aromanticreadsromance's reviews
242 reviews

This is a soft dnf because my library book expired and I'm reading other things rn but I'll probably come back!

Okay I loved You, with a View, but THIS. ONE. Omg so good!!! This is how to write a second chance romance. The found family was also perf. I loved all the side characters. This was funny but also dealt with heavy emotions in such a poignant way! Jessica Joyce is def an auto buy author for me.

oh and the banter is TOP TIER

LOVE LOVE LOVE. The voice is incredible!!! I will read ANYTHING Isaac Fitzsimons writes. This book has my entire heart. While there's a lot of transphobia, both blatant and insidious, in the plot, it's always challenged and denounced.

HOLY WHAT. I finished this in under 24 hours and already feel like I need to reread it to catch all the foreshadowing the author does. This book will have you suspecting EVERYONE, and the "twist" at the end will truly make you say "what the fuck" out loud (I did that).

I tandem read this, and I liked all the narrators. I think this is a great book to read on audio because it has transcripts of podcast episodes sprinkled throughout, which was a nice touch. I didn't think the multiple POVs (Mara, Loren, Eli, Brody, "Unknown") was too much. Each voice felt distinct and developed.

Ok I can’t say I’m not still confused BUT also this was just too good. do yourself a favor and read the audio format !!! it’s literally INCREDIBLE. an entire production. 

idk I'm kinda bored. Might return to this later

I've never read an F1 sports romance book before and honestly, before this, I probably wouldn't have considered racecar driving a sport (due to my ignorance lol). I loved the chronic illness rep. Willow has EDS (a connective tissue disorder). I can't speak to the accuracy of the rep, but as an outsider, it seemed well done and well balanced. There is also multiracial rep, with Dev half white/half Indian (Gujarati) and Willow half white/half Black. Both Dev and Willow have white dads. Dev experiences a few instances of racism and microaggressions at his company (which proudly only employs American born drivers with red, white, and blue uniforms. Ah don't you just love nationalism /s). I loved Dev's mom, Neha Aunty, and her subtle scheming/matchmaking. I would have liked to see more of Willow's parents. We only meet her dad when he silently waves at Dev from his computer, and we never meet her mom. We get the sense that Willow hates being home in San Diego with her parents, but I'm not really sure if we're ever told why?? I might have missed or forgotten that detail since it took me so long to get through this one (it could be because they treat her as fragile, but she also never talks about them so I have no idea what their relationship is like?). I loved Dev's best friends, Chava and Mark (it took me a bit to warm up to Mark, but he definitely redeemed himself). I wish we had seen more of Oakley (Willow's brother) and his relationship with both Willow and Dev.

I think the book could have been 50-100 pages shorter. I have a hard time reading romances over 400 pages, because they tend to drag on and get repetitive. Some of the scenes could have definitely been cut down or out, like

the car accident at the end/that was foreshadowed at the beginning?? idk it seemed unnecessary, and the beginning made it seem like Dev got in a crash because he was distracted by his relationship with Willow?? But in reality they were already together at that point, and her brother already accepted their relationship soooo it really only sped up Dev's transfer to another company but did nothing else for the plot.

I also thought the "conflict" of telling Oakley was overblown. That "forbidden" romance conflict is part of why I don't really like brother's best friend romance books, BUT I was glad Oakley didn't get all macho man and spew all that "I need to protect my sister" bullshit.

He admits to feeling protective over Willow, but he doesn't stop them from pursuing their feelings

Sooooo thankfully that means no third act breakup!

Thanks to Penguin Random House for the ARC of this book! All thoughts are my own.

I'm kinda super bored?? And there's waaaaay too much telling and not showing

Alex, Approximately is my FAVORITE young adult book of all time, so of course I need to read any book that claims to be similar. I definitely still like Alex, Approximately more, but can't really say that's a shock because, again... favorite YA of all time status. But don't let that deter you from reading this because I did really like it! Wyn and Three both write for the school newspaper, and even beyond competing for the same Campus Life position, their personalities clash. They do petty things like steal each other's story ideas and sell each other's stories to other news outlets before publication. Then, they anonymously match with each other on a dating app and hit it off.

I appreciated the conversations around being fat and how HARD escaping internalized fatphobia can be, because it's just so "sticky." Even though Wyn has grown to love her fatness, she still fears that it's a turn-off to potential romantic partners. Wyn and her friend/roommate, Dara, have a similar conversation about being Black on a dating app. I thought this was well done.

I didn't realize Three is a character from another one of Samantha Markum's books, so now I need to read her backlist. I'd never heard of her before finding this one on Netgalley, so I'm excited to have found a wonderful new-to-me author to explore!

In terms of the audio, I really liked the narrator. Her voice sounded exactly as I would have pictured Wyn's voice. She was animated and youthful (which I think is necessary when narrating young adult books, since sometimes the narrators just sound "too old," if you know what I mean?).

Thank you to Spotify Audiobooks for the advanced copy of this book!

After her father's death, Enore and her family move from Nigeria to a small town in New York. To prepare herself for her senior year of American high school, she watches her cousin's old teen movies on an ancient DVD player. From these movies, she creates a list of rules to follow, like never attract attention to yourself, avoid the popular kids, don't make any enemies, etc. etc. She becomes a bit of a recluse, until she meets Davi, one of the only other people of color at their school (his parents immigrated from Brazil). Though there is a romance, this book is mainly about Enore's journey to finding herself and creating her own path. She discovers and nurtures a passion for singing and theater, and for the first time, it dawns on her that she could do this for a living; she doesn't have to be a doctor like her mother wants.

This book deals with the grief of suddenly losing a parent and the culture shock of moving from a country where you are in the majority to a country/town where you are the minority, having to now deal with racism and bigotry and microaggressions for the first time. It also contends with the difficulties of multicultural dating. Because they grew up in such different cultures, Enore and Davi sometimes have trouble communicating and understanding each other. Davi doesn't understand why Enore can't just pursue her passion instead of conforming to her mother's demands.

Enore, her sister Esosa, and their mother were such layered and complex characters that other side characters fell a bit flat. I didn't feel the romantic connection between Enore and Davi, though I liked them both as individual characters (Esosa stole the show, though, in my opinion!). I liked that Davi pushed Enore to be her true self and find happiness after loss, but it felt like he was just a plot device or means to an end. His backstory felt a little rushed and incomplete.

The ending felt rushed. I didn't like the time jump, because it completely skipped over

the decision to stay in America.

I'm glad I read this book, and I think Jane Igharo has filled a much needed gap in young adult (and adult!) fiction with the cultural conversations she covers.

Thank you to Feiwel & Friends for the advanced copy of this book!