Welcome to Litsy!

As recommended by Curtis Sittenfeld, so I picked it up..

But I think Hornby's blurb captures it for me. Brilliant, but ouch.

The title: when you talk on the phone to someone you just don't want to explain it all to.

This was a good read, but I just felt like shaking the protagonist, Jess, sometimes. I gave her some leeway, because she was on her early 20‘s and at that age you are still trying to figure yourself out.

I don‘t feel this should be marketed as a romance and funny 🤔 read, but more as a look at how your environment, race and privilege shape who you are.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Working on my #NetGalley backlist 😅)

I‘ve seen a lot of mixed reviews on this, and I have a lot of mixed feelings. Calling it a romance feels inaccurate and limiting. The whole thing left me frustrated.

We follow Jess, a Black woman, working in finance. There‘s Josh, a white conservative who also works with Jess and has been around since college. The author calls this a love story but this put me through a lot. It was well written. I read it in a day. It was funny, maddening, and there were times I cried for Jess. A brilliant young woman who was only seen for the color of her skin and her gender at times. I want to discuss this book. Pick!

Talk about a novel that came out at the right time! I started this book the week of the Supreme Court ruling regarding affirmative action and this was the perfect read to help me deal with my feelings about that decision. This book is smart, surprisingly funny, deeply emotional and will start conversations and discussions. I think this one would be great for a book club because there is so much to dig into!

Fitting to finish this politics-heavy romance novel while watching fireworks yesterday!

Enemies-to-lovers is my favorite romance trope, so this book started strong for me. And as a liberal living in the South, there are people I love who vote very different than me. HOWEVER a romance novel getting super bogged down in political arguments totally killed any kind of fun, sexy vibe. And I will say I often found Josh‘s views abhorrent. 2.5⭐️

I‘m embarrassed to say that I was dissuaded from reading this by all of Goodreads reviews calling it out as ‘racist‘, so I‘m glad that @Cinfhen persuaded me to give it a go so I could make my own mind up.

As a book, it‘s just a soft pick for me; nothing special as a story and a bit clunky in places, but it doesn‘t deserve the controversy aimed at it. I actually checked out the author as I thought she must be white due to the vitriol sent her way

Im not sure how I got to this audiobook & I certainly wasn‘t aware of all the controversy surrounding the book but wow was it compelling!! Its the story of Jess & Josh - two opposites who despite their core experiences and beliefs to be radically different are very attracted to one another. The sexual build-up is intense but it‘s the way they react to the world around them and each other that‘s really thought provoking. Fresh, current & authentic

Today, I‘m sharing another physical ARC I received in the mail today along with a cool sticker and this paper. The back of the paper has a letter from the author saying why she wrote this book and I thought that was really interesting. This one was sent to me by Simon & Schuster. I‘m looking forward to reading this. It sounds interesting.

On Sale: June 6, 2023

The book was okay. I see what the Book Tok girls were saying. I‘m not sure how this relationship works. 🤔 I finished reading this story pretty quickly though so that‘s a plus. #Everything‘sFine #ceciliarabess

I know that people say this book is bad but so far it has my attention. #Everythingsfine #ceceliarabess

Perfect reading for the cold wet weekend In usually sunny California