A review by rachaelarsenault
Always Only You by Chloe Liese
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. Both Ren and Frankie were engaging characters, and their romance was sexy, sweet, and easy to root for. I felt the autism rep was handled with a lot of care and nuance, especially because there's more than one autistic character included throughout the story. The overall representation of disability was layered and varied with Frankie's rheumatoid arthritis as well as the brief inclusion of Ren's father as an amputee.
I did find the ending got a bit too on the nose and corny with the dialogue, and the constant Harry Potter references were a bit much. I understand that it was included as a special interest for Frankie, and I did appreciate the blatant on page call out of JKR's transphobia, but I feel like it may have been better to pick a different fandom/series for Frankie to drop references to throughout. I also felt that Maddox' introduction built him up like he would be a much more significant antagonist to the story than he actually was, which was a little disappointing.
On the whole, I really liked this book and do recommend picking it up if the tropes tickle your fancy. I'll probably check out other works by this author and other books in this series.
I did find the ending got a bit too on the nose and corny with the dialogue, and the constant Harry Potter references were a bit much. I understand that it was included as a special interest for Frankie, and I did appreciate the blatant on page call out of JKR's transphobia, but I feel like it may have been better to pick a different fandom/series for Frankie to drop references to throughout. I also felt that Maddox' introduction built him up like he would be a much more significant antagonist to the story than he actually was, which was a little disappointing.
On the whole, I really liked this book and do recommend picking it up if the tropes tickle your fancy. I'll probably check out other works by this author and other books in this series.