The Neurospicy Bean

  This was a perfectly entertaining, pleasant romance, but it didn’t land for me quite the way the author’s other books have. Eddie in particular I really struggled to wrap my head around as a character – why he behaved the way he did and so on. I also really wish that the rest of the baseball team had played a bigger role – I always talk about how one of the highlights of a really well done romance is the relationships the characters have with people outside the primary romantic interest. That was a little bit lacking here, I think because so much of the focus ended up on Mark’s journey. That said, it’s still a well-written book that was emotionally engaging. In particular there was a scene towards the end about queerness and acceptance and society that really broke my heart. Absolutely worth picking up.

  This was actually more enjoyable than I expected it to be. I was anticipating one of those meandering, plotless books that middle aged white women seem to love, and it certainly wasn’t that. Instead, it was a perfectly pleasing mystery with plenty of clues and even a bit of action. Seemingly unrelated details were smoothly woven together in a satisfying way, and there were nice little relationships that got nods throughout. I did have a few gripes, mainly to do with the various perspectives the author was trying to weave together. The main thing is just that there was no reason to have so many different POVs. At the beginning, I think we heard from almost every single major character, and a couple of characters that seemed like they’d be major but then got shunted off to the side a third of the way in.  One example of this was I believe KJ (yeah, he was presented as a main character in the first several chapters and then became so sidelined that I hardly even remember his na...

  More trans romance! It brings me so much joy! Especially great to see T4T and transfemme representation because those are both things that don’t show up very often in any genre. The basic premise of the book is a pretty traditional fake-dating setup – Jean-Pierre needs a girlfriend in order to inherit his family’s culinary empire, and Luna needs money, so they pretend to be in a relationship. But the rest of the book was brilliantly original and avoided most of the repetitive plot elements that come up so frequently in fake-dating stories. I especially loved the ending. I won’t spoil it, but not only was it not where I expected it to go, it was just so filled with trans joy and screw-the-old-rich-people, it was absolutely lovely. My biggest complaint is that the relationship development didn’t quite ring true to me. There were lovely elements, to be sure – Jean-Pierre nicknaming Luna Claire?? Adorable – but the transition from them being annoyed with one another to attracted to o...

  Perfectly enjoyable little romance here. In the couple of books of his I’ve read, Janovsky does a nice job of blending character growth with romance in a way that feels very sweet and meaningful, and not at all like the love interests are just there to help the main character be a better person. This one did strike that balance. But for whatever reason, it just didn’t emotionally grab me in quite the same way as You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince.  I guess I’ve always struggled with any kind of romance where one person comes into it with an entirely different understanding of their relationship than the other (I’m looking at you whatever the heck Marvel did to Peter Quill and Gamora). And I also struggle with this kind of magical realism where it’s a total mystery what actually happened to Nolan, but the mystery isn’t actually the point of the book. Because, come on, I really want to know more! Tell me about this mysterious wellness company! Can we get a book about that? This...

  So I’ll start off with the fact that there is a good chance I’m really not the target audience for this book. I really do not care about astrology even a tiny bit. I can tell you I’m a Saggitarius and that is literally it. And I have a suspicion this book is a lot more entertaining if the reader has any idea what the various stereotypes of all the different signs are, blah blah blah. I do not. So already not the best start. But I could absolutely set that aside if the rest of the book were amazing (see previous review about baseball). Unfortunately, this was not that book. First of all, Gray really irritated me. There was a whole lot of ‘cis lesbian trying really hard to be a trans ally’ in a way that got on my nerves. I don’t remember every instance of this, but one example was a conversation in which Gray is talking to her best friend Cherry. Cherry asks her if she’s still identifying as a lesbian, and Gray says she’s open to dating anyone except cis men, but that she still ide...

  I am OBSESSED give me all of the trans romance and joy. Thank you so much to Katy Nishimoto from Dial Press for the advance copy of this beautiful book. I really loved so many different aspects of this book, so it’s going to be a bit tricky to parse through them all, but I shall try. First, and this is probably one of the things that has stuck most in my head about it, it was really amazing to see such a sex-positive trans romance. I do think this trend is changing, in the last couple of years in particular, but so often it seems like the reality of sex as a trans person gets completely glossed over. By that I don’t mean that sex is some kind of horrible ordeal, or that all trans people are uncomfortable with it; in fact, anyone who has read this book will know that’s not how it’s treated here at all. It’s more that a lot of authors – cis authors in particular – have seemed deeply uncomfortable committing to the reality of their trans characters’ bodies, whatever that may be. So ...

  There was so much hype around this book and it just…did not meet my expectations at all. I don’t have a ton to say specifically, but there were a couple reasons it annoyed me. First, there really wasn’t anything to make it unique. It felt as formulaic as a queer period romance can get – two upper-class white leads fall in love, they scheme to find a way to be together, they have sex, they break up at the end of the second act, they get back together. Whatever. There was just nothing to make it unique, nothing that gave it any grab or grit. The second issue is that Beth and Gwen were completely indistinguishable from one another. Aside from which parent they spent time with, there was really nothing about them that made it possible to keep track of who was narrating at a given point. Pro tip: if you can’t write distinctive characters, don’t have multiple POVs. They’re like the characters in a love triangle where the only difference is that one has brown hair (gasp). On another not...

  I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this one! It’s a fairly traditional enemies-to-lovers setup, and there’s not anything super out of the box, but I was shocked by how invested I got in Rune and Gideon’s relationship (I know – JAY getting invested in STRAIGHT PEOPLE?). There were also a few elements that I particularly enjoyed.  First, despite this being a YA romantasy, there’s actually a shocking amount of complexity and nuance that gets conveyed. We’re introduced to a world in which witches are brutally hunted and executed, which of course sets the reader up to side with Rune, the witch in hiding. But as the book goes on, it becomes very clear that the revolution that overthrew the witches was very much justified. The story does a really good job of showing the ways that privilege can change rapidly and how people can be talking about two entirely different things without even realizing it when it comes to power dynamics. Spoilers on this one! Another thing I tho...

  This was…not good. Let me first say: how on earth does a town as small as Cameron describes this one as being support not just this mall but apparently enough people to make a random elf competition go viral?? I mean, I guess it happens, but it felt really weird. But that’s not the most annoying thing about this book, by far. Cameron as a character was just so irritating. He was mean to everyone, especially Marco, for no reason. There was literally zero chemistry between Cameron and Marco. Cameron spent way more time thinking about his ex than he spent thinking about Marco, and they just seemed annoyed at each other the entire book until suddenly Cameron decided he liked this guy enough to question all his life plans for him.  Also. THE BOOK MISGENDERS THE NON-BINARY CHARACTER. How does this happen. How does it not get caught in all the many phases of editing a book must go through. Were there not sensitivity readers. Did none of the early readers notice. I mean, I had to go...

  Yeah, this was one of those books I put off reading for the longest time thinking it surely wasn’t as good as everyone seemed to think and YES IT REALLY IS. It has absolutely everything going for it: sweet romance, intricate subplots, compelling secondary characters…honestly, the whole end of the book made me tear up. My absolute favorite scene was when they came across a mural of the two main characters dressed as Han and Leia because I am a simple nerd at heart. I know I just mentioned the side characters, but they deserve mentioning again. There’s so much range and depth to every single character, each one has their story going on that ties into the plot in ways both obvious and unexpected. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: a strong ensemble is a sign of a truly well-written romance. I think McQuiston also does a really lovely job of writing about homophobia here: it’s very much present, because the book is dealing with some serious cultural forces, and you can’t set ...

  Y’all I am absolutely obsessed with this series, and this book wraps everything up perfectly (although please?? More in this world?? Because there are hints that there’s more to come???). We get lovely flashes from Robin and Edwin and Violet and Maud, including a really heartwrenching sublot with Robin and Edwin. It also benefits hugely from Jack and Alan having been introduced in the last book and having an established relationship to build on. We get thrown straight into a house full of all these delightful characters (there’s a great line from Jack’s POV describing the dynamic between Edwin and Violet as two cats with terrible personalities who have been adopted by two people determined for them to coexist and like if that doesn’t sum up this whole series I don’t know what does. Just a bunch of golden retrievers adopting grumpy cats. Anyway), and then get to watch them trying to solve a mystery when all they want to do is make out with their respective partners. So yeah, the c...

  So there’s this interesting trend of romance books set in reality tv shows over the last couple of years, and the ones that I’ve read have consistently had the same kind of tension. They want to simultaneously be set in a cutesy reality tv setting and be a lighthearted romance while also critiquing the exploitative, voyeuristic nature of reality tv (which from my perspective you can’t really get around). The results vary, and this book did better than some others because it actually addressed the problems that Everly encountered on the show, but there ultimately still tends to be an element of glossing over the more underlying problems. Whatever, I’m sure this doesn’t bother everyone, but it’s always hard for me to put aside. But beyond that, this book did a lot of things really well. It unpacked fatphobia in a really great way and was a lot more diverse than I expected it to be. Also, I do love a romance that revolves around a deeply protective love interest, not to mention a ch...

  Big time second book vibes here – this book is working really hard to do the heavy lifting of the trilogy’s plot and world-building. It takes place a year after the first book, with a bit of a surprising twist: Robin’s sister, Maud, is on an ocean liner accompanying an elderly woman who knows where part of the Last Contract is. Except the elderly woman immediately dies, leaving Maud to try to solve the murder and avoid becoming the next target. Luckily, she has Robin’s records of his visions to help her, which lead her to Lord Hawthorne and, somewhat accidentally, the beautiful but guarded heiress Violet. Mayhem ensues, with quite a lot of action crammed into one book.  It was really good, don’t get me wrong – I cannot express how much I adored Maud and Hawthorne’s sibling-ish relationship, and the whole thing was delightfully chaotic. But because it was so plot-heavy, it felt a bit like the relationship got sidelined. I mean, we don’t find out what Violet’s backstory is unt...

  OH MY GOD THIS WAS SO AMAZING. This book (and series) is absolutely my new obsession. The perfect blend of intriguing plot, creative world-building, sweet romance, and incredible character development. I could not stop thinking about it for weeks. The way tiny details in seemingly unrelated scenes build up to create an intricately woven plot is just so incredible. I adored Edwin and Robin, but all the side characters were really excellent as well. In fact, the scene that made me laugh out loud was actually one centering Adelaide and Kitty, Robin and Edwin’s coworkers. Honestly I could keep talking about all the things I love, and I have zero complaints, but really everyone should just go read it immediately because it has absolutely everything. My one note of caution is that there is a LOT of quite explicit sex and a lot of the crucial character moments happen during those scenes, so if that’s something that makes you uncomfortable you might not love it the way I do.

  So I’ve seen a lot of stuff pitching this as lesbian Ted Lasso, and alas, it simply is not. The side characters are charming enough, but they lack the brilliance of the Ted Lasso ensemble and aren’t given much attention throughout the book. Grace and Phoebe are very much the primary focus, and almost every scene revolves around them. And yeah, it is a romance, but those of you who follow my reviews will know that I firmly believe that the best romances have excellent side characters and spend time developing other relationships – not to mention, other aspects of the characters. This book is trying to touch on some of those things, but the proportions weren’t quite right for me.  For instance, one plot element is Phoebe and Grace exploring their potential neurodivergence. I didn’t realize that would be a plot point going in, and I was excited when it was, but it wasn’t explored as much as it could have been. Grace in particular is really reduced to a throwaway line about mayb...

       So alas, I just could not get into this book. It might be because I read it over a really extended period of time – but part of the reason for that is because I just wasn’t compelled to pick it up. It was fine, there wasn’t anything actively wrong with it really, but there was also nothing special.      So basically it’s about Olive, a nurse who’s terrified of flying, and Stella, an airline pilot. On Olive’s first flight ever she ends up saving the life of a man who works at Disney World and goes viral. She ends up getting a ride from Stella to Disney World so that she can run their half marathon like she promised her brother, but then Stella disappears from her life – or so she thinks. Later, Stella turns up to ask Olive to be her fake girlfriend so that she can get the attention she needs to finally get the promotion she’s been working for. And then all of the classic fake relationship drama ensues. A couple of things were generally missing th...

  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. ...

  This is absolutely everything I want in a book: romance, drama, political intrigue, revolution, and deep emotional healing. It stars Kiem and Jainan, who have been forced into a rushed arranged marriage after the death of Jainan’s first husband. They are expected to put forward a united front to symbolize the relationship between Iskat, the imperial state run by Kiem’s family, and Thea, Jainan’s home planet which has begun to resist Iskat’s rule. They must navigate not only their personal challenges but also a dangerous plot that begins to appear amid increased unrest and exploitation. So, again – just absolutely the ideal blend of romance and external plot for me. I absolutely adored both of these characters. Kiem in particular was so unreservedly sweet and compassionate. Also there was one of my favorite tropes ever, also known as “oh no we’re stranded in the freezing wilderness, we’d better huddle together in a tiny tent for warmth.” Plus a big dramatic confession of love at t...