A review by rachelshubin
Always Only You by Chloe Liese

challenging dark emotional hopeful slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’ll preface my review by saying that I’ve never read a book about an autistic character and I found it really enlightening. Frankie suffers from rheumatoid arthritis as well, and since I suffer from chronic pain myself, I did completely relate on that front. But aside from those facts, the romance in the book wasn’t anything out of the ordinary and I felt very meh on the whole book. Part of me kept reading for the spice and the rest of me was like, the slow burn is bumming me out. 

Like some of the other reviews mention - there’s some Harry Potter references that are the epitome of cringey. Hedwig got a raw deal (IYKYK). I appreciate the author’s note at the beginning that she doesn’t include JKR references anymore - but my god there was no reason to include what she did. The only okay one was Frankie calling her cane “the Elder Wand.” No issues with that but I take issues with the rest. 

The writing is mostly good and I am still curious for the other Bergman siblings’ stories. But I definitely wouldn’t read this book again. Honestly, I want to read Viggo’s book next but of course it’s the final book in the series. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. 
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