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dermkat 's review for:
More Than a Friend
by Daisy Wren
The way Daisy writes about deconstructing & religious trauma is so relatable. I was not in a high control religion like she & her characters were, but I grew up surrounded by many similar beliefs, most notably the condemnation of LGBTQ+ people & the mire that is purity culture. I had a feeling, based on the blurb and knowing her other books, that I would find myself represented in this book, and right away in chapter one I highlighted the statement, "I didn't know I could look at women in a romantic way until..." Ava says this while thinking about the feelings she's now realized in her late twenties after leaving the church and getting divorced, that she's had for her best friend Skylar.
Sky has been a rock for her the last few years especially, and she tried to explain away her feelings at first, but now that Sky knows she's queer (but not about her feelings) and has somehow agreed to her drunken blurted request that she teach her about being with a woman? Ava's in. What she doesn't even know that Sky has loved her since they were fifteen but never thought she stood a chance because Ava was "straight", and is taking this as a "better a little than nothing" situation.
Along with the good spice & mutual pining you love in a best friends to lovers romance while they try to stay in denial that it won't change things & it's enough, they also deal with harder stuff including: religious trauma both for Ava & for her kids, who are still forced to attend church with their dad on his weekends; said ex being a real jerk; parental issues, etc. All this in a novella that doesn't feel rushed or incomplete, which is always the best sign of a novella done well, for me. The author always writes excellent fat rep as well, which was present again.
Thank you for the ARC! It was an honor to read it early (and during Pride Month!), and I appreciate the way you craft a beautiful romance that helps the characters, and no doubt many readers, heal from the religious trauma and purity culture nonsense.
•Queer rep: lesbian, queer awakening
•Fat rep
•Out June 24/25
Sky has been a rock for her the last few years especially, and she tried to explain away her feelings at first, but now that Sky knows she's queer (but not about her feelings) and has somehow agreed to her drunken blurted request that she teach her about being with a woman? Ava's in. What she doesn't even know that Sky has loved her since they were fifteen but never thought she stood a chance because Ava was "straight", and is taking this as a "better a little than nothing" situation.
Along with the good spice & mutual pining you love in a best friends to lovers romance while they try to stay in denial that it won't change things & it's enough, they also deal with harder stuff including: religious trauma both for Ava & for her kids, who are still forced to attend church with their dad on his weekends; said ex being a real jerk; parental issues, etc. All this in a novella that doesn't feel rushed or incomplete, which is always the best sign of a novella done well, for me. The author always writes excellent fat rep as well, which was present again.
Thank you for the ARC! It was an honor to read it early (and during Pride Month!), and I appreciate the way you craft a beautiful romance that helps the characters, and no doubt many readers, heal from the religious trauma and purity culture nonsense.
•Queer rep: lesbian, queer awakening
•Fat rep
•Out June 24/25