Finding Gene Kelly eARC Review
Pals, I am so stinking excited to be here sharing my early (and emotional) review of Torie Jean’s contemporary romance Finding Gene Kelly. This book has got me DEEP in my feeling y’all and gosh is my heart so full after reading this own voices romance full of endometriosis rep! I feel so seen right now, my god.
Huge thanks to Torie for the arc, thoughts below are my own, enjoy!
Told through Evie’s single POV, this is a chronic pain, reproductive health rep, childhood “it’s always been you” type romance that just kicked the ever-loving-sh*t out of my heart. Evie is a 27 year old baker living in Paris and doing her best to manage her endo, to varying degrees of success. She’s always wanted to open her own bakery, but is kind of just existing through flare ups. She pretty quickly reunites with her childhood husband (lol read the book this will make sense), and runs face first into a pole. At this point I was INVESTED.
There’s some animosity between Evie and Liam, mostly on Evie’s side, she’s been harbouring some major resentment toward Liam since high-school. It’s pretty apparent (in the best way) that Liam has is BAD for our gal Evie and my hope early was that Ms Jean wouldn’t torture us all too much as these two figure out how meant to be they are for each other.
The humour (the accidental emergency bread text Liam gets), references (laughed obnoxiously hard at the poison for Kuzco one), and setting (oh bonjour Paris) just made my heart SING the entire time I read this book. But what resonated beyond the writing, was that my own reproductive disease experiences were being read back to me the entire book, set against so many perceptions and ableist mindsets I have to work everyday to overcome. I identified with so many things Evie was experiencing, and wow did I get emotional, a lot.
And our man Liam, just loves the ever loving sh*t out of Evie. Sees her as more than her disease (and isn’t trying to force feed her yoga and meditation as fixes), and is trying to keep his promise to her nana that he will always take care of her (I mean hello who is cutting onions). The romance was gooey, swoony, and even though at times the realities of this disease make intimacy challenging, was approached with care and kindness.
Not to be outdone, the spectre of nana’s love of Gene Kelly and getting glimpses into her unique relationships with both Liam and Evie just hit me in the soft parts. And when Liam shows up for their date in his sweater-vest, I just about hobbled to my fainting chaise to really make a statement.
Listen, I laughed, I dreamily sighed, I ugly cried, I felt so f*cking seen. This book truly does it all. Finding Gene Kelly is a romance I will be eager to return to when my heart needs a hug and when my disease sometimes feels a little overwhelming. I am so thankful to have received this ARC from Torie and can’t wait for folks to get their hands on this heart first romance that is gonna be a cathartic read for the endo community. Grab your copy when it hits shelves and lands online September 20th 2022.