How to Excavate a Heart

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My other issue is that this was promoted as an enemies to lovers, romcom. I’m a big fan of the enemies to lovers trope. I love when there is dislike to even hate energy between two characters that can produce its own type of chemistry that when done well makes a great love chemistry. Unfortunately, here this was not a case of enemies, it was not even really a case of dislike. I don’t want to ruin how the characters meet, as it is interesting and I liked it, but it’s not a case of bad blood, just oddity and fate playing around. There are no enemies to lovers in this romcom and I hate to say this, but this isn’t really a romcom either. Just because a romance is cute and mostly feel good, does not a romcom make. I feel like people slap this label on everything nowadays, but the “com” part actually means “comedy” and I’m sorry, but I did not laugh once during this book so where is the comedy part? It was cute and sweet, but that means it is a “holiday romance” not an “enemies to lovers romcom”. Throughout the book, the author also delves into many complex relationships. We see Shani’s interactions with her mom, who she fights with but still loves, with her ex, who left her with lingering trauma in the aftermath of their breakup, and with May, as their relationship develops and they learn to communicate. These dynamics reveal more of Shani’s personality and bring even more complexity to the story. ❀ Diverse Holiday Read It also contained instances of (past) sexual assault and a controlling/abusive relationship, and that was one of the things that were well done. Actually, pathetic doesn’t even begin to describe Shani. The reason she is not with her mother for the holiday season (which a major point of conflict throughout the book) is because she is so desperate to follow through on her internship. The book tells us again and again that Shani is ultra, super passionate about palaeontology. That being said, the moment her romance with May begins to develop, Shani stops caring about her internship. It gets so bad and she becomes so distracted by this fledgling romance that throws priceless, scientifically ground-breaking fossils in the bin.

Full disclosure, close to the end there was a triggering part so I skimmed past that. I had recently read RUMOR GAMES and had to DNF close to the end for a similar reason and just didn't want to do it again. So do be aware of trigger warnings before going into this (the author also provides trigger warnings.) Thank you to Kismet Books for the arc! If you’re a book lover in Wisconsin, pop over to Verona to give them a visit! My last straw was when she's thinking "I should confess this thing to May. This is the time to confess my thing. It's going to be bad if this thing comes out later, I should tell her." And she doesn't ever tell her the thing. At that point, I'm all "why am I bothering with this person who can't make a good choice to save her life?" Every time a thing is hard, she blows it. Morality is about when it's hard. The things you'd do anyway? Those aren't to your credit. And Shani never once passed that test. oh my goodness, such cozy warmth! this book has a perfect heartbreaky romancey holiday flavor, lots of funny cuteness, and plenty of deep coming-of-age stuff. Shani Levine has just been dumped when her winter break starts and she is about to begin her month-long internship at the Smithsonian. She’s decided to keep her head down and concentrate on her internship when she quite literally runs into May. She meets May again when she takes a dog-walking gig and May happens to be the dog owner’s daughter. The two have a strong dislike for one another but it isn’t long before their feelings start to change.Frankly, Shani is one of the worst —if not The Worst— protagonists I’ve ever had the misfortune of reading about. Not only is this girl utterly foul to her mother, she’s incredibly selfish, small-minded and pathetic. Add that to the fact that I did not care for May's character at all. She seems rude and insulting to Shani and apparently to everyone else. Her relationship with her dad is sort of magically fast-forward resolved and the conflicts seem a bit artificial because literally all that is needed is communication of any kind. The primary character arc as I saw it was about Shani learning to be her own person, independent of a best friend or girlfriend, but this is glossed over in the resolution as well so I'm not sure what the takeaway was.

This is my second middle grade novel, and the first one with chronically ill characters. The entire main cast is both queer and chronically ill (they all have IBD). I was diagnosed with Crohn's when I was the same age as Al, our protagonist. I didn't have other people to talk to about my disease, and it felt embarrassing to have a chronic illness based almost entirely around the toilet.Kelly Quindlen meets Casey McQuiston in this sapphic Jewish twist on the classic Christmas enemies-to-lovers rom-com, as college freshman Shani’s internship is interrupted by a whirlwind winter fling.

this is arlow's debut, and i think they nailed it. it's YA in a wholesome way that made me root for shani's growth, rather than be annoyed by her immaturity. the drama is balanced with witty chapter titles, funny banter, corgi cuteness, facts about fish, and more. i love the side characters, especially hilarious and often-inappropriate elderly beatrice, cool queer mentor mandira, shani's sweet rejected-yet-relaiable mom, and dopey pup raphael.

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Another thing that was well done was showcasing two very messy, very stereotypical (and self-aware of it) lesbian teens in all their messy, immature glory. As this is YA, I do want to bring attention to the trigger warning. It’s there for sexual assault so beware of that before reading this. There are several side characters from Beatrice, the 96-year-old, that Shani is staying with to Taylor, Shani’s best friend. They helped with bringing other parts of Shani’s personality out that wasn’t always shown with her inner dialogue’s. Raphael, the corgi Shani dog walks, was a very pleasant bonus. As a dog lover, I thought his scenes added to the light-heartedness to the story.

I love it for being a sapphic Jewish holiday romance, but the actual execution was middling to low. Stars. This was a very cute holiday romance, but it wasn’t what I was expecting to read. I’ll go into the whys more but overall; I still thought the story was very sweet and cute and I enjoyed the read for the most part. The holidays don’t play as big of a role as I expected, and in the book the characters celebrate New Years so reading the book now, as of writing this review, would fit perfectly. This is my second middle grade novel, and the first one with chronically ill characters. The entire main cast is both queer and chronically ill (they all have IBD). I was diagnosed with Crohn's when I w Keep your friends close and the bathroom closer.How to Excavate a Heart” by Jake Maia Arlow is a super sweet enemies-to-lovers rom-com set around the winter holidays.