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_bookish_lauren's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.5
Overall: 4.5/5
Spice level: 2.5/5
Tropes: childhood best friends to lovers, small town
Representation: interracial MM, MC Luka is gay and MC Rook is demisexual
CW: parental illness, parental death (off page)
This childhood best friends to lovers story was damn near perfect. The connection between Rook and Luka felt effortless from their very first time meeting as kids. They had the best friendship story I've seen written in a long time.
And the way the author navigated Rook's sexuality and his self-discovery was done with such care and compassion.
This was truly a beautiful story and is one of my favorites for 2024 so far.
I appreciated that the author kept the parental death off page but took care in showing the characters processing their grief alone and in community. It was so important to their development.
Overall, I had no real criticism for this book. It was so well done! Johnson's writing is always beautifully emotional. With just a touch of spice.
Spice level: 2.5/5
Tropes: childhood best friends to lovers, small town
Representation: interracial MM, MC Luka is gay and MC Rook is demisexual
CW: parental illness, parental death (off page)
This childhood best friends to lovers story was damn near perfect. The connection between Rook and Luka felt effortless from their very first time meeting as kids. They had the best friendship story I've seen written in a long time.
And the way the author navigated Rook's sexuality and his self-discovery was done with such care and compassion.
This was truly a beautiful story and is one of my favorites for 2024 so far.
I appreciated that the author kept the parental death off page but took care in showing the characters processing their grief alone and in community. It was so important to their development.
Overall, I had no real criticism for this book. It was so well done! Johnson's writing is always beautifully emotional. With just a touch of spice.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Grief
Minor: Death of parent
jurgbury's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Death of parent
readingtotravel's review
slow-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, Medical content, and Death of parent
Minor: Bullying and Homophobia
endemictoearth's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
So many thoughts. (Content warnings for end of life care and death of a parent, by the way. That part of the book was tough, but also was one of the best/most affecting elements for me.)
Johnson’s writing is really beautiful and the flashbacks worked for me on the whole in this story (but so many italics . . . ) I've read a couple of other of her books recently. I loved one (The Glow Up) and mostly enjoyed another (Love Always, Wild).
I would call myself demisexual. I have a whole shelf dedicated to demi and asexual spectrum books, and have to admit I was a little bummed out reading this book.
I feel like it sounds like I don't like standard romance tropes, but that's not it. I love reading about people falling in love, and the specificity of why they are compatible or "perfect" for each other. I think it's a fine distinction, but one that made me think about how I identify as being demi, and while there a spectrum within the spectrum, it made me ponder how I felt about dating when I was doing it. I guess I didn't feel so wholly focused on finding the absolute right person, or wondering if I'd already met them?
The author's note says it reflects her own story through fiction, and I don't doubt that this can be one way to experience demisexuality. [The sex stuff is handled okay, for the most part (see above). I like that Rook doesn't get rock hard as soon as Luka touches him and they try different things.
But I think with the best will in the world, sex and romance are so tied up in each other in the minds of most people that when you write a story like this, it was hard not to feel the takeaway was something along the lines of: because Rook never felt connected or comfortable enough to anyone to enjoy sex with them (until Luka), he couldn't ever feel the happiness of a fulfilling relationship? It seemed to be the message, that sex is the key. But it did also feel very "this is how Rook operates" and personal to him.
I do feel bad, bc I mostly enjoyed the book, and I know it will make 95% of readers swoon. I'm just stuck on this bit. And wondering if it's just my experience of demisexuality at odds with the author's.
Maybe Rook is both demisexual and demiromantic and the author thought it was too much to include and unpack those things alongside one another?
I have so valued finding demi rep of both kinds, even the messier, less well-defined rep, in mm romance. I haven't encountered it anywhere else, and I'm always happy to read another one, even one like this that makes me really ponder. But it does seem like it shows up most in mm romance because it's the more notable place for it, and I do think it could look like soulmates/gay for you --"Lukasexual" was used in this book, which does seem to be the standard shorthand in some books. That it's just this ONE person in all the world that can inspire desire in the demi MC. Ultimately, it felt like enormous pressure to put on Luka and their relationship.
However, I’m sure this will work great for most people; the writing is lovely and I did enjoy most of my experience reading this.
Johnson’s writing is really beautiful and the flashbacks worked for me on the whole in this story (but so many italics . . . ) I've read a couple of other of her books recently. I loved one (The Glow Up) and mostly enjoyed another (Love Always, Wild).
I would call myself demisexual. I have a whole shelf dedicated to demi and asexual spectrum books, and have to admit I was a little bummed out reading this book.
I feel like it sounds like I don't like standard romance tropes, but that's not it. I love reading about people falling in love, and the specificity of why they are compatible or "perfect" for each other. I think it's a fine distinction, but one that made me think about how I identify as being demi, and while there a spectrum within the spectrum, it made me ponder how I felt about dating when I was doing it. I guess I didn't feel so wholly focused on finding the absolute right person, or wondering if I'd already met them?
The author's note says it reflects her own story through fiction, and I don't doubt that this can be one way to experience demisexuality. [The sex stuff is handled okay, for the most part (see above). I like that Rook doesn't get rock hard as soon as Luka touches him and they try different things.
But I think with the best will in the world, sex and romance are so tied up in each other in the minds of most people that when you write a story like this, it was hard not to feel the takeaway was something along the lines of: because Rook never felt connected or comfortable enough to anyone to enjoy sex with them (until Luka), he couldn't ever feel the happiness of a fulfilling relationship? It seemed to be the message, that sex is the key. But it did also feel very "this is how Rook operates" and personal to him.
I do feel bad, bc I mostly enjoyed the book, and I know it will make 95% of readers swoon. I'm just stuck on this bit. And wondering if it's just my experience of demisexuality at odds with the author's.
Maybe Rook is both demisexual and demiromantic and the author thought it was too much to include and unpack those things alongside one another?
I have so valued finding demi rep of both kinds, even the messier, less well-defined rep, in mm romance. I haven't encountered it anywhere else, and I'm always happy to read another one, even one like this that makes me really ponder. But it does seem like it shows up most in mm romance because it's the more notable place for it, and I do think it could look like soulmates/gay for you --"Lukasexual" was used in this book, which does seem to be the standard shorthand in some books. That it's just this ONE person in all the world that can inspire desire in the demi MC. Ultimately, it felt like enormous pressure to put on Luka and their relationship.
However, I’m sure this will work great for most people; the writing is lovely and I did enjoy most of my experience reading this.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer and Death of parent
haileeraye's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia