Ordinary Love is anything but ordinary. Marie Rutkoski has crafted a beautifully introspective novel that explores the messy, tender parts of love, longing, and identity with subtle grace. The writing is lyrical without being overdone, and the emotional weight of the story sneaks up on you in the best way. It’s the kind of book that lingers—thoughtful, human, and deeply honest. A quiet, compelling gem that stays with you long after the final page.

I was moved by this journey of love and resilience. It was an emotional story that was told beautifully. Emily is a well developed and dynamic character. Her relationship with Gen was intense and well done. I loved all of the flashbacks to show how deep their relationship ran. This book perfectly showcases an emotionally abusive relationship between Emily and her husband. It was a very thought provoking novel and I kept reflecting and thinking about it as I read. This book is much more than a romance and a great literary fiction book about relationships.

I think Marie Rutkoski is a wonderful writer and I’m sure this is a wonderful book. Her characters are always so well realized. However, the section of the book where Jack is separating Emily from her friends one by one as part of his emotional abuse is so brutal that I can’t bring myself to continue reading. This isn’t meant to be a knock on the book — I’m sure many readers will appreciate such a clear-eyed depiction of emotional abuse. It’s just personally giving me too much anxiety to continue reading. I skipped ahead to the end though and it seems lovely.

I found that rhe charecters fell a but flat for me, thy didn't have enough depth or perto feel a connection.

MARIE RUTKOSKI BRINGS BACK YEARNING.

This book is masterful, like the bisexual rep of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo with layered, literary prose.

I fell in love with Emily and Gen and am so amazed by how Rutkoski did their story justice.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was an incredibly emotional story told in two parts - a messy divorce from an insidiously abusive man and a strained childhood friends-to-lovers arc between two lesbians who ended up on very different life paths.

In ways this reminded me of the Senator's Wife, albeit with a rearranging of characters and tropes, because of the deeply complicated divorce and the way each set of characters tried to be in communion with each other without sacrificing other areas of their life. That emotional core made these books, which are not similar in genre or presentation or setting, remarkably similar. (A compliment - I loved the Senator's Wife trilogy).

There are themes within these pages of familial and class-based expectations, homophobia and heteronormativity, and abuse that is (mostly) not physical and how that can color people's perceptions of a situation.

Where this fell shy of the 5-star mark for me was pacing. The beginning pieces about Emily and Gen's childhood gripped me, and the ending where they are pushed back together also gripped me, but there was a lull in the middle (probably intentional, still annoying) where I felt like both of our main characters kept doing and saying the same things over and over, but nothing was moving the plot.

Another small side note is that the side characters, especially Gen's friends, felt very one-note and that note was flat. I know they weren't the focus of the story by any means, but they felt like stereotypes to me.

Marie Rutkoski wrote my favorite YA fantasy series of all time in THE WINNER'S CURSE; I think about those books, and the central relationship in them, all the time. Even now, ten years or so after reading them they are still so fresh in my mind. So, I was thrilled when I saw she was returning to romance, albeit with adult general fiction. There is so much to admire about ORDINARY LOVE. The gorgeous prose and compelling characters I have come to expect from Rutkoski are here in full force, as is her particular way of weaving in and out of a narrative, letting it all unfold in the way characters relate to each other, to the way they see themselves and the world around them. My one complaint would be that the book feels a bit long, with the back third dragging through the same unresolved plot points and thought processes to the point of repetitiveness; Tighter editing would have only made this better, Overall, though, this book is thoughtful and thought-provoking, sexy and romantic, messy and meaningful, deeply personal, yet somehow universal. A beautiful story.

I really enjoyed this one! I’m a sucker for a good second chance romance and this gave me everything I was looking for. Both main characters are likable and easy to root for. My only complaint is that I wish there was an epilogue so I could see how things turn out for the two of them months or years down the road, but that’s just because I’m so attached to them :)

Thank you #knopf #partner for this gifted advance copy. I thoroughly enjoyed this story! A page-turning, irresistible novel of class, ambition, and bisexuality, this is the breathtaking story of a woman risking everything for a second chance at her first love.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc of this book!

I knew once reading the details that this was going to be my kind of romance. I am picky with romances, often laughing them off. Sorry, not sorry. This was a beautiful portrayal of how love is not as linear as we like to think. It is also a story of growth and evolution in small quiet spaces,

Heart-pinching, heart-mending, and full of sincerity.

This novel captures love and all of its qualms. Love and how we see ourselves. Love and how much of it we think we deserve. Love and what disguises itself as love.

Ordinary Love follows Emily as she discovers what love means to her as a mother, as a friend, and as a lover. She discovers the kind of “love” she settled for and the profound, honest love she deserves.

Ordinary Love releases June 10, 2025.

Thank you to the publisher, netgalley, and the author for the ARC!

Let me preface this: I am a second chance romance hater. Seven Days in June, up until now, has been the sole exception to this rule. Generally, I’m of the mind that the main couple broke up for a reason and thus I never ship their reunion. This book is a huge exception to this rule! Ordinary Love was unexpectedly delightful and so emotional. I was rooting for Emily and Gen so hard; the character work here is stunning. The prose is beautiful and I loved this. My reason for removing a star was because sometimes the dialogue took me out of the book, but on the whole this was beautiful.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!!

DNF @ p.92

Setting: USA
Rep: sapphic protagonist

This is just a case of wrong book wrong time. I picked it up a month ago and got to 25% and haven't had any urge to continue, but I do think I'll end up picking up the physical copy when this comes out as I am still interested, it's just not right for now.

A really beautiful story of second chances. The prose hooks you in right away and hangs onto you until the end. I'd recommend to anyone looking for a chunky love story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC for this novel.

I did enjoy this book, and recommend adding it to your TBR. I really enjoyed the character of Emily and Gen. Jack can jump off a cliff! 🧗

This would not be a book I normally would pick up but am so glad I was able to enter Emily’s world for 310 pages.

Ordinary Love by Marie Rutkoski is likely to be the sweetest love story I read this year. It's not a genre I read frequently, but when I do, I want it to be precisely like this story. Emily and Gen, two small-town Ohio girls destined for bigger, better things, meet and fall in love over the course of their senior year in high school. Emily helps Gen catch up academically so she can graduate, and Gen pushes Emily to run faster in track. It's idyllic, and it made me pine for my own small-town Midwestern childhood. But for these two, college separates them, first physically, then emotionally. They break up and life takes them in very different directions.

Fourteen years later, Emily spots Gen at a party and Emily's heart is immediately aflame with love for Gen. The rest of this glorious, beautiful, heart- wrenching book is about about the strength and resilience of Gen and Emily's young love. Can it overcome the choices they've made? Is it too late?

Everything about this book plucked at my heartstrings like it was written specifically for me. Emily's story resonated deeply. Marie Rutkoski captured the nuance of Emily's emotions beautifully, perfectly. I can't recommend this book enough.

Yeah unfortunately I just couldn’t get into this story, which is a shame because I love a good angst-filled forbidden relationship story which was the whole reason I requested this book. I didn’t really like the author’s writing style, and the story went back and forth in time so much I just really had trouble getting into it.

I’d give this author another try, but maybe read a sample if available first.

wow. how am i supposed to begin to describe the way i feel about this book? it has consumed me for the past 24 hours. time in between reading has been spent thinking about when i would get to read it next. i took an extra long lunch just so i would get to finish it sooner. and now that i have finished, i feel bereft. what can i do but write a review? in writing a review, how can i pull my heart from my chest and put it on the page?

this wasn’t an easy journey, by any means. yes, there is a second chance at love between gen and emily, but there are so many obstacles between them that are not so easily dismantled. i really appreciate marie rutkoski’s dedication to the reality of these obstacles — they are not hand-waved away for convenience, nor are they sacrificed on the altar of a dreamy, unrealistic romantic arc. there is weight to them, something you can hold in your hand and judge against the heft of reality. like i said, it is not easy. but god, is it worth it.

gen and emily are flawed and human, but they grow over the course of years and pages. i appreciated their inadequacies, their hesitations, their traumas, their tempers — but i also appreciated their apologies, their hopes, their reconciliations. each one felt earned, and it felt good. i shed many tears reading this, but i know i’ll be reading it again. i already can’t wait to hold the final version in my hands.

I tried to get through this book, but I did not care for any of the characters. When this happens, I lose interest in a book. I think there needed to be more character development.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ordinary Love by Marie Rutkoski packs an extraordinary punch in its story of second chances.

I picked up this book because I loved the Forgotten Gods series by the same author. While different in genre, I trusted that I would enjoy Rutkoski’s writing anyway and I was proven right.

Emily’s story was simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming. She’s been treated unfairly for so long that it takes a tremendous amount of effort and trial and error to successfully stand up for herself and her children. Her path to healing and independence isn’t simple and straightforward, especially with classism at play. There are moments where you wish that she’d make a different decision, but at the same time, you could always understand where she was coming from and empathize with her situation. She’s imperfect and human, and her character growth reflects that. It felt more honest because of it. Her second chance at life is much-deserved, inspiring and hopeful.

Emily and Gen’s relationship, whether it was flashbacks from the past or moments from the present, was one of my favorite parts of the book. I was rooting for their love story from the beginning. It was satisfying to watch them get a second chance at love, and to see them gain strength from each other and unconditionally support each other during hard and complex life events. In contrast with Emily and her husband, Emily and Gen’s love isn't extravagant, but more heartfelt and real because of it. Getting to have an ordinary love is beautiful enough.

I also have to shout out Gen’s friends. They were all so great and I loved reading about them.

Readers who enjoyed Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour will also enjoy this book.

Big thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. 4.25/5 stars.