•the dialogue is very clunky and doesn’t really sound like how real people talk

•the writing itself is very sparse and sometimes that can be a good thing but it makes this book feel as though it has no personality of its own. the prose is very dull and the writing style leans more on the side of yelling rather than showing.
•on the plus side, however, i read this whole thing a lot quicker than i usually read any book. it was very easy to get through.

•the characters themselves fell very flat and one-dimensional. the mc’s and the side characters all had their own backstories and motivations but in execution they didn’t feel very believable. if i had to pick a favorite out of all of them it would be aiko, i think she was the most well-written and even though she’s a capitalist and is pro gentrification, she’s sexy. i also adore the two married lesbians that run that little bakery that we meet in the very first chapter, they brought me so much joy.
•I really enjoyed how the author portrayed aiko as a more masculine leaning lesbian. it’s obviously not my place to speak on the representation of black lesbians seeing as i, myself, am not black, but i can say that she very accurately portrayed the tenderness that masc lesbians bring into a relationship. even if the relationship wasn’t my favorite thing in this book…

•speaking of favorite things in this book, i really like the whole gentrification plotline and how it’s portrayed. i’ve grown up in neighborhoods that were radically gentrified and as a result of the changing economic climate, schools close or are shut down. the rich people doing the gentrifying always portray it as a good thing, a positive development for the community, until the locals and people who have been living and working there for over twenty years can no longer afford to and are displaced. and when schools are shut down in areas like this, it never benefits the students that live there. often times they’re forced to go to schools out of their district and aren’t given the treatment and the education they deserve because of it.
•this is why i really liked summer’s outlook on her job as an educator and how she treated the children she was working with.

•i do think that the book could’ve been written a lot better, the prose could be filled out more instead of being so rudimentary and the characters could’ve been developed a lot better, but i also think the main conflict of the story is genuinely interesting. the romance definitely fell short for me personally, however, and considering this is a contemporary romance novel that doesn’t really bode well. i am interested to see how all of this is improved upon more edits and publication.

•regarding the romance, i was kind of bored with it tbh. the main plotline was a lot more interesting to me and because the characters weren’t as fleshed-out as i would have preferred i just wasn’t very invested in the relationship.

•overall, i think the main plotline was 100% more interesting than everything else that happened in the book and that the characters, prose, and dialogue need a lot of work. nevertheless, it was a quick read and i did enjoy it. definitely going to read it again upon publication.

𝗿𝗲𝗽: black lesbian main character, biracial lesbian main character (black and japanese), black sapphic side characters, black side characters

DNF at 43%

I picked this up because the blurb looked great and the cover was amazing, but the book wasn't for me. I didn't enjoy the writing, and the only character I liked was Summer. I tried to keep reading but I wasn't enjoying it.

Thanks to the publisher for the advance review copy!

This was a super cute sapphic romance which I devoured in one sitting. I loved the characters, the plot and the romance

3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
3/5 🔥🔥🔥
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Women’s Fiction
Pairing: F/F
Tropes: Second chance, Rivals(ish) to Lovers, Insta-love

A sweet and spicy read! I really liked that this was a story about moving home, what gentrification and progress mean for a community, and figuring out who you want to be as an adult in your hometown. It’s also a romance where you see the couple dating for the majority of the book which has its pluses and minuses.

Aiko and Summer are both really interesting characters (though I found Summer to be frustrating at times!) and was glad we got dual POV to better understand their perspectives.

The story is a bit slow to start and I found some of the dialogue to be stilted at times. I also wish we got to see a little bit more of their attraction grow rather than it being so quick from the reconnection. But overall I enjoyed it!

What an amazing book!
The book is super exciting and would love to read more from the author!

Thankyou netgalley for the ARC