Narrated by: Tess Sharpe
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Age: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary – Romance
Format: Audiobook
Release Date: January 24th, 2023
Goodreads
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Oh, this was adorable. If you enjoy audiobooks, the narration for this was absolutely wonderful, and Sharpe does a great job with separating the voices of Penny and Tate. And as for Penny and Tate themselves, this was one of those books where I wished I could reach through and give both of them a big cwtch. They go through so much, and throughout it all they’re there for each other, even if they’re not really friends. They’re not enemies, either, or even rivals, but they bicker and wind each other up and often rely on each other, and both feel confused and unsure about those six times they come close to kissing one another.
Tate’s mom has been ill for a long time. Her mom is, in all fairness, pretty great, but there’s certain things Tate has had to take on to look after her. Penny’s mom is…I’ll get into that a bit later. But Penny’s mom becomes a living donor to Tate’s mom, who is waiting for a liver transplant, and the moms decide to combine households to help them through the recovery.
Penny and Tate come up with a truce to make things easier on their moms. But life isn’t always so simple.
Something I loved about this was how it didn’t shy away from the ugliness in these girls’ lives. Like I said above, they’re both dealing with a lot, and part of their growth as characters comes from learning they can rely on others. The scenes they’re in together are sweet, and there’s some really emotional moments throughout too.
There’s a particular part that is kind of brutal, related to Penny, and the way Tate reacts when she finds Penny at this point had me struggling to hold back tears. On top of this, it feels sometimes like Tate is the only person who not only sees everything Penny is going through, but sees it and is completely, totally on her side, definitely something Penny needs.
As for Penny’s mom…I hated her. I understood her, to a point, and Tess Sharpe does a brilliant job of showing how grief can really mess with someone, but by the end it felt like she got off kind of lightly, all things considered! (This is not a criticism, just my own feelings.) I felt for Penny so, so much, struggling to forge a connection with her mom when she really needed her, with her mother unwilling to meet her halfway, and even being exceptionally cruel to her.
This is definitely going on my recommended reads list – if you’re looking for a sweet, emotional sapphic romance, it’s one you’ll want to check out.
Reading Challenge
The Disney Reading Challenge
Prompt: The Little Mermaid – Kiss the Girl – a book with a kiss in the title
Progress: 11/40 Completed
Unwrapping Words 