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siebensommer's review against another edition
emotional
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.25
wouldn’t have finished the book if i hadn’t listened to it 🤨
let regret come along for the ride. a passenger, not the driver.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Medical content, and Dementia
Moderate: Racism and Alcohol
lanayagraham's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
l1brarygirl's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Cute & funny romance written by one of my favorite audiobook narrators (and also narrated by her, duh). Made me laugh out loud at parts but it also had some serious parts. Also loved the author's note at the end. I couldn't put it down!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Cursing, Sexual content, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
Minor: Addiction
melanie_books's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.5
Sewanee Chester used to love Romance. She cut her teeth on romance novels as an audiobook narrator after she stopped acting and before she got into more serious literature. But, after a quick trip to Vegas, where filled in for her friend/boss/producer Mark at BiblioCon and met a charming stranger that she can't stop thinking about, she returns to her home in LA where an invitation to return to Romance awaits. The gig is a serialized story, previously unpublished by an author who gave Sewanee her start in narrating. While she is loath to return to the unrealistic and ultimately disappointing world of Romance, the money is insane and she needs it to make sure her grandmother gets the care she needs. And her would-be costar is legendary in the narrating world and quite charming in his own right. Surely one more book won't kill her.
As a reader, I appreciate stories that make me tear up as much as they make me laugh and Julia Whelan has done it again with this one. Sewanee (pronounced "Swan-knee") had a lot of things that she needed to sort through as a person, as she considered where she was at in life and what she wanted. While Sewanee could see other's issues more clearly, she had a harder time looking at her own. But throughout the story there was a lot of growth - for multiple characters - which was lovely. Of course, the story was also really funny with misunderstandings and misadventures galore. There was some innuendo (which served as some of the first connections for Sewanee and her costar) as well as a spicy fade-to-black scene and some language, but the beauty and the heart of the story easily earned it four stars.
As a reader, I appreciate stories that make me tear up as much as they make me laugh and Julia Whelan has done it again with this one. Sewanee (pronounced "Swan-knee") had a lot of things that she needed to sort through as a person, as she considered where she was at in life and what she wanted. While Sewanee could see other's issues more clearly, she had a harder time looking at her own. But throughout the story there was a lot of growth - for multiple characters - which was lovely. Of course, the story was also really funny with misunderstandings and misadventures galore. There was some innuendo (which served as some of the first connections for Sewanee and her costar) as well as a spicy fade-to-black scene and some language, but the beauty and the heart of the story easily earned it four stars.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Sexual content
hdunscombe's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death and Dementia
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Injury/Injury detail
kateywaldhart's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia
Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexual content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicide attempt
chelle22's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
amy_in_the_city's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The pacing of this book was weird. I really enjoyed the slow development of the relationship in the first half as the two lead characters correspond through emails and texts. Then they meet about halfway through, and the rest of the book is a mess. The FMC is pissed off at the MMC for hiding his identity from her, but she was also hiding her identity from him. She spends a good chunk of the rest of the book picking fights with everyone who cares about her. During this section, I really started to feel like instead of a relationship, the book should have ended with the FMC trying therapy again. Then the main characters spend a lot of time just kind of hanging out but not really as a couple while they slowly decide to actually be a couple. There are a bunch of other plot lines (the audition, grandmother's health, finishing recording the audiobook, mom's relationship, the audiobook studio, friend's acting career stress, etc.) in the second half of the book, so the romance gets sidelined.
The MMC feels underdeveloped throughout the book and the story makes him grovel seemingly just because groveling is popular in romance novels. He didn't do anything that deserved groveling. Also, I think there was only like one sex scene, and it was kind of vague. It makes sense to be vague if you're trying to keep the book from being explicit, but the audiobook the main characters record is explicit so this book wouldn't have been non-explicit anyways. Something similar happens at the end when the story tells us the MMC wrote a song and then proceeds to tell us how the FMC felt listening to the song instead of giving us any song lyrics.
Another thing that bugged me throughout the book was that there were repeated instances of putting down other women. The FMC and one of her fellow audiobook narrators are dismissive towards an aspiring audiobook narrator because they perceive her as a blonde bimbo. The grandma is always making fun of another woman at her retirement home's plastic surgery, which seems like an especially odd choice in a book about a FMC with facial differences. Everyone at the retirement home makes fun of another female resident there for being proud of a recipe she makes that brought her family joy. The FMC seems judgmental towards and disdainful of the gentle-parenting yoga mom she is seated next on a plane.
I really loved the idea of this book, but it just didn't land the execution.
The MMC feels underdeveloped throughout the book and the story makes him grovel seemingly just because groveling is popular in romance novels. He didn't do anything that deserved groveling. Also, I think there was only like one sex scene, and it was kind of vague. It makes sense to be vague if you're trying to keep the book from being explicit, but the audiobook the main characters record is explicit so this book wouldn't have been non-explicit anyways. Something similar happens at the end when the story tells us the MMC wrote a song and then proceeds to tell us how the FMC felt listening to the song instead of giving us any song lyrics.
Another thing that bugged me throughout the book was that there were repeated instances of putting down other women. The FMC and one of her fellow audiobook narrators are dismissive towards an aspiring audiobook narrator because they perceive her as a blonde bimbo. The grandma is always making fun of another woman at her retirement home's plastic surgery, which seems like an especially odd choice in a book about a FMC with facial differences. Everyone at the retirement home makes fun of another female resident there for being proud of a recipe she makes that brought her family joy. The FMC seems judgmental towards and disdainful of the gentle-parenting yoga mom she is seated next on a plane.
I really loved the idea of this book, but it just didn't land the execution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Misogyny, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
ankiaisreading's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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
Moderate: Death, Racism, Sexual content, Dementia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
cassiealexandra's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0
Updated review: 2/7/2024
I was worried that I'd built this up in my head too much, that I'd remembered it incorrectly, that I would be sorely disappointed upon a reread. My worries were for naught. This was absolutely wonderful from start to finish again. I decided to give this a reread by audio and was so happy I did. The accents and voices for everyone, Texan, Irish, and the crotchety old women at Seasons were perfect. It was still laugh out loud funny, heartfelt, and full of all the tropes. I was especially struck by the female friendship in it this time around, probably because I was reading alongside my best friends. I want Stu to give me all the pep-talks and may print out what he says about risk-taking and tape it to my vanity mirror. I need that kind of encouragement in my life. The author's note "On Autobiography" at the very end is not to be skipped!
Take all my stars, Julia Whelan. You have a lifelong fan of you as an author (but I do love your narration as well).
The bottom line: I think this is and will continue to be one of my favorite books of all time.
— NOTES —
Genres: romance, "women's" fiction
POV:3rd-person
Content: grief, dementia, loss of dreams, accident, disability
Romance: open door in chapter 10; other innuendo throughout
— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 5
Enjoyment: 5
Craft: 5
Gut: 5
Total: 5x infinity
Original review: 4/8/2023
Hear me out. I’m not usually a gusher, but this book worked so well for me, and I can’t stop thinking about it. It was laugh out loud funny, had the right mixture of literary fiction and romance, played on familiar romance tropes, and the characters were more than one-dimensional. My husband and I spent a lot of time in high school on instant messenger (I’m aging myself here), so I loved that over 100 pages were epistolary. This was more than a Romance. It was about family and friendship, love and loss, hope and fulfillment, things universal to everyone. I loved this one from the opening chapter to the very end. I read it in print in less than 24-hours. I re-read multiple chapters on audio just so I could hear the author read her own words and act out each character’s voice and accent. This is a new favorite.
I was worried that I'd built this up in my head too much, that I'd remembered it incorrectly, that I would be sorely disappointed upon a reread. My worries were for naught. This was absolutely wonderful from start to finish again. I decided to give this a reread by audio and was so happy I did. The accents and voices for everyone, Texan, Irish, and the crotchety old women at Seasons were perfect. It was still laugh out loud funny, heartfelt, and full of all the tropes. I was especially struck by the female friendship in it this time around, probably because I was reading alongside my best friends. I want Stu to give me all the pep-talks and may print out what he says about risk-taking and tape it to my vanity mirror. I need that kind of encouragement in my life. The author's note "On Autobiography" at the very end is not to be skipped!
Take all my stars, Julia Whelan. You have a lifelong fan of you as an author (but I do love your narration as well).
The bottom line: I think this is and will continue to be one of my favorite books of all time.
— NOTES —
Genres: romance, "women's" fiction
POV:3rd-person
Content: grief, dementia, loss of dreams, accident, disability
Romance: open door in chapter 10; other innuendo throughout
— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 5
Enjoyment: 5
Craft: 5
Gut: 5
Total: 5x infinity
Original review: 4/8/2023
Hear me out. I’m not usually a gusher, but this book worked so well for me, and I can’t stop thinking about it. It was laugh out loud funny, had the right mixture of literary fiction and romance, played on familiar romance tropes, and the characters were more than one-dimensional. My husband and I spent a lot of time in high school on instant messenger (I’m aging myself here), so I loved that over 100 pages were epistolary. This was more than a Romance. It was about family and friendship, love and loss, hope and fulfillment, things universal to everyone. I loved this one from the opening chapter to the very end. I read it in print in less than 24-hours. I re-read multiple chapters on audio just so I could hear the author read her own words and act out each character’s voice and accent. This is a new favorite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Dementia