Expectation: A slow-burn coming-of-age story about forbidden love.
Reality: A beautiful, sensual and deep exploration of desire and connection. While closely aligned to the film adaptation, the source material is worth the read.
All tagged romance
Good Material – Dolly Alderton
Expectation: A lighthearted break-up story with the usual rom-com tropes.
Reality: A surprisingly affecting exploration of self-discovery and navigating heartbreak from the perspective of a dumped male.
We Could Be So Good – Cat Sebastian
Expectation: Gay love overcoming the odds in 1950s America!
Reality: Incredibly repetitive and too saccharine, the historical fiction element is almost an afterthought to typical romance genre tropes.
Romantic Comedy – Curtis Sittenfeld
Expectation: A smart, timely commentary on celebrity culture and self-esteem.
Reality: All of that plus laugh out loud funny. I was compulsively entertained from start-to-finish.
Like a Love Story – Abdi Nazemian
Expectation: A sweet but slight coming of age tale set amidst the backdrop of the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York City in the late-1980s.
Reality: While there’s a lot of melodrama and the plot is stale, it’s a great introduction to this era in queer history, and the importance of having a gay Iranian lead character cannot be understated.
Evvie Drake Starts Over – Linda Holmes
Expectation: An inter-generational friendship between two unlikely people.
Reality: Age-appropriate romance versus friendship. The whole thing was predictable, but the darker edges made it feel unique. As someone who doesn’t usually read this genre, I liked it more than expected.
Here’s to Us – Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Expectation: An unnecessary sequel to a book I enjoyed but didn’t really remember.
Reality: Unnecessary and predictable, sure, but it’s filled with humor and heart that makes it 100 percent escapist fun.
We Contain Multitudes – Sarah Henstra
Expectation: A breezy graphic novel full of the typical young adult trappings.
Reality: Not a graphic novel and not breezy. The epistolary structure makes it a quick read, but there are multiple chaotic and disturbing plots (see trigger warnings).
Last Night at the Telegraph Club – Malindo Lo
Expectation: Typical YA fare with an historical angle.
Reality: An insightful and entertaining celebration of queer Asian American history and first love.
Heartstopper: Volumes One – Five – Alice Oseman
Overall, I’d rate this a solid effort. Each volume is good, and three are great, but it also felt like there was a lot of filler, which made the more emotional moments feel hidden. I say this fully recognizing that the length of the series – about 1,700-pages – is what allows the relationship between Charlie and Nick to unfold in a natural, unrushed way, however.
The Paper Palace – Miranda Cowley Heller
Expectation: The romantic fiction novel du jour.
Reality: An unlikable main character, multiple trigger warnings and still wholly readable.
Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World – Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Expectation: An intimate portrayal of young love and learning how to grow as individuals and as a couple.
Reality: A bit scattershot from a plot perspective but just as well-written and affecting as the first book.
The Bridges of Madison County – Robert James Waller
Expectation: A heartbreaking and memorable story of forbidden love.
Reality: A well-written but incredibly male-centric romance with laugh out loud dialogue that detract from the novel’s stronger elements.
The Sixth Wedding: A 28 Summers Story – Elin Hilderbrand
Expectation: “28 Summers, Part II,” also known as a quick cash grab by Hilderbrand.
Reality: An effective and rewarding mini sequel that honors the original while giving the reader closure to the rushed ending of “Summers.”