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A review by barrettbooks
Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
5.0
I have been on fire with picking books to read this year because once again get to start out by saying LOVED this book. Dual perspective romances are my jam, I adore getting to see each character through the eyes of the other. The cooking show was a very fun set up and loved the flavour (heh heh heh) it added to the story! Plus, as a nonbinary person and someone who came into my queerness in my late twenties (and then was kind of paused by a global pandemic) I see so much of myself in both London and Delilah.
I found the characters in this so charming. The dialogue was very satisfying, both between Delilah and London and with the side characters. (Btw I think their ship name would go to surnames and be Woodpark.) The cooking show was a great way to push them together and add some wacky challenges (like poor London milking a cow) but also just really enjoyed reading about the food and the characters' deep relationships with cooking. Also, the sexy scenes were very hot but also contained a level of communication and figuring stuff out that I really appreciated.
But the most important part of this book to me was London Parker. London is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. There are a couple characters who don't accept that, and London dealing with people who won't respect them is a plot point, but it is a small minority of people. It is never an issue in their relationship with Delilah. They are accepted by most of their family and most of the contestants, including the sweet grandma. And the book itself never misgenders them even if someone else does. It was so lovely to read this romance with a pansexual nonbinary main character. I cried a couple times just at how nice it was. And then seeing them gaining the courage to to set and maintain an important boundary was really cathartic. I would fight god for London Parker.
Overall I just had a lovely time with this book. A delight!
I found the characters in this so charming. The dialogue was very satisfying, both between Delilah and London and with the side characters. (Btw I think their ship name would go to surnames and be Woodpark.) The cooking show was a great way to push them together and add some wacky challenges (like poor London milking a cow) but also just really enjoyed reading about the food and the characters' deep relationships with cooking. Also, the sexy scenes were very hot but also contained a level of communication and figuring stuff out that I really appreciated.
But the most important part of this book to me was London Parker. London is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. There are a couple characters who don't accept that, and London dealing with people who won't respect them is a plot point, but it is a small minority of people. It is never an issue in their relationship with Delilah. They are accepted by most of their family and most of the contestants, including the sweet grandma. And the book itself never misgenders them even if someone else does. It was so lovely to read this romance with a pansexual nonbinary main character. I cried a couple times just at how nice it was. And then seeing them gaining the courage to to set and maintain an important boundary was really cathartic. I would fight god for London Parker.
Overall I just had a lovely time with this book. A delight!