Loved

Soundtrack: us. (Feat. Taylor Swift) – Gracie Abrams, Taylor Swift 

After seeing this book in my instagram stories twice in one week, I wanted to post about this raw, gritty and emotionally charged book. 

If you are seeking a romance with a bit (okay, a decent amount) of trauma, addiction/ recovery, and some compelling woman’s fiction vibes, this is it, friends. Williams’ writing takes us to summer in New York, gives us dual timelines in dual prospectives, and sucks the reader in fast! Eva and Shane are both writers who despite being in a small circle of uber-successful Black authors, have managed to avoid each other since their whirlwind fling as teenagers. Their intricate feelings toward their respective pasts and unresolved feelings collide in an incredibly written, page-turning book.

The longing in this book breaks your heart and keeps you on edge for its entirety: the electric current of longing for each other in the present, longing for their past to have ended differently, and longing to be in different places professionally. 

I love a book about book people, but wow, the writing here is heavy. There is so much depth, saddness and growth for both Eva and Shane. Williams does not shy away from putting her characters in the thick of it. I particularly enjoyed Eva’s relationship with her teenage daughter and the way chronic illness was itself a character. Just like the MCs, the secondary characters are nuanced, multi-dimensional and add to the emotional hold this book will have over you.

While this book may not be for everyone(check the TW), I was completely swept away. I am emabarassed to admit I haven’t picked up Love Song for Ricki Wilde yet because I have a feeling I will love it as well!