Slow at the start but once I got into it I loved it. I love Casey. The writing just felt so real. It also perfectly describes the way I hate men (I can't think of the quote now but I highlighted it on my kindle so that's how you know it's good.)

It was good for where I’m at brain-wise right now, but I’m not sure I got the point of this one. Characters were well written and relatable but also, not much plot happening here.

Completely beautiful and all consuming. The pure, raw feelings and emotion in this book was so good it was disorientating and took me totally by surprise.

A keenly observed portrait of a creative life, with all of the messiness, sacrifice, and reward that entails. Boy, can Lily King write.

I found this book slow to get into, then enjoyed reading it but it ended very neatly.

✨”There’s a particular feeling in your body when something goes right after a long time of things going wrong.”

✨This was going to be a 3-star book until the last 50 pages. The last few chapters really had my heart swelling with happiness. Everything seemed to be falling into place with Casey and I loved how much closure we got in the end of this book.

✨I think something that really took me out of this read though was the constant references to classic works of fiction. Some of which I have read and some of which I haven’t. I know this is a book about a writer and their writing but if someone wasn’t familiar with a lot of those more complex novels then this would not be a great way to get someone to power through the book.

✨Another very personal thing for me that took me out of this book while reading was the medical anxiety this book gave me. I’m not great with medical issues and situations and I should have done more research but there were times that I was not doing well and had to come back to the book to continue.

✨Overall, if you love books with callbacks to other famous novels and slow-burn reads then this one would be a great read for you!

At 31, Casey Peabody's life isn't going quite as planned. She's in serious debt, is struggling with her mother's recent death, is waiting tables, and lives in a converted potting shed. But she hasn't let go of her dream to become a published author. In this book, she enters into a love triangle, struggles with anxiety, deals with a childhood incident involving her father, and...a lot of other stuff.

But this book isn't a downer, and that's what I like about it. I liked seeing Casey's journey (though it took me a couple chapters before I felt that way) and I cheered her on as I turned the pages. I also really appreciate that the book was set in 1997 -- pre-cell phone and before everyone had access to email.

There were a few cliches in the book about writers, but maybe I was just especially sensitive since I'd just finished reading Sally Rooney's "Conversations With Friends."

Overall, this book was a delight.

Reading this was such a weird time warp, because the book is set in my undergraduate (BU) stomping grounds - the author sits outside restaurants I frequented, rides her bike over my morning walk to class, lays out on grasses I laid out on - during the era when I was there (late 90s) - but she's a decade older than I was then - but also a decade younger than I am now.

It's also a lovely little witty story about the writing life and romance and grief.

This is one of those books that doesn't have a lot going on, and sometimes I'm not a fan of that, but this book spoke to me somehow. I might not have read it if not for book club. I made notes of many lines, like this one which I could have used to describe Writers & Lovers:

"I don't know why it's so moving to me and I could never explain.
There's a madness to beauty when you stumble on it like that."

Solid story, mostly just interesting character studies, ok in its handling of grief. Kind of wraps up too neatly