I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

I picked up this title quite a few times over the last months . Mostly because I felt like I couldn’t connect at all with any characters or story itself.
The writing is beautiful and the story is sad and feels like all the emotions are brought up in here. Being labelled as historical fiction, it’s understandable why all the cruelty the main character had to go through. But somewhere along the way I just felt like it becomes a lot to tedious and there wasn’t really anything new that I wasn’t expecting to happen.
The end was even more rushed out and left me with the question of what have I learned from this story? Not much that I haven’t already knew unfortunately. Nothing that once said is will bad intent or anything.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

Very

I don't know how or why I downloaded this book, but I never realized i did and didn't have an intention to read it. No offense to the author, publishers, or lovers of this book, but I just don't think it was for me.

I was extremely excited to pick up this novel, but unfortunately I did find it to be fairly unrealistic. Some of the views the characters held felt way too modern to be classed as historical fiction in my opinion.

The descriptive writing was beautiful however, and the characters were very well developed.

Sadly, I also felt that the ending was a bit abrupt and I would have loved just a little bit more, but that’s just personal preference.

I will keep an eye on this author as I did enjoy the writing style, but this one in particular just wasn’t for me.

1850. I was six years old the day Lewis Holt came to take me away.

Born into slavery, Dahlia never knew her mother—or what happened to her. When Dahlia’s father, the owner of Vesterville plantation, takes her to work in his home as a servant, she’s desperately lonely. Forced to leave behind her best friend, Bo, she lives in a world between black and white, belonging to neither.

Dahlia was born into slavery, her father was the master of the plantation, and she was white.
When the chance of freedom presented itself she took it.

This is a fascinating story about a white slave girl, who neither her father accepted her nor her fellow slaves. She was merely the property of her father, a name among many names.
Two things bothered me, the first is when Bo left Dahlia even when he saw her and thought she was being kidnapped, and the second is how easily Ryland let her leave. It felt like the end was rushed.

I featured this book as a Book of the Day spotlight and included it in my weekly roundup and monthly post of new releases on my Black Fiction Addiction platforms. I also interviewed the author.

I love when a fictional story can draw you in to help you learn and understand the past, while also have you on the edge of your seat.⁣
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What Passes as Love is the story of Dahlia Holt, mixed-race daughter of a plantation owner who passes as white to escape enslavement, but finds herself in a loveless marriage to a man with secrets of his own. ⁣
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As Dahlia tries to navigate a white world, she is in constant fear of being found out - and finds herself not feeling like she truly belongs anywhere. And it’s so interesting to follow her choices as you feel distraught when her impulses fail, inspired at her determined triumphs - but also see the lines drawn on both sides as you watch how far she will go to live the life she deserves.⁣
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For readers of Passing and The Vanishing Half, What Passes as Love is written beautifully, and has a captivating and absorbing plot that never lets go and is equally hard to put down. There are several twists and turns I didn’t see coming at all, and I appreciated it’s historical accuracies. It's ultimately a heartbreaking, yet compelling story of courage, hope, love, and the strength and resilience of the human spirit.⁣
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I need a sequel please!!

Trisha R. Thomas’𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 does not pass on the opportunity to captivate her audience with a passing narrative that mingles historical fiction, family drama and secrets, plot twists, and a love story. Born into slavery, Dahlia Holt is taken away from the fields to be a house servant to her half-sisters at 6 years old. Ten years later, she then finds an opportunity to pass as Lily Dove, where a man named Timothy Ross believes she is a white woman. Dahlia believes: “I, on the other hand, had been reborn. There was no bad footing, only one step in front of the other. As fearful as I was giddy, as lost as I was found, I couldn’t wait to see what new adventure awaited me.” However, freedom always comes at a cost.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 is more than just another passing novel. Dahlia’s best friend Bo explains: “Nothing good could come from her believing she was one of them. They’d make her see the truth one way or another.” He’s right. Thomas’ message is clear about the expectations of slaves in the 19th century South—they were to remain invisible, unimportant, and inferior to whites. No matter her role as Dahlia or Lily, she would never meet their expectations. In the novel, Cleo warns her: “You want everyone to see through your eyes, but your eyes ain’t like the rest. They’ll never see us as nothing but mules. We’re nothing to them. And you’d best decide where you belong, which side you want to be on, and stay there.” In the novel, she chooses to buck those expectations, find her own footing, and find love on her own terms.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 is different in that it doesn’t end traumatically for the characters, which I’m particularly fine with, but I’m not okay with the rushed ending here. It was too abrupt with no true resolution of the entire plot. There was a better execution available--Thomas passed on it obviously.

This book was a beautiful work of historical fiction that I hope so many people pick up! The characters are well-developed and provide the reader with someone to connect with and root for! The historical timeframe was created with wonderful details that really brought me into the 1800s. I was absolutely captivated with this one, and I think so many other readers will be as well!

The story takes the reader on such an amazing journey. I loved that we alternated between the two characters. It gave insight into the world of the house and the fields. The story unfolded quickly, and I felt compelled to never put the book down. I had to know what was happening. I thought the end wrapped up just a bit too quickly. I would have liked a little more. Other than that, this was an amazing, emotional read, and I highly recommend it!

3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a good historical fiction about slaves in the Deep South of America. It is a heart rendering story about love and freedom. Bit of a slow burner but is good once you get into the story.

This was a great book but very hard to read. It was very sad.

I do think this will be a popular book that people are going to love. It really had me on the edge of my seat as I was so scared for Dahlia the entire time. I just kept waiting for something bad to happen.

It is well written and engaging. I would recommend.

This is fairly light for the difficult subject matter but that doesn't mean that it isn't an engrossing read. It's 1850 and Dahlia has reinvented herself as Lily and is passing as white. Her marriage to Timothy is, well, not a real marriage but she believes she's safe from her former owner. And then Bo, her childhood friend, arrives, having been sold because he was blamed for Lily's escape. Parts of this are melodramatic and others maddening but you will always root for Lily. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

What Passes as Love: A Novel by T. Thomas, published by Lake Union Publishing, is a well written historical romance.
Set in the 185ties in the US tells the story of Dahlia and Carter.
A well written book, enjoyable that has its moments, but also has his weaknesses. All in all an ok read, 4 stars.

Dahlia is the child of a slave and Lewis Holt, the owner of the Vesterville plantation. She never knows her mother, and at six is torn from the only life she has known, to be taken up to the big house to live. Dahlia’s fair skin color affords her many luxuries that other children of slaves do not have, and in this book it affords her the chance to run away, and to live under the pretense of being a white woman.

She manages to accomplish this when she meets Timothy, a young Englishman in town, who seems sweet and kind, and offers to make Dahlia his wife. She is whisked away, assumes the new identity of Lily Dove, and lives as the lady of the manor alongside her husband, and his family.

Dahlia’s childhood friend, Bo, is blamed for her disappearance and sold in the slave market, eventually making his way to the manor where Dahlia lives. Her marriage is not a conventional one, leaving her lonely. Meanwhile, Lewis Holt is determined to find his property and bring her back, offering a substantial bounty.

This story gives us the heart wrenching portrayal of a woman who fits in nowhere. She is not comfortable masquerading as a white woman, yet has never fully been accepted as a black woman either.

Historical fiction is not my usual preferred genre of reading, however I found myself finishing this book in one sitting, as the various characters revealed their true natures and the story took turns that I didn’t expect. I was mesmerized by Dahlia’s story and horrified along with her by the treatment of the people who she claims as her own, while often needing to act otherwise.

Thank you to Netgalley, to Trisha R. Thomas, Lake Union Publishing, and Jennifer Richards for gifting me an ARC of the book in exchange for my honest review.