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teeclecticreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
CW: endometriosis, dismissive doctors, chronic illness symptoms, injury, blood
Thank you so much to BookFunnel and Torie Jean for trusting me with an eARC of this beautiful piece of work.
The first and most important thing to note is that while it was so difficult to see Aurelie be dismissed and gaslit by her doctors and bear the symptoms of her undiagnosed endometriosis alone, it’s a super important conversation to be had and Torie, being an own voices writer, portrayed this perfectly.
As a chronically ill person, I know all too well that this is unfortunately very common across our community. Please, you know your body best and no degree can overshadow the experience you’ve had in it. If something feels wrong and you aren’t being listened to, get a second (or third or fourth or…) opinion. Early detection could save your life.
I really enjoyed the writing style. The dual POV was great and having both Aurelie and Jack get a couple chapters before switching really helped me connect to them better. It was also laced with funny banter and references to old romance films and literature. Very sweet.
Aurelie’s character was complex. It made me so sad to see her so dismissive of herself and insecure, but of course I couldn’t blame her given the reasons presented. Still, she was beautiful, strong, and had a great sense of humour despite it all.
Jack was complex too. He was also dealing with grief but in a completely different way, but remaining kind and compassionate to the people who mattered. Also can we talk about romantic??? Oh my gosh. New book boyfriend for sure.
The oooonnllyyy thing that doesn’t make this 5 stars is the lack of communication oh my goosshhh. It drove me crazy! They’re both feeling things but both too afraid to say things out loud and assuming things about the other that are sooooo far from the actual truth. Waaaaay too in their heads and I just wanted to scream “TALK IT OUT ALREADY!!”
Dukes and Dekes comes out on November 7 and I would 1000% recommend you all read it. Especially my able-bodied people. It gives you just a glimpse into how painful, ridiculous and hard that being chronically ill can
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
turnthepages_nl's review
emotional
funny
fast-paced
5.0
The first thing I said about this book was 'It's amazing and full of heart'. And I still stand by that. I cannot put into words how much this book means to me, but I'm going to try.
As I said in my review of Finding Gene Kelly, I don't have an Endometriosis diagnosis (haha that rhymes), but I have a lot of symptoms... and it is for a good part thanks to Torie's books, I can advocate for myself. I have suspected Endo for years, since I was 12 or 13 really. And the more I learn about it, the more it makes sense. And I am so so thankfull for the work Torie does. We, as chronically ill people, learn a lot from our other spoonie friends. Doctors won't school themselves, keep their knowlegde up to date (if they even have the knowlegde to begin with...). So we have to share our knowlegde with each other in order to get the care we need and deserve. And I am SO thankfull for Torie. She is sharing a part of her knowlegde through these books whilest also giving us an escape, a friend, a swoony lovestory and hope.
Last week I had the worst pain of my life. It lasted for a few hours. I was screaming and crying. But knowing what might be happening inside me gave me a sense of peace. I thought about Aulie, the main character in Dukes & Dekes and I felt not alone anymore. It sounds so strange. But knowing someone has these pains, even if it is a fictional character. Helps so so much. (I ofcourse talked to my doctor about it, don't worry!!)
Dukes & Dekes is different from FGK. The writing has improved, it was already great but it somehow got even better! The story has a better flow and the pacing was perfect too. And I am sooo happy with the double POV!!! It's one of my favourite things. Seeing from both perspectives how they fall in love 🥰 and let me tell you something. HE FALLS FIRST (& harder!!).
This book has a lot of tropes. And I loved it. It works really well! We have a grumpy/sunshine dynamic. A 'badboy' ice hockey player who is secretly the biggest softie. A book loving Jane Austen stan (that's probably not a trope, but who cares, it was great!!) A forced proximity situation 😏. AND WE GET THE DARCY HANDFLEX
It ofcourse wouldn't be a Jane Austen tribute without it! And also not a trope but he definetely stole the show: Gio the Goat!!!
Ever since I was a little girl I was obsessed with the movie/serie adaptations of the Austen novels. I said to my mom: 'can we pleaseeee watch the pretty dress movies again???' No clue it was a period drama. I just loved the pretty dresses, the sparkling lights and the looks of love. Oh and the music too! So I had the most fun seeing all the little or big references to Jane Austen characters and scenes. The whole fair was such fun. Getting all dressed up and performing. Aulie is a theather kid, and I absolutely love that. The whole town gets involved and the fair group almost becomes like a little second family. A group of Austen lovers who make something great together 🥰
But the story was not all happy happy happy. Both Jack and Aulie deal with the loss of family members. They are both grieving. Big time. And it added so much depth to these characters and the story. I appreciate how personal and vulnerable Torie Jean got with us. She put a piece of herself in this story and it shows in all the best ways.
Getting back to Aulie. Just like me she has no diagnosis... she has plenty of symptoms but doctors wave them away. They disregard it and her. She hears so often it's in her head she actually believes it. Her friends are great and take care of her. But the mental battle of it is really rough. Doctors say she just should do fun things and the pain will go away. But that doesn't work. She is doubling over in pain. Struggeling to stay on her feet. This story shows the painfull road of undiagnosed to diagnosed. The relief of finally being believed. But the mental work you need to do to unlearn all the bullshit all these previous doctors put in your head. It was all in there. And it was written with such honesty. In the way only an own-voices author could do. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Own-Voices Stories are SO important. They sometimes save literal lives.
This was a super rambly review again. But hey, it's me. And I'm emotional about a book. What else did we expect... but I really hope you want to give this book a chance. Because you have endo or know someone who does. Because you love a good grumpy/sunshine dynamic or you are in your hockey romance era. Because you love Jane Austen. Or just because you want to read diverse, want to read disability stories. And you want to support a lovely indie author who is the kindest human and got real vulnurable with this one. The e-book got published november 6th. It was supposed to release today but Torie gifted it us a day early. The paperback will be released november 27th!
As I said in my review of Finding Gene Kelly, I don't have an Endometriosis diagnosis (haha that rhymes), but I have a lot of symptoms... and it is for a good part thanks to Torie's books, I can advocate for myself. I have suspected Endo for years, since I was 12 or 13 really. And the more I learn about it, the more it makes sense. And I am so so thankfull for the work Torie does. We, as chronically ill people, learn a lot from our other spoonie friends. Doctors won't school themselves, keep their knowlegde up to date (if they even have the knowlegde to begin with...). So we have to share our knowlegde with each other in order to get the care we need and deserve. And I am SO thankfull for Torie. She is sharing a part of her knowlegde through these books whilest also giving us an escape, a friend, a swoony lovestory and hope.
Last week I had the worst pain of my life. It lasted for a few hours. I was screaming and crying. But knowing what might be happening inside me gave me a sense of peace. I thought about Aulie, the main character in Dukes & Dekes and I felt not alone anymore. It sounds so strange. But knowing someone has these pains, even if it is a fictional character. Helps so so much. (I ofcourse talked to my doctor about it, don't worry!!)
Dukes & Dekes is different from FGK. The writing has improved, it was already great but it somehow got even better! The story has a better flow and the pacing was perfect too. And I am sooo happy with the double POV!!! It's one of my favourite things. Seeing from both perspectives how they fall in love 🥰 and let me tell you something. HE FALLS FIRST (& harder!!).
This book has a lot of tropes. And I loved it. It works really well! We have a grumpy/sunshine dynamic. A 'badboy' ice hockey player who is secretly the biggest softie. A book loving Jane Austen stan (that's probably not a trope, but who cares, it was great!!) A forced proximity situation 😏. AND WE GET THE DARCY HANDFLEX
It ofcourse wouldn't be a Jane Austen tribute without it! And also not a trope but he definetely stole the show: Gio the Goat!!!
Ever since I was a little girl I was obsessed with the movie/serie adaptations of the Austen novels. I said to my mom: 'can we pleaseeee watch the pretty dress movies again???' No clue it was a period drama. I just loved the pretty dresses, the sparkling lights and the looks of love. Oh and the music too! So I had the most fun seeing all the little or big references to Jane Austen characters and scenes. The whole fair was such fun. Getting all dressed up and performing. Aulie is a theather kid, and I absolutely love that. The whole town gets involved and the fair group almost becomes like a little second family. A group of Austen lovers who make something great together 🥰
But the story was not all happy happy happy. Both Jack and Aulie deal with the loss of family members. They are both grieving. Big time. And it added so much depth to these characters and the story. I appreciate how personal and vulnerable Torie Jean got with us. She put a piece of herself in this story and it shows in all the best ways.
Getting back to Aulie. Just like me she has no diagnosis... she has plenty of symptoms but doctors wave them away. They disregard it and her. She hears so often it's in her head she actually believes it. Her friends are great and take care of her. But the mental battle of it is really rough. Doctors say she just should do fun things and the pain will go away. But that doesn't work. She is doubling over in pain. Struggeling to stay on her feet. This story shows the painfull road of undiagnosed to diagnosed. The relief of finally being believed. But the mental work you need to do to unlearn all the bullshit all these previous doctors put in your head. It was all in there. And it was written with such honesty. In the way only an own-voices author could do. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Own-Voices Stories are SO important. They sometimes save literal lives.
This was a super rambly review again. But hey, it's me. And I'm emotional about a book. What else did we expect... but I really hope you want to give this book a chance. Because you have endo or know someone who does. Because you love a good grumpy/sunshine dynamic or you are in your hockey romance era. Because you love Jane Austen. Or just because you want to read diverse, want to read disability stories. And you want to support a lovely indie author who is the kindest human and got real vulnurable with this one. The e-book got published november 6th. It was supposed to release today but Torie gifted it us a day early. The paperback will be released november 27th!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Chronic illness, Medical content, Sexual content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Ableism
Moderate: Alcohol, Vomit, and Death
Minor: Cancer and Terminal illness
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