you between the lines

A really intriguing and interesting setting- a prestigious MFA poetry workshop and our heroine Leigh is surprised that her high school crush Will is also included. Her parents have separated and his father has passed, each of them dealing with their changing families and grief. They are also somewhat rivals in that Leigh’s favorite poet is going to award a fellowship at the end of the first year. She still has feeling for him but thinks she is out of his league. Leigh would rather write poetry about pop culture references in a clever way than to get feedback on anything super personal.

I loved this book and most of its tropes, Leigh was insecure and a bit whiny. Absolutely loved the minor characters of the others in the MfA program. Hearing the dialogue of criticism from the other writers in the workshop was tough, this kind of environment can be kind of brutal to those of us that are sensitive to criticism. The conflict was mostly Leigh not feeling good enough. The book was pretty personal, and I would say it was a really special bonus that we were able to read wonderful poetry. The author does have an MFA in poetry. And I can say that I have read her truly wonderful poetry that she cleverly hid inside of a romcom. After 1600 book reviews, none of them have been for poetry, but about a third are romances. Well played. five stars to the poetry, four stars to the audiobook and the rest of the story.

While I didn’t love the Leigh voice, I loved the other voices and the conclusion. The narrator overall was well paced and engaging.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the ARC. Book to be published February 18, 2025.