Reviews with content warning for Outing - Here We Go Again

I read this for a book club and was so resistant because I do not like romances lol. I do largely think it was surprisingly good, I just have two main gripes really.

First, I just do not enjoy many romance tropes, especially when there's so many jam-packed into one book like this. Friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, grumpy sunshine, one bed, opposites attract, stuck together/forced proximity, second chance, 3rd act breakup, etc. It was just too much for me and I saw it coming a mile away and not in a way that was fun for me 🤷‍♀️

Second, I wish every single phrase like "Oscar fucking Wilde" with random famous gay people had been left the fuck out. Wow that was annoying and it was like every other page throughout the whole book! Cochrun tried to make it this endearing, quirky thing about one of the MCs and it just was not that at all. It took me out of the story and made me gag and roll my eyes every single time because NO ONE TALKS LIKE THAT, stop trying to make this the character's thing. We get it, she's gay, and I love her for that, but THIS? No. Stop. And it would always be used in moments when I was actually getting into and enjoying the book and then BAM, I'm out of it and annoyed.

Which is a bummer because overall I did enjoy it. I resonated a lot with the characters and some of the situations. I appreciated and loved the queer (sapphic and asexual) representation and the two very different portrayals of ADHD. Something about their relationship still feels toxic to me, but their relationship with Joe was very cute, especially as someone who also was very close with her teachers, including my English teacher in high school. I appreciated the overall message of doing bold things and living your life to the fullest because you're going to die anyway no matter how safe and secure you try to keep your life. The writing was great, and there were definitely scenes that got me choked up--even if they were usually closely followed with that damn phrase thing that drove me insane and ruined the moment. The ending is obviously sad, but not in a bad way at all.

I have a feeling a feeling the others in my book club are going to love it though lol ugh.

Coming back to say JUST KIDDING lmao they did not like it 😂 I feel better.

Content Warnings

kelly_e's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

Title: Here We Go Again
Author: Alison Cochrun
Genre: Romance
Rating: 5.00
Pub Date: April 2, 2024

I received a complimentary eARC from Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted

T H R E E • W O R D S

Delightful • Heartfelt • Wanderlusting

📖 S Y N O P S I S

A long time ago, Logan Maletis and Rosemary Hale used to be friends. They spent their childhood summers running through the woods, rebelling against their conservative small town, and dreaming of escaping. But then an incident the summer before high school turned them into bitter rivals. After graduation, they went ten years without speaking.

Now in their thirties, Logan and Rosemary find they aren’t quite living the lives of adventure they imagined for themselves. Still in their small town and working as teachers at their alma mater, they’re both stuck in old patterns. Uptight Rosemary chooses security and stability over all else, working constantly, and her most stable relationship is with her label maker. Chaotic and impulsive Logan has a long list of misguided ex-lovers and an apathetic shrug she uses to protect herself from anything real. And as hard as they try to avoid each other—and their complicated past—they keep crashing into each other. Including with their cars.

But when their beloved former English teacher and lifelong mentor tells them he has only a few months to live, they’re forced together once and for all to fulfill his last wish: a cross-country road trip. Stuffed into the gayest van west of the Mississippi, the three embark on a life-changing summer trip—from Washington state to the Grand Canyon, from the Gulf Coast to coastal Maine—that will chart a new future and perhaps lead them back to one another.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I'd previously loved The Charm Offensive, but Kiss Her Once For Me didn't hit the same level for me. Regardless, Here We Go Again was one of my anticipated 2024 releases (hello road trip!), and it quickly rose to the top of my stack when it was recommend by a trusted book friend.

What an absolute delight!

Filled with a combination of laugh-out-loud and heartfelt moments, this story and it's characters wiggled their way into my heart as they embarked on a road trip to fulfil Joe's death wish. It's full of adventure, memories, beautiful relationships, belonging, love, and heartache. Some of my favourite moments were the van, the binder, the detours along the way, the nude painting discovery, the drag show, all of the musical moments, and of course, when they finally make it to Maine.

Logan and Rosemary's character growth felt wholly natural and the author does a fantastic job subtly incorporating their neurodiversity (ADHD and anxiety rep) into the story. I really enjoyed getting to unravel what tore them apart and slowly seeing them come together again. Their banter had me laughing often.

And then there is Joe - he was the glue holding the entire story together and I absolutely adored his character. Learning about his past - how he came to play a parental role for each of the girls and his own queerness was such a joy. The teacher/student relationship was beautiful. Of course, I cannot forget Odysseus, the cancer dog. And Remy... sweet sweet Remy.

The romance never overtakes the story, yet it's easy to see where their relationship will end up. It's really the secondary love story which had my whole heart. Stunningly beautiful! Additionally, the open dialogue on grief and talk about death was a breath of fresh air. As an avoidant society, these types of discussions are so important, yet we don't have them. Lastly, I thought it was an accurate depiction of the caregiving process and all that it entails. End-of-life care is physically, emotionally and psychologically exhausting and portraying it as such is so important.

Here We Go Again is one of those stories that made me smile through tears. There were so many beautiful moments in this childhood best friends to enemies to lovers story filled with queer joy. Found family stories have quickly become a trope I adore, and the ending was bittersweet. There is no doubt it'll be making its way onto my Top Reads of 2024 come December. Definitely bring the Kleenex for this one.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• road trips
• forced proximity
• life lessons from the dying
• sapphic rom-coms

⚠️ CW: cancer, terminal illness, medical content, excrement, vomit, death, death of parent, grief, abandonment, toxic relationship, lesbophobia, homophobia, outing, sexual content, cursing, mental illness, alcoholism, panic attacks/disorders, alcohol, drug use, overdose

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"He saw the way her brain worked, and instead of trying to fix it, he celebrated it."

"Hale looks even more perfect to Logan in this moment, because she looks like a flawed human being."

"Life is the prickly pear. It's always going to be a combination of beauty and hurt, no matter how hard you try to protect yourself from the hard parts. There is no way to avoid pain."

"Your brain in the most beautiful thing about you. And I'm including your soft ass in this list."

"This is love. Love is seeing perfection in every flaw. Seeing every flaw as a miracle because it belongs to the person you care about most. Love is saying, yes, still. Even after all these years."

"We're never truly safe. That's life."

Content Warnings

melaschnie's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

As a death-positive, sober lesbian with ADHD who loves label makers, a good 3-ring binder, & road trips, and would love to write a book one day, I think this book was written specifically for me... I mean, it even contains the specific nickname I use for my favorite 7-year-old! 🐓

Personal connections aside, this book is incredible. Alison Cochrun knows how to create well fleshed out, multi-dimensional characters who feel REAL and don’t just live in the little bubble of the story you’re reading, and I love that. I also really appreciated the ADHD representation, and showing how the same disorder can affect people so differently. I definitely identify more with Rosemary’s ADHD brain (a kind that people often don’t read as ADHD), but I have my Logan moments 😅

Can we talk about the skill it takes to weave a story about dying and grief into a romantic comedy and make it work? There is so much heart and care woven into this story. Joe’s life and death is as central as the relationship between Rosemary and Logan, and each plot point makes the other better. All this to say, Alison Cochrun is for sure going on my auto-buy author list and you should definitely read this book.

Content Warnings

booksbytheglass's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I think something is broken in me, because after reading all of the amazing 5 star reads, I just … didn’t feel the same 😭 which completely broke my heart since I adore alison cochrun and her style of writing!

I will say, this is 100% a sad contemporary romance with a lot of grief and death scattered around the plot so please take the time and read the trigger warnings to take care of your mental health first ❤️

logan and rosemary used to be best friends in school and are now mortal enemies teaching at the same school - it’s a tale as old as time! and throw in the best character of all time, joe, their former english teacher and you have a recipe for a perfect second chance romance!! except, I could NOT get over logan and rosemary’s characters… they were unlikable and selfish towards their own hearts (from putting on a brave face and joking around to hide a broken heart to expressing little to no care about the few that actually love them) 🥴 I really didn’t like how logan projected her trauma and closed herself off from everyone by her selfish nature

while I understand that everyone goes through trauma differently, for a romance book, I want to be able to root for the characters, and I just did not feel that way about logan at all. the way she used others, including my sweet sweet joe, was not it for me.

speaking of joe, though, I absolutely adored him and cried so much because he SAVED the story for me 🥹🥲 I wish everyone had a joe in their lives because I promise, the world would be in a better place

thank you to atria and netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 3 stars
wine pairing: finger lakes chardonnay

Content Warnings

bookcasey's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective

Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Content Warnings

abitbetterbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is my favourite book I’ve read so far this year.

I loved Alison Cochrun’s debut The Charm Offensive, and I read it all pretty much in one sitting, but this book…. This book was different. It was special. I think it had so many more elements of things that I love in a way that it was written more for me than TCO could ever be: cross country road trips, sapphic love, friends to enemies to tentative allies to lovers, English teachers, girls with ADHD, a big dog, and of course, ABBA. An ode to grief and a treatise on love.

Sure, it’s “a romcom about death” as Alison pitched it, but it’s hard to capture how much it is both a) a romcom, that has swoony romantic moments and laugh-out-loud funny jokes, and b) still very much entirely centred around death and loss.

I cried, I laughed, and I laugh-cried. This book was so beautiful and real and heartbreaking and joyous. A eulogy that truly was a celebration of life and all of the beauty and the pain that comes with it. Delightfully and fully queer through generations.

Although you always know what’s coming at the end, that’s not the point of the story— it’s the way that you get there that’s really important, with all the detours and roadblocks that come with. It’s about the ways in which we crack ourselves open and who we allow to see our brokenness on the way.

I can’t wait for this book to come out so that the rest of the world can read it. 🩷💜🧡

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