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A review by stephdaydreams
Let's Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan
4.0
Upon finishing Let's Call a Truce I immediately headed to Amy Bunchanan's profile because I wanted to dive into her other works, so imagine my surprise when I find out she's a debut author! I'm even more impressed by this work knowing it's an author's debut. It was such a fulfilling, heart-racing journey from start to end.
At its center is the rivals-to-lovers romance between our leads Juliana and Ben. Ben gets off on the wrong foot with Juliana who doesn't forget it for the next two years. Yet it's less a build of up animosity that follows, and more of a build up of secret mutual attraction via a push-and-pull. They play off each other brilliantly and underneath their biting words there is always a smile sneaking its way to the surface. They enjoy each other, but there is also a lot of individual history that holds them back from pursuing more at different points in the story. I thought each hurdle was appropriately placed and paced. This wasn't just a fluffy love story, this was a love story dealing with grief and its acceptance; a love story dealing with fear and its confrontation. There is so much heart to tend to, and the narrative does it quite beautifully.
I admit I felt frustrated at times in the first half by Juliana constantly shutting Ben out, but I also came to love her dearly. When her friend rightly calls out Juliana's behavior, I found myself wanting to go to her defense even though I had the same thoughts as the friend, haha! But it just goes to show even with my annoyance, I also came to fall in love with Juliana and I embraced her, flaws and all. By the second half, it was Ben who took a bit of my scorn, but he never lost my love either. I understood them both even as I became frustrated by certain choices. Bunchanan did a phenomenal job in allowing our leads to make mistakes, to be vulnerable, to be human-- while ensuring these characters are ones we never stop cheering on. These are characters we want to see find a happily ever after with one another.
I left this one with a full heart and a grand ol' smile. And I most certainly will be making my way to bookshop on release day and grabbing me a copy!
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this complimentary copy, I leave this honest review voluntarily.
At its center is the rivals-to-lovers romance between our leads Juliana and Ben. Ben gets off on the wrong foot with Juliana who doesn't forget it for the next two years. Yet it's less a build of up animosity that follows, and more of a build up of secret mutual attraction via a push-and-pull. They play off each other brilliantly and underneath their biting words there is always a smile sneaking its way to the surface. They enjoy each other, but there is also a lot of individual history that holds them back from pursuing more at different points in the story. I thought each hurdle was appropriately placed and paced. This wasn't just a fluffy love story, this was a love story dealing with grief and its acceptance; a love story dealing with fear and its confrontation. There is so much heart to tend to, and the narrative does it quite beautifully.
I admit I felt frustrated at times in the first half by Juliana constantly shutting Ben out, but I also came to love her dearly. When her friend rightly calls out Juliana's behavior, I found myself wanting to go to her defense even though I had the same thoughts as the friend, haha! But it just goes to show even with my annoyance, I also came to fall in love with Juliana and I embraced her, flaws and all. By the second half, it was Ben who took a bit of my scorn, but he never lost my love either. I understood them both even as I became frustrated by certain choices. Bunchanan did a phenomenal job in allowing our leads to make mistakes, to be vulnerable, to be human-- while ensuring these characters are ones we never stop cheering on. These are characters we want to see find a happily ever after with one another.
I left this one with a full heart and a grand ol' smile. And I most certainly will be making my way to bookshop on release day and grabbing me a copy!
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this complimentary copy, I leave this honest review voluntarily.