Yeahhhhh the not so subtle racism isn’t for me. And the apology that wasn’t an apology… no thanks. Thanks for the arc copy, I appreciate it, but this was a no for me.

While I’m always grateful for an arc from NetGalley and was excited about this book, I can’t promote this on my networks due to the insensitive and racist dialogue already called out by so many on here, especially knowing the author said she was warned to take it out by the publisher and still kept it in. I don’t want to support this author.

Ugh, I first was introduced to Sophie Lark through her book "Broken Vow" and quickly binged the rest of the series, I was excited to experience this next one from her and was concerned I would end up not loving it as much with the high expectations I had going in. However, I was unfortunately just left disappointed with this book, which breaks my hear to write. This was just not it, the writing was off from her other books, the innuendos of racism casually thrown out was just down right appalling. I am shocked this came from Sophie personally. This has so much potential and it just utterly fell flat for me.

Shame on this author. Shame on Bloom for allowing this. Regardless when it was written, it shouldn’t have ever been written regardless of the status of our country.

I will not read this book or other releases by this author after what happened. I can't believe she thought it was okay to write stuff like that, especially with everything happening in the US and the world right now!

This is going to be a now for me…

It is pretty embarrassing that stablished authors are publishing racists books.

This was going to be my first Sophie Lark book..

First & Last.

Sparrow and Vine was an interesting read for me. I really enjoyed the premise and loved the main characters, the secondary characters too. The plot, however, felt like disjointed and not fleshed out totally. There was a lot of pages in this as well with much superfluous detail I found distracting. Had the writing and the plot been tighter I think I would have enjoyed this more. The main characters together made me happy, their chemistry undeniable. The circumstances surrounding what they are doing and why are interesting even though some of the details are still a bit fuzzy. The author also did a nice job of giving us just enough intrigue into the main characters of the next installment. Overall, this is an okay read for romance lovers.

Upon seeing the controversy around this book and the statements that have been made I do not feel comfortable reading this book.

If the publisher suggested the edits then I think this should have been listened to rather than keeping this in.

The author has apologised on social media however I will not read this book due to the above statement. As a reader and reviewer I would not recommend this to my audience!

I was initially very excited to read this book. However, others who received this arc have brought to light very racist and controversial commentary that the MMC says as well as a comment from the FMC's sister. In today's day and age, these comments are tone-deaf, and I do not understand why the author would include them given her publishing team advised against it. Do better!

Not what I was expecting. Coded conservative. Online commentary gives context. It would have been so easy not to be racist or to make up a fake business icon. So we have to take the author at their word. This is who she wants to be and the book she wanted to write.

Sparrow and Vine by Sophie Lark is the first book in the Sparrow and Vine Series. This is Sadie and Monroe’s story.
 
This is a marriage-of-conscience story and Sadie and Monroe come from two rival families but in order to rescue the family business, they enter a marriage. Monroe is the one making all the decisions and he’s thinking very highly of himself and speaking down on the people around him. Also, his first impression of Sadie was horrible, and he was rather lusting after her sisters which makes him more of a slimy douche. Sadie comes from a very creative and artistic family, but she stands in the shadows of her sisters and is trying to appease her family. She is the one with the most potential and her character development could have been great, but it fell flat once Monroe entered the picture.
 
The romance story was average at best but my main issue with this book was how there were some really problematic lines that added nothing to the story and on the contrary were just unacceptable and infuriated me because it’s 2025 and this is not ok.
 
The first line is in chapter 15: “I was inspired by Elon Musk. I use his five-step design process.” This was said by the protagonist’s sister and let me tell you, liking Elon Musk is the biggest red flag. That man is vile, a Nazi, and he definitely didn’t design anything. If you decide to include such a narrative, it needs to be reflected on at a bare minimum and no character in this book bats an eyelash at it. Also, it added nothing to the story, so I wonder why this was even included.
 
But the worst line happened in chapter 8: “but shouldn’t there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us?” Like come on, how racist and privileged do you want to be? Picking fruit is a proper job and why would you hate so much on immigrants. I don’t understand it, and this was especially problematic because the book revolves around the vineyard and without these hardworking people their whole business would fail. Also, Sophie Lark lives in California and this is probably something she has seen with her own eyes and if this is her opinion on it, then she either needs to be properly educated to what’s happening around her or she’s just ignorant and doesn’t care. And after her shitty “apology” statement it’s definitely the latter. California is the biggest producer of grapes in the US and produces a tenth of the fruit in the country. Good luck getting your fruit or wine without fruit pickers. If you want to include aspects from the real world, there is great potential with a story like this and you could have shed some light on the fruit pickers struggles, but to do this instead is a choice, a bad one, and to make it seem like comedy, is just unacceptable and definitely not funny.
 
Overall, I’m more than disappointed in Sophie Lark because I used to like some of her books like the Sinners Duet. But this changed my whole opinion on her and I’m not picking up any more of her books. 1 star and do better.
 
(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc.)

I really used to enjoy the books Sophie writes and the characters she created. This was such a different vibe than the other books Sophie has written, and honestly, I am not okay with it at all.
Monroe’s brothers were awful and I did not like the racist remarks they made in this book...

Do better.

Since Sophie Lark released a statement saying she will rewrite and re-edit this book, and since it's been archived by Bloom, I will be waiting until an updated version comes out so I can read it then and provide feedback for the improved version that addresses the sensitivity issues.
The rating submitted is a neutral one as I have not had the chance to provide accurate feedback.

In light of recent events regarding insensitive comments in this book and the author’s response, I’ve decided not to read it. As a reader and reviewer, I believe it’s important to be mindful of the content I support and promote.

Choosing to DNF given the current issues surrounding the book. Sincerely wishing the best to the publisher and author. Thank you!

Will not be giving feedback until this book has been re-edited. Disappointed in Sophie for writing those harmful comments and Bloom for not pushing harder to have them removed during editing

I was looking forward to reading this book but due to its problematic content, I will not be reading or reviewing this book.

Due to recent events about insensitive comments in this book and the author's response, I will not be reading this book.

Due to the racist and problematic comments in this book I feel uncomfortable reviewing and promoting it. Which is genuinely disappointing because the rest of the story I adored but the casual racism, while not glorified it also wasn't called out appropriately either. The story itself ignoring the problematic comments was a four star but I genuinely just don't feel comfortable hand selling this book like I would have done without those comments. I hope they don't make it to the final edit of the book next month.

I refuse to read a book where the author put a very racist remark in it and when her publisher told her to take it out she was like nah I'm good.


girl, bye