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Bottle Blondes
551 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 31, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 11, 2026
yesterday i had a super productive day which meant today i was due for a completely indulgent day. me being me that meant reading a 551 page book in one sitting LOL
this was super great!!! i learned about it through felicia davin’s wonderful newsletter recommendations and i was saving it for a rainy day. rn i have a lot of books checked out on libby but none felt right for a book shotgunning so i chose this one and i’m v glad i did!
i knew more about the plot coming into this book then i normally do about books, both because i rarely read summaries anymore and because felicia davin writes a pretty indepth review. because of that, i think i was able to see the beauty of the plotting as it was happening, since i knew that we were going in a certain direction so i could tell why certain things were happening. but like, they happened effortlessly and they made sense. like overall there was a really great and smooth movement from “character is at point A” to “character is at point B” that is super needed for a character driven book like this. all of that to say, really good plotting that turned what seems like a somewhat outlandish concept into something real and solid.
from the beginning i really loved the mcs voice and she’s such an interesting character whom really goes through a lot throughout the book. i love that swanson doesn’t hold back on the extremes she goes through, especially at one point of the book, and that we get to see her through such an extensive process of self actualization and change. (overall i loved how realistic this book got at points. like yeah! it’s really hard to transition while in a small conservative school in south carolina!)
what really sold me this book was the banter though. all interactions between our mc and her love interest are just amazing. i’m so glad they had an existing relationship before she starts to transition and i’m so glad their relationship dials up a notch afterwards. i think it’s very rare in romance books to get to see two characters just enjoy interacting so much without a major blowup that makes them hate each other for a bit. yes there was some “we can’t be together” stuff but it was 1) very valid and 2) happening while they were still actively flirting which is super fun. the love interest was a great character too, complex, interesting, AND GOT HIS OWN POV CHAPTER. I GASPED AT THAT, WHAT AN AMAZING CHOICE (the twist that comes with that also made me sooooo happy. i was literally grinning at my screen).
i loved the friendships in this book, the proto sorority friend group was really cute. i think the girls coulda been a little more distinct from each other (could not tell u a single real fact about anna) but they still had character and were fun to read. more great banter here, lots of lovely support
the shakespeare stuff was amazing, i loved how it was both a retelling and very self aware of twelfth night. loved the professor, she played a super fun role.
this book also reminded me of show girl and also this other trans femme book i haven’t read yet haha. all three have this core theme of “what if u were a trans girl who didn’t know it yet and some people helped u on ur way in kinda an outlandish way?” which i think is v fun.
but yeah, great book to shotgun, tons of fun, hope this author writes something new soon!
this was super great!!! i learned about it through felicia davin’s wonderful newsletter recommendations and i was saving it for a rainy day. rn i have a lot of books checked out on libby but none felt right for a book shotgunning so i chose this one and i’m v glad i did!
i knew more about the plot coming into this book then i normally do about books, both because i rarely read summaries anymore and because felicia davin writes a pretty indepth review. because of that, i think i was able to see the beauty of the plotting as it was happening, since i knew that we were going in a certain direction so i could tell why certain things were happening. but like, they happened effortlessly and they made sense. like overall there was a really great and smooth movement from “character is at point A” to “character is at point B” that is super needed for a character driven book like this. all of that to say, really good plotting that turned what seems like a somewhat outlandish concept into something real and solid.
from the beginning i really loved the mcs voice and she’s such an interesting character whom really goes through a lot throughout the book. i love that swanson doesn’t hold back on the extremes she goes through, especially at one point of the book, and that we get to see her through such an extensive process of self actualization and change. (overall i loved how realistic this book got at points. like yeah! it’s really hard to transition while in a small conservative school in south carolina!)
what really sold me this book was the banter though. all interactions between our mc and her love interest are just amazing. i’m so glad they had an existing relationship before she starts to transition and i’m so glad their relationship dials up a notch afterwards. i think it’s very rare in romance books to get to see two characters just enjoy interacting so much without a major blowup that makes them hate each other for a bit. yes there was some “we can’t be together” stuff but it was 1) very valid and 2) happening while they were still actively flirting which is super fun. the love interest was a great character too, complex, interesting, AND GOT HIS OWN POV CHAPTER. I GASPED AT THAT, WHAT AN AMAZING CHOICE (the twist that comes with that also made me sooooo happy. i was literally grinning at my screen).
i loved the friendships in this book, the proto sorority friend group was really cute. i think the girls coulda been a little more distinct from each other (could not tell u a single real fact about anna) but they still had character and were fun to read. more great banter here, lots of lovely support
the shakespeare stuff was amazing, i loved how it was both a retelling and very self aware of twelfth night. loved the professor, she played a super fun role.
this book also reminded me of show girl and also this other trans femme book i haven’t read yet haha. all three have this core theme of “what if u were a trans girl who didn’t know it yet and some people helped u on ur way in kinda an outlandish way?” which i think is v fun.
but yeah, great book to shotgun, tons of fun, hope this author writes something new soon!
May 29, 2026
“She could grow old, probably. Old and wrinkled and gray. And if she didn’t, it wouldn’t be because she walked into the ocean.”
This is my third, maybe fourth, reread since the serialization concluded last year. I will never stop recommending this book to anyone remotely interested in trans stories, but I’d extend that recommendation to anyone who enjoys stories about becoming and yearning.
Calling Bottle Blondes the best trans romance I’ve read feels like an understatement, because that label drastically undersells it. There are books with decent romance but underbaked—or worse, poorly portrayed—trans women. There are also compelling trans coming-of-age books with romance that feels forced. Bottle Blondes is neither of those things: it is an equally excellent trans novel and romance novel.
I would go as far as to say that Viola is one of the most sympathetic romance leads I’ve read, and her relationship with the MMC feels fully earned in a way that even a lot of mainstream romance for wider audiences doesn’t achieve.
The building blocks of the protagonist’s trans discovery are not revolutionary. Lots of stories follow an arc of denial, realization, and acceptance in an environment that isn’t easy for a trans woman to exist in. But a story doesn’t have to be revolutionary to be good, and this is a perfect example.
I didn’t find myself rolling my eyes at any tropes or scenes that feel required when you write a Trans Story™️, nor did anything scream wish fulfillment. It felt real enough to never become distracting. I think a big part of that is how likable Viola is. She’s funny and observant without being too voicey. There are real consequences for her choices.
Viola’s friends—Anna, Lucy, and Margot—are also incredibly endearing, and they save the book from just being about a girl and a boy. Platonic love will always be an under-appreciated element in any media, and I’m glad this book doesn’t overlook it. I would’ve enjoyed getting to know the girls better individually, but I recognize that they aren’t the focus of the book.
**spoilers below**
If I could change anything about the book—other than wanting more of it in general, because I am wildly curious about what Viola’s life looks like after the book ends—I’d love to read more from David’s POV. His perspective in Chapter Eleven was distinct and made me want to know him more. It’s clear that Swanson didn’t just avoid writing about his world because she didn’t understand the culture of college sports and male-dominated environments more broadly.
So basically, I’m asking for a Viola x David full college sequel, thank you in advance.
This is a book that I will probably revisit once a year. It’s the book that inspired me to start writing. And it’s a book that I think firmly belongs in the canon of transfem literature.
I can’t wait to see what Swanson puts out next. 💜
This is my third, maybe fourth, reread since the serialization concluded last year. I will never stop recommending this book to anyone remotely interested in trans stories, but I’d extend that recommendation to anyone who enjoys stories about becoming and yearning.
Calling Bottle Blondes the best trans romance I’ve read feels like an understatement, because that label drastically undersells it. There are books with decent romance but underbaked—or worse, poorly portrayed—trans women. There are also compelling trans coming-of-age books with romance that feels forced. Bottle Blondes is neither of those things: it is an equally excellent trans novel and romance novel.
I would go as far as to say that Viola is one of the most sympathetic romance leads I’ve read, and her relationship with the MMC feels fully earned in a way that even a lot of mainstream romance for wider audiences doesn’t achieve.
The building blocks of the protagonist’s trans discovery are not revolutionary. Lots of stories follow an arc of denial, realization, and acceptance in an environment that isn’t easy for a trans woman to exist in. But a story doesn’t have to be revolutionary to be good, and this is a perfect example.
I didn’t find myself rolling my eyes at any tropes or scenes that feel required when you write a Trans Story™️, nor did anything scream wish fulfillment. It felt real enough to never become distracting. I think a big part of that is how likable Viola is. She’s funny and observant without being too voicey. There are real consequences for her choices.
Viola’s friends—Anna, Lucy, and Margot—are also incredibly endearing, and they save the book from just being about a girl and a boy. Platonic love will always be an under-appreciated element in any media, and I’m glad this book doesn’t overlook it. I would’ve enjoyed getting to know the girls better individually, but I recognize that they aren’t the focus of the book.
**spoilers below**
If I could change anything about the book—other than wanting more of it in general, because I am wildly curious about what Viola’s life looks like after the book ends—I’d love to read more from David’s POV. His perspective in Chapter Eleven was distinct and made me want to know him more. It’s clear that Swanson didn’t just avoid writing about his world because she didn’t understand the culture of college sports and male-dominated environments more broadly.
So basically, I’m asking for a Viola x David full college sequel, thank you in advance.
This is a book that I will probably revisit once a year. It’s the book that inspired me to start writing. And it’s a book that I think firmly belongs in the canon of transfem literature.
I can’t wait to see what Swanson puts out next. 💜
May 30, 2026
I fell in love with Bottle Blondes pretty much instantly. While I've long had a soft spot for both romance and trans stories, it's rare that a story elevates itself into something truly memorable. But Rhiannon Swanson's debut novel immediately stood out with incredibly strong character writing and pacing that result in a story I found hard to put down.
Viola is the perfect lead for this story: dumb in all the right ways but immediately likable enough for it to come off as endearing. There's something intrinsically delightful about watching someone fall head first into transition, and Viola's character arc is incredibly satisfying. David and Viola's chemistry is immediately palpable, and I couldn't stop smiling through every single one of their interactions. Anna, Margot, and Lucy make up an incredibly strong supporting cast: supporting characters in trans stories often feel like a necessary plot device to engineer the necessary contrivances to tell a trans story in a cis world, but all three manage to hold their own (though I can't say the same for Annabelle, who is purely a plot device). This is an incredibly strong and immediately lovable cast—Swanson's character writing is truly excellent.
The pacing has been tightened up from the original web serial and now flows beautifully. I'd originally had issues with the final act feeling a little anticlimactic, though I had a great time with it here. This is a fairly light story, though Swanson does a good job building up the potential threats that produce much of the narrative tension that things stay engaging throughout. The way things develop is incredibly satisfying, and from the very beginning I found it hard to put the book down (even on a reread, thanks to some seamless foreshadowing that made it even more fun the second time around).
Bottle Blondes is truly excellent. It's rare that a story has me so thoroughly captivated as I was here, but any book that gets me staying up into the late hours of the night wanting just one more chapter is doing something right. It's one of the strongest trans romance stories I've ever had the pleasure of reading; an absolute delight that kept me captivated through every twist and turn.
Viola is the perfect lead for this story: dumb in all the right ways but immediately likable enough for it to come off as endearing. There's something intrinsically delightful about watching someone fall head first into transition, and Viola's character arc is incredibly satisfying. David and Viola's chemistry is immediately palpable, and I couldn't stop smiling through every single one of their interactions. Anna, Margot, and Lucy make up an incredibly strong supporting cast: supporting characters in trans stories often feel like a necessary plot device to engineer the necessary contrivances to tell a trans story in a cis world, but all three manage to hold their own (though I can't say the same for Annabelle, who is purely a plot device). This is an incredibly strong and immediately lovable cast—Swanson's character writing is truly excellent.
The pacing has been tightened up from the original web serial and now flows beautifully. I'd originally had issues with the final act feeling a little anticlimactic, though I had a great time with it here. This is a fairly light story, though Swanson does a good job building up the potential threats that produce much of the narrative tension that things stay engaging throughout. The way things develop is incredibly satisfying, and from the very beginning I found it hard to put the book down (even on a reread, thanks to some seamless foreshadowing that made it even more fun the second time around).
Bottle Blondes is truly excellent. It's rare that a story has me so thoroughly captivated as I was here, but any book that gets me staying up into the late hours of the night wanting just one more chapter is doing something right. It's one of the strongest trans romance stories I've ever had the pleasure of reading; an absolute delight that kept me captivated through every twist and turn.
May 24, 2026
"Maybe there was such a thing as perfect. Not, like, entirely perfect. [...] Just perfect in the way that the other stuff could seem smaller if you sat with it long enough. Perfect in the way that the world could shrink a little, improve a little, be better the next morning than it was before."
That's how I feel about the novel. Like I don't understand the author's use of cardinal directions, how everything can be back East. But I understand how it made me feel, how it made me feel like there could be hope, and tomorrow could be a better day, and for that: It's perfect.
That's how I feel about the novel. Like I don't understand the author's use of cardinal directions, how everything can be back East. But I understand how it made me feel, how it made me feel like there could be hope, and tomorrow could be a better day, and for that: It's perfect.
April 17, 2026
A very good romance, the two leads had such a great chemistry. When Viola couldn't hold back and started flirting real hard during her first interaction with David I was hollering.
I liked the discussion about how everyone is finding themselves and the realism of the interaction with the parents.
I liked the discussion about how everyone is finding themselves and the realism of the interaction with the parents.
April 6, 2026
I read this first on ScribbleHub, it's so exciting to see this get a published release – It's such a lovely sweet trans fem het romance. Definitely worth picking up!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews