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auntmissy22's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
kittynovaaaa's review
4.0
4.0
Thanks so much to Montlake and Netgalley for gifting me this dazzling ARC! Her Own Happiness by Eden Appiah-Kubi is a women’s fiction/coming of age/romance novel that somehow perfectly captures each of these genres in one. The story is set during a time that’s all too familiar to us in 2023, the 2020 global pandemic. It follows bets friends Ant and Maya who move out of Hawaii after the world shuts down and rebuild their lives in DC, with Ant coming to terms with his less-than-platonic feelings toward Maya. I’m going to be honest, I purposefully avoid books that are set during or even slightly reference the pandemic because I value reading as a tool for escapism and that time has caused so much pain and stress. But Appiah-Kubi stuns by managing to portray a very painful time in everyone’s lives in a tasteful and non-triggering manner.
Thanks so much to Montlake and Netgalley for gifting me this dazzling ARC! Her Own Happiness by Eden Appiah-Kubi is a women’s fiction/coming of age/romance novel that somehow perfectly captures each of these genres in one. The story is set during a time that’s all too familiar to us in 2023, the 2020 global pandemic. It follows bets friends Ant and Maya who move out of Hawaii after the world shuts down and rebuild their lives in DC, with Ant coming to terms with his less-than-platonic feelings toward Maya. I’m going to be honest, I purposefully avoid books that are set during or even slightly reference the pandemic because I value reading as a tool for escapism and that time has caused so much pain and stress. But Appiah-Kubi stuns by managing to portray a very painful time in everyone’s lives in a tasteful and non-triggering manner.
carmelstrawberries81's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great story or how life hit during COVID-19. it was especially hard for marginalized communities. Finding love in your best friend.
kaleys23's review
emotional
fast-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
3.5
khaliyah_monay's review against another edition
2.0
This book was meh but I finished it to see where the story would end…..
What I liked:
Dual POV
Representation of sexual identities
Mental Helath
Relatability amidst the Covid-19 pandemic
What I didn’t like
The monotone tone of voice
The storyline
The ending
Dragged out scenes
I went into this book with much higher expectations because of the author, however, this book just didn’t do it for me. It was hard to follow because the storyline wasn’t intriguing and I found myself just reading the words without getting the visualization I normally do.
The middle chapters when Mya and Ant stayed at the beach house were probably the strongest chapters of the entire book and most intriguing. After that the storyline takes a turn and so does their friendship leaving me more confused and bored. By the end it wasn’t at all what I expected and it disappointed me as well.
I would not recommend this read.
What I liked:
Dual POV
Representation of sexual identities
Mental Helath
Relatability amidst the Covid-19 pandemic
What I didn’t like
The monotone tone of voice
The storyline
The ending
Dragged out scenes
I went into this book with much higher expectations because of the author, however, this book just didn’t do it for me. It was hard to follow because the storyline wasn’t intriguing and I found myself just reading the words without getting the visualization I normally do.
The middle chapters when Mya and Ant stayed at the beach house were probably the strongest chapters of the entire book and most intriguing. After that the storyline takes a turn and so does their friendship leaving me more confused and bored. By the end it wasn’t at all what I expected and it disappointed me as well.
I would not recommend this read.
felicia_rose's review against another edition
Just quite bored by the story. It would be a 3 star at most so I'm going to let it go. Beautiful representation, but nothing really keeping me hooked on the story.
picturetalk321's review
10 other books bumped themselves to the top of my tbr so this is on hiatus
mfrisk's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? No
5.0
I loved getting to know Maya and Ant through their own perspectives as well as their friendship and shared moments throughout this book.
Maya is pansexual and Ant is asexual and they both take time to explain their experience with their sexuality and how it intersects with their experiences being Black as well throughout this book in different ways - Ant through his discussions on the asexuality forum and Maya through her discussions with friends and family.
I didn’t love the Emme storyline and sort of found it a bit confusing that she was the one to set up the third act conflict of suggesting Maya reject Ant. That to me was the main aspect of the story I didn’t like as I didn’t feel like it was necessary given everything going on. I think the really important aspects of this story are friendship and the characters getting to know themselves and that was incredibly valuable to see play out for both Maya and Ant. We also see a snapshot of navigating all these aspects through covid.
Maya is pansexual and Ant is asexual and they both take time to explain their experience with their sexuality and how it intersects with their experiences being Black as well throughout this book in different ways - Ant through his discussions on the asexuality forum and Maya through her discussions with friends and family.
I didn’t love the Emme storyline and sort of found it a bit confusing that she was the one to set up the third act conflict of suggesting Maya reject Ant. That to me was the main aspect of the story I didn’t like as I didn’t feel like it was necessary given everything going on. I think the really important aspects of this story are friendship and the characters getting to know themselves and that was incredibly valuable to see play out for both Maya and Ant. We also see a snapshot of navigating all these aspects through covid.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Dementia, and Pandemic/Epidemic