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K.J. Charles's Reviews > Thank You for Sharing
Thank You for Sharing
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Contemporary romance about a Black Jewish woman and a Korean Jewish man (both mixed race) reunited many years after a summer camp romance went wrong. This is, weirdly, the second US Jewish 'summer camp romance went wrong, characters still seething with resentment decades later' romance I have read. Is this a thing?
Liyah's summer camp resentment kicks off an 'enemies to lovers' framing that for me didn't quite fit the characters/situation. Liyah is prickly, defensive, and deeply scarred after a bad college experience (dealt with extremely well, both by Daniel and by the author.) But Daniel didn't do anything wrong at 13, and is now kind, courteous, loving, giving and generally contorts himself to make Liyah happy throughout, which means that Liyah's ongoing hostility kind of feels like it's for the sake of the trope, and makes her seem pretty unreasonable. (Props to the supportive best friend who actually calls her out eventually.) Daniel is a really lovely, vulnerable, caring hero, and Liyah has many moments of being a marvellous heroine, and there's a terrific and diverse supporting cast as well as the strong Jewish feel. I guess I'm saying the author could have trusted the characters to stand alone: they're strong enough.
A strong and enjoyable debut overall. Could have done without the casual 'you're Irish, your grandfather was in the IRA' comment (??), and the present tense added nothing for me to make up for its awkwardness, but it so rarely does.
Liyah's summer camp resentment kicks off an 'enemies to lovers' framing that for me didn't quite fit the characters/situation. Liyah is prickly, defensive, and deeply scarred after a bad college experience (dealt with extremely well, both by Daniel and by the author.) But Daniel didn't do anything wrong at 13, and is now kind, courteous, loving, giving and generally contorts himself to make Liyah happy throughout, which means that Liyah's ongoing hostility kind of feels like it's for the sake of the trope, and makes her seem pretty unreasonable. (Props to the supportive best friend who actually calls her out eventually.) Daniel is a really lovely, vulnerable, caring hero, and Liyah has many moments of being a marvellous heroine, and there's a terrific and diverse supporting cast as well as the strong Jewish feel. I guess I'm saying the author could have trusted the characters to stand alone: they're strong enough.
A strong and enjoyable debut overall. Could have done without the casual 'you're Irish, your grandfather was in the IRA' comment (??), and the present tense added nothing for me to make up for its awkwardness, but it so rarely does.
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Reading Progress
February 1, 2024
– Shelved
February 1, 2024
– Shelved as:
to-read
Started Reading
February 13, 2024
– Shelved as:
american
February 13, 2024
– Shelved as:
contemporary
February 13, 2024
– Shelved as:
m-f
February 13, 2024
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-4 of 4 (4 new)
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E.H.
(new)
Feb 13, 2024 09:36AM
I once met a guy who was doing his MA (at Brandeis) on Jewish summer camps and social networks. Personally I never talked to anyone I went to camp with again, but I know for a lot of other Jews, it's a thing.
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Sorry, in retrospect that sounds weird. "At Brandeis" isn't a flex, it's just, like, a Jewish university here. I didn't go there, I've never been to Massachusetts.
E.H. wrote: "I once met a guy who was doing his MA (at Brandeis) on Jewish summer camps and social networks. Personally I never talked to anyone I went to camp with again, but I know for a lot of other Jews, it..."Thanks! Once again, I learn something new via romance novels.
“Jewish summer camp” deserves its own trope! 😍 After the big wave of Eastern European Jewish immigration in America, they were created to “get out of the city” and to push back against assimilation. It’s so deeply rooted in American Ashkenazi Jewish culture. For me, it was a place to meet friends who got me. So of course, my kids go too.
