maddysbooks_'s review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.0
this was very cute and fun. it felt good to read an easy ya book, and while it had some substance to it, it was a nice feel-good read.
the characters were funny and i enjoyed the setting of this small town community that was very fleshed out.
i liked sam and lou together, and enjoyed how easily they kinda fell back into their friendship, and how that developed into a relationship really well.
i also love a book that knows how to handle grief, and i thought the author wrote that very well.
the characters were funny and i enjoyed the setting of this small town community that was very fleshed out.
i liked sam and lou together, and enjoyed how easily they kinda fell back into their friendship, and how that developed into a relationship really well.
i also love a book that knows how to handle grief, and i thought the author wrote that very well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
jeanettesreadingcorner's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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? No
5.0
“I can’t believe it ended up being such a great year. “There’ll be more,” I assure her with another quick kiss.
“I know,” she says. “Plus, we’ve still got a whole perfect summer ahead of us.”
“You and me?” I press my hopeful smile against her knuckles in a kiss before taking her hand and tapping it twice against my collarbone in a promise. “We have an always.” She laughs. “Who knew you were the romantic all along?”
- Nina Moreno, Our Way Back to Always
————————
Content Warnings: death of a parent, cancer diagnosis and treatment, hit and run car accident (non-life threatening injuries), grief, and panic attacks.
————————
Our Way Back to Always by Nina Moreno is my top favorite book that I read this year. It’s everything that I hoped it would be and more.
- The friends to lovers trope in this book is *chefs kiss* too good!! The main characters Sam and Luisa aka Lou know each other so well. Everyone else saw their feelings for each other except for Sam and Lou themselves. The bucket list adventures was fun. It brought Sam and Lou together as friends again. Watching them fall in love was so cute!! I just loved them together so much.
- One of my favorite things about Nina Moreno’s books is that they are funny and romantic, but also have so much heart and emotion. Family is big too and I liked getting to know Luisa, Sam, and side character’s families. Sam learning to heal and survive with grief was really inspiring. Besides Luisa and Sam becoming friends again and falling in love, this was my favorite aspect of the story.
- Luisa having a lot of expectations for herself and a specific idea of what success means was relatable. Nina Moreno included an important conversation that Luisa had with her older sister Elena and her mom.
- The timeline of the story fit really well. It spans over a few months and I liked that because it made the book feel more realistic. Nina Moreno made it clear when there was a fast forward to a new month. The storyline never felt confusing or random.
- It was wonderful to be back in Port Coral!! Some details and characters return from Don’t Date Rosa Santos!! Our Way Back to Always has the perfect ending. I would love to read more books set in Port Coral and for it to become a series, if possible.
“I know,” she says. “Plus, we’ve still got a whole perfect summer ahead of us.”
“You and me?” I press my hopeful smile against her knuckles in a kiss before taking her hand and tapping it twice against my collarbone in a promise. “We have an always.” She laughs. “Who knew you were the romantic all along?”
- Nina Moreno, Our Way Back to Always
————————
Content Warnings: death of a parent, cancer diagnosis and treatment, hit and run car accident (non-life threatening injuries), grief, and panic attacks.
————————
Our Way Back to Always by Nina Moreno is my top favorite book that I read this year. It’s everything that I hoped it would be and more.
- The friends to lovers trope in this book is *chefs kiss* too good!! The main characters Sam and Luisa aka Lou know each other so well. Everyone else saw their feelings for each other except for Sam and Lou themselves. The bucket list adventures was fun. It brought Sam and Lou together as friends again. Watching them fall in love was so cute!! I just loved them together so much.
- One of my favorite things about Nina Moreno’s books is that they are funny and romantic, but also have so much heart and emotion. Family is big too and I liked getting to know Luisa, Sam, and side character’s families. Sam learning to heal and survive with grief was really inspiring. Besides Luisa and Sam becoming friends again and falling in love, this was my favorite aspect of the story.
- Luisa having a lot of expectations for herself and a specific idea of what success means was relatable. Nina Moreno included an important conversation that Luisa had with her older sister Elena and her mom.
- The timeline of the story fit really well. It spans over a few months and I liked that because it made the book feel more realistic. Nina Moreno made it clear when there was a fast forward to a new month. The storyline never felt confusing or random.
- It was wonderful to be back in Port Coral!! Some details and characters return from Don’t Date Rosa Santos!! Our Way Back to Always has the perfect ending. I would love to read more books set in Port Coral and for it to become a series, if possible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Car accident, Blood, and Medical content
tsundoku_'s review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A pretty cute romance but not like spectacular. It kept me entertained though and that's what matters. I liked the dual pov. I just feel like there could've been more. I don't know like I feel like there wasn't much depth to their relationship. They only officially said they were dating once and it was really brief and before it was kinda like are we friends are we more the entire book even at the end. I feel like the story wasn't fully developed but overall it was cute.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Panic attacks/disorders
this_momma_is_booked's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
When I first read Nina Moreno's debut novel, Don't Date Rosa Santos, I felt so incredibly seen and heard in a way I hadn't many times before. I had high expectations for this book and, for the most part, it met them all.
I love second-chance romance books, but I was hesitant about how it would play out in a YA book where the characters were 17-18 years old. I mean, they're so young...how do we get to second chances already? However, Nina did a great job establishing that the second chances were because of childish insecurities and lack of communication skills when the characters were 12-13, so it really did seem believable.
Nina has spoken at length about how she initially started this book with the intention of making it funny and light-hearted and a fun summer romance - and she did in a lot of ways. The cast of characters were funny, reading about Lou and Sam struggling through their interactions and communicating like typical teenagers made me chuckle, and being back in Port Coral, a town that is so deeply rooted in family (both the birth and chosen kind) made my heart happy. But, as many of us know, grief has a funny way of sneaking up when we least expect it, and that's how it was for Nina - which means that's how it was for Sam and, to some extent, Lou.
I loved the depth of this book - the discussions of anxiety, expectations, grief, love, neurodiversity and friendship. I clearly remember being the age of these characters and being told the world is so vast, the opportunities are endless, and yet feeling like I am stuck in my city, in my family, in my mind. Teenagers have an unbelievable amount of pressure thrust onto them but are not often given the tools to handle that pressure. I appreciate that this book revolved around that, around figuring out not who they are (because they're 18, there's a lifetime to live first) but who they want to be right now.
And to have all of these themes tied up with the Latinx bow? All the mentions of UF (Go Gators!) and Miami and, as Nina likes to say, living in the hyphen (in my case, Cuban-American)? It really did make this Cuban woman so happy.
I love second-chance romance books, but I was hesitant about how it would play out in a YA book where the characters were 17-18 years old. I mean, they're so young...how do we get to second chances already? However, Nina did a great job establishing that the second chances were because of childish insecurities and lack of communication skills when the characters were 12-13, so it really did seem believable.
Nina has spoken at length about how she initially started this book with the intention of making it funny and light-hearted and a fun summer romance - and she did in a lot of ways. The cast of characters were funny, reading about Lou and Sam struggling through their interactions and communicating like typical teenagers made me chuckle, and being back in Port Coral, a town that is so deeply rooted in family (both the birth and chosen kind) made my heart happy. But, as many of us know, grief has a funny way of sneaking up when we least expect it, and that's how it was for Nina - which means that's how it was for Sam and, to some extent, Lou.
I loved the depth of this book - the discussions of anxiety, expectations, grief, love, neurodiversity and friendship. I clearly remember being the age of these characters and being told the world is so vast, the opportunities are endless, and yet feeling like I am stuck in my city, in my family, in my mind. Teenagers have an unbelievable amount of pressure thrust onto them but are not often given the tools to handle that pressure. I appreciate that this book revolved around that, around figuring out not who they are (because they're 18, there's a lifetime to live first) but who they want to be right now.
And to have all of these themes tied up with the Latinx bow? All the mentions of UF (Go Gators!) and Miami and, as Nina likes to say, living in the hyphen (in my case, Cuban-American)? It really did make this Cuban woman so happy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Cancer, and Pregnancy
Minor: Car accident and Injury/Injury detail
nytephoenyx's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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? It's complicated
3.75
As much as I complain about romance books, I’m a sucker for the-boy-next-door trope. Throw in a sprinkle of the-one-that-got-away, and I’ll be absolutely hooked. A quick glance at the book’s description and the cover design and it would seem Our Way Back to Always is out of my normal reading realm. In fact, I was dragging my feet getting to this book because I thought I wouldn’t like it. Thank you Past Me for knowing better, pre-ordering this, and making sure I read it. It was a great book to escape into.
Like so many YA contemporaries, Our Way Back to Always starts the summer before senior year. We meet Lou - Luisa - who is struggling to fulfill her own high expectations and trying to get into an elite college. We also meet Sam, whose future plans have been scrambled by his father’s recent death. Both POV characters struggle under the weight of expectation, whether it be the world’s or their own. Both characters are likable, and I appreciated the internal and external struggles that motivated them. The romance was well-founded, and I really enjoyed watching an old friendship rekindle.
Where Moreno excelled in building her protagonists, her supporting characters were a bit less enticing. Both Rocky and Benny were functional characters at best, existing only to help Sam and Lou along their journey. Sam’s family serves in a similar manner, as does most of Lou’s. The only supporting character who had depth and purpose was Elena, Lou’s older sister. After finishing Our Way Back to Always, I learned this is the second book in Marino‘s contemporary universe. If she were to write a third book, I would want to know Elena’s story.
The plot moves at a steady pace, with plenty of landmarks and side quests to keep things interesting. If anything, there was a little bit too much going on and sections felt rushed or underdeveloped. As somebody who is interested in coding and female coders, I was disappointed we didn’t delve further into Lou’s app. Similarly, marching band is described as one of Sam’s joys early in the book, but fades into the background as he takes a different path (except the fact he plays drums - that stays relevant). I liked that the little bits and pieces of the bucket list kept the story moving, but Moreno relies on the reader getting caught up in the adventure and not noticing how shallow some aspects of the plot are.
Stylistic criticisms aside, I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I liked the complicated emotions and I think Moreno did an excellent job relaying the experience of somebody who fell in love with their best friend. I liked that Our Way Back to Always encouraged folks to take a less traditionally celebrated road to success. Our culture is extremely determined to enforce a rigid set of expectations upon young adults, but we need to recognize these expectations are not the only stepping stones to a good life. Moreno reminds us of that in her story and I adored it.
This book made me smile, made me sad, made me wish I had a private swimming pool, and made me want to build a treasure hunt. Our Way Back to Always is more than a light, fun beach read. In the guise of YA romance, this contemporary novel explores themes of familial responsibility, grief, and self acceptance. I really liked it, and I can certainly see myself reading it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Moderate: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Pregnancy
nitya's review
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.0
The only thing better than best friends to lovers? ESTRANGED best friends to lovers with mutual pining (and kissing lessons, ahem)
And I LOVED the Rosa character cameos!!!
And I LOVED the Rosa character cameos!!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
bookiecharm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Minor: Cancer
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