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fkshg8465's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.5
Parts of the book were hard to read, Josh’s point of view on a lot things, in particular, though I still believe that in the end, everything wasn’t fine given the state of the country today. But I loved his character for being the kind of person who was brave enough to stand up for what he believes, loving enough to keep trying, and confident enough to be challenged. He also reminds us of the importance of discourse and forgiveness. I feel like he was the real hero of the book, and I don’t say that lightly, given Jess was the protagonist and the BIPoC with the trauma to overcome. Still, I loved how much she grew throughout the book and trust she will continue to grow. I’m rooting for these two!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Drug abuse, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
alysereadsbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
2.5
This book was a hot mess. I wanted to like it so much, but felt the characters were very unlikeable and I don't understand how you could stay in a relationship with someone with such fundamentally different values. I HATED the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
marissas_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
4.5
This book took a while to grab me, but once it did, I was IN! I honestly didn’t like Jess much at first and was stressed over some of her choices (ok this continues throughout the book 😅) but I loved seeing her grow over the course of the novel, and am feeling like she just might turn out alright!
The book is bookended by the election of Obama and Trump’s inauguration. While the book isn’t political per se, these events impact Jess’s life and worldview in similar ways it effected all of us. It also makes up the bulk of her young adulthood (as it did mine, I was the same age as her in the book), and it’s really something to watch someone grow and handle these two very different events.
This book is a bit of an emotional roller coaster and will give you a LOT of feelings. Be ready to rage against patriarchy, corporate bullshit, and white privilege. Also he ready to swoon over a love story, cry over family struggles, and side eye behaviors of a 23 year old.
The book is bookended by the election of Obama and Trump’s inauguration. While the book isn’t political per se, these events impact Jess’s life and worldview in similar ways it effected all of us. It also makes up the bulk of her young adulthood (as it did mine, I was the same age as her in the book), and it’s really something to watch someone grow and handle these two very different events.
This book is a bit of an emotional roller coaster and will give you a LOT of feelings. Be ready to rage against patriarchy, corporate bullshit, and white privilege. Also he ready to swoon over a love story, cry over family struggles, and side eye behaviors of a 23 year old.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Cancer
nicolioliolio's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Racism, and Death of parent
probablyshannon's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
bootsmom3's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
apmreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
I started Everything's Fine not realizing what a divide it had caused on social media, and so for the first third of the book I thought: "This definitely isn't a romance. Nothing about this relationship is romanticized. It feels like it should be a disaster girl novel, but Jess has it together. Josh is an ass who is, like, sooo obviously racist. But a Black girl in a primarily dude's world is kind of bad ass. I dig it." Then, I saw the horrible reviews and watched the hot takes online.
After spending the last few days trying to get a better picture of this book and its wide array of opinions, I think it's important to note what Black women, in particular (since that's who our main character is and, really, who the story is about), are saying about this book. It doesn't really matter what I think, as a white left-leaning reader, but I found mostly two camps: (1) It was very triggering and this book shouldn't exist, and (2) it was very triggering but I have never felt more seen. I think, no matter your feelings on this book, they're valid. But I do think writing a one-star review before reading is doing this book a disservice.
For those of us walking in the world with white privilege and fragility, this book holds up a very clear mirror to the ways in which we make BIPOC walk on eggshells in every possible way. I felt so uncomfortable for Jess, who was trying her best and was still making two steps backward for every one step forward. There were cyclical arguments between Jess and her love interest, Josh that highlighted his white privilege and lack of perspective. He infantilizes her and her very real anger and sadness. Yes, there were cringe conversations, but those cringe conversations I've heard my actual family members say those kinds of things. I felt like, as a white reader, the nuances in this book that made me stop and think would be nothing new to Black people who inherently know and live the racism, misogyny, sexism, identity struggles, and social and economic conversations that were introduced here.
I think, if you go into this book expecting it to be an escape or a romance, your expectation should be changed into one of expecting discussion. This isn't a romanticized love story about people from two sides of the political spectrum. I think it's a story about the very real struggles BIPOC go through daily, but especially how Black women have to navigate this world and how much the Trump years and leading up to it really did a lot of social, emotional, and mental damage. How white privilege and fragility are harming and hateful, and how we as a society really need to work on how we treat each other and how we listen to each other.
I'm glad I read this book. I thought it was worth the read, and it's been worth listening to and engaging in the discussions that are happening because of it. Thank you to Simon and Schuster for sending me an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. This title publishes June 6, 2023 in the US.
After spending the last few days trying to get a better picture of this book and its wide array of opinions, I think it's important to note what Black women, in particular (since that's who our main character is and, really, who the story is about), are saying about this book. It doesn't really matter what I think, as a white left-leaning reader, but I found mostly two camps: (1) It was very triggering and this book shouldn't exist, and (2) it was very triggering but I have never felt more seen. I think, no matter your feelings on this book, they're valid. But I do think writing a one-star review before reading is doing this book a disservice.
For those of us walking in the world with white privilege and fragility, this book holds up a very clear mirror to the ways in which we make BIPOC walk on eggshells in every possible way. I felt so uncomfortable for Jess, who was trying her best and was still making two steps backward for every one step forward. There were cyclical arguments between Jess and her love interest, Josh that highlighted his white privilege and lack of perspective. He infantilizes her and her very real anger and sadness. Yes, there were cringe conversations, but those cringe conversations I've heard my actual family members say those kinds of things. I felt like, as a white reader, the nuances in this book that made me stop and think would be nothing new to Black people who inherently know and live the racism, misogyny, sexism, identity struggles, and social and economic conversations that were introduced here.
I think, if you go into this book expecting it to be an escape or a romance, your expectation should be changed into one of expecting discussion. This isn't a romanticized love story about people from two sides of the political spectrum. I think it's a story about the very real struggles BIPOC go through daily, but especially how Black women have to navigate this world and how much the Trump years and leading up to it really did a lot of social, emotional, and mental damage. How white privilege and fragility are harming and hateful, and how we as a society really need to work on how we treat each other and how we listen to each other.
I'm glad I read this book. I thought it was worth the read, and it's been worth listening to and engaging in the discussions that are happening because of it. Thank you to Simon and Schuster for sending me an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. This title publishes June 6, 2023 in the US.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Death of parent
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-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
3.5
Out June 6, 2023 [Thank you so much the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!]
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Jess is a Black liberal woman who takes a job at Goldman Sachs after graduation, working alongside her college nemesis, a white conservative man named Josh. But when sparks fly between the two, what might otherwise be a “will they-won’t they” becomes a “should they-shouldn’t they” romance.
This is an extremely difficult book to review—I read it a few days ago and I’m honestly still not entirely sure how I felt about it. On the positive side: the writing itself was excellent and the book was engaging and flowed quickly (I read it in a few hours spaced over 1.5 days). There were a lot of thought provoking moments and themes, including a really great section on being a POC growing up in a predominantly white community and the unique challenges that can result.
That said, I had a lot of difficulties with the “romance” side of this book—I hated the MMC, and didn’t feel like he ever redeemed himself or demonstrated anything that would justify her love for him. The ending of the book also made me viscerally angry—I think I see what the author was going for (a kind of political satire reminiscent of a Jordan Peele film), but it did not land for me in the slightest and just made the entire “point” of the novel feel all the more confusing. My reaction can definitely be seen as a kind of positive (a book that can inspire emotion is usually a good thing!) but overall the ending dampened my reading experience.
Recommended if you like: literary romance; political novels; Jordan Peele
CW: Racism/misogyny/misogynoir; death of parent; grief
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Physical abuse
bookishmikay's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Antisemitism
saibhandari's review against another edition
reflective
slow-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
2.0
- Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC -
This book wasn't great - the two main characters, Jess and Josh, weren't particularly interesting and I couldn't tell you much about any of the supporting characters. I didn't really believe that they had chemistry, as most of their dialogue seemed to be insulting each other with zingy (but ultimately empty) comebacks. Rather than being an "enemies to lovers" novel, it felt more like a "people who have very little in common and don't even have a passion in the form of hatred to lovers who also don't really seem to like each other" and that just didn't make sense. I do wonder if, not being from the US, I missed some of the cultural context that would have made this book more interesting to me.
The second half of the book was a little bit more interesting (hence 2 stars rather than 1), as it explored the dynamic between Jess and Josh a bit more in terms of their differences and how their relationship is affected by said differences. I know this book has gotten a lot of flack from people on TikTok and I reckon a big part of this is because the blurb reads like a classic, cute, light-hearted romance novel, when that couldn't be further from the truth. Still, that doesn't make the book good, it's just not the weird, racist novel that people are portraying it as.
This book wasn't great - the two main characters, Jess and Josh, weren't particularly interesting and I couldn't tell you much about any of the supporting characters. I didn't really believe that they had chemistry, as most of their dialogue seemed to be insulting each other with zingy (but ultimately empty) comebacks. Rather than being an "enemies to lovers" novel, it felt more like a "people who have very little in common and don't even have a passion in the form of hatred to lovers who also don't really seem to like each other" and that just didn't make sense. I do wonder if, not being from the US, I missed some of the cultural context that would have made this book more interesting to me.
The second half of the book was a little bit more interesting (hence 2 stars rather than 1), as it explored the dynamic between Jess and Josh a bit more in terms of their differences and how their relationship is affected by said differences. I know this book has gotten a lot of flack from people on TikTok and I reckon a big part of this is because the blurb reads like a classic, cute, light-hearted romance novel, when that couldn't be further from the truth. Still, that doesn't make the book good, it's just not the weird, racist novel that people are portraying it as.
All in all, I wouldn't recommend this to my friends.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism
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