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the_true_monroe'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
3.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Dementia, and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Transphobia, Vomit, and Lesbophobia
annahamburger's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Dementia, Grief, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Vomit, and Antisemitism
h_elen's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Drug use, Dementia, and Alcohol
stacy837's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Dementia, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying and Toxic relationship
pitsikakku'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
3.0
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, Dementia, and Alcohol
Moderate: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia
bencaroline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
God, I wanted to love this book so bad! The Holiday but gay, and in novel form?? Sign me up!
Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me in the pathos department. It’s as if the stakes were told, but not shown nearly enough. And the whole thing has an undercurrent of pro-default-capitalism that I hate. Aside from the romantic storylines, each of our two protagonists has sort of a B-plot wherein they help people... be entrepreneurs, I guess? I'm all for the creative endeavors but there’s something about it where they are trying to Make Profits and somehow those methods endear them to a community more than anything else they do.
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, and Grief
ladythana'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
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, and Gaslighting
Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia
wardenred's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
It’s like…like I’ve been so deep in this whole thing for so long that I honest to god stopped trying to think of any solutions and just figured this was my life now.
Talk about mixed feelings! :D This book is basically two stories meshed into one, and I liked some of the things about each, while low-key disliking others. In terms of characterization and personal arc, I vastly prefer Greta to Truman. I feel like she was a lot more relatable and well-written, and I wanted to root for her every inch of the way. Her story about finding herself and slightly belated separation from her family really resonated with me. Truman's journey to sticking up for himself was interesting, but somewhat blander in comparison (and also, Greta kind of did a lot of the work for him, when their storylines intersected directly late in the book?). Although I must say I really loved how invested he was in his bullet journaling!
When it comes to romance, though, I actually liked following Truman's and Ash's relationship more. Despite the largely identical timeframes, it somehow felt less insta-love-y and developed more naturally, and the problems they were facing, especially on Ash's side, were a lot more interesting for me as a reader. I really loved the way they got to know each other while Truman helped with the shop, and Ash's insecurities, and his struggles with being his mom's sole caretaker. Honestly, Ash is probably my favorite character in this one. When it comes to Greta and Carys, though, I was kind of hooked on their story during their first accidental date, but afterward... I don't know, I just didn't *feel* it, and I'm not sure how good they are for each other. Carys has this very understandable thing about borders, being the daughter of a covert narcissist; the narrative seems to portray her as the queen of personal growth, but I got the feeling she isn't completely healed and in her efforts to maintain her own borders may intrude on other people's borders by accident. And Greta's borders are rather fragile as she's only learning to stand on her own as someone other than a sister and a daughter; at the same time, she's also not as careful as she should be around other people's borders, as shown in the story. I don't say that I'm certain they'll become to clash and hold each other back in the long run, but I get the feeling they might, despite all those careful conversations about healthy communication they've had.
In terms of characters who aren't the leads or the romantic interests, I feel like there were too many, and as a result few were fully realized. Like, Greta's sisters are basically "the mean one," "the peacemaker," "the twin," and "the youngest one who has a bit of personality." That's just one example. That's a pity, because all of them sounded really interesting. Perhaps the book would have benefitted from a more quantity over quality approach: a smaller cast with characters the reader could actually get to know.
In terms of plot, this is largely a slice of life story focused on inner journeys, and I'm very much digging that. There were a couple of hiccups I've noticed along the way. Like, there was a certain event that happened in Greta's storyline and then impacted Truman's. Truman didn't even learn about it from Greta, and it wasn't mentioned in any of her chapters at all. I get that it wasn't a super important part of her narrative, but I still feel like it should have been mentioned somehow? As a whole, I expected more intersections between the two lead's journeys to tie it more into a single book.
What I very much enjoyed was a sense of place and setting. The characters' homes, the small Maine town with all of its small businesses, the strees of New Orleans, the bayou, the community garden with the beehive, the cave by the ocean bay—all of those spots were really vivid and added a lot to my understanding of characters who hung around them.
This book also reminded me why I so seldom pick up Roan Parrish's books, even though a lot of them look so cool and when I do read them, I end up finding something to enjoy every time. Somehow, I just can't click with the author's prose. It's so... unobtrusive to the point of being distracting? I know that makes no sense, but that's how it feels. Maybe one day, I'll be able to put a finger on the source of that disconnect. After all, I'm sure I'll keep occasionally picking up Parrish's books, anyway. Like I said: a lot of them look cool!
Graphic: Drug use and Alcohol
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Dementia
cgbr'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
3.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Dementia, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism
mldavisreads's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed the house swap and the sense of reflection that comes from being in a completely new place around people that don't know your past. I really enjoyed Truman's journey but didn't enjoy Greta's story as much. Greta's story had a few too many characters to keep track of, and for the longest time I thought she was dating Muriel, a much older gardener she met, so I was a bit put off by that. I eventually realized that Muriel was an older friend who served more as a mother/mentor figure, but didn't like that I had been so easily confused by a central plot point. Lots of reflections about why we are the way we are, setting healthy emotional boundaries, and speaking up for our needs. The psychological aspect was a bit heavy-handed at times.
Moderate: Drug use