Reviews

Division Bells by Iona Datt Sharma

chirson's review

5.0

Lovely, obscure, fun. I wish some more background had been given for the characters, but Sharma's turn of phrase is just amazing.

agmaynard's review

emotional hopeful reflective fast-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

4.0

Concentrated, intense, slow burn, and lovely. Workplace details help ratchet up the pressure and stakes. Lovely passages also, like: "He read and sipped the tea, listening to Jules's breathing and the raindrops on the window, each one a diminution of loss."

scrow1022's review

5.0

Competence porn at its finest! And funny, tender, warm, sexy.

eicart_reads's review

emotional informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

jotropes's review

5.0

So enjoyed this - love when the writing, characters and relationship have something of an elusive quality. And shot through with intelligence and wit.

misssusan's review

4.0

for reasons unknown (possibly because sharma's other works seem to be on the genre side) i was under the impression that this was a fantasy au of some kind and was sort of waiting for some mention of how magic worked in this book for the first twenty pages or so. the impression lingered, i finished the book like huh. i guess this was...contemporary romance? set in our world? not in au magical britain? how bout that

anyways it certainly didn't damage the reading experience, i quite liked it! sharma puts together a lovely turn of phrase and i am not one to object to a lowkey romance. i think i would've benefitted from a primer on uk politics beforehand but i got the general gist of things as it progressed

4 stars

lydiahephzibah's review

2.0

what this said it would be: queer political romance!!

what it was: 95% dry ass politics, 5% queer romance

I have a politics degree and this was even too much for me; I wanted more of the characters and their romance because it seemed rushed and not well developed

kiki124's review

4.0

So wonky to start
As Jules changes, it turns
Sweet, swoony, and smart.

marrije's review

emotional 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

So beautiful, so dense. I wish this book were 500 pages long so I could relax into it and bob around for days. But this third reading was delightful too. So dense! So lovely 💝

ceridwyn's review

5.0

Everything I want in a novella. Politics, great dialogue, environmental on-pointness, and growth of both lead characters that is both incidental and not to the romance. I'm very keen to read more by this writer.