rainbow rowell – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Slow Dance
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: July 23rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and Attachments comes Slow Dance—a bright, beaming power ballad of a novel about a love so true it refuses to be forgotten.

Back in high school, everybody thought Shiloh and Cary would end up together . . . everybody but Shiloh and Cary.

They were just friends. Best friends. Allies. They spent entire summers sitting on Shiloh’s porch steps, dreaming about the future. They were both going to get out of north Omaha—Shiloh would go to college and become an actress, and Cary would join the Navy. They promised each other that their friendship would never change.

Well, Shiloh did go to college, and Cary did join the Navy. And yet, somehow, everything changed.

Now Shiloh’s thirty-three, and it’s been fourteen years since she talked to Cary. She’s been married and divorced. She has two kids. And she’s back living in the same house she grew up in. Her life is nothing like she planned.

When she’s invited to an old friend’s wedding, all Shiloh can think about is whether Cary will be there—and whether she hopes he will be. Would Cary even want to talk to her? After everything?

The answer is yes. And yes. And yes.

Slow Dance is the story of two kids who fell in love before they knew enough about love to recognize it. Two friends who lost everything. Two adults who just feel lost.

It’s the story of Shiloh and Cary, who everyone thought would end up together, trying to find their way back to the start.

Thank you to William Morrow for the gifted ARC.

HOLY DIALOGUE.

You will rarely find me saying too much dialogue, but y’all, there was too much dialogue. And I didn’t realize how much of a disconnect that created for me in understanding the main character’s emotions and decisions, and even their basic personalities. I struggled so much to FEEL something reading this.

The bones are there. It’s a second chance romance, there’s a lot of real life stuff to work through and talk, and I liked scenes here and there throughout.

This writing style got to me enough I was missing too much to reconcile my overall thoughts. I also think when I’m reading a romance, I want it to be realistic, yet I am cool with a level of romantic delulu because it’s a ROMANCE book and that’s fine. This was almost so realistic that it came across very bland and I watched the day to day of these characters without any true plot line woven in.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: moderate
Romance: 2-3 somewhat cringey open door scenes
Content Warnings: cheating partner (resulting is a divorce)

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult contemporary romance
Length: 209 pages
Author: Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks
Publisher: First Second
Release Date: August 27th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends.

Every autumn, all through high school, they’ve worked together at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world. (Not many people know that the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world is in Omaha, Nebraska, but it definitely is.) They say good-bye every Halloween, and they’re reunited every September 1.

But this Halloween is different—Josiah and Deja are finally seniors, and this is their last season at the pumpkin patch. Their last shift together. Their last good-bye.

Josiah’s ready to spend the whole night feeling melancholy about it. Deja isn’t ready to let him. She’s got a plan: What if—instead of moping and the usual slinging lima beans down at the Succotash Hut—they went out with a bang? They could see all the sights! Taste all the snacks! And Josiah could finally talk to that cute girl he’s been mooning over for three years . . .

What if their last shift was an adventure?

SHORT AND SWEET.

This was my very first graphic novel! I lucked out with a great choice and it was really easy to read on my Kindle Fire. I had borrowed it from my library and love the way it worked digitally.

I thought this story was super cute. I flew through it in truly less than an hour (definitely a downfall of graphic novels). I wish it was so much longer!

For the length I thought the development of characters and plot were pretty solid. I was immediately caught into their world and following them around the pumpkin patch. It was easy to be immersed in all things fall.

The plot is really simple and I think it’s a great starting point for anyone interested in trying out a graphic novel. The romance was precious and I was waiting for them to get together. It was also about finding who you want to be and about the power of a good friendship.

The illustrations were beautiful and the colors brought everything to life. It’s a warm, feel-good story that made me happy to read.

Overall audience notes: