This is a "not the book, it's me" review - I really liked Rachel Runya Katz's debut, and I'm super intrigued by this premise and love Jewish rep and Jewish history. Unfortunately it hits a little close to home right now - with the inciting incident being about a friend dying of cancer, I'm struggling to get into it. Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ARC; I'm sorry I'm not in the headspace to read it.

I'm happily in my LGBTQ+ ally era and loving every second. I cannot recommend Whenever You're Ready enough to anyone looking for a fresh take on a love story. This book will make you fall in love, break your heart, and then put it all back together again.

This novel does a great job of tackling difficult topics and representing different aspects of diversity and personhood. Katz once again represents the Jewish faith beautifully, with characters that feel real and easy to root for.

I really appreciated this book's approach to exploring friendship and the courage it takes to face the unknown. In some ways I wondered if this would be bettered marketed as a contemporary fiction because most of the time was spent on other larger themes. Either way very this is about personal growth and love happens along the way.

The slow burn was a bit too slow for me. I normally enjoy that but I wanted a a bit of a faster pace this time. I would definitely read more of the authors work.

I really enjoyed this book, and I’m starting to think that one of my new favourite subgenres might be sapphic friends to lovers on a grief-related roadtrip to discover more about their own history. Oh and also it’s a slow burn with angst. But honestly, what really drew me into this story was the element of Michal, one part of a friendship trio who passed away from cancer 3 years prior, and the exploration of the twins’ Jewish background and history in the South. The relationships are complex and it makes everything more interesting (and perhaps frustrating when you really want the mc’s to finally get together). And despite putting a heavy emphasis on the romance, it’s not the whole story, and the plot itself is woven into the romance. The reader doesn’t just watch two characters fall in love, but understands a bit of the way the whole of them fell in love. I had a fun time reading it, but there were also times that love didn’t quite describe the feeling. But in short, I highly recommend it.

This slow-burn sapphic romance has such emotional depth. It's about the bonds of friendship, the depth of grief, and the transformative power of love.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

A beautiful look at friendship and overcoming grief, while also finding love. The book isn’t centered solely on the romance aspect as I originally thought it would but it is so much more than that with social commentary on racism; antisemitism, the patriarchy and so much more. Touching and gripping, an unputdownable novel.

Thanks to St Martins Press and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

I slept on this book way too long, but this was such a moving story of loss, grief, friendship and love. It took me a bit to work out the relationships between everyone, but I appreciated how Katz focused on this extraordinary friendship between three women (and Jonah) and the grief of losing one of them while being in love with the other. Nia and Jade so clearly love each other but can they work through that loss and its aftermath to come together?
Katz is doing incredible work as Nia, Jade, and Jonah learn more about Jews in the Southern US, finding ways to weave in conversations around queerness, otherness, sibling issues, and grief. Nia and Jade navigating "I love you" to "no, I LOVE you" is moving and thoughtful. Katz is giving Rachel Lynn Soloman AND Beverly Jenkins in this book.

This book truly got me in my feels through exploring grief and friendship. I loved how the characters were able to reconnect and be vulnerable with each other after such an estrangement.

A meet cute that initially lured me in with the beautiful cover. This book was such a great read, Its not my typical genre but I loved it

Thank you Netgalley and smp for the free e-book. My opinions are being left voluntarily. Woww what an incredible thoughtful poignant book. I didn't know what to expect but I was blown away. I don't always love dual timeline but this was done so well. I would have loved to seen this as an audiobook as well, so hopefully that's in the works as it makes reading more accessible. I will absolutely be reading the authors next book.

4.5/5☆

this was such a good debut. it was emotional but also fun at times and overall a great sapphic read!

thank you netgalley for the arc!

A beautifully written romance that delves into the power of childhood friendships and the complicatedness of first love. The writing is reminiscent and heartfelt, and describes the emotional depth of Nia and Jade’s journey. The reader is exposed to grief, friendship, and love, making it an emotional read.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

this book made my heart hurt in the worst way. but also somehow in the best way?? i love rachel runya katz and I'm so looking forward to her next work.

I adored Rachel's debut so I was hyped for this one and didn't read the synopsis since I never do, but when I realized this book was about a friend who died it was a bit much for me to handle (in part because Rachel's writing is so good). I hope to revisit this book one day, but it was too emotional for me at this time. I hope to read more from Rachel going forward since I adore her writing and she seems like such a sweet person.

Absolutely loved this one. Beautifully written, poignant, sexy, and just overall lovely. I plan to recommend this to anyone looking for an emotional, thoughtful exploration of grief and healing.

Beginning with a letter from a dying friend, Whenever You're Ready is a unique love story. A love story between friends, a love story between siblings, and a love story between lovers. When Michel realizes that she is dying, she writes a series of birthday letters to her two best friends - Nia and Jade. She wants them to take a long planned bucket list trip after she's gone. When the time comes for them to finally go, they bring along Jade's twin brother Jonah. Rachel Runya Katz's second novel is a honest telling of how love can be misinterpreted and weaponized. Katz writes love stories that are realistic and romantic. Looking forward to the next one!

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

3.5 stars really. I wavered on this one. It took me quite a while to get through. I liked the characters. I think Jewish people have a different relation to death than I do as a former Christian. However, Jade and Nia were excellently written as well as Jonah and Michal. This was a good one. I’ll try another by Rachel Runya Katz.

3.5 rounding up

This took me a really really long time to read because the story hit way too close to home for me. Losing a best friend to cancer fucking sucks, and reading this made me revisit so much grief and it was not pleasant.

Nia and Jade were a bit confusing to me at first. The writing switches between them pretty frequently even within the same chapter, and I would forget who was being talked about when “she” pronouns would be used without renaming anyone. Nia and Jade became more distinct as the story went on, but it took me longer than I’d hoped to be able to tell them apart easily.

The history was cool, dark and awful, but definitely stuff I wouldn’t hear about elsewhere. I appreciate that this was a love story, an ode to friendships, a lesson on grief, and a southern Jewish history lesson all wrapped up in one.