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betweentheshelves's review
emotional
hopeful
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
3.5
My final holiday read of 2023! This was sort of a Jewish-Christmas mash-up, as a lot of the characters are Jewish but they are trying to save Carrigan's Christmasland. The premise was fun, the characters were pretty well rounded for the most part, and it had some excellent holiday vibes.
I do think the book itself was slightly longer than it needed to be. Part of that was because of how much time takes place, I think. It just felt a little drawn out. But I did enjoy the romance! It felt realistic to me.
If you do pick this up, be warned there are some pretty heavy themes of grief and dealing with past traumas from abuse. It's still a rom-com, but definitely with some heavier themes.
I do think the book itself was slightly longer than it needed to be. Part of that was because of how much time takes place, I think. It just felt a little drawn out. But I did enjoy the romance! It felt realistic to me.
If you do pick this up, be warned there are some pretty heavy themes of grief and dealing with past traumas from abuse. It's still a rom-com, but definitely with some heavier themes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content and Antisemitism
lisacanteven's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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
5.0
Wow this book. I was expecting a light and airy holiday romance. I'm not big on Christmas, so the Jewish rep meant I would get a holiday romance without Christmas. I did definitely love that it actually spans from Halloween to January. I don't enjoy any fall and winter holidays, but I do love the seasons so this was the perfect story.
I immediately fell in love with all the characters. They are so deep yet so lovable. I want to know all their stories. And hopefully I will get to. I really felt like Miriam's character was take so much from my own experience. When you have made someone feel like a character was written for them, you have succeeded. In this case, Helena did this with Miriam for me. The issues Miriam had with her mom were completely different than mine, yet the consequences were very similar. Thank you, Helena.
Please read this book for such a real yet gentle and beautiful look into adults coping in the best ways they know how. Things can get messy, but they can be fixed with some healthy communication. I think this book does a great job of demonstrating how we can have respect and leave room for people's traumas, but we can still expect them to grow. I just loved this book.
I immediately picked up the next book, For Never & Always, because the ending was perfect. The build-up to the next two characters' stories was so good. I am in a chokehold for their book.
I immediately fell in love with all the characters. They are so deep yet so lovable. I want to know all their stories. And hopefully I will get to. I really felt like Miriam's character was take so much from my own experience. When you have made someone feel like a character was written for them, you have succeeded. In this case, Helena did this with Miriam for me. The issues Miriam had with her mom were completely different than mine, yet the consequences were very similar. Thank you, Helena.
Please read this book for such a real yet gentle and beautiful look into adults coping in the best ways they know how. Things can get messy, but they can be fixed with some healthy communication. I think this book does a great job of demonstrating how we can have respect and leave room for people's traumas, but we can still expect them to grow. I just loved this book.
I immediately picked up the next book, For Never & Always, because the ending was perfect. The build-up to the next two characters' stories was so good. I am in a chokehold for their book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
overthinkereading's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“…real things were always harder but that a real life was always better lived.”
This is fundamentally a book about grief, trauma, resilience and healing, wrapped in a sapphic holiday romance-Jewish-“Will they save the farm?!” bow. The trimmings made the book interesting and heartwarming, but truly what will make or break a person’s feelings about this book will be whether they find the characters relatable and can invest in their story of recovery and hope.
CW: family of origin trauma, financial abuse, parental death (off page), grief, alcoholism.
This is fundamentally a book about grief, trauma, resilience and healing, wrapped in a sapphic holiday romance-Jewish-“Will they save the farm?!” bow. The trimmings made the book interesting and heartwarming, but truly what will make or break a person’s feelings about this book will be whether they find the characters relatable and can invest in their story of recovery and hope.
CW: family of origin trauma, financial abuse, parental death (off page), grief, alcoholism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Biphobia
longlivenessie's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Emotional abuse
eemcnall's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death of parent
theespressoedition's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Sexual content
warlocksarecool21's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Overall, I liked what this book was trying to do, but I don’t think it was executed that well. The strongest part for me was Miriam’s starting to heal from her trauma and the idea of a family coming together in their grief to save something they love. I appreciated seeing the complexities of their family dynamic and also the celebration of Jewish culture and traditions. The characters were strong, I liked Miriam and a lot of the side characters but I struggled a lot with Noelle. My main issue was that I felt that neither Noelle or Miriam were ready for a relationship. They had a lot of shit to work through and both need to go to therapy before getting together. (I know at the end they planned to go to therapy but it kind of felt like their love fixed everything instead of actually working through their issues). I appreciated the attempt of the story’s message that even if you experience trauma that you still can hurt people and need to be held accountable but how it went about that was really frustrating to me. I thought Noelle was really hard on Miriam (and projected a lot of insecurities on her) and that it wasn’t her place to get involved with Miriam’s relationship with her family. Their relationship was really frustrating to me in that aspect. I kind of didn’t like Noelle for a lot of the book bc of how she made her flaws and insecurities other people’s problems and it made me uncomfortable due to similarities to someone close to me that I won’t delve into here. I think there was a way to healthily incorporate a relationship into this book but what we got caused a lot of unnecessary angst and frustration for me. The ending for Miriam and Noelle was sweet but I wasn’t entirely sold on their relationship. That aspect of the book wasn’t for me but maybe others will like the messiness of it. I also struggled with the pacing and length as well. The beginning took so long to set up and by the end of the second part I was ready for it to be over.
Definitely read for the exploration of trauma, grief and healing but the relationship isn’t stereotypically fluffy like you’d expect. I might pick up any sequels if they follow the other characters because some of them were really interesting and hopefully I’ll like them more.
Definitely read for the exploration of trauma, grief and healing but the relationship isn’t stereotypically fluffy like you’d expect. I might pick up any sequels if they follow the other characters because some of them were really interesting and hopefully I’ll like them more.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Abandonment
little7thbirdie's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Alcoholism and Child abuse
megj23's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Biphobia and Death of parent
caseythereader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
- SEASON OF LOVE is the rom-traum-com of your dreams. I loved the unpacking of years of family history, the self-discovery, and the tenderness with which it was all treated.
- Not to mention, we hardly ever see traditionally published sapphic romances featuring fat and/or butch characters, so this was a real treat.
- Honestly, SEASON OF LOVE is just a perfect example of what romance can do - explore hard experiences and topics with a gentle hand, and show the characters and the readers that everyone deserves more and better for themselves.
- Not to mention, we hardly ever see traditionally published sapphic romances featuring fat and/or butch characters, so this was a real treat.
- Honestly, SEASON OF LOVE is just a perfect example of what romance can do - explore hard experiences and topics with a gentle hand, and show the characters and the readers that everyone deserves more and better for themselves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content and Antisemitism