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holly_day's review
5.0
There are many things that are great about being a writer but one of the absolute greatest is having author friends. Not only are they someone you can swap ideas with or ask for help, you also get to take part of their writing process. I was there when Dear Mona Lisa... by Claire Davis and Al Stewart was born, I read it when it when it was a draft, and then again when it was finished, and tomorrow I'll get to see it published.
I'm almost more excited about my friends' release dates than I am about my own, perhaps because I have greater expectations on theirs.
Dear Mona Lisa... is another favourite (though I think Shut Your Face, Anthony Pace! always will be number one for me) and I was snivelling every time I read it despite knowing exactly what would happen.
Tom steals my heart, as do the foxes. I love that every dawn has a colour, that Tom has shitty parents that despite being shitty are great grandparents and that his ex-wife was his best friend at six-years-old and at forty. There is no black and white - there are apricot yellows, fizzy orange, flooding pink, but also purple rage, yellow shame, sickly yellow, midnight blue, scarlet, and scattered silver. There are foxes and birds and stomach cramps. And Love. Love for a friend, for a partner, for an ex-wife, for a husband, a lost son, and a daughter.
This book shouldn't be missed!
I'm almost more excited about my friends' release dates than I am about my own, perhaps because I have greater expectations on theirs.
Dear Mona Lisa... is another favourite (though I think Shut Your Face, Anthony Pace! always will be number one for me) and I was snivelling every time I read it despite knowing exactly what would happen.
Tom steals my heart, as do the foxes. I love that every dawn has a colour, that Tom has shitty parents that despite being shitty are great grandparents and that his ex-wife was his best friend at six-years-old and at forty. There is no black and white - there are apricot yellows, fizzy orange, flooding pink, but also purple rage, yellow shame, sickly yellow, midnight blue, scarlet, and scattered silver. There are foxes and birds and stomach cramps. And Love. Love for a friend, for a partner, for an ex-wife, for a husband, a lost son, and a daughter.
This book shouldn't be missed!
amyspector's review
5.0
Sometimes I wish I was the type to highlight and make notes as I read, because this book is full of so many lovely, poetic lines and perfect moments. But I'm not.
Dear Mona Lisa... is honestly one of the most romantic books I've ever read.
I hadn’t known how to do anything except watch for a while— more than a while— before moving slowly on to ‘good morning’, and finally, one golden day which should be inscribed into the annals of the earth forever, he noticed me.
As things unfold, you're given something very rare; a genuine story about falling in love, about the struggle to overcome the past, and about coming out to the person who made that past worth living through.
Highly recommended.
Dear Mona Lisa... is honestly one of the most romantic books I've ever read.
I hadn’t known how to do anything except watch for a while— more than a while— before moving slowly on to ‘good morning’, and finally, one golden day which should be inscribed into the annals of the earth forever, he noticed me.
As things unfold, you're given something very rare; a genuine story about falling in love, about the struggle to overcome the past, and about coming out to the person who made that past worth living through.
Highly recommended.
gillianw's review
5.0
5 stars
It's not often a book moves me to tears, but I'm wiping them away as I write this. This novella will break your heart and mend it several times over, and in the end it will leave you overwhelmed at the beauty of it all. I am undone in the best possible way.
It's not often a book moves me to tears, but I'm wiping them away as I write this. This novella will break your heart and mend it several times over, and in the end it will leave you overwhelmed at the beauty of it all. I am undone in the best possible way.
iam's review
3.0
The writing in this one kind of weirded me out and kept throwing me off. Nevertheless, this is an incredibly emotional story that something still managed to make me cry, even while I wasn't having the best time with the writing style.
Content warnings include:
Content warnings include:
Spoiler
anxiety, homophobia; mentions of: child abuse, forced marriage, conversion therapy, death of a babyloishojmark's review
5.0
Oh my God... This little book took my heart out, blew it up and sent it to the skies. This was wonderful and buckets of tears and the nose running off into the woods.
wickedwitchofthewords's review
1.0
Wow! Okay!
So, mostly people are like "Their writing is fabulous" and stuff like that. And it's interesting how different people have different views on the same subject because their writing style was the main reason I gave this book a lone star. The story was good and in a way important and not one of those "two hot guys meet, fuck, and fall in love" books. But the writing style? It bored me. As simple as that. I couldn't connect and feel anything through the words.
Hence, the one star review.
So, mostly people are like "Their writing is fabulous" and stuff like that. And it's interesting how different people have different views on the same subject because their writing style was the main reason I gave this book a lone star. The story was good and in a way important and not one of those "two hot guys meet, fuck, and fall in love" books. But the writing style? It bored me. As simple as that. I couldn't connect and feel anything through the words.
Hence, the one star review.
kiki124's review
3.0
Frantic impressions.
Colors, fear, pain, hope, foxes.
And here come the grooms.
Colors, fear, pain, hope, foxes.
And here come the grooms.
josy's review
5.0
Claire Davis and Al Stewart have done it again! I swear there isn't an author/author pair that can reduce me to a sobbing mess in just a few pages. They have a talent to make me completely invested in their characters from page one and bring out all the emotions in me. They also have the talent to flesh out characters and make them so deep and real to me with just a few words. I don't need hundreds of pages to be able to feel the story they are telling although I certainly wouldn't mind reading more of their amazing writing.
So it's really no surprise that this new novel is another favorite of mine. It was beautiful and moving and wonderful and poetic and it wrecked me in the best possible way.
This is a coming out story that will surprise you.
It's about love and sacrifices, family, shedding a mask and being true to yourself, living your life loud and proud while letting go of your painful past.
It's about being kind, understanding and supportive, about heartbreak, tenderness and fear, about love and being loved.
It's breathtaking and so very emotional.
It will rip your heart to pieces and leave you wide open and vulnerable while at the same time make you cry tears of joy and happiness.
So it's really no surprise that this new novel is another favorite of mine. It was beautiful and moving and wonderful and poetic and it wrecked me in the best possible way.
This is a coming out story that will surprise you.
It's about love and sacrifices, family, shedding a mask and being true to yourself, living your life loud and proud while letting go of your painful past.
It's about being kind, understanding and supportive, about heartbreak, tenderness and fear, about love and being loved.
It's breathtaking and so very emotional.
It will rip your heart to pieces and leave you wide open and vulnerable while at the same time make you cry tears of joy and happiness.
baylan's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
What a masterpiece
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
menomica's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Sometimes he forgot to order the milk, but my Loz never forgot to care.
This was so sweet!! I loved the theme of coming out later in life and still being able to find love.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry