DNF 33%

Jesus Christ this book is just back to back scenes of out FMC almost drowning, getting stabbed, and experiencing sexual assault/rape threats. It’s just unpleasant, especially when the description gave the vibe that I’d get something more on par with Pride and Prejudice in Pittsburgh. When I’m reading a queer regency romance I personally don’t wanna read about a woman being assaulted.

This series is just perfectly middling. I think if you enjoy something like Heartstopper but want a light fantasy element then you'd have a lot of fun with this. Now that I'm three books in I've realized that the stakes are just a bit too low for me and our leads act far too young. I also think this series is suffering from being a serialized story that was adapted. When you're just releasing a story page by page online sometimes we end up with a whole book where not much happens. It's hard as an artist to have tight story beats when on a release schedule, but I highly recommend that people go to the Ngozi school of webcomics. Check Please has a really solid discrete structure and when it was adapted into a physical book it worked really well. Castle Swimmer isn't fanfiction, but I think that Dan Olson does a really great job outlining some of the pitfalls that can come with serialized fiction like fanfic in his 50 Shades of Gray youtube video. I just get a vibe that this story is kinda puttering on unsure of how or when it will get to it's conclusion.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

🌟3.5 Stars🌟 I will always enjoy Bellefleur's writing, it's got just enough quirk to be fun but not so much that it gets on my nerves. The dynamic between our leads was also really compelling. I love a no-nonsense hot lesbian and we desperately need more in romance novels. I will say, I was pretty confused by the whole set up for how Poppy and Rosaline start hooking up. It just didn't compute, especially the whole no kissing thing which basically disappeared after two sex scenes. I'm very much in Heated Rivalry brainrot mode, but I think the lust to love structure where the story ends in committing to a relationship together would have worked better for this book.

The set up of the romance was a bit wonky, but what kept this from being a more enjoyable read was the b-plot. I'll be honest I just couldn't be bothered to care, especially when it was basically telegraphed the moment we met the evil ex. We also had to jump through so many hoops to resolve the deepfake plotline when there was a very simple solution. The video has two people in it, so why did we never talk to the girl and get her side of the story?

I will say it's quite interesting to compare this book to When I Picture You, the other Swift inspired sapphic romance from this year. When I Picture You makes intentional choices with the portrayal of it's Swift character that read as a critique. Bellefleur's take on Swift felt more inspired by the Swift/Kelce romance and the general concept of stardom. So if you picked up When I Picture You and felt weird about how Swift inspired it was, then I think you'll enjoy this more.

I also wanna be super up front and say that I am not a Swiftie, so all the b-plot stuff doesn't really do it for me. I've enjoyed some of her work previously, but in the past few years Swift's lack of a political backbone has put a bad taste in my mouth. As a result, I'm sure that there is an element of my annoyance towards Swift that manifested in my lack of interest in the B-plot.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Everything about this is just so well constructed. The societal commentary about forced birth feels sadly poignant. There’s something so visceral about having a queer body hijacked and forced to perform a function that is so tied to cis hetero patriarchy. The voice in the writing feels so unique and lived in. As a neurotypical reader I feel like this book gave me a window into how brains different than mine work. Overall a great book, but my brain will need a break from Andrew Joseph White for a bit. Give me a year to recalibrate and I’ll give one of the YA books a shot.

Also I normally try and put content warnings in my reviews, but I’ll be real with you there’s so much stuff going on that you should just check the author’s website.

There are some really interesting concepts going on here I just think it would need to be built out into a full novel to really work. I was intrigued by the romance being developed but we just didn’t have enough time with these two. I’ve read two of Caitlin’s novellas and one of her novels and I think she’s at her best when she has time to build. This is a very nice speedy palate cleanser if you need a book to try and break a reading funk.

CW: miscarriage on page