews with a grain of salt. More than any other genre, it relies heavily on tropes, so finding your groove requires finding your tropes. If the tropes I hated on here *are* your speed, then I think you will really enjoy this book because I found plenty to enjoy even with those roadblocks in my way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Police brutality, and Dementia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Transphobia
stacy837's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Police brutality, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. I like that this was from the perspective of a full grown adult that definitely didn't have her crap together at all, but it showed it wasn't too late to become the kind of person you want to be. I really liked the narrative voice and thought Skye's brand of humor was dry and relatable--just to my liking. I really liked the audiobook and thought the narrator, Bahni Turpin, did an excellent job with the narration!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Transphobia, and Police brutality
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
books_and_mags's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicidal thoughts