Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Sweetest in the Gale

This collection of 3 short stories set in the Marysburg universe has its ups and its downs.

Story 2, featuring Poppy and Simon, was adorable and peak grumpy x sunshine slash opposites attract. I had a lot of fun reading it!

In contrast, Story 1 was not great. It waxed poetic about grief (seemingly endlessly), but it struggled to say anything really meaningful about it. Plus, Griff's lusting after Candy during her intense periods of grief comes off so creepy and predatory in my opinion.

Story 3, featuring Elizabeth and James, was fine but under-baked. It could have been fleshed out much better but just felt rushed to get into the romance and chemistry between the two.

I was also disappointed by the fact that all of the MMC were thin men (though references to James seem to suggest he may be fat, it's not explored at all). Dade explores fatness well in her other works, but I'd like to see that extended to all her characters instead of just her FMC.

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hellowildflower's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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melbsreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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

Trigger warnings: death of a sibling (in the past), death of a spouse (in the past), death of a parent (in the past), mentions of domestic violence/abusive childhood (in the past), broken bones, breast cancer, descriptions of medical procedures.

I bought all three books in this series last year and devoured the first two. I'm not sure if I put this off because I needed a break or because I was scared to not be in this world any more, but I put it off. For months. Until today when I picked it up on a whim and devoured the entire thing in a couple of hours.

This is three novellas, and while I really enjoyed all of them, I definitely didn't expect the level of emotion that the first and third brought. I loved that all the narrators here are in their 40s and those who teach have been teaching for 20+ years. I loved that this covers workplace romances, friends to lovers and hate to love (sort of) in one book.

I think my favourite of the three is the middle story, which is definitely the...lightest?...of the three. The first was lovely in that the two of them bond over poetry and grief. And the third was...oof. I mean, I did ultimately really love the conversation around having someone to take care of you and finding love afterwards. But oof. The discussion of breast cancer was a LOT.

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elinmln's review against another edition

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