UGH, why is everyone so fucking dramatic. Yes it’s realistic and good job, Lynne Hugo, but WTH. It bothers me BECAUSE it is realistic. Because there are shitty and awful people like these characters out there. WTF.
The book is good, alright, in itself, but I do kinda wish I hadn’t read it, just because I could care to know less about these people existing on earth. (Although it wasn’t an eye-opener or anything.) It’s disgusting. Everyone of them. Everyone who thought they knew the best about a grown-ass, 30 year old man. That man in question wasn’t any better of a person, perhaps he deserved that treatment, but UGH, how I hate that behavior of people. Assumption. Just fucking ask. Stop assuming. ASK, goddamn.
Anyways …
The writing style is really good; I ate it it all in 2 days, and that’s quick af, as I said in Cinnamon Soul 3 days are already quick for me, and this book was a little longer. To be fair, I did almost speed-read this because the writing style invited me to (and I was low-key invested) and there wasn’t any fantasy/new terms I needed to remember – the good part about realistic slice of life is that I can ‘skim’ parts without feeling like I’ll miss anything important.
Not an insult to the writing skill, quite the opposite.
Getting everyones perspective and a chapter of their POV was really interesting. I could relate to a lot of them and in some moments felt like I was reading a snippet from my diary.
But other times it was just so … UGH.
Human, I guess.
But please, world, do better. So that writers get to write better (slice of life) stories.
Reality TV/Lit – adult’s version of social media drama/entertainment:
Women’s fiction aka ChickLit never was my favorite genre, really, and I don’t ever want it to be. (Not that men’s fiction isn’t any better. I’m off the binary in literature, too.) However, I can totally see getting ‘addicted’ to that sort of subgenre/type of books/stories.
Reading this felt like scrolling through social media. Except that I couldn’t directly comment on their stupidity – well, I did comment through the note function, but I meant directly to their faces. Or profiles. Instead, I was only able to see other people’s comments and their arguments, back and forth. Odd feeling, totally toxic, but kinda addictive.
Diversity:
I mainly picked it up because of the LGBTQIA+ tag, and because the title with the aesthetically pleasing cover sounded/looked like mystically cozy womanhood (witch-coven-like).
There’s a main lesbian relationship with marriage and parenthood (and biracial rep), so that’s nice, but the womanhood part wasn’t very healthy. Not necessarily toxic, just … eye-rolling realistic. Too much sometimes.
However, the lesbian relationship … oof. Apart from Deana (disabled), they had it the worst, in my opinion. So incredibly heteronormative – okay, it plays in 2013-2014 and they met in the early 2000s – and mostly shoved to the sides. No real development, until, suddenly, at the end. Felt like Lynne Hugo didn’t entirely knew what to do with them. Just have the relationship in for label representation. Which is better than nothing, but felt like a checklist sometimes.
Or did she want for the reader to see same-sex couples are barely any different to cis-het ones? Good job, if that’s the case.
On a positive note:
Adoption wasn’t only highlighted for humans, but also animals/pets. It was mentioned twice, I think, that adopting pets is better than buying them from a breeder. So that’s cool. (Unfortunately, later on, a different family was going to the zoo, so, uh …)
And there’s no racism. (Surprisingly, but I ain’t complaining.)
| Criteria | Scores | Our Score |
|---|---|---|
| Artistic Achievement | 1-5 | 3.5 |
| Pacing | 1-5 | 4 |
| Characters | 1-5 | 3 |
| Writing Style | 1-5 | 5 |
| Originality | 1-5 | 3 |
Finale Grade
B
Ps:
Also, it fits April’s Book Guild Challenge.
Thank you to Blank Slate Press on Netgalley for an eARC. It’s set to be released on April 22, 2025.
Finished reading: 18th April 2025
~Arden Skye
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Written By: Arden Skye
Favorite game/film/book: doesn’t have one, cause there are too many good ones!
About: generalist, who likes a bit of everything, but especially has a love for magic, queerness and melancholy. When they’re not arting, they’re probably dreaming/reading through another world, or spending time in nature with their dog.
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