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Caldwell Series #1
A Promise to Keep
Seventeen year old ace/aro Teagan has spent three years trying to heal from the loss of her best friend Joanne who died in 8th grade because of complications from anorexia. Teagan has learned to survive with the help of her good friend Brian and the elderly residents at Caldwell Manor where she works as an activity aide. However, there is one obstacle that she has yet to overcome: she had made a promise to her best friend that she would keep on acting and find a new friend, but she can't stand the new girl in town who's competing for her role!
- GenresAsexual
199 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 29, 2020
1 person is currently reading
6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 11, 2021
CW: Anorexia, Acephobia, Fatphobia
3.5/5 Stars
This book could have easily been a 4 stars, but I just can't bring myself to give it 4. That doesn't mean though, that I hated it!! I will - in fact - probably get the sequel.
So let's get into the review. This book was giving me really strong Loveless vibes. I don't know, if that's a good thing or nah. I guess, if you liked Loveless, you'll find a lot of similar things in here as well. So it's probably a good thing(?)
Shakespear and Theater play a really big role in this book and once we get to the theater part of the book - which takes a while - it had me hooked. ( So if you hated the theater part of loveless, this isn't for you. )
The other important plot line, was the stuff about Anorexia. I can't say I hated that part per say, because I do think we got a good view into it, but I also think that, - considering the importance of the topic for the plot and MC - we should have spend more time with it. And by that I don't mean everything we did in the first 4 chapters.
We talk a lot about "What would Joanne do" and "If only she was still here" and "If she could only see you right now" and it's all kinda way to dramatic and over the top to a point, where you almost can't take those people serious. The Mc had ONE normal conversation with Ida about Joanne's death and why and how she died and that would have been the best way to introduce or handle the grief. I felt like, the book did have a good idea and it did have a good story, but it didn't really manage to focus on the important parts. Like the amount of times people had irrelevant filler conversations/scenes and chapters was sad. Was it there to build character? Not really. To build relationships? Also not really. It was there, so we can get told, how sad everyone still is. And I get that loss is hard - I have lost people close to me as well - but that's not how you do it.
The writing at the beginning - and sometimes in the middle too - was cringe. Because the book was clearly trying to push a message/theme/representation in a situation that didn't fit the thing that the book wanted to push. Reading those scenes was awkward. I can't even tell you my "favourit". I was really happy when we we focused on the plot more.
Because the fat rep at the beginning was ass, but the fat rep we got the more we got into the book was good. Clearly, what helped was that we stopped using truly amazing sentences like My fat fingers grabbed the bike. I liked riding the bike ALTHOUGH I was fat.
Since I already reached the rep part, I'd like to mention that the book did good, when it was not trying way to hard.
fat Aro Ace Mc ♥
POC Gay Side character ♥
heteroromantic ace old lady ♥
Thank you for doing what loveless was unable to do. Acting. Is. Acting! An Aro Ace Person can still play a romantic role! We aren't incompetend! A kiss alone isn't gonna murder us either!
Could this have been written better? Yes. Maybe it even should have. Especially if you consider that the book was handling an important topic: body positivity. While still being like, be body positive about your healthy body! Not about your anorexic one. And I DID get those vibes, but I also felt like it should have done better. WHICH is why I'm looking forward to the sequel.
Because after you warm up to the cast they grow on you. I liked Teagan as a protag because she is a little sassy, she is confident, she is more then just fat and ace and she is also able to see when she ducked up. Ida was fine too, Brian was kinda given the shorter end of the stick and Cassie was great, but should have been given more attention.
There was fatphobic and acephobic language, but I - you know -I have dealt with both of those things and the situations were relatable and great and I actually smiled at one or two. So thank you. I always wanted fat ace rep and although this book isn't perfect, I'm glad it exists and I'm glad I read it.
3.5/5 Stars
This book could have easily been a 4 stars, but I just can't bring myself to give it 4. That doesn't mean though, that I hated it!! I will - in fact - probably get the sequel.
So let's get into the review. This book was giving me really strong Loveless vibes. I don't know, if that's a good thing or nah. I guess, if you liked Loveless, you'll find a lot of similar things in here as well. So it's probably a good thing(?)
Shakespear and Theater play a really big role in this book and once we get to the theater part of the book - which takes a while - it had me hooked. ( So if you hated the theater part of loveless, this isn't for you. )
The other important plot line, was the stuff about Anorexia. I can't say I hated that part per say, because I do think we got a good view into it, but I also think that, - considering the importance of the topic for the plot and MC - we should have spend more time with it. And by that I don't mean everything we did in the first 4 chapters.
We talk a lot about "What would Joanne do" and "If only she was still here" and "If she could only see you right now" and it's all kinda way to dramatic and over the top to a point, where you almost can't take those people serious. The Mc had ONE normal conversation with Ida about Joanne's death and why and how she died and that would have been the best way to introduce or handle the grief. I felt like, the book did have a good idea and it did have a good story, but it didn't really manage to focus on the important parts. Like the amount of times people had irrelevant filler conversations/scenes and chapters was sad. Was it there to build character? Not really. To build relationships? Also not really. It was there, so we can get told, how sad everyone still is. And I get that loss is hard - I have lost people close to me as well - but that's not how you do it.
The writing at the beginning - and sometimes in the middle too - was cringe. Because the book was clearly trying to push a message/theme/representation in a situation that didn't fit the thing that the book wanted to push. Reading those scenes was awkward. I can't even tell you my "favourit". I was really happy when we we focused on the plot more.
Because the fat rep at the beginning was ass, but the fat rep we got the more we got into the book was good. Clearly, what helped was that we stopped using truly amazing sentences like My fat fingers grabbed the bike. I liked riding the bike ALTHOUGH I was fat.
Since I already reached the rep part, I'd like to mention that the book did good, when it was not trying way to hard.
fat Aro Ace Mc ♥
POC Gay Side character ♥
heteroromantic ace old lady ♥
Thank you for doing what loveless was unable to do. Acting. Is. Acting! An Aro Ace Person can still play a romantic role! We aren't incompetend! A kiss alone isn't gonna murder us either!
Could this have been written better? Yes. Maybe it even should have. Especially if you consider that the book was handling an important topic: body positivity. While still being like, be body positive about your healthy body! Not about your anorexic one. And I DID get those vibes, but I also felt like it should have done better. WHICH is why I'm looking forward to the sequel.
Because after you warm up to the cast they grow on you. I liked Teagan as a protag because she is a little sassy, she is confident, she is more then just fat and ace and she is also able to see when she ducked up. Ida was fine too, Brian was kinda given the shorter end of the stick and Cassie was great, but should have been given more attention.
There was fatphobic and acephobic language, but I - you know -I have dealt with both of those things and the situations were relatable and great and I actually smiled at one or two. So thank you. I always wanted fat ace rep and although this book isn't perfect, I'm glad it exists and I'm glad I read it.
December 5, 2023
I very much enjoyed meeting these teen characters-- and I applaud the author for using her experience in secondary education to tackle such complex issues as anorexia, body acceptance and sexual identity. The relationship between the protagonist and her best friend is everything a healthy teen relationship should be.
I also love the fact that theatre brings the characters together and that the book brings multiple generations together.
I also love the fact that theatre brings the characters together and that the book brings multiple generations together.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews