New York City – Enby Yourself

Title: Emma of 83rd Street

Author: Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding

Year: 2023

Genre: romance

Queer shit: a bisexual in passing

Vibe Check: Modern day Manhattan retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma, cute, spicy, empowering.

Pile of Opinions: This one is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma in modern day Manhattan. The classic age gap between the lead and her love interest (he remembers her being born, etc.) is a weird trope for me but at least the characters in this book directly address it (“suddenly she’s a woman and not a little girl, when did that happen” type of energy) so I’ll allow it. They grew up together and he is a total ass to her. I’m grateful she does humble him! A lot of times once love is confessed it just goes unaddressed so I’m glad the author makes sure to show that Emma is infinitely smarter than Knightley no matter how much older he is or how much more mature he thinks he is. He’s kind of a tool. He holds her to a higher standard than anyone else and is so mean about her humanness. He better spend his life trying to earn her attention haha I know he is like weird protective big brother energy until he realizes he loves her but also that’s sort of toxic and he’s a mean big brother who bullies her several times because he’s immature and has zero emotional regulation apparently. Overall I love this retelling! It does get spicy (heyo!)! This is great for Austen fans, romance genre readers, and anyone looking for a story of a young woman finally seeing she is everything she needs to be and has accomplished great things and only needs to keep doing what she knows is best for her.

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Title: The Name Drop

Author: Susan Lee

Year: 2023

Genre: Coming of age, family expectations, economic class,

Queer shit: not that I remember

Vibe Check: Wealthy Elijah and lower middle class Jessica accidentally swap lives for the summer and decide to not correct it, sweet and funny romance and exploration of breaking free from family expectations and building your own future

Pile of Opinions: A mix-up with names at the airport leads to a summer of opportunities. Elijah and Jessica decide to take advantage of the airport’s mix up and swap jobs for the summer. Elijah, set to spend the summer in New York at his fathers company, decides to go incognito and live the summer as a regular intern and leave the executive training program to Jessica. Elijah is from a 1% family in Korea and Jessica from a middle class family in Southern California, the two get to explore New York City together and realize they enjoy spending time together. This is a beautiful coming of age story about breaking free from toxic family values and learning who supports you in living the life you want and finding happiness. This book also tackles class and financial privilege, misogynistic companies too set in their old ways, as well as complex family dynamics. This book is for romance readers, YA readers, and anyone who wants to read about someone else’s family drama for a few hundred pages. This is my first read of Susan Lee’s and I’m looking forward to jumping right into Seoulmates asap. Let me know if you’ve read this one and what you think in the comments.

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