Review: Delilah Green Doesn't Care

 

This is one of those lovely romances where yes, it’s a romance and that relationship is central, but there’s also a huge emphasis on the other relationships in the book. It stars the titular Delilah Green, who maybe cares a little bit more than the title suggests, and Claire Sutherland, bookshop owner, single mother, and best friend of Delilah’s estranged stepsister, Astrid Parker. Just that description should show how messy and tangled all the relationships in this book are – especially when you add the fact that Astrid is engaged to a guy everyone hates and asked Delilah to come home to be the wedding photographer. So aside from Delilah and Claire’s relationship, we’ve also got Delilah’s relationships with Astrid, Astrid and Claire’s other best friend Iris, Claire’s daughter Ruby, and the entire town of Bright Falls. Claire’s side is a bit less complicated, but not by much. All these relationships provide a richness and depth often not present in more straightforward romances. The downside, though, is that there’s so much going on each storyline doesn’t always feel quite filled out. Overall this book did a decent job of it, but there were still patches that felt glossed over, like Astrid’s relationship with her mother and fiance. For the most part, though, it was a perfectly charming classic romance.

A couple of things that did rub me the wrong way: first, it was very white. There were a ton of comments about “blah blah white men,” but apparently everyone these women interact with is white?? Even Delilah who made a point of moving to the big city where it’s more diverse?? I can think of exactly one nonwhite character who was on I think one or two pages total. Second, there were a couple of comments about “women and enbys” that I really disliked. Without going back and finding the exact wording, suffice it to say that it kind of felt like women and non-binary people were being lumped together, including as people lesbians would date. Which for me as a non-binary person who is deeply uncomfortable being seen that way was really unpleasant to read. I also kind of hate the term enby, so to be fair that may have colored my perception of these moments. But non-binary people aren’t just women-lite, so that gave me the wrong vibe. Setting these issues aside, it was a fun read, but they are relevant to keep in mind.