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cats33's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content and Sexual content
Moderate: Biphobia, Racism, Sexism, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Vomit
grace_b_3's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
This didn’t really work for me. A lot of the reason why is in the blurb—reading this book made me realize that boss romances really aren’t for me. Going into this, I didn’t realize that there’s a significant age gap as well. The power imbalance just felt a little icky to me.
I also had a significant issue with the pacing. While I liked that this book took place over many months, it made how much of a slow burn this book is feel less realistic.Especially as the focus is on them getting together and we don’t get to spend any time with them as a couple. If you like slow burns, I might recommend this, as it’s one of the slowest burns I’ve read. Their first (purposeful) kiss happens with like 2 chapters left in the book. However, the book ends with a full-blown sex scene, which I didn’t mind, but just felt out of place with how chaste the rest of the book was.
I also had a significant issue with the pacing. While I liked that this book took place over many months, it made how much of a slow burn this book is feel less realistic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
patykjulia's review
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Homophobia, Biphobia, and Racism
patykjulia's review against another edition
funny
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Racism
kshertz's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It’s a love story…kind of. It’s mostly how a boss and the assistant are very good friends for basically the whole book and fighting their attraction to each other. It’s a cool story but way too platonic for me. Nothing happens until the last like 30 pages! But it’s set up well. It’s probably meant for someone who doesn’t need smut and just wants a sweet little love story ❤️
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racism, and Sexism
nonidude's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I find no fault with this book!
Queer characters are written beautifully complicated and unique. Fat character's are written well and not derogatory or sad. The sibling relationships are realistic. Glad I gave this one a shot after reading Meryl's other book because I wasn't a fan of that one...
Queer characters are written beautifully complicated and unique. Fat character's are written well and not derogatory or sad. The sibling relationships are realistic. Glad I gave this one a shot after reading Meryl's other book because I wasn't a fan of that one...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment and Homophobia
Minor: Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Alcohol, and Racism
cecetomas's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This was a fun, easy read to get me back into romances after awhile without. The characters were developed, but I didn't feel particularly drawn to them. I appreciated the attitude towards sexual harassment and how seriously it was taken but some of the discussions felt repetitive. VERY SLOW BURN. I don't mind I but be ready to read 300 pages before anything really happens.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Lesbophobia
Minor: Racism
brinotbrie's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment
Moderate: Outing, Sexism, Racism, and Misogyny
Minor: Death of parent
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not, regardless if I add stars or not.
Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial
I really enjoyed this slow burn, forced-proximity, workplace, will-they-or-won’t-they, age gap sapphic romance !!! I do think it dragged on a bit during the middle, but I appreciated the setting against Hollywood and the film / tv industry in general. It was familiar, fun, and I could absolutely see this being adapted on tv as a fluffy little romcom 😍 Jo & Emma were such goobers and played into the trope I like to call “two idiots who need to kiss already” 😅😂😇
I thought Meryl took such great care with the topics touched upon, such as sexism, power dynamics, homophobia, ageism, racism, the lack of diversity “in the room” in Hollywood, the invasive American paparazzi, & parasocial relationships. Even though it wasn’t my favorite book by Meryl Wilsner, I am still their stan forever!
💨 Steam: 1/5
Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial
I really enjoyed this slow burn, forced-proximity, workplace, will-they-or-won’t-they, age gap sapphic romance !!! I do think it dragged on a bit during the middle, but I appreciated the setting against Hollywood and the film / tv industry in general. It was familiar, fun, and I could absolutely see this being adapted on tv as a fluffy little romcom 😍 Jo & Emma were such goobers and played into the trope I like to call “two idiots who need to kiss already” 😅😂😇
I thought Meryl took such great care with the topics touched upon, such as sexism, power dynamics, homophobia, ageism, racism, the lack of diversity “in the room” in Hollywood, the invasive American paparazzi, & parasocial relationships. Even though it wasn’t my favorite book by Meryl Wilsner, I am still their stan forever!
💨 Steam: 1/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Racism
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
marcylikesbooks's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
3.5
3.5 stars. This is a good book, especially for a debut and I’m honestly really impressed with the authors work so far. I picked this one up after reading their other book Mistakes Were Made because I loved their writing so much.
This one was different and I was pleasantly surprised at the authors range within sapphic romance. This one is a very slow burn and for 96% it’s so chaste which is kind of adorable. I liked the slow burn, I liked the characters, the setting, the writing. It’s very easy for me to step into the world they’ve made and that’s one of the things I truly love about reading.
The story has a few things I didn’t like but also didn’t hate, just things that maybe could have been done better (but again, debut book so that makes sense).
I really like slow burn generally but this is too slow, there still needs to be progress. It’s pretty angsty which I also like as long as it goes somewhere but the progression in their relationship stalls or regresses for long periods of time which ends up feeling drawn out which can be little frustrating to read at times.
They also don’t actually get together until right at the very end which it almost feels like a cliffhanger because you don’t get to see them be a couple at all. It’s almost like the book ends when their romance is at the 60 or 70% mark because the book is getting long and too much time was spent drawing things out.
The first real conflict they face felt kind of silly and manufactured to me where a non-issue becomes this source of hurt and the drama that’s generated from it seems incongruent with what actually happened.
The book is also set in Hollywood and one of the plot points explores the systemic sexual predation of women in that culture which I’m conflicted about. On one hand I think it’s really important that more people talk about it and being set in Hollywood it makes sense to and it was handled well. On the other hand I personally don’t like reading about creepy sexual predators in my romance books and it’s possibly the biggest mood killer I can think of.
I really need to learn how to write reviews that don’t just outline the things that could have been better because I did really enjoy it. Honestly this story was a good, enjoyable read with potential to be great and given how much the authors next book improved, I’m really looking forward to what they write next because I’m sure it’s only going to get better and better.
This one was different and I was pleasantly surprised at the authors range within sapphic romance. This one is a very slow burn and for 96% it’s so chaste which is kind of adorable. I liked the slow burn, I liked the characters, the setting, the writing. It’s very easy for me to step into the world they’ve made and that’s one of the things I truly love about reading.
The story has a few things I didn’t like but also didn’t hate, just things that maybe could have been done better (but again, debut book so that makes sense).
I really like slow burn generally but this is too slow, there still needs to be progress. It’s pretty angsty which I also like as long as it goes somewhere but the progression in their relationship stalls or regresses for long periods of time which ends up feeling drawn out which can be little frustrating to read at times.
They also don’t actually get together until right at the very end which it almost feels like a cliffhanger because you don’t get to see them be a couple at all. It’s almost like the book ends when their romance is at the 60 or 70% mark because the book is getting long and too much time was spent drawing things out.
The first real conflict they face felt kind of silly and manufactured to me where a non-issue becomes this source of hurt and the drama that’s generated from it seems incongruent with what actually happened.
The book is also set in Hollywood and one of the plot points explores the systemic sexual predation of women in that culture which I’m conflicted about. On one hand I think it’s really important that more people talk about it and being set in Hollywood it makes sense to and it was handled well. On the other hand I personally don’t like reading about creepy sexual predators in my romance books and it’s possibly the biggest mood killer I can think of.
I really need to learn how to write reviews that don’t just outline the things that could have been better because I did really enjoy it. Honestly this story was a good, enjoyable read with potential to be great and given how much the authors next book improved, I’m really looking forward to what they write next because I’m sure it’s only going to get better and better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racism, and Homophobia