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ourxstorybegins
After reading this book, I was reminded why it’s so essential (for white people especially) to read diversely. I am a queer woman. However, as a white woman who was raised in the southern Evangelical culture, I learned so much about a world that I know very little about just by reading about Samra Habib’s life. I am grateful to her for taking the time to write this book and to share these stories so that others can take what they will from it.
Some Highlights:
Some Highlights:
- I have no idea what the summary includes, but I wasn’t prepared to read a story that involves being set up in and having to escape an arranged marriage. Such a challenging situation really showcases the idea of the parent who “means well” by doing something so potentially harmful to her child.
- As someone who doesn’t feel particularly comfortable in christian churches due to my queerness, reading about Habib’s exploration of her religion and her time going to a queer-friendly mosque definitely made me cry. Despite the fact that our lives are so different, this was particularly relatable.
- I don’t know if Habib has a significant other at this point. I think it’s tempting for people to allow their stories to come to a pretty little ending involving their significant other, and that just very much wasn’t the point with this book and I’m glad she didn’t go there one way or another (especially since she talked about dating/relationships so many other times throughout the book).
There is a photo project that Habib refers to multiple times in the latter half of her book. The project is called Just Me and Allah, and it’s absolutely lovely. You can find it at https://queermuslimproject.tumblr.com/.
Ohhhh my gosh, I made the mistake of going into this book viewing it as “One Direction Fan Fiction” but honestly? I take that back. Whether or not it was inspired by the group, trying to call it that feels like it’s simplifying the story. I read this one within 24 hours and it was absolutely adorable.
Some Highlights:
- I love that all four boys in this group were friends before becoming a group and it was more about a group of friends trying to navigate the music industry and balance trying to follow what’s expected of them and also maintaining their friendship.
- Absolutely adored Angel. His character was so funny and despite his very serious storyline, he still managed to contribute a lot of the best one-liners. I know this book is a standalone but I would not be upset if I saw him again.
- Zach and Ruben and their relationships with their moms were really interesting. Zach and his mom are close, but the relationship between Ruben and his mom is pretty toxic (with his mother being overly invested in whatever the media has to say about him and, as a result, hypercritical of him instead of those media outlets).
- I really appreciate that the romance was figured out and came to be fairly early in the book. I was concerned that Zach or Ruben would be one of the ones who was really trying to be secretive and there’d be more doubt and whatnot, but instead they figured themselves out pretty quickly so that we could focus on the way their label handles the situation and the drama among the band.
I do wish there had been a little bit more at the end. I would have loved to seen Ruben’s mom come to terms with the fact that her behavior is hurting her son, whether it’s intentional or not. I also would have liked to see more regarding their label at the end. I blame this on the fact that I’ve gotten very used to epilogues in my romances, aha. Still, I had an incredible time reading this book!
ESCAPES RATING:
Enjoyment - 10 | Start - 9 | Characters - 9 | Atmosphere - 10 | Plot - 10 | Ending - 9 | Style - 10
This book was a little tricky for me! I consumed it so fast and had a good time reading it, but I think the “enemies” part of the enemies-to-lovers dragged on longer than necessary, and the ending was a little underwhelming?
Rhodes and Iliana are the main characters, and they cannot stand each other. Due to some stuff that happened in the past, Iliana is constantly angry at Rhodes and assumes that she always has bad intentions. Rhodes is just mad about the way that Iliana treats her (and is very good at being bitchy when she wants to be). Little do they know, they’ve been collaborating on an Alice In Wonderland-inspired webcomic and consider each other their best friends (and of course, have been falling in love).
Some Big Thoughts:
- Wowie their identities could have come out way sooner. Even once one of them realizes, they don’t tell the other and just let the other one think they’ve been ghosted by their best friend. It was my big cry moment in the book and the fact that the character who knew didn’t come clean faster still makes me mad.
- I truly wonder what their friendship would have looked like without Sarah between them. Sarah is Iliana’s best friend and Rhodes’s roommate and is the one who brings the two of them together, but their jealousy also has a lot to do with why they don’t get along. I wasn’t a big Sarah fan from the beginning of the book, so just....really curious.
- I think Birch does the online friendship thing really well. While I have never fallen in love with someone I was chatting with online, I have developed surprisingly deep friendships (now at 30, my online writing friends from high school continue to be some of my very best friends), so I think this was good.
- Side characters and storyline! A+! I loved Rhodes’s brother, the art competition was the perfect setting for everything to blow up, and I would’ve been perfectly happy spending more time on those things
I think my main issue is that there wasn’t much time to wrap things up at the end. I think there could have easily been another chapter or two of story that could’ve been added to the ending without it feeling dragged on that would’ve also helped to wrap things up.
ESCAPES RATING:
Enjoyment - 7 | Start - 8 | Characters - 5 | Atmosphere - 8 | Plot - 8 | Ending - 4 | Style - 7
I was so grateful to receive an ARC of this book so I could provide a fair review.
A couple of notes:
A couple of notes:
- This is a regency-era reverse harem! Yes, it is both!
- This is the first in a duology, so don't expect a happy ending just yet!
Rosalie Harrow (she/her) has been invited to a house party by the Dowager Duchess of Norland, an old friend of her deceased mother. A group of women have been invited for the George (the, erm....eccentric Duke) to find an appropriate wife. While there, she meets James (George’s uptight/stressed younger brother), Burke (his charming best friend the duchess has taken in as an adoptive son), and Tom Renley (close friend to Burke & James who is begrudgingly seeking a wife). Due to her past, Rosalie is completely against the idea of marriage, but that doesn’t stop her from developing feelings for all of these men. And boy, do they feel something about her, too.
Some highlights:
- If this book had just been about Burke, or James, or Tom, it would have been a compelling love story filled with plenty of tension and drama. The fact that this is a story about ALL THREE of them means there was not one slow moment!
- Rosalie might be one of my favorite historical romance heroines? We love a regency-era woman who understands how important independence is if its possible!
- The storyline with the dowager duchess is just, chef’s kiss.
- And of course, the spice is fantastic.
ESCAPES Rating:
Enjoyment - 10 | Start - 9 | Characters - 10 | Atmosphere - 9 | Plot - 10 | Ending - 9 | Style - 10
I cannot wait for the second book to come out!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Classism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent
Both of Rosalie's parents passed away before the book begins. It is brought up regularly, but it doesn't happen during the book.
Sweethand is a story about Cherisse (she/her) and Keiran (he/him), two characters who have never liked each other who are forced to work together as the maid of honor and best man of a wedding. Cherisse is a well-known baker who was recently (about a year before the story takes place) in a messy breakup with a musician. Since Keiran is a musician, that doesn’t exactly lead to her being his biggest fan. The two get closer together as they are working on their duties for the wedding, and one night they hook up. Messiness ensues!
Some Highlights:
- Look, I’m not going to rate the book higher because of the cover, but IT’S PRECIOUS and it made me smile every time I started the book.
- Keiran’s bisexuality is handled so well! He isn’t in any relationships with men in the story, of course, but past crushes are mentioned as well as rumors of him being some kind of playboy, which is an all-too-common judgment about bi people.
- The story was really cute. Despite my struggles listed below, I do think that Keiran and Cherisse had great chemistry, and I plan on reading the next book in the series primarily to see how the two of them are doing.
- The characters aren’t white! The author slipped in a good amount of info about Trinidadian culture smoothly enough that it didn’t feel forced, but as someone who knows nothing it also gave me an opportunity to do a little googling to educate myself on the foods and music mentioned that I didn’t know about.
Some Thoughts:
- Some of the dialogue felt really forced. I’m not sure if this was the writing or if it was the audiobook narrator, but I definitely felt pulled out of the story more often than I wanted to because of a line that was just a little too cheesy or a scene that didn’t flow smoothly.
- I’m not entirely sure why Keiran and Cherisse didn’t like each other? There was definitely something in the past that went down and it seems like it was because of how they were siding in other relationships, but it’s not something that was ever really unpacked. I think the author intended for their rivalry to seem petty, so I’m not docking points there but it was a little strange.
- I didn’t like the ending.
While there is a happy ending, it’s incredibly underwhelming. They end with the mutual decision that they’re going to try dating. Keiran starts to say he loves her and she cuts him off because it’s “too soon”. There’s no epilogue or anything, so this being the way things end for the reader was disappointing.
ESCAPES Rating:
Enjoyment - 6 | Start - 8 | Characters - 8 | Atmosphere - 6 | Plot - 6 | Ending - 4 | Style - 5
I believe this was the author’s debut, so I look forward to seeing how she grows as an author in future books! Also, I absolutely fell in love with Remi and Maxine and will be reading this series if for no other reason, so I can see the two of them 🥰