Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Sorry, Bro

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni

15 reviews

keonabug's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I enjoyed this story of coming out and figuring out community and romance from an Armenian American perspective. I appreciated getting to learn more about Armenian culture through this lens

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humblebookdragon's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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mattyb's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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madanxiety's review against another edition

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4.0

A solid late twenties romance framed by an Armenian American cultural context. Idk, not rly much to say abt it. I didn't find the main character that likeable.

Like only realizing she doesn't love her partner after 6 years is crazy 💀 and then the lack of communication with like everyone in her life. Obviously there'd be no book without these character flaws, but it's just kinda silly like when all the conflict is easily avoidable and derived from poor communication.

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cardanrry's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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lunep's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I liked learning about Armenian culture, and I saw myself in the main character a little bit, but I didn't fall in love with the characters or their romance, I was left feeling very "eh" about it, which makes me sad because I seem to have no luck with sapphic romances.

It was cute, but overall I didn't feel super invested. Nareh stressed me out sometimes, and Erebuni felt too perfect, and the other suitors and some other secondary characters felt like they were designed to be shitty so Erebuni could look like the perfect woman:

-Trevor: misogynist, subconsciously racist/xenophobic, didn't seem to pay attention to the person Nareh actually was and what she liked.
-Raffi: misogynist, self obssesed.
-Arek: ok, nothing wrong with him. But Nareh didn't feel attracted to him (which is fair)
-The engineer guy: makes a joke about how he feels pain by proxy when cutting up an eggplant bc eggplant emoji.
-Artur: misogynist.
-Sako: nothing wrong with him either, just gay.
-Ara: self-obssesed, interrupting Nareh every time she talks.
-Kevork: pedantic.

-Kiki: sexist, very conservative, rude, she believes she's better than everyone.

Also, the cover says "From wingwoman to the woman of her dreams", and the synopsis says "Suddenly, with Erebuni as her wingwoman, the events feel like far less of a chore, and much more of an adventure." but there wasn't much wingwoman-ing, and I expected more overall. It ended up being a just-ok book for me, which again, sad about that.

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applejacksbooks's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

So I think this book was incorrectly marketed. I think it should have been marketed as a "reconnecting with their culture" type book more so than a "choosing between the man I've been dating and the new women that I keep seeing around" type vibe. I think it does a disservice to the book, because I found myself really enjoying the parts where Nareh was reconnecting with being Armenian after spending most of her life avoiding that and less enjoying the romance parts (not that those were bad either).

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james1star's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it. In Sorry, Bro we follow the mc Nar, an Armenian-American news reporter living in San Francisco who’s recently proposed to by her longtime boyfriend but isn’t too keen on the idea. Instead, with the encouragement of her mother, she decides to attend an Explore Armenia event to find a good Armenian husband. But it’s none of the men there who catch her eye, it’s the fun, witchy and passionate Erebuni… a woman. That’s because Nar is bisexual and has known for a long time but has been hiding this part of her identity from her family and external Armenian diaspora community that’s seemingly not the most accepting. Erebuni is an amazing character and as she gets to know Nar, becoming friends and maybe something more, she is able to share her love and connection to Armenian culture and history. This I think is the part of the book and what I loved the most was how Nar is able to reinvigorate herself back into her heritage during the Explore Armenian events and getting to know Erebuni (and her friends) with the author allowing the reader, like Nar, to learn about Armenian food, dances, the history (with a focus on the genocide and it’s importance), songs, politics, art and many more - each chapter begins with an Armenian proverb which I was looking forward to every time and they held lots of meaning in a small number of words… great! Like Erebuni, Nar is quite a developed and complex character and I did enjoy reading into her a lot, I say this but there was some times I felt her actions weren’t the best but I can see where she was coming from or at least the pressures placed on her. Nar’s mum and grandma definitely stole the show for me I feel, again a few issues but I just loved them and they’re funny too.

I think an issue comes in the marketing with this book because it’s billed as a romance but I’d definitely place it in the contemporary genre more so. I found the fluffy romance elements where there and I did enjoy them BUT these are very well balanced with the more heavier topics that Voskuni implements into it too. That being said, for me it’s not a hindrance as I prefer this genre but the romancey stuff does take the back burner.

More Armenian and Queer Armenian stories please!

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koplomps's review against another edition

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Didn't really enjoy or care about any of the characters, other than Erebuni.
LOVED the start of the book with the horrible proposal, but after skimmin through to the end, nothing really piqued my interest. Not saying this is a bad book, it just wasn't for me.

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hullomoon's review against another edition

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medium-paced

4.0

The first 3/4 of this book was a swoon-worthy romance and then two major things happened that threw me for a loop. I think since it was advertised as a rom-com I would be prepared for maybe one of these things to happen but not both since rom-coms imply more light hearted fare.

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