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kitkatsbookden's review against another edition
4.25
This had me all warm and fuzzy and I really like how it tied up!
4.25/5
4.25/5
thehawk72's review against another edition
4.0
I will say, I am bummed that Charley was the romantic interest of this book because she was a really poor communicator. Amy seemed much happier when she was invested in her career and her friends, and I almost wish this had just been marketed as a fiction instead of a romance because the fiction aspects were so much more interesting. I read some other reviews noting that this didn’t sound like it was set in 2013, and I would tend to disagree with that? The only thing that sounded out of place was the characters introducing their pronouns, which I feel is a relatively recent thing. However, none of that took me away from the enjoyment of the book.
amberinpieces's review against another edition
challenging
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Homophobia, Vomit, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
marieke_k's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
indiekay's review against another edition
3.0
Woof this is going to be a hard one to articulate a review for. I want to give the first 65% of the book 1 star, and the last 35% 4 stars. So I'm giving in 2.5 stars. Honestly I was tempted to DNF it multiple times, but I stuck through because I was really curious to see how it would end.
I found the writing style of this book incredibly boring, and it was too light on dialogue for me, but when there WAS dialogue is often ended up being incredible preachy. Some of the paragraphs are SO long and just go into way too much unnecessary detail. None of the characters are written to have any personality, especially Amy - until we get to the last third of the book, where I realised Amy has no personality on purpose, because she's such a people-pleaser she just chameleons herself into being what the characters (and the author) need her to be in any given scene.
The concept of this book is great, but I did not like the execution. The only interesting parts of the first 65% of this book were the scenes in which Amy is at a wedding, of which there are 3. Everything between weddings was completely dull, especially her romance with Charley.
If you're looking for a cute Sapphic romance book, keep looking. The romance in this book is such a let down. The characters barely spend any time together, don't talk via texts at all, and if they actually get to know each other at all it's done off-page. Charley felt like she had SO many red flags (doesn't text Amy at all after the first date, seems very secretive, rushes out of the house right after the first time they have sex and then doesn't text Amy at all after that either). Amy is always the one to contact Charley first and plan the dates. I was honestly expecting/hoping this would be one of those switcheroo romances where you think the love interest is the first person the main character meets, only to find out later than the love interest is a different, better, character (ala Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall), but unfortunately that was not the case here.
And then Amy goes and tells Charley she loves her suddenly at a New Year's party, before they've even discussed if they're girlfriends or exclusive, and I was like ???????????????? You don't even know her, you just like the idea of her!
This is why I liked the last third of the book, and why it saved the book for me. After Charley runs away from Amy's sudden love confession, Amy gets into a fight with her best friend which was honestly the emotional highlight of the story. It's also revealed in this part that Charley had actually tried to talk to Amy between dates, but it was via trying to go to Amy's place of work (where she'd been fired from but she hadn't told Charley that) and just never saw her there. And this is also the part where Amy contemplates whether she actually loves Charley or if she's just obsessed with the idea of romance (though she still falls into the "oh no I actually DO love Charley!" side of things, which for me... Yeah I don't believe it but okay)
The last third of the book also shows gay marriage hopefully becoming legal in Oklahoma, and has Amy realising she doesn't want to play the straight bridesmaid anymore and goes into wedding planning and baking with a focus on queer-safe spaces and queer couples instead, and the epilogue shows how successful this new business is 10 years later. It was cute.
I found the writing style of this book incredibly boring, and it was too light on dialogue for me, but when there WAS dialogue is often ended up being incredible preachy. Some of the paragraphs are SO long and just go into way too much unnecessary detail. None of the characters are written to have any personality, especially Amy - until we get to the last third of the book, where I realised Amy has no personality on purpose, because she's such a people-pleaser she just chameleons herself into being what the characters (and the author) need her to be in any given scene.
The concept of this book is great, but I did not like the execution. The only interesting parts of the first 65% of this book were the scenes in which Amy is at a wedding, of which there are 3. Everything between weddings was completely dull, especially her romance with Charley.
If you're looking for a cute Sapphic romance book, keep looking. The romance in this book is such a let down. The characters barely spend any time together, don't talk via texts at all, and if they actually get to know each other at all it's done off-page. Charley felt like she had SO many red flags (doesn't text Amy at all after the first date, seems very secretive, rushes out of the house right after the first time they have sex and then doesn't text Amy at all after that either). Amy is always the one to contact Charley first and plan the dates. I was honestly expecting/hoping this would be one of those switcheroo romances where you think the love interest is the first person the main character meets, only to find out later than the love interest is a different, better, character (ala Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall), but unfortunately that was not the case here.
And then Amy goes and tells Charley she loves her suddenly at a New Year's party, before they've even discussed if they're girlfriends or exclusive, and I was like ???????????????? You don't even know her, you just like the idea of her!
This is why I liked the last third of the book, and why it saved the book for me. After Charley runs away from Amy's sudden love confession, Amy gets into a fight with her best friend which was honestly the emotional highlight of the story. It's also revealed in this part that Charley had actually tried to talk to Amy between dates, but it was via trying to go to Amy's place of work (where she'd been fired from but she hadn't told Charley that) and just never saw her there. And this is also the part where Amy contemplates whether she actually loves Charley or if she's just obsessed with the idea of romance (though she still falls into the "oh no I actually DO love Charley!" side of things, which for me... Yeah I don't believe it but okay)
The last third of the book also shows gay marriage hopefully becoming legal in Oklahoma, and has Amy realising she doesn't want to play the straight bridesmaid anymore and goes into wedding planning and baking with a focus on queer-safe spaces and queer couples instead, and the epilogue shows how successful this new business is 10 years later. It was cute.
elusivesue's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
books4em's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Overall, this was good. I wouldn’t call it a romance, the love story is definitely a subplot and honestly I didn’t fully see the chemistry between the two characters. The book centers around being gay in the Bible Belt in the early 2010s. There’s a lot of homophobia, but it centers around queer characters. So the representation is good, but it might be triggering for many people. The growth of the main character is a main plot point as well, and there were so many facets of it that it’s almost too much going on in 350 pages. Not bad for a debut, and I will read further stories by this author but I think this was trying to do too much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Outing, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Transphobia
meganmoisant's review against another edition
lighthearted
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
cyborgapple's review against another edition
3.0
It was a cute read but there wasn't enough tension and the conflicts between the two characters felt very shallow if that makes sense? It was cute for what it was though!