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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Bullying, Gaslighting, Grief, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol and Sexual content
cdace8's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Bullying and Death of parent
Minor: Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, and Grief
dianaschmidty's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Graphic: Bullying, Body shaming, Grief, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders
librarygirl272's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Bullying, Medical trauma, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity and Panic attacks/disorders
roget's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Where to begin????
This book is about Sadie, a twenty-something portrait artist struggling to make ends meet in the city. She's determined to honor her late mother's legacy and make it as a painter, to prove herself to her hyper-successful but emotionally distant and disappointed surgeon father. Things are finally looking up when she places in the top ten of a prestigious portrait competition, and Sadie has six weeks to paint a portrait to compete for the grand prize and the recognition it will get her work.
But on the eve of her big break, Sadie discovers that she needs a procedure to correct a cavernoma (malformed blood vessel) in her brain. It's scary, and she'd rather wait until after the contest, but her estranged cardiothoracic surgeon dad talks her into the importance of the procedure, and she goes in to get it done. Only, once in the recovery, she discovers that she's developed an edema (normal swelling from the surgery) near her fusiform face gyrus (the part of the brain that helps you recognize faces and pair them with memories you have with that individual). The long and short of it: Sadie has acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia. Also known as face blindness.
(Note: While I don't have that condition, I believe you can really tell that Center has done a lot of work with people who both study and have prosopagnosia, which she details in the after note, and that work comes through in the book.)
Sadie's healthcare team is optimistic that it will improve, but not certain. In the meantime, Sadie has to sort a way to paint a portrait for the contest in several weeks when she can't recognize the subject matter or fit features together anymore. Throw in the reappearance of her frustrating step-mother, her awful step-sister, and her absent father, along with some issues with her aging dog's health, a sudden, dizzying crush on the new veterinarian, and a blossoming, confusing friendship with a guy in her building, and Sadie's basically up to her eyeballs in "What now."
I
ate
this
up.
I devoured it like strawberry cheesecake with real good crust. Like gooey brownies. Like, I don't even know what. I wrecked my sleep schedule over this UNINTENTIONALLY, and there aren't many romcoms that provoke me to that point anymore.
This was so, so freaking wholesome, and kind, and nuanced. The romance is cozy and warm. You get the experience of <i>knowing</i> that this dude is extremely caring with everyone--that he cares especially about her, too--while you watch Sadie pick up the puzzle pieces to put all of it together. Not just who he is, but how to accept help and to work through her trauma around being "too needy."
Have I seen similar emotional beats in romance novels before? Yes. But this wasn't just pacing out a plot. It was dancing it--full out, thoughtfully weaving elements from Sadie's childhood, ambitions, hopes, and fears into a well-paced and gorgeously written romcom. There were some plot points I predicted, but Center's imaginative and rich storytelling made those moments satisfying, like coming upon a view you knew would be gorgeous after the journey to get there.
I have a lot of quirks with romance, and lately, as someone who reads quite a lot of them, I've been a bit tired of the usual miscommunication/typical third-act breakup plot structure. Often, it feels like the conflict could be more interesting if the characters had room to work past the surface level hiccup and get into the real vulnerability.
But this book really proves that if done well, "predictable" becomes "anticipatory." (Yes, I am referencing the author's note at the end, which I also loved.) It is vulnerable, sweet, and funny. It has such heart. I have an ARC, but I'll be getting a physical copy of this.
I'll stop rambling now, but definitely pick this up if you like dogs and sweet, kind people who care about them.
**Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.
Graphic: Body shaming, Medical trauma, Bullying, Medical content, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Suicide attempt, Infidelity, and Misogyny
Brief flashback to child neglect. Body Shaming is not as it seems:literaryintersections's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Abandonment and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity
dixiecarroll's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Let me explain… a woman experiences a very rare brain disorder causing face blindness - that’s not the part I found unbelievable - I found this interesting and refreshing (if not similar to several hallmark movies). The part I found unbelievable and teenage was that she actually has an evil stepsister who supposedly framed her for wild suicide-inducing bullying getting her kicked out of school and shipped away to boarding school… and then that evil stepsister follows her around and continues to make her life miserable (yes she moves into the building she lives in and purposely fucks with her since she can’t recognize her). Anyway that part of the story is forgettable to me so I don’t feel bad sharing it now - she gets her moment at the end with her bully being publicly shamed.
I literally think that entire plot should be removed as it was so insane to read. The high stakes of the main plot are more interesting and very twisty in their own way!
Ultimately a 4 star read, but pushed down to 3 stars because of that insane stepsister. The romance was fun and the facial blindness was very interesting - those parts were very compelling!
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Fatphobia, Ableism, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death of parent, and Grief