This one is hard to rate because on a first read it’s a bit of a struggle to get a grasp on. There’s so much terminology that doesn’t always get explained and it takes a while to even figure out what’s going on with the alternating pov chapters. It seems like the kind of novel that would have fantastic reread value knowing the path it takes and also having more familiarity with the world.

However I do think you have to take into consideration the genius of what Le Guin has done with a book written in the late 60s. It reads (almost) as if it could’ve been written today (the only difference being the main pronoun usage which has been widely critiqued and which Le Guin even recognized is not ideal). Hypothesizing a gender neutral world is even more relevant today. This books asks a lot of questions and also asks the reader to subvert their own preconceived notions about society and I think it’s done brilliantly. The more analysis and discussion I read/watch about this book really makes sense why it’s a classic and probably always will be.

Nothing hits like an MZ slow burn.

Did this feel a little dated? Yeah there's absolutely some moments that I hated being trapped in Sal's brain. Internalized misogyny, childish comments (the amount of times I heard the word 'poop' was annoying af). I did enjoy Sal as a soccer player, and there's definitely enough sports in this to call it a sports romance. Them practicing/playing together were some of the best parts.

But gods damn it can MZ write a man. He's downright an asshole at the start, but it also works better because he's a coach. I also appreciate how MZ writes slow burn in a way that has the MCs forming a friendship before it becomes completely romantic.

YA KNOW WHAT? I did not expect to like this as much as I did, but if a book can have me laughing out loud multiple times, kicking my feet, and also sweatin' with the spice - hats off!

Sapphic second-chance workplace/forced proximity romance. 

I loved the work project of interviewing different couples about their love stories as a background for these two former lovers rekindling their love. Highlighting these stories is so important to have representations of diverse couples (like how they said they'd never seen an elder sapphic asian couple before interviewing). Also, appreciated this book showing how being queer in Asian families can be a challenge culturally. I think a lot of people will feel seen by these character's queer journies. I also liked the spicy scenes and how Celeste helps Gemma feel more comfortable exploring her sexuality. Could I have used more? sure, but that's my personal preference.

I was nervous about a third act breakup (mainly I was scared Celeste would just be callous about their relationship saying 'I don't do relationships') but I think it was more realistic for her just to be afraid of being hurt again. And I like that they both took time apart, went to therapy (we love to see it) and then found their way back together

 

The switching between the 1st person POV for Gemma to 3rd person POV for Celeste was an odd choice - I'm not sure why it was told that way. We get so few of Celeste's POV chapters I think that also exacerbated this, and made the connection to her character a bit tougher to relate to. A pitfall of second-chance romance is that it can rely too much on an assumption of characters past connection and I think this did slightly lean that way. Just a bit too much telling about how connected they were in college and they just kinda picked that up again which felt a tad unrealistic.

Natalie's narration is fantastic, I immediately recognized her voice as I've listened to other books she's narrated so nothing lacking there!

Overall I liked this but it didn't knock me off my feet - but it was an enjoyable enough read 

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the audiobook arc

I was just meh about this relationship. Initially I was really offput but the insta-attraction. That got a little better once they became a little more friendly, but didn't completely go away. I got to the spice and just really wasn't feeling it.

FWIW this does have actual racing in it and those parts were really well done.

I am really sad to DNF this but it just wasn't working for me. I just can't get past Ryam's constant inner dialogue about how he's 'suppressing his masculine urges' .... like I get he's horny for her (has been immediately since the beginning) but urge to what? It took him saying something along the lines of 'a man can only take so much' for me to be like: is he implying that he could SA her if he wanted?

I think I would attempt another book by this author because in theory I love the setting, time period, a badass FMC who wields swords!! just this one wasn't for me :(

I didn't love the initial setup of this book. It's not that I am not into workplace romances and obviously I knew that's what this was going in. However, our FMC Trishara is invited to go on a corporate retreat in Maui with a large group of fellow employees (she is an engineer at a large corporation that is mainly white cis male employees). She hasn't dated in a while due to past relationship trauma (specifically she dated a coworker previously and it didn't end well), but her friends are encouraging her to use the retreat to find someone to hook up with???? So she enters many interactions with coworkers from other offices whom she doesn't know kind of hunting for a hook up??? That just felt like an odd place to be looking for a hookup professionally, and also just with her past trauma. it just didn't make sense to me why she would use this corporate retreat for that reason. Therefore the beginning of this book was kind of annoying to read.

She ends up having to share a hotel room (honeymoon suite...one bed of course) with a co-worker she has animosity towards from her office who also happens to be the son of the company founder. No I would not call it enemies to lovers, that trope just doesn't belong in this setting imo. They're just co-workers who don't get along not mortal enemies. I wish we'd gotten a bit more showing (maybe in flashbacks?) to the competitiveness that fuels their seemingly mutual animosity having worked together for a couple years. We're told a little that they've butted heads on projects in the past, but it would've lended a bit more to the overall romance arc to be shown vs told this. I think it also doesn't help that this is single pov so you really don't know where the MMC is coming from until he opens up more later on.

Despite there being content warnings from the author (thank you!) for misogyny/sexism in the workplace - I just personally do not find reading about things I've experienced like this to be my preference. If I'm reading a romance for escapism I don't always wanna be brought back to corporate BS. That's MY preference. But I did appreciate the heads up going in. If you are sensitive to icky interactions with men in the workplace you might want to skip this one.

Ultimately the romance was pretty cute by the end, but nothing groundbreaking. I did like where both main characters end up professionally/life-wise by the end of the book. The spice was good though!! I felt like there was the perfect amount and it was written well! Also this narrator is very good, I've listened to a few books and that definitely helped the listenability of this book in parts when I was a tad frustrated.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance audio-copy of this book!

Everyone out here giving this book 1-2 stars is kwazyyyy! Even if this isn't your favorite of Emily's books, or it wasn't as romance-focused as her past books, or it wasn't what you were expecting - IT IS STILL OBJECTIVELY A WELL WRITTEN BOOK! I actually cannot with people giving it such low ratings just because she deviated a bit from what she's written in the past.

I personally was eating up the main plot of the story, the interviews etc - I was fascinated by Margaret's family and her life, and that's what kept me reading. At it's core it is still very much an Emily Henry book - and I personally would love for Emily to write more literary/general fiction books! Her ability to tell a deep and complex story is clearly showcased in GBBL!!

Is insta-love/attraction my personal favorite trope? no. Did I wish there was a bit more development of the romance? Yes. The present day romance (cause let's be honest Margaret has a romance story being told here too!) between Alice and Hayden could've been more developed, and honestly I would've even read a longer book to allow for this. But the core of this book is the mystery of Margaret's life being unraveled as it's told to Alice. I was near-tears at the ending with Alice's own family development. Lots of parallels to be drawn to Taylor Swift songs (which we all know Emily is a stan) here.

Margaret did make me mad at the ending when she wrote off Hayden saying 'he doesn't like her' but I mostly forgave her for righting it in the end.

Again highly rec these books for intro to Greek mythology which was exactly what I was looking for!

This was an odd book. Maybe the audio didn't quite do it for me? I found parts a bit meander-y and hard to follow.
As someone who lived in Philly for a long time there's lots of descriptions which if you're familiar with the city you'll either love or not. Personally it was nostalgic to me cause I could picture those areas well.