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Best Woman
Julia’s beloved younger brother is getting married, meaning she has to leave her hard-won New York City life behind for a week, and trade drag brunches for the strip malls and golf courses of Florida.
Since coming out as a trans woman a few years ago, her family have been supportive – seamlessly (well, almost) getting the hang of her new pronouns. But wedding-induced pressures – including an uptight bride-to-be and her vicious cronies, a hometown hookup buddy who Julia can’t seem to resist, and tricky dynamics with her divorced parents – force Julia to confront the complications that have been bubbling underneath the surface of her closest relationships, all while she tries to fulfill her sisterly duties as Best Woman.
To top it all off: Kim Cameron is the maid of honor. Kim – the gorgeous, self-assured girl that Julia had crushed on hard back in high school. When the two women reconnect ahead of the wedding festivities, Julia is so overwhelmed she tells a teeny tiny little lie in order to gain Kim’s sympathy – a lie that quickly snowballs out of control and threatens to undermine the blossoming attraction between them. As Julia and Kim grow closer, finding solace in each other amidst a sea of Floridian wedding guests, Julia struggles to distinguish between truth and lies, questions the intentions of those she thought she knew, and must ask herself: what does she deserve, and what is she willing to do to get it? And more importantly… what does she deserve from herself?
Since coming out as a trans woman a few years ago, her family have been supportive – seamlessly (well, almost) getting the hang of her new pronouns. But wedding-induced pressures – including an uptight bride-to-be and her vicious cronies, a hometown hookup buddy who Julia can’t seem to resist, and tricky dynamics with her divorced parents – force Julia to confront the complications that have been bubbling underneath the surface of her closest relationships, all while she tries to fulfill her sisterly duties as Best Woman.
To top it all off: Kim Cameron is the maid of honor. Kim – the gorgeous, self-assured girl that Julia had crushed on hard back in high school. When the two women reconnect ahead of the wedding festivities, Julia is so overwhelmed she tells a teeny tiny little lie in order to gain Kim’s sympathy – a lie that quickly snowballs out of control and threatens to undermine the blossoming attraction between them. As Julia and Kim grow closer, finding solace in each other amidst a sea of Floridian wedding guests, Julia struggles to distinguish between truth and lies, questions the intentions of those she thought she knew, and must ask herself: what does she deserve, and what is she willing to do to get it? And more importantly… what does she deserve from herself?
304 pages, Paperback
First published September 23, 2025
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11602 people want to read
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October 22, 2025
I was conflicted throughout my read of this novel, and am now similarly conflicted trying to rate and review it. I would have DNF’d this somewhere in the first third (really thought about it) if it wasn’t for my general dislike for doing that (you never know when it might redeem itself!) and the fact that this was an ARC. This rating works for me, but I don’t know if others will feel the same. This isn’t a novel where I can easily say that its objectively bad (like some unedited messes full of plot holes) but instead its one where I didn’t like a lot of the choices that were made. The writing was well done, which is why it isn’t 1-star, and other readers experiences may vary. I will absolutely be interested in reading other novels by this author because it is clear they have talent.
Possible Spoiler (although its teased in the blurb and happens immediately): My main issue(s) with this novel probably stem from the central premise/conflict which is that the protagonist pretends/lies about their family being highly transphobic (they are not) in order to trick protagonist #2 into feeling sorry for them (preying on what they know are her own family issues), with the goal of sleeping with her. Lots of novels revolve around lies and deception and its often fine (although not my favorite) however something about faking being the victim of transphobia for sympathy and sex just didn’t sit right with me given the current state of things in the world. I see SO many people out there claiming transphobia isn’t an issue and that trans people are exaggerating their struggles, and I feel like this is the type of thing that will feed into that viewpoint. Is someone lying about made-up transphobic discrimination really the representation that trans people need right now? That’s an actual question, feel free to tell me that my opinion is wrong as I might be missing something.
I also recognize that I am not trans, so maybe it’s not my place to judge these things.
Anyways, here are some other bullet-point thoughts and issues I had:
-Julia, the MC, was rather well done. If I am focusing on the character specifically and not everything else in the story. I thought they were well written and genuine; you could feel their conflicts and struggles. This novel did a great job of highlighting a lot of the struggles trans people have to deal with, large and small.
-Some of the scenes with her family and the family dynamics explored were well done. I ended up liking the dad a lot more than I expected; their relationship was complicated and less than ideal but in a way that felt very authentic.
-Regarding the “romance” and deception: we never really get a resolution to this plotline either which annoys me. The novel ends very open-ended at a point that feels somewhat arbitrary to me. I’m not sure what the main plot/point of this novel was supposed to be.
-The lack of consequences for the rather nasty lies and manipulation was disappointing and underwhelming (contributing to a weak ending). The protagonist also kind of blames the other character for “being willing to believe the lies” and decides they are both at fault. Like… no. “You shouldn’t be so quick and willing to believe a trans person when they tell you they face discrimination” is an awful moral for the novel to end with, yet almost exactly what is said.
-The narrator (author?) seemed to really hate all cis/straight people. I entirely understand having issues with cis/straight people, but this felt like an entirely different level of animosity that permeated the entire novel.
-The narrator/author also seemed to explicitly dislike ally’s (or at least the term?) which was a strange choice.
-At least 3-4 Harry Potter references in a book about trans people written in 2025? Really?
-The author leaned HARD into a lot of stereotypes that just felt strange, or in some cases problematic. The narrator was SHOCKED and unsettled that a straight person had heard of Lana Del Rey (the incredibly popular mainstream artist). A straight woman being dominant in the bedroom was ONLY able to be explained due to a lot of contact with queer people and how they defy heterosexual gender-norms. Etc.
-It was explicitly discussed a few times how monogamy is just a straight people thing, whereas queer people all sleep around constantly. Straight people don’t/can’t understand the dynamics of non-monogamy, and queer people are not concerned with it. This just oozed “problematic stereotype” to me.
-Queer people are also all on drugs, all the time. We are talking poppers, meth, ketamine, cocaine, etc.
-Did we need the obligatory scene where a service worker gets chewed out, in a big dramatic display, for misgendering the protagonist? Particularly as the protagonist explicitly thinks that it was clearly an accident and they were not upset?
-I disliked the narrator and all of her friends, which was unfortunate as I think we were supposed to like them. They were all awful people. There WERE some nice moments regarding the relationships between them though so, mixed results.
-I can’t think of the last time a novel had so many references that I had to Google. Lots were not important, but it might not be a good idea for the author to date their novel with so many pop culture references. This is a small detail but I’m already making a list, hah.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ARC. This honest review was left voluntarily.
Possible Spoiler (although its teased in the blurb and happens immediately): My main issue(s) with this novel probably stem from the central premise/conflict which is that the protagonist pretends/lies about their family being highly transphobic (they are not) in order to trick protagonist #2 into feeling sorry for them (preying on what they know are her own family issues), with the goal of sleeping with her. Lots of novels revolve around lies and deception and its often fine (although not my favorite) however something about faking being the victim of transphobia for sympathy and sex just didn’t sit right with me given the current state of things in the world. I see SO many people out there claiming transphobia isn’t an issue and that trans people are exaggerating their struggles, and I feel like this is the type of thing that will feed into that viewpoint. Is someone lying about made-up transphobic discrimination really the representation that trans people need right now? That’s an actual question, feel free to tell me that my opinion is wrong as I might be missing something.
I also recognize that I am not trans, so maybe it’s not my place to judge these things.
Anyways, here are some other bullet-point thoughts and issues I had:
-Julia, the MC, was rather well done. If I am focusing on the character specifically and not everything else in the story. I thought they were well written and genuine; you could feel their conflicts and struggles. This novel did a great job of highlighting a lot of the struggles trans people have to deal with, large and small.
-Some of the scenes with her family and the family dynamics explored were well done. I ended up liking the dad a lot more than I expected; their relationship was complicated and less than ideal but in a way that felt very authentic.
-Regarding the “romance” and deception: we never really get a resolution to this plotline either which annoys me. The novel ends very open-ended at a point that feels somewhat arbitrary to me. I’m not sure what the main plot/point of this novel was supposed to be.
-The lack of consequences for the rather nasty lies and manipulation was disappointing and underwhelming (contributing to a weak ending). The protagonist also kind of blames the other character for “being willing to believe the lies” and decides they are both at fault. Like… no. “You shouldn’t be so quick and willing to believe a trans person when they tell you they face discrimination” is an awful moral for the novel to end with, yet almost exactly what is said.
-The narrator (author?) seemed to really hate all cis/straight people. I entirely understand having issues with cis/straight people, but this felt like an entirely different level of animosity that permeated the entire novel.
-The narrator/author also seemed to explicitly dislike ally’s (or at least the term?) which was a strange choice.
-At least 3-4 Harry Potter references in a book about trans people written in 2025? Really?
-The author leaned HARD into a lot of stereotypes that just felt strange, or in some cases problematic. The narrator was SHOCKED and unsettled that a straight person had heard of Lana Del Rey (the incredibly popular mainstream artist). A straight woman being dominant in the bedroom was ONLY able to be explained due to a lot of contact with queer people and how they defy heterosexual gender-norms. Etc.
-It was explicitly discussed a few times how monogamy is just a straight people thing, whereas queer people all sleep around constantly. Straight people don’t/can’t understand the dynamics of non-monogamy, and queer people are not concerned with it. This just oozed “problematic stereotype” to me.
-Queer people are also all on drugs, all the time. We are talking poppers, meth, ketamine, cocaine, etc.
-Did we need the obligatory scene where a service worker gets chewed out, in a big dramatic display, for misgendering the protagonist? Particularly as the protagonist explicitly thinks that it was clearly an accident and they were not upset?
-I disliked the narrator and all of her friends, which was unfortunate as I think we were supposed to like them. They were all awful people. There WERE some nice moments regarding the relationships between them though so, mixed results.
-I can’t think of the last time a novel had so many references that I had to Google. Lots were not important, but it might not be a good idea for the author to date their novel with so many pop culture references. This is a small detail but I’m already making a list, hah.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ARC. This honest review was left voluntarily.
August 14, 2025
All and any stars are for the excellent style of writing.
I have been highly anticipating this book for a few reasons, the primary one being a trans woman main character.
When I started reading I loved the style of writing - funny, quirky, well-written. Then I was extremely disappointed that YET ANOTHER book about a white trans person includes a scene about going after an underpaid service worker about pronouns. Literally no one does this in real life unless you have zero class solidarity. And then Imagine my surprise when I found not one - not two - but three? Or four? Harry Potter references - in a book ABOUT A TRANS PERSON.
Not only that, but the entire premise is about a white woman lying to a Black lesbian to manipulate her into liking her. And then she kind of semi blames her!??! WTF!!!
God. I wish I could unread this book.
I have been highly anticipating this book for a few reasons, the primary one being a trans woman main character.
When I started reading I loved the style of writing - funny, quirky, well-written. Then I was extremely disappointed that YET ANOTHER book about a white trans person includes a scene about going after an underpaid service worker about pronouns. Literally no one does this in real life unless you have zero class solidarity. And then Imagine my surprise when I found not one - not two - but three? Or four? Harry Potter references - in a book ABOUT A TRANS PERSON.
Not only that, but the entire premise is about a white woman lying to a Black lesbian to manipulate her into liking her. And then she kind of semi blames her!??! WTF!!!
God. I wish I could unread this book.
September 25, 2025
I support trans rights and trans wrongs
OK, with some levity out of the way, I want to talk about some of the early ratings on this book; if you look at the front of goodreads page for this book as of this writing, it feels like the majority of reviews are low rated and with the disclaimer along the lines of “I’m not trans but….” And I’d like to say that I think a lot of these reviewers seriously need to check some transmisogyny.
Yes, Julia tells a lie as a plot device, but how many romance novels have we read where a lie is the driver of conflict? Any fake dating romance for example, especially where one person falls for a different family member. But it’s particularly evil here because it’s a trans woman who does it? Sure. Ok. Also, the book makes it very clear Julia is wrong and knows it!
As a trans woman myself, I found Julia’s actions entirely believable. Not because I’ve lied about transphobia I’ve faced, but because it’s something anyone can tell a white lie about while trying to impress someone, and having that snowball out of proportion! As romance readers people hurt each other all the time and come back together—and that’s one of the appeals!
Also to mention the restaurant scene several people commented on, I think cis people don’t realize how it is a regular occurrence to be (quickly if unintentionally) misgendered by a service worker, how embarrassing it is to stick up for yourself and how rare it is for someone else (especially a cis person) to say something on your behalf. And that’s what I interpreted the scene as—not Julia being uncomfortable that Kim spoke up for her but that she felt on the spot and surprised yet grateful that Kim supported her. I know I would have appreciated it.
And I’m probably just screaming into the void because I don’t post on GR enough for its algorithm to really boost my reviews anymore, but I had to get some thoughts out.
Also, for what it’s worth a lot of early reviews mentioned Harry Potter references, and in my published version I think they have been taken out.
This book has a lot of really interesting things to say about trans experience, trans romance, how families of trans people interact, and even a sex scene with a trans woman who hasn’t had surgery. It was also very funny! I loved so much about it.
It’s also not perfect, I wish there were more scenes of Julia and Kim together developing feelings for each other. I loved Aiden and wish he was in the book more. But I still really enjoyed the book and really don’t like how a lot of cis reviewers are taking it in early.
I’d probably give it a 4/5 but it’s getting a 5/5 for balancing ratings sake.
OK, with some levity out of the way, I want to talk about some of the early ratings on this book; if you look at the front of goodreads page for this book as of this writing, it feels like the majority of reviews are low rated and with the disclaimer along the lines of “I’m not trans but….” And I’d like to say that I think a lot of these reviewers seriously need to check some transmisogyny.
Yes, Julia tells a lie as a plot device, but how many romance novels have we read where a lie is the driver of conflict? Any fake dating romance for example, especially where one person falls for a different family member. But it’s particularly evil here because it’s a trans woman who does it? Sure. Ok. Also, the book makes it very clear Julia is wrong and knows it!
As a trans woman myself, I found Julia’s actions entirely believable. Not because I’ve lied about transphobia I’ve faced, but because it’s something anyone can tell a white lie about while trying to impress someone, and having that snowball out of proportion! As romance readers people hurt each other all the time and come back together—and that’s one of the appeals!
Also to mention the restaurant scene several people commented on, I think cis people don’t realize how it is a regular occurrence to be (quickly if unintentionally) misgendered by a service worker, how embarrassing it is to stick up for yourself and how rare it is for someone else (especially a cis person) to say something on your behalf. And that’s what I interpreted the scene as—not Julia being uncomfortable that Kim spoke up for her but that she felt on the spot and surprised yet grateful that Kim supported her. I know I would have appreciated it.
And I’m probably just screaming into the void because I don’t post on GR enough for its algorithm to really boost my reviews anymore, but I had to get some thoughts out.
Also, for what it’s worth a lot of early reviews mentioned Harry Potter references, and in my published version I think they have been taken out.
This book has a lot of really interesting things to say about trans experience, trans romance, how families of trans people interact, and even a sex scene with a trans woman who hasn’t had surgery. It was also very funny! I loved so much about it.
It’s also not perfect, I wish there were more scenes of Julia and Kim together developing feelings for each other. I loved Aiden and wish he was in the book more. But I still really enjoyed the book and really don’t like how a lot of cis reviewers are taking it in early.
I’d probably give it a 4/5 but it’s getting a 5/5 for balancing ratings sake.
July 9, 2025
I’ve followed Rose for YEARS on Twitter/X and was honored when she asked if I’d like to receive an early copy of her debut novel.
Best Woman follows Julia, a trans woman who came out a few years back and has been summoned to Boca Raton for her brother’s wedding. I love wedding stories because they invoke the best and worst of human behavior, while also imbuing the most minor interactions with the weight of pageantry. I loved the way Rose wrote about the family dynamics here: Julia’s family is hilariously rendered (her mom is incredible), her relationship with her brother and father is sweet without being saccharine, and her romance with her school crush is spicy and intriguing.
This is a beautiful story of family, found family, queerness, a celebration of malls, Boca, and love in all its forms.
Review also up on Instagram and TikTok.
Best Woman follows Julia, a trans woman who came out a few years back and has been summoned to Boca Raton for her brother’s wedding. I love wedding stories because they invoke the best and worst of human behavior, while also imbuing the most minor interactions with the weight of pageantry. I loved the way Rose wrote about the family dynamics here: Julia’s family is hilariously rendered (her mom is incredible), her relationship with her brother and father is sweet without being saccharine, and her romance with her school crush is spicy and intriguing.
This is a beautiful story of family, found family, queerness, a celebration of malls, Boca, and love in all its forms.
Review also up on Instagram and TikTok.
September 26, 2025
I have to admit, I was thrown off by the meet-cute (which involves a real whopper of a lie!) and wary for a long time. But Best Woman won me over in the end. Sure, Julia throws up more red flags than a Communist Party parade. And Kim—well, one of those red flags is that we never really learn that much about Kim, because Julia’s telling the story, and she’s too caught up in her own shit to really see her. As I crossed the two-thirds mark, I was thinking it was a great novel but not such a great romance novel, that probably Kim should bow out, and that maybe I should adjust my own expectations, too. And maybe part of what happened was that I did adjust my expectations. But also the book felt truer and truer, and as Julia dug her hole (we humans do have an inclination towards hole digging!), and events spun towards inevitable catharsis, I slipped more fully into Julia’s joy and angst and fear and love, and found myself on a wonderful shitty shitty wonderful adventure, which I guess is inevitable when you’re in Florida or New York City or God forbid both.
July 2, 2025
2.5 stars
Thank you NetGalley for gifting me this book in exchange for an honest review.
Maybe I’m just not a big romcom fan, but “Best Woman” just didn’t really do it for me.
Positives: I’m not trans myself so I can’t speak to the accuracy of the trans representation, but this book is a celebration of trans joy and explores trans themes that I rarely see represented in other queer books I’ve enjoyed. I also felt that Julia was a well-written and rounded character with quirks and flaws that made her all the more interesting. I also liked that the chapters were interspersed with some flashbacks to give some more depth to Julia’s character.
Negatives: I didn’t feel like the stakes were ever that high in this book and the reaction to Julia’s lie was slightly exaggerated. While I definitely can understand why her family and Kim were hurt, I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call it emotional manipulation, especially since there are some very real moments that she does experience transphobia from family members. The excessive references to queer pop culture really took me out of the story at times (and are just generally a reason I don’t really love contemporary novels). Finally, the writing style came off as a bit preachy and over-explanatory. I don’t think every author needs to stick to the “show don’t tell” method, but I think this novel could’ve really benefitted from it.
Overall, my feelings were mixed about “Best Woman,” and while I feel there’s a lot of heart in this novel, it just wasn’t really for me.
Thank you NetGalley for gifting me this book in exchange for an honest review.
Maybe I’m just not a big romcom fan, but “Best Woman” just didn’t really do it for me.
Positives: I’m not trans myself so I can’t speak to the accuracy of the trans representation, but this book is a celebration of trans joy and explores trans themes that I rarely see represented in other queer books I’ve enjoyed. I also felt that Julia was a well-written and rounded character with quirks and flaws that made her all the more interesting. I also liked that the chapters were interspersed with some flashbacks to give some more depth to Julia’s character.
Negatives: I didn’t feel like the stakes were ever that high in this book and the reaction to Julia’s lie was slightly exaggerated. While I definitely can understand why her family and Kim were hurt, I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call it emotional manipulation, especially since there are some very real moments that she does experience transphobia from family members. The excessive references to queer pop culture really took me out of the story at times (and are just generally a reason I don’t really love contemporary novels). Finally, the writing style came off as a bit preachy and over-explanatory. I don’t think every author needs to stick to the “show don’t tell” method, but I think this novel could’ve really benefitted from it.
Overall, my feelings were mixed about “Best Woman,” and while I feel there’s a lot of heart in this novel, it just wasn’t really for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2025
Julia Rosenberg is returning to her Boca Raton childhood home to be the best woman in her brother’s wedding. It’s a big deal both logistically and emotionally. Julia’s a trans woman who’s still figuring it out in all the ways that matter: love, sex, career, family, community, and how to rock a bridesmaid's dress.
And then she sees her. Kim Cameron. High school crush. Queer It Girl. The first girl Julia ever wanted to be and be with. And when a little white lie spirals into a real chance at something more? Julia seizes it—awkwardness, ambition, heartbreak, and all.
🗽 What I Loved:
Julia’s voice. Sharp. Self-deprecating. Smart. Petty. Loving. Messy.
Found family in New York. I love it when NYC is written like a real place and not a film set. Her friends felt lived-in. The kind of people who know your Postmates order, your ex’s astrology chart, and your deepest childhood fear.
Julia’s second adolescence. The novel captures that beautifully weird thing that happens when you come out later in life: you’re grown, but also sixteen again. You’re trying to build a self while also grieving the selves you never got to be.
Kim. It is so hard to write a character who is undeniably cool without making them seem contrived or unapproachable. Dommu nails it. Kim is effortlessly hot and emotionally layered. I got the crush immediately. (Also, love it when a Black girl gets to be the cool, gorgeous, adored-from-afar love interest.)
The messiness. Listen, Julia lies. She makes questionable choices. But her motivations are rooted in something really real: the desire to be seen as fully herself by someone who once couldn’t see her at all. (How can people hate a character who said: "Because that would be the real validation, wouldn’t it? The final confirmation that I’d conquered womanhood: the first girl I’d ever been obsessed with, who I could never have because she was only into girls, being into me. All the waiters and baristas and customer service representatives in the world could misgender me, but they’d never be able to take that away. I’d at last be the real, actual, best woman." Carve my heart out with a spoon!)
🚩 Content Notes / Reader Caveats:
Julia does sleep with someone other than the love interest on the page. If that’s a no-go for you in romance, now you know.
There’s a lot of Harry Potter talk. Which, yeah, given the TERFiness of that author, might be jarring. It’s clearly used as a cultural reference point, but worth flagging.
💘 Final Thoughts:
Best Woman is about the chaos of coming home to a physical place and to yourself. It’s a queer, spiky, open-hearted book about longing, identity, and why we sometimes act like absolute fools when given the chance to rewrite our high school heartbreaks. I laughed, winced, and rooted for Julia the whole time. Especially when she wasn’t being perfect.
This one isn’t for everyone. But if you’ve ever felt like being loved means being understood, you might find a lot to love here.
I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review, but all opinions are my own.
And then she sees her. Kim Cameron. High school crush. Queer It Girl. The first girl Julia ever wanted to be and be with. And when a little white lie spirals into a real chance at something more? Julia seizes it—awkwardness, ambition, heartbreak, and all.
🗽 What I Loved:
Julia’s voice. Sharp. Self-deprecating. Smart. Petty. Loving. Messy.
Found family in New York. I love it when NYC is written like a real place and not a film set. Her friends felt lived-in. The kind of people who know your Postmates order, your ex’s astrology chart, and your deepest childhood fear.
Julia’s second adolescence. The novel captures that beautifully weird thing that happens when you come out later in life: you’re grown, but also sixteen again. You’re trying to build a self while also grieving the selves you never got to be.
Kim. It is so hard to write a character who is undeniably cool without making them seem contrived or unapproachable. Dommu nails it. Kim is effortlessly hot and emotionally layered. I got the crush immediately. (Also, love it when a Black girl gets to be the cool, gorgeous, adored-from-afar love interest.)
The messiness. Listen, Julia lies. She makes questionable choices. But her motivations are rooted in something really real: the desire to be seen as fully herself by someone who once couldn’t see her at all. (How can people hate a character who said: "Because that would be the real validation, wouldn’t it? The final confirmation that I’d conquered womanhood: the first girl I’d ever been obsessed with, who I could never have because she was only into girls, being into me. All the waiters and baristas and customer service representatives in the world could misgender me, but they’d never be able to take that away. I’d at last be the real, actual, best woman." Carve my heart out with a spoon!)
🚩 Content Notes / Reader Caveats:
Julia does sleep with someone other than the love interest on the page. If that’s a no-go for you in romance, now you know.
There’s a lot of Harry Potter talk. Which, yeah, given the TERFiness of that author, might be jarring. It’s clearly used as a cultural reference point, but worth flagging.
💘 Final Thoughts:
Best Woman is about the chaos of coming home to a physical place and to yourself. It’s a queer, spiky, open-hearted book about longing, identity, and why we sometimes act like absolute fools when given the chance to rewrite our high school heartbreaks. I laughed, winced, and rooted for Julia the whole time. Especially when she wasn’t being perfect.
This one isn’t for everyone. But if you’ve ever felt like being loved means being understood, you might find a lot to love here.
I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review, but all opinions are my own.
September 15, 2025
Rose Dommu is harmful to Black people and queer people. She writes and spreads harmful rhetoric about both groups, and that needs to be stated first and foremost.
I have many thoughts about this, so I'm going to list out my pros and cons of the book before really delving into how this book made me feel, and what I thought about the statements Dommu made all throughout.
Pros:
- The twins. Loved them. Especially the volcano, that's such a teen boy thing to do when mad at someone lol
- The writing style. Dommu does know how to put together words in a way that flows really well and makes for a quick read.
- Julia's family. Not perfect, but they try
- Rachel. One of the better parts of the book.
- Kim. She didn't deserve what happened to her.
- The Jewish representation
Cons:
- The gross manipulation of a Black lesbian woman, and lying to her to get her to sleep with Julia, a white trans woman who had a crush on her in highschool, back when Julia wasn't out yet. It's almost like saying that a man can be a woman if only to finally be able to get with that lesbian who wouldn't date him as a man. Gross.
- Julia trying to convince Kim that Kim was the one who assumed Julia was facing transphobia, and that it was Kim's fault for believing Julia when she said she was facing transphobia.
- The stereotypes. I could go on and on about them, but that would take forever, so I'll list them. The messy bisexual who sleeps with everyone stereotype. The queer people are all on drugs and non monogamous stereotype. The everyone hates trans people stereotype. The cis people can never understand polyamory stereotype. The queer people are cheaters stereotype, the trans women are just pervy men stereotype.
- The author really seems to hate cis people and allies.
- The fact that River's only personality trait was stealing from their client.
- The fact that it was made out that cis people could understand queer experiences because of having sex with queer people
- The rushed ending with absolutely no closure whatsoever.
- Julia's entire group of friends
- Julia's weird remarks about her family members; noticing Rachel's vagina and staring at it, calling her brother a catch.
- The weird sexualizing of children; Julia stating multiple times she fantasized about her pastor as a child and also that she had wished he would've held her over his lap and spanked her, Rachel saying her brother was hung even as a toddler
- Julia giving her twin 14 year old brothers alcohol twice; once because they affirmed her gender, the other to piss her mom off
- The idea that we're supposed to believe that a romance where a trans woman manipulates a Black lesbian into sleeping with her is the rep we need right now in this world.
- The fact that Julia didn't grow as a person at all. She kept saying she felt so bad but then the very next sentence thought, oh well! She's about to sleep with me so it doesn't matter!.
- The Harry Potter references? 4 of them, in 2025? And not critical ones either.
- Treating transness like it's a game whose end goal is to sleep with the person you could never attain before you realized you were trans.
- The scene where she lets Kim call out a server for misgendering Julia when Julia had no issue with it at all.
Dommu pulls out all stops with this one. And none of them are good. She consistently does everything she can to make a mockery of not only her own community, but Black people, and queer people as a whole, all whilst projecting the thought that cis people and allies are all bad people who are all just waiting to misgender trans people. She consistently upholds the thought that it's okay to manipulate a Black woman for your own gain. It's clear that she needs a lot of therapy to undo the biases in her mind about trans women and how they present themselves and the ways in which they fit into society, and the way that queer people exist, the harmful stereotypes she perpetuates, and her general hatred of Black women, because what else do you call it when you think that manipulating a Black woman is an acceptable form of romance? To think that it is okay to uphold the rhetoric that trans people are just lying about facing transphobia when it's hard enough to find allies who will stand up for trans people in the face of transphobia? I cannot believe this is going to be published as a book. Shame on Ballantine for publishing it, shame on her editors, anyone involved in the process, and shame on Rose Dommu most of all. She makes me ashamed to say I'm trans. If this is what trans is, I want no part of it. I don't claim Rose Dommu as part of my community, and I hope to God no one picks up this book and resonates with it in any way. It is not okay to treat anyone the way Dommu portrayed Julia treating Kim. This book is a disservice to trans people, trans women, queer people, and Black people and women.
Thank you to the publisher for the copy.
I have many thoughts about this, so I'm going to list out my pros and cons of the book before really delving into how this book made me feel, and what I thought about the statements Dommu made all throughout.
Pros:
- The twins. Loved them. Especially the volcano, that's such a teen boy thing to do when mad at someone lol
- The writing style. Dommu does know how to put together words in a way that flows really well and makes for a quick read.
- Julia's family. Not perfect, but they try
- Rachel. One of the better parts of the book.
- Kim. She didn't deserve what happened to her.
- The Jewish representation
Cons:
- The gross manipulation of a Black lesbian woman, and lying to her to get her to sleep with Julia, a white trans woman who had a crush on her in highschool, back when Julia wasn't out yet. It's almost like saying that a man can be a woman if only to finally be able to get with that lesbian who wouldn't date him as a man. Gross.
- Julia trying to convince Kim that Kim was the one who assumed Julia was facing transphobia, and that it was Kim's fault for believing Julia when she said she was facing transphobia.
- The stereotypes. I could go on and on about them, but that would take forever, so I'll list them. The messy bisexual who sleeps with everyone stereotype. The queer people are all on drugs and non monogamous stereotype. The everyone hates trans people stereotype. The cis people can never understand polyamory stereotype. The queer people are cheaters stereotype, the trans women are just pervy men stereotype.
- The author really seems to hate cis people and allies.
- The fact that River's only personality trait was stealing from their client.
- The fact that it was made out that cis people could understand queer experiences because of having sex with queer people
- The rushed ending with absolutely no closure whatsoever.
- Julia's entire group of friends
- Julia's weird remarks about her family members; noticing Rachel's vagina and staring at it, calling her brother a catch.
- The weird sexualizing of children; Julia stating multiple times she fantasized about her pastor as a child and also that she had wished he would've held her over his lap and spanked her, Rachel saying her brother was hung even as a toddler
- Julia giving her twin 14 year old brothers alcohol twice; once because they affirmed her gender, the other to piss her mom off
- The idea that we're supposed to believe that a romance where a trans woman manipulates a Black lesbian into sleeping with her is the rep we need right now in this world.
- The fact that Julia didn't grow as a person at all. She kept saying she felt so bad but then the very next sentence thought, oh well! She's about to sleep with me so it doesn't matter!.
- The Harry Potter references? 4 of them, in 2025? And not critical ones either.
- Treating transness like it's a game whose end goal is to sleep with the person you could never attain before you realized you were trans.
- The scene where she lets Kim call out a server for misgendering Julia when Julia had no issue with it at all.
Dommu pulls out all stops with this one. And none of them are good. She consistently does everything she can to make a mockery of not only her own community, but Black people, and queer people as a whole, all whilst projecting the thought that cis people and allies are all bad people who are all just waiting to misgender trans people. She consistently upholds the thought that it's okay to manipulate a Black woman for your own gain. It's clear that she needs a lot of therapy to undo the biases in her mind about trans women and how they present themselves and the ways in which they fit into society, and the way that queer people exist, the harmful stereotypes she perpetuates, and her general hatred of Black women, because what else do you call it when you think that manipulating a Black woman is an acceptable form of romance? To think that it is okay to uphold the rhetoric that trans people are just lying about facing transphobia when it's hard enough to find allies who will stand up for trans people in the face of transphobia? I cannot believe this is going to be published as a book. Shame on Ballantine for publishing it, shame on her editors, anyone involved in the process, and shame on Rose Dommu most of all. She makes me ashamed to say I'm trans. If this is what trans is, I want no part of it. I don't claim Rose Dommu as part of my community, and I hope to God no one picks up this book and resonates with it in any way. It is not okay to treat anyone the way Dommu portrayed Julia treating Kim. This book is a disservice to trans people, trans women, queer people, and Black people and women.
Thank you to the publisher for the copy.
July 21, 2025
Huge thank you to Netgalley, Random House Publishing|Ballentine and author Rose Dommu, for providing me with the eARC of “Best Woman”, in exchange for my honest review!
Publication date: September 23rd, 2025
A much-anticipated release for me, I found “Best Woman” to be a great story!
It was not exactly what I was expecting, but not in a bad way.
This story focuses on Julia, a trans woman who has been recruited to be the best woman at her younger brother’s wedding.
It turns out her teenage crush, Kim, is the maid of honor in the same wedding.
They haven’t seen each other in years, but Julia is still head over heels for her.
When they two start catching up, Julia tells a few lies about her families supportiveness.
Stretching the truth may help her get the girl, but when things come into the light, will she be able to keep her?
This was a fun read.
It has some humor, some romance, some self-discovery and some emotional bits.
I really loved the way that it discussed Julia’s gender in some pretty casual ways. It wasn’t super serious all the time.
Note: There are still some serious and intense moments in this story.
The scene with Julia’s mother at the wedding actually kind of broke me. I think I could feel Julia’s devastation and pain through the pages. (I won’t get too much into it here to avoid spoilers)
I felt like I bonded with Julia’s character almost instantly when I started reading.
She is so well developed, funny and realistic!
She was written quite perfectly in my opinion.
I do wish the romance between her and Kim got a bit more development.
It felt quite physical, and maybe that was the point.
I guess I am just a softie who loves love, and fluffy sweet romance scenes.
With that being said, I am also glad that this book focused primarily on Julia, her life, her feelings, and her story- because it was pretty great.
Honestly it could have had no romance at all and I would have still enjoyed reading it.
Overall, I think this is great. For the most part, it made me feel good, and left me happy.
Publication date: September 23rd, 2025
A much-anticipated release for me, I found “Best Woman” to be a great story!
It was not exactly what I was expecting, but not in a bad way.
This story focuses on Julia, a trans woman who has been recruited to be the best woman at her younger brother’s wedding.
It turns out her teenage crush, Kim, is the maid of honor in the same wedding.
They haven’t seen each other in years, but Julia is still head over heels for her.
When they two start catching up, Julia tells a few lies about her families supportiveness.
Stretching the truth may help her get the girl, but when things come into the light, will she be able to keep her?
This was a fun read.
It has some humor, some romance, some self-discovery and some emotional bits.
I really loved the way that it discussed Julia’s gender in some pretty casual ways. It wasn’t super serious all the time.
Note: There are still some serious and intense moments in this story.
The scene with Julia’s mother at the wedding actually kind of broke me. I think I could feel Julia’s devastation and pain through the pages. (I won’t get too much into it here to avoid spoilers)
I felt like I bonded with Julia’s character almost instantly when I started reading.
She is so well developed, funny and realistic!
She was written quite perfectly in my opinion.
I do wish the romance between her and Kim got a bit more development.
It felt quite physical, and maybe that was the point.
I guess I am just a softie who loves love, and fluffy sweet romance scenes.
With that being said, I am also glad that this book focused primarily on Julia, her life, her feelings, and her story- because it was pretty great.
Honestly it could have had no romance at all and I would have still enjoyed reading it.
Overall, I think this is great. For the most part, it made me feel good, and left me happy.
September 24, 2025
This is the most difficult read I’ve had all year. I had to reference other reviews to confirm I’m not overstepping and/or overreacting. Best Woman is queer contemporary fiction about a trans woman by a trans woman (Own Voices) and I am a cisgender hetero Black woman. Not the target audience necessarily although I love reading all variations of queer books. That said, I was not able to get through this one. It’s the first ARC I’ve ever had to DNF (at 41%) in the almost year I’ve read and reviewed them. This was for a combination of reasons. Credit to Juniper here on Goodreads for identifying a couple I missed.
A few of the issues: The white trans FMC lies to a Black lesbian woman (the other FMC) she’s had a crush on since high school solely to sleep with her (and maybe turn it into more). Said Black woman also berates a server for his accidental misgender of Julia (the trans FMC) even though she didn’t have a problem with it. It’s simultaneously giving “expect labor from Black women” and “Black women do too much.” And that’s where the lie began. Julia let Kim think her family is transphobic to garner sympathy and attention from Kim at and leading up to Julia’s brother’s wedding since they’re in it together. And it works because Kim’s family was awful to her when she came out as gay in high school. Julia’s brother was made out to be the main transphobic family member when he is very clearly her biggest familial supporter.
Also, I only made it through one Harry Potter reference but I read there are 2-3 more in the book. In 2025 (particularly with trans women being the focus) that is WILD. Additionally, hatred of the term “ally” was confusing because no one is forcing queer people to call anyone that (and I don’t think anyone other than said queer people should determine someone is an ally in the first place). All in all, I’m just not willing to read the remaining 60% of a book it’s clear I won’t enjoy (the spoilers more than confirmed that). I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and this is my honest review. I do agree the writing is well done which is why I gave it 2 stars.
A few of the issues: The white trans FMC lies to a Black lesbian woman (the other FMC) she’s had a crush on since high school solely to sleep with her (and maybe turn it into more). Said Black woman also berates a server for his accidental misgender of Julia (the trans FMC) even though she didn’t have a problem with it. It’s simultaneously giving “expect labor from Black women” and “Black women do too much.” And that’s where the lie began. Julia let Kim think her family is transphobic to garner sympathy and attention from Kim at and leading up to Julia’s brother’s wedding since they’re in it together. And it works because Kim’s family was awful to her when she came out as gay in high school. Julia’s brother was made out to be the main transphobic family member when he is very clearly her biggest familial supporter.
Also, I only made it through one Harry Potter reference but I read there are 2-3 more in the book. In 2025 (particularly with trans women being the focus) that is WILD. Additionally, hatred of the term “ally” was confusing because no one is forcing queer people to call anyone that (and I don’t think anyone other than said queer people should determine someone is an ally in the first place). All in all, I’m just not willing to read the remaining 60% of a book it’s clear I won’t enjoy (the spoilers more than confirmed that). I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and this is my honest review. I do agree the writing is well done which is why I gave it 2 stars.
November 27, 2025
3.5
Julia is on her way home for her little brother's wedding and it's going to be a difficult homecoming - and not just because she doesn't want to wear the dress her sister-in-law-to-be has picked out.
For Julia it will be the first time back in Florida since she transitioned. And what's worse (or better?) the maid of honour is Kim, Julia's high school crush. Thinking that Kim is so out of her league, Julia has to devise a scheme to get Kim to fall for her. But at what cost and how far is she prepared to go?
I enjoyed Best Woman a lot more than I expected to. It is well written, funny, very human and isn't afraid of highlighting the vulnerabilities and struggles of one trans woman. I liked Julia despite her terrible choices (love/lust will make us do stupid things). The book speaks about Julia's trans issues in a sensitive way that engages rather than preaches.
I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a fun, family wedding story with some serious twists to it. Yet again, this is a book that reminds us how distressing it must be to wake up every morning feeling like a stranger in our own body.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the advance review copy.
Julia is on her way home for her little brother's wedding and it's going to be a difficult homecoming - and not just because she doesn't want to wear the dress her sister-in-law-to-be has picked out.
For Julia it will be the first time back in Florida since she transitioned. And what's worse (or better?) the maid of honour is Kim, Julia's high school crush. Thinking that Kim is so out of her league, Julia has to devise a scheme to get Kim to fall for her. But at what cost and how far is she prepared to go?
I enjoyed Best Woman a lot more than I expected to. It is well written, funny, very human and isn't afraid of highlighting the vulnerabilities and struggles of one trans woman. I liked Julia despite her terrible choices (love/lust will make us do stupid things). The book speaks about Julia's trans issues in a sensitive way that engages rather than preaches.
I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a fun, family wedding story with some serious twists to it. Yet again, this is a book that reminds us how distressing it must be to wake up every morning feeling like a stranger in our own body.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the advance review copy.
December 10, 2025
Dnf @ 35%
This was always a hate read, but I can’t do it
This was always a hate read, but I can’t do it
Want to read
September 19, 2025WE NEED MORE QUEER ROMCOMS
May 15, 2025
This book was just beautiful. Julia was written to be just like anyone we could know. She felt so real and really fought to truly live her life the best way she could while trying to please everyone around her. Her lies for her comfort of trying to win back a love she never escaped, and truly just relevant to how we think something is right even when it’s not. Although it’s a romance, it did have some great comedy mixed in and really gave it a light-hearted feel. Her friends were the perfect blend in family and Kim really won my heart with making Julia see beyond her own shell and letting her see to live life the way she wants.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the e-ARC.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the e-ARC.
October 15, 2025
Messy, beautiful, perfect trans best woman in her brothers wedding. It was so raw and so real and very sexy. The family dynamics are complicated and fraught but also loving and tender almost at the same time somehow.
December 12, 2025
in reality it’s a solid 4 i am simply obligated to boost the overall rating bc stupid cis nerds are upset that someone lies in a romance novel in the hopes of sleeping w someone? no one tell these divas about any other romance novels or god forbid romcoms, they would positively froth at the very pure and tasteful mouth. this one goes out to the allies !
Read
July 31, 2025Best Woman tells the story of a trans woman, Julia, who heads home to Florida to stand up in her brother’s wedding. It just so happens that the maid-of-honor is Julia’s high school crush. What starts as a small lie Julia tells the maid of honor to garner sympathy and attention spirals out of co trip as Julia comes to terms with her past and her relationships with her family members. Overall this was refreshing and very funny. Julia is not super likable and I loved that about her. There can be such pressure to make queer and trans characters good, positive representation and that can rob authors of writing them as full people. My main issue with this book were the repeated references to Harry Potter.
Thanks so much to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the ARC of this title
Thanks so much to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the ARC of this title
September 26, 2025
I fucking loved this book and I cannot wait for it to come out in September!!! Thanks to Edelweiss+ and the publishers for yet another eARC 🙂↕️
—
Happy pub week to Best Woman— know that I loved all of this book HOWEVER I’m a tad bit mad at the final chapter, I think they could have made up without any romantic undertone, and just both moved on and grown from their experiences. But otherwise, I fucking loved this book, and I’d actually love to see this as a series about Julia’s other 3 friends! Daytona, specifically. I grew to absolutely adore her as the book went on.
—
Happy pub week to Best Woman— know that I loved all of this book HOWEVER I’m a tad bit mad at the final chapter, I think they could have made up without any romantic undertone, and just both moved on and grown from their experiences. But otherwise, I fucking loved this book, and I’d actually love to see this as a series about Julia’s other 3 friends! Daytona, specifically. I grew to absolutely adore her as the book went on.
December 22, 2025
I anna-archived this book and my version had every instance of the word 'fuck' replaced with 'idiot' or 'mess', and the word 'shit' with 'trash', something that I caught onto 100 pages in out of 141. Some highlights 'yeah, we're kind of...idiot buddies' 'Idiot, am I becoming a disney adult?' 'Idiot off, I wear spf fifty!' 'How exactly does one handle casual conversation with a person they’ve messed in the past forty-eight hours and one they’d like to mess in the next…three, tops?' 'florida has trash bagels anyways' 'emotional trashshow' 'she once did so much coke she trash herself at a halloween party'. Anyways I was LOSING my mind and wondering if I had missed some recent gay slang trend before I thought to compare my version to the Libby sample...
Other than that trashshow of a fumble on my part, I enjoyed the storyline about a doll who came out later in life but wasn't a huge fan of the continued lying about transphobia experienced as a plot device (when advertised as a white lie) and the resolutions of the conflicts caused by the lies
Other than that trashshow of a fumble on my part, I enjoyed the storyline about a doll who came out later in life but wasn't a huge fan of the continued lying about transphobia experienced as a plot device (when advertised as a white lie) and the resolutions of the conflicts caused by the lies
September 16, 2025
I'm calling it. DNF @ 25%. The main character is just a bad person (not in a fun way), and I can't cheer her on. I don't like her friends either.
The description says that Julia tells a "little white lie" to her crush, the Maid of Honor at her brother's wedding. It's NOT a white lie. Julia, who is trans and has a lovely and accepting ally family, lies and tells her high school crush Kim that actually, her entire family is full of TERFs, and she's dreading her brother's wedding. I guess she thinks that Kim will want to have pity sex with her or something, idk, but it's all an attempt to make this girl feel so bad for her that they can hook up.
What the hell, Julia? When so many trans people actually are disowned (or worse) for being trans, why would you slander your own family to impress a girl?
This is not a good person, and while not every book has to be positive representation, this isn't a story that needs to be told. I had expected the white lie to be something harmless like "oh I'm the cousin of the kid you remember from band, we've never met," not something that could actually hurt people.
Last night I was thinking about how Dear Evan Hansen has to cast a lead actor who is so charismatic and nice that audiences are still willing to watch and cheer for him, despite the objectively shitty things that he does in the story. The same is true here. If you're going to have a character who does shitty things (and I'd argue that Julia is worse than Evan), you have to make them likeable enough for audiences to stay with you. Julia doesn't seem to have redeeming qualities, so I'm not really interested in watching her screw over her family.
I'm angry, and I'm not having a good time, so I'm just DNFing it here.
Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine for the ARC.
The description says that Julia tells a "little white lie" to her crush, the Maid of Honor at her brother's wedding. It's NOT a white lie. Julia, who is trans and has a lovely and accepting ally family, lies and tells her high school crush Kim that actually, her entire family is full of TERFs, and she's dreading her brother's wedding. I guess she thinks that Kim will want to have pity sex with her or something, idk, but it's all an attempt to make this girl feel so bad for her that they can hook up.
What the hell, Julia? When so many trans people actually are disowned (or worse) for being trans, why would you slander your own family to impress a girl?
This is not a good person, and while not every book has to be positive representation, this isn't a story that needs to be told. I had expected the white lie to be something harmless like "oh I'm the cousin of the kid you remember from band, we've never met," not something that could actually hurt people.
Last night I was thinking about how Dear Evan Hansen has to cast a lead actor who is so charismatic and nice that audiences are still willing to watch and cheer for him, despite the objectively shitty things that he does in the story. The same is true here. If you're going to have a character who does shitty things (and I'd argue that Julia is worse than Evan), you have to make them likeable enough for audiences to stay with you. Julia doesn't seem to have redeeming qualities, so I'm not really interested in watching her screw over her family.
I'm angry, and I'm not having a good time, so I'm just DNFing it here.
Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine for the ARC.
November 4, 2025
Yayyyy trans lesbian romcom with flawed human characters!!!!! IMO fiction is not the place to find role models or perfect politics! I don’t think all representation of trans/queer people should be aspirational!
In this house we support trans rights AND trans wrongs!!!
xxxxxx
In this house we support trans rights AND trans wrongs!!!
xxxxxx
October 27, 2025
ugh I love gay people
August 7, 2025
2.75⭐️
Unfortunately, this just was not for me. I thought the actual plot itself was really interesting, and the representation this had important, but it got so repetitive during the middle 60% that I got SO bored.
A majority of this book is the main character, Julia, lusting over another character, which is fine, except that hearing the same inner monologue about 20000 times got very old after a while. I do think that the actual plot was interesting, but all the repetition made it hard to push through.
This book does have a lot of queer rep in it, and reading about Julia’s experience as not only someone who transitioned later in life and in a “set in their way” town was a very interesting aspect to the story.
Thank you to Ballantine and Netgalley for the advanced copy!
Unfortunately, this just was not for me. I thought the actual plot itself was really interesting, and the representation this had important, but it got so repetitive during the middle 60% that I got SO bored.
A majority of this book is the main character, Julia, lusting over another character, which is fine, except that hearing the same inner monologue about 20000 times got very old after a while. I do think that the actual plot was interesting, but all the repetition made it hard to push through.
This book does have a lot of queer rep in it, and reading about Julia’s experience as not only someone who transitioned later in life and in a “set in their way” town was a very interesting aspect to the story.
Thank you to Ballantine and Netgalley for the advanced copy!
October 26, 2025
We need the movie! Rose Dommu would need to be heavily involved, of course. Only she can usher in another golden age of Rom-Com cinema!
Dommu has crafted a wonderful ode to found family and finding middle ground with your biological family. She offers a stereotype-challenging story of a trans woman who is close with her family and feels at home in Florida (not known for its progressive politics).
Despite its single point of view narration, the story shows how the trans experience is different for everyone and can’t be flattened. And yet, the family dynamics, especially the mother-daughter relationship, captured something that felt universal, at least to me.
“Why does every serious discussion or major emotional moment with my mother have to happen in a car?”
Flashbacks give more foundational character development and show how the main character, Julia, is shaped by her childhood while coming into her own womanhood. While only a small percent of the population will have the trans experience, many of us go through major transitions in our relationships to ourselves which have ripple effects in our families and communities, and so this story is both singular and relatable.
“Transness is nothing if not a series of contradictions, bending oneself into a living question mark, a riddle, your very own puzzle that no one—least of all yourself—knows how to solve.”
Truly, there’s no way to pigeon-hole this book except to say it’s a sweet and sexy read for fans of Julia Roberts movies (especially My Best Friend’s Wedding).
Dommu has crafted a wonderful ode to found family and finding middle ground with your biological family. She offers a stereotype-challenging story of a trans woman who is close with her family and feels at home in Florida (not known for its progressive politics).
Despite its single point of view narration, the story shows how the trans experience is different for everyone and can’t be flattened. And yet, the family dynamics, especially the mother-daughter relationship, captured something that felt universal, at least to me.
“Why does every serious discussion or major emotional moment with my mother have to happen in a car?”
Flashbacks give more foundational character development and show how the main character, Julia, is shaped by her childhood while coming into her own womanhood. While only a small percent of the population will have the trans experience, many of us go through major transitions in our relationships to ourselves which have ripple effects in our families and communities, and so this story is both singular and relatable.
“Transness is nothing if not a series of contradictions, bending oneself into a living question mark, a riddle, your very own puzzle that no one—least of all yourself—knows how to solve.”
Truly, there’s no way to pigeon-hole this book except to say it’s a sweet and sexy read for fans of Julia Roberts movies (especially My Best Friend’s Wedding).
September 5, 2025
Best Woman is honestly a book I would have DNFed if it weren't an ARC. While the writing was well done (which is why the 2 star vs 1), the contents of this book really left me cringing. First, it blows my mind that a book where the main character is a trans woman would have so many Harry Potter references. Second, the main character lying to her high school crush about her family being transphobic just to get pity sex??? To add, there being no real consequences for this? Quite the choice.
I don't know that I can in good faith recommend this book. I also recognize that I am not trans, so maybe it’s not my place to judge the contents of this book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I don't know that I can in good faith recommend this book. I also recognize that I am not trans, so maybe it’s not my place to judge the contents of this book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
December 6, 2025
✨✨
Thank you to NetGalley for this e-arc and of course to the author for allowing me to read an early copy of Best Woman. Honestly this book wasn’t that bad, but it was bad enough that I needed to dnf it. The characters were very well thought out but they weren’t executed in a way that would make them relatable and easy to understand and have enough room to grow.
The plot was very confusing for starters, the writing was clunky but there were short chapters which I did appreciate. But from the 28% of the book that I read, there was a lot of miscommunication and some lying so the main characters love interest would have pity for the main character which I was not a fan of.
Also I think it would be helpful for me and other readers of the timeframe. I don’t even know how old our main character is. We know that she’s an adult but we don’t know her age or the year. This book has to be set in the present because when she was on the plane to Florida, she was watching Scream and 27 dresses. She also had a whole movie queue of famous romance movies like: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, The Wedding Planner, Four Weddings and a Funeral and more.
The characters were also very boring and they didn’t even seem to like each other. Our main character Julia, (I think that’s her name I don’t remember) wasn’t even sure if one of her best friends even like her because Julia stole her spotlight. Like honestly Julia you could just talk to her about it but instead you keep that thought to yourself.
Also Julia’s plan of getting Kim’s attention by lying to her that her brother wasn’t supportive of her was an absolute lie. Like her brother is really the only one that cares and you’re just gonna lie about it because you like her? That’s absolutely ridiculous just talk to her like a normal person and ask her out. I honestly don’t need to go on a tangent about this book because I didn’t like it. Again, thank you NetGalley for this arc and the author so I could read it.
Thank you to NetGalley for this e-arc and of course to the author for allowing me to read an early copy of Best Woman. Honestly this book wasn’t that bad, but it was bad enough that I needed to dnf it. The characters were very well thought out but they weren’t executed in a way that would make them relatable and easy to understand and have enough room to grow.
The plot was very confusing for starters, the writing was clunky but there were short chapters which I did appreciate. But from the 28% of the book that I read, there was a lot of miscommunication and some lying so the main characters love interest would have pity for the main character which I was not a fan of.
Also I think it would be helpful for me and other readers of the timeframe. I don’t even know how old our main character is. We know that she’s an adult but we don’t know her age or the year. This book has to be set in the present because when she was on the plane to Florida, she was watching Scream and 27 dresses. She also had a whole movie queue of famous romance movies like: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, The Wedding Planner, Four Weddings and a Funeral and more.
The characters were also very boring and they didn’t even seem to like each other. Our main character Julia, (I think that’s her name I don’t remember) wasn’t even sure if one of her best friends even like her because Julia stole her spotlight. Like honestly Julia you could just talk to her about it but instead you keep that thought to yourself.
Also Julia’s plan of getting Kim’s attention by lying to her that her brother wasn’t supportive of her was an absolute lie. Like her brother is really the only one that cares and you’re just gonna lie about it because you like her? That’s absolutely ridiculous just talk to her like a normal person and ask her out. I honestly don’t need to go on a tangent about this book because I didn’t like it. Again, thank you NetGalley for this arc and the author so I could read it.
November 10, 2025
Every day I am begging for sapphic romances with trans women and alas this did not hit for me. I just didn’t feel any chemistry between our couple which made their reunion feel unearned. Julia was also a confusing character for me. Her lie could have worked as part of a broader character development as a queer person experiencing delayed adolescence. However, aside from one lie Julia was not making erratic illogical choices. I wanted a messy character more on par with Detransition Baby. I guess I’ll keep waiting for the trans woman sapphic romance of my dreams.
November 20, 2025
thanks to netgalley, dan dennings from random house, and ballantine for the arc! (BOY does it feel good to say that again, we’re so back!)
“best woman” is a story centering julia rosenberg, who’s leaving new york and coming back to florida for a week for her brother’s wedding, finds out that the girl she had the most intense high school crush on is the maid of honor, supposedly tells a lie that spirals into a mess. throw in the haute couture wardrobe of a b-list celebrity, awkward family dynamics to navigate, and typical wedding tension and you’ve got a recipe for well. self growth?
one of my favorite parts of this this book is that it was so unashamedly, unabashedly, incredibly queer and messy, which as a messy queer, hell yeah! now my life in new york is nowhere NEAR as cool and sensational as julia’s (no sex parties or b-list celebrities to do poppers with, and sadly not a single drag brunch yet, but boy, do i have stories) but the drugs, the parties, and the crazy hijinks were fun to read about in that glamorous and personally unsustainable way. so chic! and her return home carried so many personal feelings that i also always feel when i return back home south (me and julia twinning i also regress into a fifteen year old the minute i live w my parents again.) were some of the monogamy/jokes abt queer versus cishet people eye roll worthy? were the odd mentions of genitalia kind of weird? well. yes!
the plot of pretending your family is shitty to gain attention and sympathy points for your old high school flame? yeah it’s shitty and she does feel like shit about it but godddd i can’t hate, im an attention whore i have done insane things for a speck of outsider validation. i could only respect the grind like damn girl join the club!
i will admit, personally? a little too white girl millennial for my tastes. i enjoyed how wholeheartedly jewish this book was but julia’s queer family/friend group speak in so many pop culture references it’s agonizing, no one should say angst w a happy ending au in real life when referring to a real life occurrence. the tumblr mention i let slide because it felt natural but ALL of the pop culture references were sooo white queer millennial sorry! which is so ridiculous when your love interest is a black lesbian like ENOUGH! about julia’s friend group i don’t care about kyle’s leather harness or river’s drugs! i want more about kim!!!!!! BUT! the writing settles after a few personal bumps in the beginning, and it truly is really easy to get into like when i was in, i was IN.
i do want to mention the harry potter mention? 18% through, in a book about a jewish trans woman? come on now. and again 81% in! like in 2025???? why is hp so relevant did we not all relinquish the hold it had when jk rowling made it clear any money + visibility you give the series funnels straight into vitriolic anti trans legislature in the uk??????? tad bit ironic in a book centering a jewish transfem’s experience!!!!! also obligatory donate to a trans org bc fuck jkr and stop fucking engaging with hp in general it’s not even that good to be so gaga over years later. she’s a nazi and a major proponent of the anti trans movement in the uk. get a grip!
anyway off my soapbox— i think over anything (including my gripes), this book was incredibly needed and reading about a trans woman as she braves her way through life, through the high through the lows and especially through even the middling was so important, in this day and age where every day is another loss for lgbtq rights, and trans rights in particular and i think all of her emotions regarding her transness were so. Ough.
the book definitely feels like a roller coaster where, like julia, you’re sat on this mountain of anticipation as you progress further and further and when the drop hits and the shit hits the fan? oh does it Hit. the narrative makes it clear that it’s julia’s story and it is so so so easy to support her throughout it, as she fucks up and makes up and lives as a flawed human being. at it’s core it’s about a transgender woman’s journey to acceptance and growth. and on top of that it’s FUN to read about the writing is engaging and funny and especially emotional when it needs to be. i had my qualms with it, but i was INTOOO IT i read it in one whole sitting!
the book centers aiden’s wedding that julia has to attend and ends with the end of his wedding. so while i would have liked to see certain plot points fleshed out more (specifically with her job, that part of the book was so fascinating to me i wish we saw more of a conclusion in regards to that) i can appreciate the story for what it is and how it wrapped up. it’s not the end of julia’s journey but the beginning, and one that we don’t get to embark with her on.
altogether, i do think the critiques that other reviews had were incredibly valid (specifically 1, 2, and 3) but to me this was a overall enjoyable read, with a lot of emotions about being trans and family and identity unfortunately wrapped under a LOTTTTTT of annoyances and issues!
“best woman” is a story centering julia rosenberg, who’s leaving new york and coming back to florida for a week for her brother’s wedding, finds out that the girl she had the most intense high school crush on is the maid of honor, supposedly tells a lie that spirals into a mess. throw in the haute couture wardrobe of a b-list celebrity, awkward family dynamics to navigate, and typical wedding tension and you’ve got a recipe for well. self growth?
one of my favorite parts of this this book is that it was so unashamedly, unabashedly, incredibly queer and messy, which as a messy queer, hell yeah! now my life in new york is nowhere NEAR as cool and sensational as julia’s (no sex parties or b-list celebrities to do poppers with, and sadly not a single drag brunch yet, but boy, do i have stories) but the drugs, the parties, and the crazy hijinks were fun to read about in that glamorous and personally unsustainable way. so chic! and her return home carried so many personal feelings that i also always feel when i return back home south (me and julia twinning i also regress into a fifteen year old the minute i live w my parents again.) were some of the monogamy/jokes abt queer versus cishet people eye roll worthy? were the odd mentions of genitalia kind of weird? well. yes!
the plot of pretending your family is shitty to gain attention and sympathy points for your old high school flame? yeah it’s shitty and she does feel like shit about it but godddd i can’t hate, im an attention whore i have done insane things for a speck of outsider validation. i could only respect the grind like damn girl join the club!
i will admit, personally? a little too white girl millennial for my tastes. i enjoyed how wholeheartedly jewish this book was but julia’s queer family/friend group speak in so many pop culture references it’s agonizing, no one should say angst w a happy ending au in real life when referring to a real life occurrence. the tumblr mention i let slide because it felt natural but ALL of the pop culture references were sooo white queer millennial sorry! which is so ridiculous when your love interest is a black lesbian like ENOUGH! about julia’s friend group i don’t care about kyle’s leather harness or river’s drugs! i want more about kim!!!!!! BUT! the writing settles after a few personal bumps in the beginning, and it truly is really easy to get into like when i was in, i was IN.
i do want to mention the harry potter mention? 18% through, in a book about a jewish trans woman? come on now. and again 81% in! like in 2025???? why is hp so relevant did we not all relinquish the hold it had when jk rowling made it clear any money + visibility you give the series funnels straight into vitriolic anti trans legislature in the uk??????? tad bit ironic in a book centering a jewish transfem’s experience!!!!! also obligatory donate to a trans org bc fuck jkr and stop fucking engaging with hp in general it’s not even that good to be so gaga over years later. she’s a nazi and a major proponent of the anti trans movement in the uk. get a grip!
anyway off my soapbox— i think over anything (including my gripes), this book was incredibly needed and reading about a trans woman as she braves her way through life, through the high through the lows and especially through even the middling was so important, in this day and age where every day is another loss for lgbtq rights, and trans rights in particular and i think all of her emotions regarding her transness were so. Ough.
the book definitely feels like a roller coaster where, like julia, you’re sat on this mountain of anticipation as you progress further and further and when the drop hits and the shit hits the fan? oh does it Hit. the narrative makes it clear that it’s julia’s story and it is so so so easy to support her throughout it, as she fucks up and makes up and lives as a flawed human being. at it’s core it’s about a transgender woman’s journey to acceptance and growth. and on top of that it’s FUN to read about the writing is engaging and funny and especially emotional when it needs to be. i had my qualms with it, but i was INTOOO IT i read it in one whole sitting!
the book centers aiden’s wedding that julia has to attend and ends with the end of his wedding. so while i would have liked to see certain plot points fleshed out more (specifically with her job, that part of the book was so fascinating to me i wish we saw more of a conclusion in regards to that) i can appreciate the story for what it is and how it wrapped up. it’s not the end of julia’s journey but the beginning, and one that we don’t get to embark with her on.
altogether, i do think the critiques that other reviews had were incredibly valid (specifically 1, 2, and 3) but to me this was a overall enjoyable read, with a lot of emotions about being trans and family and identity unfortunately wrapped under a LOTTTTTT of annoyances and issues!
Read
November 19, 2025This is one of Book Riot’s Best Books of 2025:
Family weddings are never easy, but Julia’s brother’s is a particular kind of minefield. Since leaving Florida, she’s transitioned and is living her best, queerest life in New York. The references to iconic rom-coms are threaded throughout, but this still feels fresh and original. While Julia’s navigating the minefield of best woman duties for her brother, she encounters a former crush, Kim. Julia re-connects with Kim over a lie, but the genuine spark between them is impossible to deny. Dommu also retains her extremely pithy, irreverent Internet voice, expertly translated into long-form prose. Whatever rom-com she tackles next, I’m there.
- Julia Rittenberg
Family weddings are never easy, but Julia’s brother’s is a particular kind of minefield. Since leaving Florida, she’s transitioned and is living her best, queerest life in New York. The references to iconic rom-coms are threaded throughout, but this still feels fresh and original. While Julia’s navigating the minefield of best woman duties for her brother, she encounters a former crush, Kim. Julia re-connects with Kim over a lie, but the genuine spark between them is impossible to deny. Dommu also retains her extremely pithy, irreverent Internet voice, expertly translated into long-form prose. Whatever rom-com she tackles next, I’m there.
- Julia Rittenberg
Read
September 24, 2025Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this book. I agree with many sentiments left in other reviews, that will be able to explain how I feel a lot better than I can. I wanted to DNF this book at many points, and wish I did. I wanted to love this book and I wish I could have, but there were too many issues to allow that of me.
To note: in 2025 to read a book with a transfemme lead that contained multiple Harry Potter references? I was shocked to say the least.
I don't think this is the book that is needed in 2025, for many reasons.
Overall, I did enjoy the writing. It was captivating and part of the reason I finished the whole book.
Thank you to NetGalley + the publisher for the eARC.
To note: in 2025 to read a book with a transfemme lead that contained multiple Harry Potter references? I was shocked to say the least.
I don't think this is the book that is needed in 2025, for many reasons.
Overall, I did enjoy the writing. It was captivating and part of the reason I finished the whole book.
Thank you to NetGalley + the publisher for the eARC.
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