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serafina's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and War
jourdanicus's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? No
5.0
Ooh, this book gave me the warm fuzzies 🥰 I think Cat Sebastian might be one of my favorite queer romance authors now!
This checked all the boxes of my romantic fiction requirements: diverse characters, characters being kind to one another, a good balance of external and internal conflict, open-door intimacy, just enough plot to keep things interesting without overshadowing character development, and an interesting setting that was present but also didn't overshadow the characters.
Usually I get impatient with slower burn romances; this one wasn't exactly slow burn because Nick and Andy definitely had desire for each other from the beginning. But something about it did seem a little slower - I think it was the way the internal plot developed. Their need to figure out where their relationship was going was present, but not so urgent that it got in the way of them enjoying each other.
The little moments of domestic intimacy also really drew me in, and I think that's what made this story really special to me. It combined the excitement and hesitancy of new love with the familiarity of a couple who lives together comfortably (to which I can relate as someone in a very long term LTR).
Finally, I'm no history buff so I wasn't exactly fact checking every little thing, but it seemed evident that the author did their research for this. I felt very present in the time and place while reading.
Yay for another 5 star read in 2024!
This checked all the boxes of my romantic fiction requirements: diverse characters, characters being kind to one another, a good balance of external and internal conflict, open-door intimacy, just enough plot to keep things interesting without overshadowing character development, and an interesting setting that was present but also didn't overshadow the characters.
Usually I get impatient with slower burn romances; this one wasn't exactly slow burn because Nick and Andy definitely had desire for each other from the beginning. But something about it did seem a little slower - I think it was the way the internal plot developed. Their need to figure out where their relationship was going was present, but not so urgent that it got in the way of them enjoying each other.
The little moments of domestic intimacy also really drew me in, and I think that's what made this story really special to me. It combined the excitement and hesitancy of new love with the familiarity of a couple who lives together comfortably (to which I can relate as someone in a very long term LTR).
Finally, I'm no history buff so I wasn't exactly fact checking every little thing, but it seemed evident that the author did their research for this. I felt very present in the time and place while reading.
Yay for another 5 star read in 2024!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, Police brutality, Death of parent, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, and Abandonment
kaneebli's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity, Racism, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury
maregred's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Infidelity
_persephone'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, and Death of parent
wardenred's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
5.0
Sometimes it’s a tightrope walk, you know? And it’s not fair that I have to be on the tightrope when other people just go for a stroll down the fucking sidewalk.
It's still early in the year, but I've got the feeling this is going to be my favorite book of 2024. This story just hit all the right notes for me. It's a perfect blend of so many of the tropes I adore: friends to lovers, roommates to lovers, workplace romance, mutual pining. The execution of the mix was so well done, too: the way their emotional proximity kept growing, how the closer they got the more they felt they had to hide while getting more and more open with each other. How they see certain things about each other so clearly, almost more so than they see certain things about themselves, but get hopelessly tangled with others until they get just the right nudge. How they both make each other not only happier, but better.
The characters are so alive on the page—not just Andy and Nick, but everyone who surrounds them. There was that cool feeling that the main leads were carving this bubble for themselves that was just for them two in many ways, but they wouldn't be able to do it if they weren't surrounded by other people along the way. People like Emily and her friends, but also people like Andy's father or Nick's big complicated family, despite the tumultuous relationships they had, and people like their coworkers, and all the other queer people in New York whose lives touched those only tangentially—through glances exchanged in the streets or articles in the newspapers. I'm an absolute sucker for deeply character-driven stories like this, and so many of Andy's and Nick's experiences and feelings resonated with me so much, too. From Andy's very obvious ADHD to Nick's struggled habit of concealing big parts of his identity, there was always something that made me go, "Yeah, been there."
There was also this very clear sense of place and historical period that I enjoyed a lot. So many scenes and locations were so vividly depicted that I almost felt I was watching a movie, and I'm not a super visual reader. Due to the realities of that time, there is a strong impact of period-appropriate homophobia, but in spite of it, there's a lot of queer joy and thriving to offset the angst, even if it has to happen under wraps. Especially since the wraps are coming down, what with all those small subplots about the articles or the increasing number of queer books reviewed by Nick's colleague—some of them even non-tragic.
If I had to nitpick, I could perhaps note how there were a few instances of the prose not being quite clear, or how maybe in a few places the intersections of character arcs and external plot evens could be tightened up. But I'm not in the mood to nitpick at all—I just loved the entire experience. Honestly, I could go on and on about so many aspects of the story because it gave me All The Feels. Ultimately, it's a beautiful slice of life with so much heart, and I think I'll re-read it someday, even though there are so many books and so little time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Police brutality, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
mels_reading_log's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
This book was perfection. It’s a historical fiction, friends to lovers book set in 1950s New York, when it was illegal and very dangerous to be queer. This couple not only has to figure out how to be in a loving relationship together but also how to break down the walls of traditional masculinity to be themselves with each other. It’s sappy and lovely and way more than I thought it was going to be!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Grief
onlyonebookshelf's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Infidelity
booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
I enjoyed this, I like the characters and the relatively slow burn of the plot. It was, however, weird that in the resolution of secondary aspects of the plot there's a message of "while some cops are corrupt the institution can be saved through self-correction". That was especially jarring in a book about queer men in the 1950s. It’s always dicey for me when a protagonist has a relative who is a cop, especially when that relative is portrayed as being "one of the good ones". On its own the story could be fine, but it ends up contributing to this overall social trend of copaganda in fiction, whether accidentally or intentionally.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent
kal517's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Police brutality, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, and Grief