roselaina

DNF @ ~80%

Most disappointing book of 2024. I listened to the audiobook on a roadtrip and probably would not have made it as far as I did if I'd had options. I got the ebook multiple times after, planning to power through the rest just to be able to count it toward my goal. Unfortunately, by the time I finally forced myself to pick it up (9 months later), I didn't remember enough to make sense, so I DNFd anyway.

Specific points I do remember: First and foremost, this should have been YA. It was clearly written with a YA audience in mind, and the characters read so much like teenagers that any reference to their actual age is jarring. The romance is forced, boring, and weirdly paced. I was 10x more invested in the romance between their parents, to be honest. Also I know the ending from looking at other reviews, and I'm not a big fan of that, either. I remember being bugged by the anachronisms, but I can't say anything specific.

Anyway, overall, a waste of a terrific sapphic song reference (yes, it's sapphic, and I will die on this hill) and cute cover.

Major TW for the birth story told from the father's POV. I'm not normally one to give away spoilers, but putting a story of infant death in the middle of a collection of positive birth stories is a horrendous move. It triggered some major anxiety for me, as I have epilepsy, and the baby died as a result of complications from the mother seizing during childbirth.

Other than that, I didn't like some of the dated language and the condescending attitude (and frankly, some of her takes on medical things are flat-out wrong -- her insistence that gestational diabetes doesn't exist, for instance). However! I did enjoy the birth stories and the positive perspective surrounding vaginal birth. There was some great information about the birth process. It's a useful book if you are preparing for an unmedicated birth, as I was.