All tagged romance

The Wedding People – Alison Espach

There’s only so many ways a “person hellbent on dying finds a reason to live again” plot can feel fresh. For the first quarter of the novel it felt very familiar (I couldn’t help but think of Matt Haig’s “The Midnight Library”), but Espach quickly drew me into the lives of Lila and Phoebe, two women navigating a week of unexpected soul-searching.

Find Me – André Aciman

Expectation: Alternating narratives of Elio and Oliver as they make the slow march back into each other’s lives. 

Reality: Like four distinct mini-novellas, each offers a slice-of-life look into the motivations and relationships of the men from “Call Me By Your Name.” If you are patient enough for the journey, it pays off. 

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.

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.