I really enjoyed the overall concept of this story. The characters, the idea and exploration was a lot of fun, and the fact that the setting of the story encompasses two of my favorite cities didn't hurt either. So in general, I enjoyed the story. It encompassed a lot of interesting aspects, and particularly the sort of realization of bisexuality was interesting to watch the character come to terms with.

Downsides, it was certainly predictable at times, one of the main conflict pieces I could see coming a mile away. Some of the events felt convenient to push characters apart or pull them together. There were times where the characterizations felt a little flat, or cliche - particularly of the characters surrounding the MC. It did improve a little bit towards the end of the story, and so I'm comfortable giving it a three stars. I enjoyed the story overall, and with some polish I think it could have had stronger prose.

All The Better Part of Me follows Sinter Blackwell, a 25 year old aspiring actor temporarily living in London who, at the start of the book, is beginning to question his sexuality and his feelings for his childhood best friend, Andy. The book follows Sinter as he struggles to define his identity, both to himself and those around him, alongside his burgeoning career and personal relationships.

If this book had just been about Sinter exploring his sexuality and coming to terms with it, I think I could have loved it. Sinter was an engaging main character with a great voice, and his relationship with Andy was sweet and one you could easily root for. His antagonistic relationship with his parents was tough to read, but very much an unfortunate reflection of what many LGBT+ kids have to go through, so felt like an honest portrayal, albeit with a happy ending. And explicitly defining bicurious AND bisexual in a book, especially with regards to a male character, is so rarely seen that this book should definitely be celebrated for doing so.

I just.. didn’t gel with the unnecessary drama in what could have been a really poignant identity story. Yes, it was good to show Sinter hooking up with men and women (after all, the whole definition of bisexuality) but the pregnancy added an entire new layer onto this story that I felt it could do without. I felt at points like I was reading two separate stories: one about Sinter exploring his sexuality, and one about Sinter stepping up as a father.

I’m also not ever really a fan of using trauma to advance a romance plot, and especially not when it is your gay character suffering. There are so many instances of this in queer literature that it feels old, and the almost ‘bury your gays’ trope isn’t ever fun to read. There are so many ways to move around a problem (healthy communication!!!!!) that including an almost-fatal car crash for shock value and to kickstart a character into action feels cheap.

So while I enjoyed the characters I have to say I’m a little dismayed that I didn’t totally love this book, especially considering there are barely any queer new adult books out there with a bisexual MC. And, whilst I do appreciate the rep, it is always easy to see when a queer book has been written by someone who is not really part of the community – just the little things, like the idea that you have to figure out your sexuality as a teenager, or the sex scenes – but it is encouraging that these books are written, and will hopefully carve a little niche in the market for openly queer authors to write openly queer characters.

I don’t know what I expected this book to be, but whatever that was it ended up being so much more. This book reached inside of me and pulled out emotions I haven’t felt in quite some time, and I can’t even tell you what plotline it was that did it.

I found myself reading the second half of this book with a lump in my throat, and tears in my eyes, and yet, it isn’t overly sad. But it, as life is, and family, and friends, is difficult. I finished it at around 1 or 2 am this morning and then lay on my bed staring at the ceiling trying to comprehend what I was feeling.

It is well written, the characters both flawed and fully fleshed out on the pages (digital in my case). Their relationship is amazing. The supporting characters are as well.

The family dynamic is difficult and unfortunately will hit close to home for far too many people.

Just please, if you can, read this book. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn't finish this book the multiple times I tried! I don't think it's a bad book, just not really my thing, thanks though for the opportunity to review it.

This book was just not the book for me. While I love getting bisexual representation in stories, I just wasn't a fan of this plot. By that, I mean I felt like the plot took a long time to really get started and then once it did, it went in several directions that made me lose complete interest in the story and its characters. While I read this quickly, I found that most of it was forgettable and the characters that I should've gotten to know over the span of the novel were just flat and uninteresting in most respects.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

A lot of the reviews online were negative for this novel and I’d have to say that unfortunately, I agree. This had the potential to be incredibly successful but ultimately in the end, it didn’t work out and it felt more harmful than anything else. I think when it comes to topics like sexuality, there needs to be consideration and real deliberation about what is being represented and what isn’t. I know this is an own voices novel, but not everyone’s experience either sexuality is the same and it’s harmful to assume that’s the case; not everyone realises their sexuality until an older age and that’s completely okay. It doesn’t mean they’re always in denial about it.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

As a few others have said, the characters seem to be on the older end of the age range for a YA novel. The main character is 25 and just realizing he may be bisexual. He finds that he's falling for his gay best friend. And this is journey.

The book was okay. I expected more.. and kept waiting for 'more' to happen.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I will be posting a full review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

I adored that the protagonist of this book figured out his sexuality later in life than his teens, and bisexuality is tricky to parse. This novel went from my expectations of a love triangle to so much more, and I adored that it looked at gender roles and tossed them out while thoroughly examining what happens when people can't be shoved into those "typical" places.

I was surprised by the age of the characters for this to fall into a ya genre, Yes, it literally says on the back cover that Sinter is 25, I know, but still it caught me off guard is all. That being said, I think this book is outstanding. It’s such an important story to have in front of readers especially when bisexual characters are so often poorly written or poorly depicted. Molly Ringle does an excellent job at capturing the complicated feelings involved with discovering you’re bi.

4.5 Stars

Molly Ringle's All the Better Part of Me is an absolutely riveting friends to lovers romance. It's the story of a friendship that spans two continents and years of being best friends. I love this book.

The story of Sinter and Andy, they are best friends for life, but living apart and some new feelings threaten to distance them. Sinter's an actor who's always been straight, while Andy's his gay best friend. Of course, it's Sinter's secret bicuriousity that leads this part of their story.

Sinter and Andy are two men who absolutely belong together, desperately love each other, but endlessly struggle to be together. They have a relationship with
complications galore.

Their story includes some great first times, along with extreme pain and agony, as fears and doubts keep Sinter closeted. His homophobic family has greatly shaped who he is, not allowing him to be true to himself.

The pace is quick, with a complex and serious plot that includes some surprising twists and turns. Their story is sad, leaving me emotionally gutted at times. I don't want to give anything away, but one of the major complications is both shocking, problematic, and yet also wonderful.

Told in first person pov from Sinter's pov, the reader is fully brought into his mind. And what a mind it is. I am thrilled with the way the author handles him and his internal voice. Otherwise, the writing's okay. I definitely would have loved some more character depth. But the storyline is amazing!! Told with the help of many texts, and a whole lot of reminiscing about the past, this part adds a lot to the writing style.

All the Better Part of Me is amazingly riveting, as I couldn't put it down, needing to know what happens to these best friends. I love this Molly Ringle romance, highly recommending it for when you're in the mood for your next new adult romance.

A really interesting plot that definitely says with you beyond closing the book. The characters were interesting and well developed

I just loved this story. You felt their need to be together, but also The difficulty surrounding being gay and being in a relationship. The author did a good job.

This was an amaing coming-out story, I found myself falling in love with the characters very quickly.

We follow Sinter Blacwell who is an actor, currently based in London who finding himself cast in a BBC film by a stroke of luck. While working on set he finds himself becoming infatuated with the female director. However, he quickly comes to realize that he may be bisexual, and also kind of in love with his best friend Andy who lives back at home in Seattle.

There are so many heart warming, touching moments throughout the book and watching Sinter's journey of discovering his journey and himself. All the Better Part of Me is magical and beautiful, it is an essantial read for anyone looking for a fun and romatic, while sad and dramatic read.

This was a tough book to rate, because I really enjoyed certain aspects of it, but other aspects I thought fell a little flat, or just didn't quite do it for me? It wasn't a bad book, definitely not, and I'd probably edge it more towards a 3.5.

I really enjoyed a great many things about this book. Characters were fleshed out and the plot was well spaced. Some of the secondary storylines could've used a bit more page space but all in all an enjoyable read!

honestly i can't comprehend how this book made it past lgbtq+ sensitivity readers as the author claims it did

i really wanted to love this book - i was so excited when i saw the cover plastered in the bi flag colors and the premise sounded fantastic. i couldn't wait to read it

and then i was massively disappointed. don't get me wrong, there are several things i really liked about this book, but i cannot give it a higher rating when there are also several points that are really hurtful to read about as an lgbt reader.

first, Sinter, the main character, believes that he needs to prove his bisexuality by having sex with both a man and a woman. he barely acknowledges that he is "fully bisexual" until he starts thinking of having sex with his best friend, a guy, and doesn't call himself bi until he fools around with this friend. this is hurtful to read about because lgbtq+ people do NOT need to prove their sexuality by having sex with the people they are attracted to. i don't need to have slept with both a man and a woman to somehow prove that i am bisexual. i am bisexual if i say i'm bisexual, and that's enough and it's valid. i understand this is definitely a struggle that lgbtq+ people have (having been through it myself) but it's dangerous because allies or other lgbtq+ people may read this and then think that having sex proves your sexuality or that every lgbtq+ person needs to experience this to feel valid, when that isn't true.

secondly, this book approaches the topic of coming out in a very damaging and toxic way. Andy, the best friend, tries to pressure Sinter into coming out so many times because he is out and "not hiding" anymore. Andy talks about coming out as if you're lying by not being out to people. This is not true and it's a really toxic thing to think. Sinter was not really safe to come out at the time that Andy kept pressuring him to do. it is not lying if you are not in a safe space to come out to people. not everyone is able to come out as soon as they feel comfortable in their identity, and others never come out at all. this doesn't change the validity of their identity, and it certainly does not make them liars. don't even get me started on the fact that Andy, an out gay man, gave Sinter an ultimatum when he knew that Sinter grew up in a homophobic household and is just beginning to explore his sexuality and come to terms with it himself

thirdly, this book uses a near-fatal car crash as a plot device to drive the story forward. this was meant to make Sinter realize he loved Andy and bring them together, but it's completely unnecessary and hurtful. it's just another example of the gay character being hurt just to create more drama.

I understand that these are incidences that occur very frequently in the lgbtq+ community because they've all happened to me. however, this book should have addressed that these are not healthy or true at all, and that they are hurtful to those in the community somehow because people might read this book and think that these need to happen in order to be valid in the lgbtq+ community, or think these harmful stereotypes are true and "normal".

a lyrical coming of age book that i believe everyone should read! i really enjoyed this novel, it definitely brought me to tears at some point. these characters were just so relatable

I enjoyed the book. To me, it felt like a crossover between YA and NA. While it felt confusing at times, I loved the story and the characters.

3.5/5 stars
Overall this was an enjoyable read. I love seeing new adult fiction, especially with LGBTQ+ representation.
However, there were some overarching issues that prevented me from falling in love with this book. All the Better Part of Me does not completely fit into my idea of a romance novel. About halfway through, the romance takes a backseat. While it makes sense narratively, this along with an excess of subplots left me confused about the direction of the story.
The ending also felt rushed and unearned. While reading, I expected there to be a large time jump because it felt the conflict between Sinter and Andy could not be wrapped up quickly. This conflict was poorly defined in the first place and the sudden resolution did not make sense. The climax was conveniently-timed and unnecessarily dramatic, but I did truly care about the characters, which kept me engaged despite a weak plot.