Ratings11
Average rating3.8
The author of the “sexy, insightful, and utterly charming” (BuzzFeed) Kiss Her Once for Me returns with a new queer rom-com following once childhood best friends forced together to drive their former teacher across the country.
A long time ago, Logan Maletis and Rosemary Hale used to be friends. They spent their childhood summers running through the woods, rebelling against their conservative small town, and dreaming of escaping. But then an incident the summer before high school turned them into bitter rivals. After graduation, they went ten years without speaking.
Now in their thirties, Logan and Rosemary find they aren’t quite living the lives of adventure they imagined for themselves. Still in their small town and working as teachers at their alma mater, they’re both stuck in old patterns. Uptight Rosemary chooses security and stability over all else, working constantly, and her most stable relationship is with her label maker. Chaotic and impulsive Logan has a long list of misguided ex-lovers and an apathetic shrug she uses to protect herself from anything real. And as hard as they try to avoid each other—and their complicated past—they keep crashing into each other. Including with their cars.
But when their beloved former English teacher and lifelong mentor tells them he has only a few months to live, they’re forced together once and for all to fulfill his last wish: a cross-country road trip. Stuffed into the gayest van west of the Mississippi, the three embark on a life-changing summer trip—from Washington state to the Grand Canyon, from the Gulf Coast to coastal Maine—that will chart a new future and perhaps lead them back to one another.
Reviews with the most likes.
This book was an emotional rollercoaster for me. I was experiencing so many different feelings while reading.
The humor in this book was very hit-or-miss. During the middle portion of the book, I found myself growing disinterested in the road trip, feeling disconnected from the characters activities and losing investment in their journey.
Some aspects of the story feel forced, such as Logan's incessant use of celebrity names in place of curses, which quickly becomes grating.
While the themes of Joe's storyline adds depth to the narrative, it often overshadows the central romance between Logan and Rosemary which left me wanting more from the romance. The romantic relationship between Logan and Rosie started too early in the story, and I didn't really feel connected to them despite their earlier friendship and love for each other. There was an excessive amount of miscommunication between them, this trope was used too frequently, making it feel unnecessary and repetitive.
While I found the characters likable, I longed for deeper exploration into Logan & Rosemary's backgrounds, traumas, and teenage friendship to provide a more nuanced understanding of their motivations and complexities.
Thank you so much to Atria Books for providing this ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!