Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Een jaar met jou

I laughed out loud and I cried like a baby. This was way more emotional than what I expected, but it turned out to be a very well-executed and beautiful account of love and growth. A lot of great literary references and dialogues between the characters, which was lovely and also came in as a way to reinforce the book's message in several occasions.

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stardust_heidi's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

Oh. My heart. So good. I loved the romance a lot (grad student/professor relationship FYI) and how it developed, but I was not expecting the conflict twist and the beautiful, winding way that Ella realized the truth a out her goals and dreams.

It’s a beautiful audiobook with the author narrating.

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megbooks02's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

“Maybe, once you come to realize that there are no answers, you learn to live with the questions.”

I have conflicting feelings about My Oxford Year. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t necessary appreciate the twist that occurred halfway through the story. I think the writing was great, but I struggled with the storyline in the second half of the book.

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kb33's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

That. Hurt.

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neera_duke's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

Absolutely love the narraration of Julia Whelan, what a gift to listen to an audiobook written and narrarated by her.

This novel was a delectable treat of funny, heartbreaking and clichéd. The last hour of the novel packing a punch.

Loved the poetry scattered throughout, as well as the relationship James' parents shared.

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I’m so, so sad to say that this book bummed me out!

After reading (and adoring) Thank You for Listening, I picked this up with excitement, wanting to delve into the author's work even more. However, where TYFL brought immense amounts of joy and hope, My Oxford Year was really quite sad and frustrating.

The beginning was really enjoyable! I loved Ella's somewhat chaotic introduction to Oxford and the lifestyle there. Her rag-tag group of friends was fantastic and even the start of her "relationship" with Jamie was filled with humor, awkward moments, and sweetness. Around the halfway point, however, everything took a depressing nosedive.

Spoiler

Jamie’s illness was so miserable, but also felt forced, uncomfortable, and handled somewhat terribly. While I would've anticipated for Ella to be angry about him not telling her sooner, the initial reaction was awful and from there on out, I felt a heaviness to the entire story. There were all of the issues with his father, the really icky feeling of never knowing if he would live or not, and then finally, a very open ending. I’m sure this was meant to provide hope for the reader so they can make the assumption that there was a HEA, but I would’ve just preferred an on-paper HEA rather than one I had to make up for myself.

It all left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. What could have been a really creative and cute romcom turned into something melancholy and heavy. I walked away from it feeling drained rather than refreshed, which is not what I prefer after reading this kind of book. Definitely not my ideal style, unfortunately.

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spicycheesecake's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

good shit, GOOD SHIT
This was one of the main books I wanted to read for my romance novel arc, I'm really glad I was able to make time for it

A little disclaimer though:
I think one of the main reasons I enjoyed this book a lot more than the average StoryGraph user is because I hold some of the themes & settings to a personal level. I'm literally in love with a man who graduated from Oxford, and uses all the cute British lingo like "cheers" (god, I love that). Academia is a huge part of my life, and is a big reason as to why I liked this book (same goes for The Love Hypothesis -- would totally recommend that book too).

Ella and Jamie are absolutely great characters. I loved their dynamic, they had an adorable relationship. However, midway through the book, I did find that their feelings were hard to understand. It seemed to me that Ella claimed to feel one way, but then she acted and talked like she felt the opposite way. I don't know if it's because the writing was hard to keep up with, or if I just didn't fully understand Ella's character. I'm just going to assume the latter.

Confusion aside, the rest of this book was glorious. Can I also say, hello? Oxford? Perfect setting for studious people. I absolutely LOVED hearing about Ella's experiences at Oxford and her time in the UK. I'm jealous.

The ending surprised me.

Spoiler

With all the buildup, I kind of expected that Jamie would die in the hospital, after getting pneumonia. I was completely wrong. I was in a big crying mood while I read this book, so as sick and twisted as this sounds, I was a little disappointed that Jamie didn't die. Though part of me is super relieved that Ella and JD are living out their perfect little lives. God, I love them.

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lindsayerin's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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