I tried, I'm five chapters in .. and usually when it takes me this long to read, it will take forever. and right now I'd only give it 2 stars. less than "meh". DNF sorry., its not holding my interest

The characters were well developed, the subject of coming out was depicted well and the writing was engaging but I struggled with some of the difficult subjects covered in this novel. There was a big emphasis on drinking. Overall I found the plot too angsty but it might appeal to some readers.

Airlie Porter travels to Ireland with her best friend Hannah. Both are 28 and looking for adventure during their year working in Ireland. On the plane on their way from Australia, they meet Olivia Swanson. Airlie and Olivia make an obvious connection, although neither have any idea of what the connection is. On a whim, the two young women go to stay with Olivia in her cottage in the country. Olivia has been living in Ireland for years, and has been married to Gavin for over a decade, although they make better friends than lovers.

After a month of settling in, the two young Aussies head to Dublin to find work. There they find casual work and new friends, and new lodgings with the gorgeous Rachel, a single lesbian who also has an eye for Airlie.

Airlie ended her engagement to a chap in Australia not long before she arrived, so having an attraction to two women is confusing and challenges everything she knows about herself. One of the women is comfortable being a lesbian, and the other is straight and married. Who knows how this mess will work out?

This wasn’t a standard lesbian romance. I’ve read coming out stories before, but this book reveals how messy and difficult it can be. Airlie believes she is straight, but has really been hiding from herself for a long time. Trying to deal with this new idea of herself, as well as the internalised homophobia is tricky when she’s trying to deal with two women who are attracted to her.

The complications in her relationships with Olivia and Rachel are well written, and make sense with the development of Airlie’s character. There was a lovely sense of revelation and the building of strength and confidence within Airlie that was beautifully matched by what was happening around her.

This was cleverly written and was a very engaging story. More complex than most, it was interesting to read and had enough to keep me wanting to turn the pages.

Airlie and her best friend Hannah arrive in Ireland for a year-long working holiday. Airlie struggles with finding work, with her feelings towards her friend (married friend) Olivia, and her sexuality.

It was definitely a darker story, with excessive drinking and self-destructive behaviour. But reality isn't always pretty and sometimes you need to take a few wrong turns before you really find yourself. So Airlie stumbles along on her journey of self discovery and acceptance, until she finds true happiness at last.

It was well written - with a large cast of characters that were multidimensional and had their own place in the story and Airlie's journey. The author engaged all the senses as she described the settings, whether in the countryside or in bustling Dublin.

I liked this story well enough but I didn't really connect or sympathize with Airlie or the romance.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Mixed feelings about this book. Although I have enjoyed it, however, I've had some trouble with certain situations.
I know that nowadays is an habitual behaviour to drink your troubles into oblivion, in this book there are too much of this for my taste.
But I think that the journey to find herself that Airlie goes through in the book, it's very believable, not the kind of discovering that the young-adult books expose but in an adult way.

I haven't read anything by this author before except for her short story Hammersmith in the book Girls with guns. I have to admit that the only reason I chose this book was that it was set in Ireland, my home for the last eight years. I was hoping that the book would describe its fascinating landscapes or even its annoying weather but the story mostly discussed Irish drinking habits. Regarding the main plot, it was too angsty for my liking but I understand it might appeal other readers. The main characters were well described and you could understand their suffering but not enough for me to empathise with them or to enjoy the story. I'm sorry, I tried but for me reading this book was a struggle.

Overall, 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was provided to me by NetGalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Becoming You was a solid 3 stars. Each time I started to get frustrated with the book it bounced back and kept me interested. This is in many ways a typical coming out story. In the course of the book the main character grapples with her identity, accepts who she is, falls in love, falls out of love, and acknowledges her true love. Airlie is likeable, flawed, and ultimately a delightful main character. However, the rest of the cast of characters are a bit flat, and this is where my issues with the book begin.

Hannah, Rachel, and Liv are all just a bit flat. We are often told how they feel or what they do rather than being shown it. In each case there is a stretch of the book where the character comes to life briefly, only to fall flat again. For example, when Hannah gets her first job she becomes human, only to fall into the pit of "engaged straightness" and out of the plot. Often the author tells us what is happening in great detail rather than letting us see it through the eyes of the main character - a pet peeve of mine. In a similar way the author falls in and out of an Irish dialect and as a result the book reads like something written by someone who hasn't lived in Ireland for any extended period of time. While the author is a UK native, I struggled with this throughout the book.

3 1/2 Stars. This was a tough book for me. There was parts that I did not like at all, in fact it made me mad. Then there was parts that was really well written and got to me emotionally. This book has quite the mix, and I'm finding it hard to decide on a rating.

The book is about Airlie, who moves to Ireland with her best friend. Their plan is to work and really enjoy all Ireland has to offer. Airlie has a lot on her mind. At 28, she is finally coming to terms with why she broke off her engagement. What her feeling for women actually mean, but when it comes to admitting shes gay, it is harder than she can imagine. When Airlie begins to have feelings for her married friend, her life is about to change forever.

As I said before, there was some parts I did not like, I'll get that over with first. I hate when coming out stories have the main character get drunk and want to screw a guy to prove she's not gay. It bothers me and this book does it in spades. While Airlie claims it was consensual, when a woman says no and cries the whole time, that's rape to me. I understand Grubb did this as a wake up call for Airlie to really understand she is gay, I just don't think it needed to go that far. And to be honest, I've had enough of rape scenes in lesfic lately. Three books I have read in the past week had a rape scene in them. Does their really need to be more rape scenes in lesfic than in mainstream books?

The other thing I wasn't crazy about, there was a bit too much filler in the beginning of the book. I was hoping they would explore more of Ireland, instead of just going to a pub to get drunk all the time. Also, I thought the book ended pretty abruptly. I would have loved for a scene or two in the beginning to get cut, than added some pages to the end.

What I really liked is how Grubb wrote the emotions of Airlie. I thought it was really well done. I could feel her pain, and it was tough to see her falling apart, more than once in the book. This is a story of infidelity. I think for the most part, Grubb wrote about it very well. We are only in the headspace of Airlie in this book. It was interesting to know what she was feeling, but not Olivia, who has a husband. The pace in the second half of this book really picked up. Very emotional, and really drew me in. It redeemed the beginning of the book, which I didn't care for as much.

I think I would recommend this, but just know it's a tough read. Grubb does write emotions really well, and it will make you feel something.

An ARC was given to me by Bold Strokes Books, for a honest review.

Infidelity...ouch! Self-discovery to the max...wow! Friendship...needed. Olivia Swanson is a good friend. Airlie Porter needs a friend. Airlie is unsure who she is and what she wants and turns to Olivia for direction and clarification. Airlie and Olivia get much more than they expected. I felt for Gavin but cheered for the ladies. Olivia's should I stay or should I go was frustrating yet understandable. There is so much going on in this read. I understood the emotional struggle of each character and felt their pain. I thought the friends on both sides of the main characters provided quite a spark to the read. A journey of becoming for both Airlie and Olivia. "Let me be yours, or just let me go".

‘Becoming You’ is one of those novels that you don’t want to let go. Even though I knew what I wanted to happen to Airlie, I didn’t want it to finish. This book packs an emotional punch and I needed to sit and ponder what exactly I was feeling. Airlie and her friend Hannah travel from Australia to Ireland and meet married woman Olivia on the flight. They become friends and accept an invitation to stay with her and her husband in Galway. Airlie can’t put her finger on why she is so drawn to Olivia and becomes uncomfortable. Airlie’s story is of finding out who and what she is. It is about accepting herself. People have to be true to themselves and decide to be happy. Michelle Grubb has written a sexy and powerfully emotional tale that had me entranced. It was passionate and gut-wrenching at times but so uplifting and beautiful too. If you’re not in tears at some point I’d be surprised. A truly exceptional read.

I was given this ARC free by Netgalley and Bold Strokes books in return for an honest review.

A novel which was a pleasure to traverse through. While a number of themes were interwoven throughout the plot which I might ordinarily have difficulty with, including infidelity, they were well-handled.

What an emotional roller coaster! Becoming You by Michelle Grubb' will keep your head spinning. There are some frustratingly powerful moments (such as the infidelity) but overall, the pages keep turning. The first few chapters start out slow but the story eventually picks up and takes off. The main characters had me banging my head from time to time with their emotional drama but I liked the book. Great supporting characters. It's well written and brings up some difficult moments that I'm sure will hit home for some readers. I would recommend it to others.

motional whiplash is what Becoming You by Michelle Grubb's is. Whew! Up, down, all around is what you're going to get. At times this book is very hard, at times, it tackles some difficult subject matter, infidelity for example, and will keep you on your toes till the very end.

When we first meet Airlie Porter she is traveling from Australia to Ireland to start a new life. No job, no place to live, just headed with her bestie, Hannah on this cross-continent adventure. Uh-uh, nope, that is just cray. Come on girls we need more planning than that is what my control freak mind kept saying. Airlie has just upended her long term relationship with Sam. No matter how nice he was, a totally good guy, Airlie could not help feeling a sense of doom as she closed in on the married life. So she destroyed her relationship and took off with Hannah. Airlie doesn't know why she feels so much discontent. Until a night in a bar when she meets Rachel does the big clue drop.

Olivia is a married woman who lives in a seaside town a few hours outside of Dublin. Seated next to Airlie and Hannah on the flight back from Australia, she hit it off with the two fellow Aussies and invited them, (they had no lodging remember), to stay with her till they decided to take off for the big city. Olivia and Airlie instantly connect and form a bond that is unlike anything they have ever experienced.

This is where it gets tricky! Airlie's struggle with her sexuality is very real. you feel her anger, her pain, she is writhing with denial. All I wanted to do was hug her. To make matter infinitely worse the one woman she can see herself with is the most unavailable female on planet Earth. Not to mention, Olivia has neve once given any indication she plays for the lady-loving team.

Well, it's a romance so you know where this is going to go. This best-friendship turns to something more. This is where we take a hard turn in the book. We go from Airlie's personal struggle to acceptance and then to one giant seriously messed up seriously destructive relationship. Airlie and Olivia begin an affair after long denying their attraction. Okay, lose the hubby, Olivia. Oh, that would be too easy. Olivia a kind, understanding, sentinel of a woman to Airlie becomes the worst person ever. She became an absolute a$$hole to Airlie and to her husband. The character switch towards the last quarter or the book was pretty daunting.

Overall, this book is quite good. It tackles some difficult subjects and for the most part, does it quite well. I thought the ending was a bit too convenient and didn't really redeem either of the main characters. With that being said, it is not my favorite from Michelle Grubb, but she is still absolutely on my automatic read list.

This reminded me a bit of another novel I read last year with the infidelity subplot, and that one did it quite a bit better. There were pieces I really enjoyed of Becoming You (or Become You; I guess it's being reprinted) but a majority of it was boring and tedious. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I didn't feel the author fleshed out the characters well at all, especially Rachel. If she was intended to be a true foil, it would be nice to have some sort of description and charming qualities. Anything to make her human, but that could be said of the other characters as well. There was chemistry between Airlie (although, geez, where did that name come from?) and Olivia and pretty much only them. The storyline unfolded at a snail's pace; whole chapters could (and probably should) easily have been cut. This is also another one of those books where it feels like every other page, the characters are going out to a pub and getting drunk, staying home and getting drunk, etc. I'm going to call it a Hangover novel. Characters drink so much that after awhile, I start feeling the effects of it and get nauseous. Girl on the Train left me with that same feeling.
I wasn't a huge fan of this book, but it was readable. I like the May/December romance and really that is the star of this book. It's just a shame there is so much unrelated filler that takes away from the pacing of that main story.

This book is a roller coaster ride of emotions! I really enjoyed following Airlie's journey which had me riding the wave of her emotional self-discovery. Airlie was a great main character who was realistic and likeable. I thought all the secondary characters were a perfect fit for Airlie and the story. I struggled to put this book down even during the very difficult times.

The aspect of this book that I struggled with was the infidelity and how it was done. It displayed a very unhealthy relationship and one that as time went on I struggled to root for the two to be together. It can be a fine line for me personally when you write infidelity into a book that you still maintain a certain degree of respect for the characters. I honestly struggled to hold onto that. And the ending the way Olivia handled things with her husband for me was just horrible.

We go from a horribly unhealthy and dark relationship to happy ending which for me just moved so quickly. I feel like I needed to mend from everything and would have liked to have the resolution to have been drawn out a little bit more so that I could enjoy the couple and relationship again.

I will say as someone who generally avoids books with infidelity I still can say this was a fantastic book. I found it emotionally gripping with a great story line and characters. Yes I would change a few things to make it a five stars and for a bit more of my own personal enjoyment.

I like reading books about a woman trying to figure out her sexual identity because not everyone can say they knew with absolute certainty from childhood. Occasionally it takes some kind of a momentous event to clear the cobwebs and realize what you have been denying or a drunken night where you wake up next to a woman. The author does a great job of showing the character go through the various stages onto her way of becoming okay with who she is. The book starts off really slow to the point I had to force myself to hang in there and honestly skipped/sped read through a few scenes that seemed to be on auto repeat and there for filler. Once the story picks up it does a great job of keeping you hooked til the end with lots of twists.

I really wanted to read this book ,and I was so happy when it came out as ARC on NetGalley. I'm a great fan of age gap and "first time with woman" romances, so I was very intrigued by the plot. The story begins rather slow, which wasn't exactly to my taste, but there's one thing I really loved in this book - the characters and their struggle seems real. Airlie's struggle with self-acceptance is very emotional, very real, and it's coloring the book nicely. Olivia, however, was a challenge to like once the story started developing, even though her fears, her resistance are very rational and logical.
Also, a big plus for the supporting characters - Hannah, Rachel, even Gavin and Ross are nicely written and well rounded. They blend in nicely. 3 and 1/2 stars - it would've been 4 if the book had more intense descriptions of love scenes.

I have to say that when i saw Michelle Grubb new book i was so excited to read it then i got into it ,reading the very first chapter or i should say getting into a few chapters because i was a bit confuse with where the book and story was going...this book was not good at all and i'm gonna be totally up front and honest..the storyline was off from the start..the characters didn't have no chemistry or energy..i really wasn't invested in any of the characters because none of them had any direction with their storyline..plus the topic was just off...the book's biggest weakness is the ostensible lack of emotional progress between any of the characters..another thing is that i understand that this book was suppose to be a coming out/love story but the aspect of the plot was so dull i skimmed the majority of the pages..it's also the kind of book that one would never know has a relationship between two women while reading it's synopsis because it was totally off...all of the characters are deeply flawed,while the protagonist is the poster child for bad decision-making....questionable dialogue...infuriating ending!!!