Reviews with content warning for Lesbophobia - Queerly Beloved

This cute midwest lesbian romance was so sweet and had a lot of found family and character development. I enjoyed seeing the main character's journey through navigating her sexuality while being closeted in certain places, figuring out what she wants to do with her career, and learning how to be a better friend and person. It sometimes felt like the romance took a backseat to her growth, and I was okay with that because she and all her family and friends were interesting and contributed a lot to the plot. Overall it was a lovely little well-written contemporary romance read that the queer community, and specifically lesbians, deserve to have more of within our current heteronormative literary space.

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internationalreads's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-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

caseyaboutthroughout's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.5

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biblio_'s review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

3.75

Content Warnings

laketwentytwo's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

gracedunne's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.75

Content Warnings

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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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? N/A

General disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. Thus, no stars doesn’t indicate that the book wasn’t worthy of any starred system. It just means I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all, even if the lesson is that I’m a ho for the smut, recognizing a genre/book/author is not for me, or confronting my own mommy/daddy issues lol. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Happy reading! Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial

I really enjoyed this romcom! Though it was published in 2022, it's set in the 2010's before gay marriage was federally legal/recognized in the U.S. I think that's important because it's not something I think about often now in 2023. Amy, our main character, works at a bakery called Daily Bread, which is owned by a religious, conservative woman who then fires Amy when she finds out Amy is queer. Amy also moonlights at the local gay bar Ruby Red, and eventually begins dating Charley, who just moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma from Austin, Texas. Amy is described as "forever cursed to be cute," and "more of a girl next door" than a "hot lesbian you'd happily ruin your life for."

I love the impact of Charley introducing herself with her pronouns (she/her) to Amy! I haven't spent much time in Tulsa, let alone in 2012 (??) but the way Susie writes this is so powerful! It's such a small thing to do, but you can tell it means everything to Amy, proving to be a brave space somewhere that Amy is not fully out yet.

Amy loves weddings and again, this felt relevant for 2023's zeitgeist because I am someone who does pride myself on trying my best to put my money where my mouth is (i.e. I don't support JKR or any other problematic author, I have so many choices/privileges in choosing authors who have not caused harm). However, Amy is constantly confronted by others in the queer community as to her love and support for the wedding industry. During a time when gay people could not marry the ones they love and/or reap the benefits of marriage (i.e. health/medical reasons, insurance, etc.), Amy has to really examine whether or not this is something she can continue supporting and trying to create a business out of. I love this nuance, and I appreciate the dialogues she has with multiple people about this throughout the book. That's why I do feel this is moreso a coming of age story with romance splashed in.

The steam is 1/5, fully closed door with some heavy petting before he door closed haha. Anyway, I will absolutely continue to read from Susie Dumond in the future.

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porkkutletbowl's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

4.0

Content Warnings

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