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A review by sarah984
Meet Me in Madrid by Verity Lowell
emotional
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? It's complicated
2.0
This is the second teal-covered age gap lesbian romance about history professionals that I've read this year and unfortunately, this one disappointed me too. Most of the parts about their actual professional lives were interesting (there's something at Charlotte’s job that wraps up a little too neatly but I did find myself wanting to read more about the nuns, and the academic conference felt depressingly accurate) but the romance and writing style did not work for me.
It was hard to keep track of how long things took to happen, but considering that this started out as an intentional one-night stand the actual relationship felt like it came out of nowhere, way too fast. The sex scenes felt perfunctory and mechanical. The characters’ voices felt very same-y (they allegedly had quirks but it seemed like a lot of times the author forgot about them) and they used really awkward phrasing I can't imagine anyone actually using out loud. Why say "POC professors" when "professors of colour" is right there?
Adrianna was fine, though I don't feel like we learned much about her. I hated the choice she made at the end and the reasoning behind it, but that's more the fault of the author than the character. Charlotte felt VERY young for a character who was supposed to be in her 30s. She was so needy and insecure and a lot of her choices made no sense to me. She's really cruel about another woman for no reason and never really walks that back even after it's explained what that woman is going through. I liked Esther a lot but her character got boring toward the end when she really started crossing ethical lines.
I feel like the author had some good intentions here but I can't recommend this book.
It was hard to keep track of how long things took to happen, but considering that this started out as an intentional one-night stand the actual relationship felt like it came out of nowhere, way too fast. The sex scenes felt perfunctory and mechanical. The characters’ voices felt very same-y (they allegedly had quirks but it seemed like a lot of times the author forgot about them) and they used really awkward phrasing I can't imagine anyone actually using out loud. Why say "POC professors" when "professors of colour" is right there?
Adrianna was fine, though I don't feel like we learned much about her. I hated the choice she made at the end and the reasoning behind it, but that's more the fault of the author than the character. Charlotte felt VERY young for a character who was supposed to be in her 30s. She was so needy and insecure and a lot of her choices made no sense to me. She's really cruel about another woman for no reason and never really walks that back even after it's explained what that woman is going through. I liked Esther a lot but her character got boring toward the end when she really started crossing ethical lines.
I feel like the author had some good intentions here but I can't recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicide, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment