One of the biggest struggles I have as a reviewer for the Lesbrary is wanting to present only the sapphic stories that I believe to be the best. I am very much aware that I am a consumer, not a creator, and that if asked to create an original story, I would not fare nearly as well as most authors do. In recognition of that, I tend to avoid reviewing stories that ring less than satisfactory. However, as a reviewer, it is important that I give equal weight to all titles, regardless of how many stars I may think they deserve—especially since most of the books I read and deem as 3-star reads are usually due to my personal taste in books, rather than an inherent issue with the content. Thus, I would like to present the last five sapphic titles that I have read and rated 3 stars; perhaps you’d like them more than I did!
The Seemingly Impossible Love Life of Amanda Dean by Ann Rose
In The Seemingly Impossible Love Life of Amanda Dean, our aforementioned heroine is preparing for her wedding to a mysterious suitor and everything that could go wrong is going drastically, horribly wrong. In the midst of all this, Amanda reflects on her past relationships with both men and women, and wonders if this marriage-to-be will work out. The plot switches between the present-day wedding mishaps and through Amanda’s past love stories, as the reader is slowly given more information as to find out just who Amanda is marrying, and if the wedding will go on.
Why I didn’t like it: I didn’t enjoy the whiplash of the dual timelines—I am very much a reader who needs to be given each plotline clearly and consistently. I also felt that there was much more focus placed on Amanda’s straight-passing relationships, though this could be attributed to the fact that there were simply more of them for longer periods of time.
Why someone else might: If you enjoy descriptions of fine art, friends-to-lovers storylines, and a light mystery that will have you guessing until the last few pages, then you will want to read The Seemingly Impossible Love Life of Amanda Dean”.
Night Owls by A. R. Vishny
In this paranormal young adult fantasy, Clara and Molly have four rules that allow them to exist as Jewish owl-shifting vampires (Estries) in New York City: work in their historic movie theater during the day, only take on their owl forms at night, feed on only Jewish men in secret (as to avoid encouraging blood libel rumors) and finally, never fall in love. However, Molly is tired of hiding her girlfriend Anat from Clara, and Clara can only keep pretending for so long that the box office clerk, Boaz, annoys her. However, when Anat disappears and Boaz reveals that he can see and talk to ghosts, they all must work together to save New York City from the monsters that lurk in the shadows.
Why I didn’t like it: I felt it was too slow—when the plot began picking up past the point of the premise, I checked to see where I was in the story and was astonished to see that I was already about 60% of the way through. From there, the ending felt incredibly rushed and I was left feeling disappointed. I could see this book being split into a duology and faring much better in my eyes.
Why someone else might: The lore is built in well, and you can feel the amount of care and detail that Vishny put into researching Jewish folklore. I also really enjoyed the banter-y relationship between Clara and Boaz and the muse/lover relationship between Anat and Molly. As stated above, if Vishny had chosen to turn this into a duology, I think Night Owls would have become one of my top reads of 2024, and I’d be breathlessly anticipating the sequel.
You, Again by Kate Goldbeck
Ari is a go-with-the-wind sharp-tongued comedian who cringes at the thought of commitment, while fine dining chef Josh has the rest of his life planned out to a T. They have nothing in common with one another except for the fact they both slept with the same woman at the same time as one another. That should have been the end of it, except that New York City is actually a lot smaller than you’d think, and the two meet again years and catastrophic break-ups later. Ari and Josh bond over their broken hearts and surprisingly become “friends-without-benefits”. But to be close friends with anyone, regardless of gender and sexuality, inherently contains something of the romantic in it, and Ari and Josh are no exception.
Why I didn’t like it: I found the friends-to-lovers plotline to rush past the friendship stage a bit too quickly for my liking, but I will fully admit that I am a diehard for a slowburn friends-to-lovers plot. It also does smack of Reylo fanfiction, but as seen in Ali Hazelwood’s success, that doesn’t mean much unless you dislike that ship (which I am neutral about).
Why someone else might: Ari is the messy bisexual representation that we need in traditional publishing, where her messiness is not equated with sluttiness. I also enjoyed the beginning enemies stage of Ari and Josh and the lovey-dovey end of their story.
Not all books are created equally and frankly, there is no need for them to be: if I only read 5-star reads, then reading would get very boring, very quickly. Reading is one of the most subjective experiences in the world, and while I wouldn’t necessarily pick up these titles again anytime soon, I do think that with the right reader, they could be 5-star reads.
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