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sezillee's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Outing
agw622's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a really good book. I like how she is emphasized to be Ace but still does all the normal relationship stuff. It can be a bit heavy handed like some YA books are prone to do, but that doesn't ruin the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Outing, and Toxic friendship
se_wigget's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
TW, CT: acephobia, panphobia, homophobia, Christofascists, manipulative frenemy, ableism.... Actually, the novel has an excellent list of content warnings in the front of the book. Hmm, maybe I should do that in my books, too.
Every time a book with an asexual protagonist gets published, all acephobic bigots lose a year of their lives.
Imagine a high school in which there are purple chairs and purple walls. If it were in Florida, Governor Wrong DuhPsycho would make it illegal for schools to have anything purple or lavender on the premises.
Page 54: On one page, Franny's sweater is green... and a few pages later, it's red. I don't think she changed clothes.
Page 60: Now I'm craving rainbow cookies! I have rugulach in the freezer--that will do....
Page 152: Andrew? Don't you mean Arthur?
Andrew/Arthur. Green sweater/red sweater. I'm surprised nobody caught this before publication. This book needed one more round of proofreading.
Page 253: Nathaniel's fascist bigots parents need to spontaneously combust or be eaten by a dragon. Fuck these fucking fuckers.
Oh, fucking wow. Christofascists, no less. #bechoppedupintobloodylittlebits
Page 257: What kind of parents would kick their kid out? Many anti-LGBTQIA+ POS parents do it. There's an anthology about it called Kicked Out, edited by Sassafras Lowrey. I attended the book event at In Other Words years ago.
Maybe I just think this because of my family, but it seems like it would be more realistic if at least one of Nathaniel's siblings was a flying monkey for his POS parents.
Whew, this has a satisfying ending!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Acephobia/Arophobia, Outing, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Medical content
obscurepages's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
My first read of 2024! 🎉
Was this cheesy, chaotic, and a bit predictable? Yes. But was it also cute, relatable, and enjoyable? HELL YES 😭😂
This was so good!! I loved the various queer rep in here. Panromantic ace MC? Pansexual LI? Plus sapphics and gays as minor characters? I loved it 😭 I also loved reading Joy's experience and perspective as a disabled, fat, and queer person. I also loved how this showed having a good queer community and support system is important, especially for queer youth.
As for the story, this was light and funny, but also touched upon serious topics. I do feel like some parts were rushed, especially the end. And I kinda wish the story dove more into these serious aspects? But hey, I still had a good time and I enjoyed reading this a lot. 🥺
Was this cheesy, chaotic, and a bit predictable? Yes. But was it also cute, relatable, and enjoyable? HELL YES 😭😂
This was so good!! I loved the various queer rep in here. Panromantic ace MC? Pansexual LI? Plus sapphics and gays as minor characters? I loved it 😭 I also loved reading Joy's experience and perspective as a disabled, fat, and queer person. I also loved how this showed having a good queer community and support system is important, especially for queer youth.
As for the story, this was light and funny, but also touched upon serious topics. I do feel like some parts were rushed, especially the end. And I kinda wish the story dove more into these serious aspects? But hey, I still had a good time and I enjoyed reading this a lot. 🥺
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Outing
Minor: Ableism
enjoythesummerbreeze's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Pregnancy, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Acephobia/Arophobia
Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, and Bullying
courtneyfalling's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Love to see more diverse YA (especially younger-slanted YA) with multiply marginalized disabled characters! This one wasn’t my favorite, had some plot issues that grated me as an older reader, but I liked Joy and Nathaniel as characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Ableism
evelynyle_88's review
emotional
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? Yes
5.0
First of all, this book has been on my TBR since it was announced to be released and I'm glad I can finally read it! I love how sweet this story is. And the process of everyone's coming out isn't rushed.
Love Letters For Joy is really a sweet and cute story after all.
Knowing the MC is panromantic asexual, it's really a new term for me to deep dive and of course... I'd love to see more disabled characters. And Joy is a perfect example from cerebral palsy instead. To let you know, this book is perfect!
5⭐ rating wothy! Thanks, Melissa.. and to let you know... I love Noah and Daisy from You, Me, and Our Heartstrings made a cameo in this book as a fellow cerebral palsy to Joy. Thanks a bunch!
Love Letters For Joy is really a sweet and cute story after all.
Knowing the MC is panromantic asexual, it's really a new term for me to deep dive and of course... I'd love to see more disabled characters. And Joy is a perfect example from cerebral palsy instead. To let you know, this book is perfect!
5⭐ rating wothy! Thanks, Melissa.. and to let you know... I love Noah and Daisy from You, Me, and Our Heartstrings made a cameo in this book as a fellow cerebral palsy to Joy. Thanks a bunch!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, and Acephobia/Arophobia
Moderate: Bullying, Pregnancy, and Outing
Minor: Infertility, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment
ari_bryce's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
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? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Outing, and Toxic friendship
blue_hippo's review
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Fun and short book, unfortunately felt like everything was happening too quickly, which lead to me to not really being able to connect to the characters.
I found the love story (including the love triangle) not that believable, since in the beginning I found Joy to be aromantic-coded.
Also, why is it always friends falling in love with their friends? I would love a friendship without background romantic feelings.
I found the love story (including the love triangle) not that believable, since in the beginning I found Joy to be aromantic-coded.
Also, why is it always friends falling in love with their friends? I would love a friendship without background romantic feelings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Outing, and Abandonment
Moderate: Ableism and Acephobia/Arophobia
goldenelegy's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Abandonment
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Sexual harassment