victoriousbookworm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Homophobia and Outing
paperbackparker'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: Outing, Cancer, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual content
callmekt'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
Graphic: Alcohol and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content, Religious bigotry, and Outing
Minor: Vomit and Toxic relationship
The whole book is about a queer woman working in the wedding industry in a red state during a time where being queer wasn't as widely accepted. She also works at a bar and attends a lot of weddings (hence the alcohol).tlrjhnlwsn's review
- 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
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Homophobia, Outing, Religious bigotry, and Sexual content
zellapaige's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Sometimes she felt guilty for staying closeted at the bakery, both because she was pretending to be someone she wasn’t and because she was allowing her colleagues’ homophobia to go unchecked. (6)
This book is in a way a love story to Tusla. Tulsa has never been on my radar as a place with lots of cool stuff or somewhere I wanted to visit, but this book genuinely made me want to go. As a southerner along the Arkansas river the depiction of Tulsa’s queer community in the book felt so authentically familiar to me. That sense of small city tight knit southern queer community added a whole other layer to my new Tulsa appreciation. The way Tulsa and the character’s love of Tulsa shines in this book is one of it’s biggest strengths.
She picked apart each outfit in the mirror, trying to guess what kind of girl Charley might like. … Something simple would have to work until she figured out Charley’s type. (65)
The queer trauma in this book is overwhelming. Add to that the interpersonal conflict Amy experiences with her best friend in the book and this book felt like a chore to finish rather than an entertaining pleasure. While everything in this book ends happy Amy and her best friend Joel have a falling out in the book. Not only was that falling out painfully emotional, but felt horribly unrealistic for decade long best friends to literally not talk for months, rather than any kind of conflict resolution. Ultimately just not the read for me.
Amy worked so hard to always be positive and helpful, to make the day a little brighter for everyone she encountered. Joel and Damien were some of the only people around whom she’d felt like she could drop the act. Did that mean the true Amy was negative and draining to her loved ones? (279)
Book is oddly pro-oil/pro-fracking which felt weird for such an otherwise conscious queer book.
Graphic: Outing and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Medical content and Cancer
bookcasey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Outing
mlindsay27's review
Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, and Cancer
bandysbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I’m not sure where exactly to start this particular review because this book was quite a bit different than I imagined. I expected a fluffy queer romance, but the romance was a very small part of the actual plot. The majority of the book is focused on Amy’s semi-closetedness and her struggles with being authentic to herself and to the larger queer community. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, just not what I was expecting.
As for the romance, it felt a bit generic. I mean there were parts of it that were cute, but we never learn much about Charley, the love interest. Also, so many of their interactions are awkward that you start to wonder where the chemistry is. Eventually, it does have that sweet ending though. Also, kind of annoyed that the very few sex scenes included were brief and fade to black. I don’t want smut necessarily, but it felt a little YA in terms of sex.
I will say there was also quite a disconnect in the timeline versus the dialogue. This book is supposed to be set in 2013 before gay marriage was legalized in the USA…but a lot of the dialogue reads as very now. For example, all of the characters introduce themselves with pronouns which I’m all for…but I don’t remember anyone doing that prior to a year or two ago. In fact, I still barely here it today.
That being said, I did find myself laughing at several points throughout the book. There were some generally funny points.
I also love how much food and food description was a part of this book! The cakes and pastries sounded genuinely amazing and a couple recipes were included at the end of the book! I’m looking forward to trying them.
And I did love the diversity of representation in this book even if it wasn’t quite as diverse as it could’ve been. I know that’s confusing. Let me explain. The author did a great job with LGBTQIA diversity as ther are characters of varying sexualities and genders throughout this book. That said, it wasn’t very racially or ethnically diverse. I suppose we can attribute some of that to the story being set in Oklahoma…but it’s a weak excuse. After making such an effort to be inclusive, I wish she’d gone just a bit further.
Was this the best queer romance I’ve ever read? No. Is it an entertaining enough, light read? Yes. I think it would be good for a day by the pool or beach.
Graphic: Homophobia, Outing, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Sexual content
kat468's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Spoiler
jumping from not even defining the relationship before the break up, to exchanging “I love you” after the makeupGraphic: Religious bigotry and Homophobia
Moderate: Infidelity, Alcohol, Outing, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Child abuse
dogbuttsandbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I’m always on the lookout for more contemporary sapphic romances, especially set in the southern United States, so I was VERY excited to get my hands on an arc of Queerly Beloved. And that’s where the excitement ended. This book had great story concepts, but needed some serious editing - there were so many different storylines. Is it about someone hiding their queer identity at work? Or a professional bridesmaid? Or a sapphic romance? Or a coming of age story? It was trying to do too much and ended up succeeding at none of it. The side characters were all severely underdeveloped and seemed to rely on queer stereotypes. Also this should not be marketed as a romance, it’s barely a part of the storyline and has the most forced HEA of all time. So many content warnings for homophobia. Last thing - while I love the frequent use of pronouns in the book, that would not have been normal in 2013.
Graphic: Outing and Homophobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Infidelity and Alcoholism