I adored this book so much. The relationship between Nick and Andy is slow burn perfection, almost meditative in its deliberation. 

Nick is gruff and seemingly older than his years. But as you learn about his history as a queer man growing up in the 50s, his affect makes perfect sense and adds layers to his characterization. In contrast, Andy seems sheltered, scattered, and younger than he is, but learning about his lifetime of rejection puts everything in perspective.

What I appreciated the most was the clear tension between the life that Nick and Andy deserve to live, openly and without fear, and the narrow box in which society expects them to exist. It forces the reader to examine whether we've moved as far beyond that restriction as we like to think, and I know I was disappointed with my conclusion.

This is an achingly beautiful love story about two souls finding their missing parts in one another. I can't wait to sit with it again and again.

I completely underestimated this book!! It is an absolutely wonderful love story, the characters are complelling and lovable. Some parts are completely gut-wrenching, relatable, and hard-hitting. The character development is done extremely thoughtfully and intentionally. Happy queer people in history is a rare find, and absolutely worth a read. 

This book is amazing, I've already added it to my physical book wishlist!  

Sebastian's story is a beautiful narrative of love in a time of persecution, and queer joy and resilience. Nick and Andy are the friends-to-lovers we all want and I absolutely loved their story and characterizations. I also love the way bisexuality was handled in the book. 

Sebastian paints a great picture of late 1950s New York, the changes going on from shifting societal attitudes to gentrification and development. There's enough historical accuracy for it to be realistic with enough wish fulfillment to make it a great HEA to escape into. Like Nick, I'm always on the search for beautiful queer stories with those sweet happy endings. 

Featuring great ADHD and anxiety representation, awesome side characters, and an orange cat that lives up to the stereotype. 

10/10 would recommend. 

At this point, I'm going to have to read everything that Cat Sebastian has written and will write. She is so good at building delicious tension and creating beautiful slow-burn romances. I love Andy and Nick.
This work also encourages me to look into queer literature and works—I'll have to check out The Charioteer and "Revolt of the Homosexual" as mentioned in the book.

Ooh, this book gave me the warm fuzzies 🥰 I think Cat Sebastian might be one of my favorite queer romance authors now! 

This checked all the boxes of my romantic fiction requirements: diverse characters, characters being kind to one another, a good balance of external and internal conflict, open-door intimacy, just enough plot to keep things interesting without overshadowing character development, and an interesting setting that was present but also didn't overshadow the characters.

Usually I get impatient with slower burn romances; this one wasn't exactly slow burn because Nick and Andy definitely had desire for each other from the beginning. But something about it did seem a little slower - I think it was the way the internal plot developed. Their need to figure out where their relationship was going was present, but not so urgent that it got in the way of them enjoying each other. 

The little moments of domestic intimacy also really drew me in, and I think that's what made this story really special to me. It combined the excitement and hesitancy of new love with the familiarity of a couple who lives together comfortably (to which I can relate as someone in a very long term LTR).

Finally, I'm no history buff so I wasn't exactly fact checking every little thing, but it seemed evident that the author did their research for this. I felt very present in the time and place while reading. 

Yay for another 5 star read in 2024!