A little slow and inconsistent for my taste -- but I'd be very willing to pick up another book by this author.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

Nar, who was just proposed to by her longtime boyfriend, has decided to embrace her Armenian culture post breakup. She attends a local event called Explore Armenia and there meets Erebuni. What starts out as friendship seems to become more before Nar knows how to process it.

So for me, this was a fantastic mix of learning and enjoyment. I didn't really know anything about Armenian culture before reading this title, but as I read it, learned a bit more. And ended up Googling more to give myself context.

Beyond this, I really enjoyed the friends to lovers arc of Nar and Erebuni. Realistically, I actually really found myself understand some of Nar's journey with her mother. Having been raised in a conservative religion, there were a lot of expectations about marriage and you can see that here in Nar's journey as well.

Overall, I really enjoy this and look forward to more from the author!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

I sadly had to dnf this book, the writing style just wasn’t for me.

This was okay. That's probably the strongest feeling I had about it. I picked this up as an eARC (thanks, Netgalley!) ages ago, and only just finally got around to reading it.

Nar is pretty set in her life: boyfriend she feels lukewarm about, career she wishes she could do more with, and family that loves her as long as she doesn't do anything to set the Armenian-American community talking, culture she takes little interest in. Then her boyfriend proposes, and Nar decides to turn her life upside down. While she gives her boyfriend a wishy-washy answer that leaves them on uncertain terms, she tells her mother she's ready to start exploring Armenian men at Exploring Armenia, a cultural event that takes place every few years. But instead of meeting a nice Armenian man, she instead meets Erebuni, a passionate woman who shows Nar what it really means to be embrace her culture and her true self.

On paper, this sounded interesting. And the bits of Armenian culture were fascinating and well woven in! Except for the scene during Erebuni's genocide lecture. While I understand the intent - the attacking culture denying the genocide and flipping the script to point the finger at the Armenians - I feel like it was poorly handled. Not the content, to be clear, but the lead up and the aftermath. The entire event was isolated and a blip, with little impact aside from getting Nar to be more understanding of the genocide against her people.

The rest, though... Nar's wishy-washiness was awful. Not having a definitive break up, being non-committal in her responses to Trevor while he was in Germany, not letting Erebuni know anything that was going on, her defeatest attitude until she decides to show Erebuni that she isn't wishy-washy.... It just really rubbed me the wrong way. Erebuni so easily forgiving Nar also seemed extremely unrealistic considering she herself said communication and honesty were important to her.

Everything just simply wrapped up far too neatly with no consequences for Nar.

All in all: it was okay.

dnf @ 28%

This one was a bit of a bummer for me, since I was really looking forward to picking it up. And while I think it was a bummer for ME, I think it would be a great book for a ton of other people.

I absolutely loved all the Armenian cultural elements throughout. (It made me feel really homesick for the Greek side of my family!!) I think the author did a great job of incorporating those elements in a way that felt natural and immersive.

However, I was having a hard time connecting to the main character and the side characters -- and character connection is the main reason I come to romance novels. The story is also told in first-person, which is not my preferred POV for romance novels.

Overall, not for me, but definitely something that I think other readers might enjoy!

One of my favorite adult bi romance. It had such a strong voice and sense of self. The depth and care given to armenian culture and heritage was very appreciated.

Unfortunately, I found myself not much of a fan of the protagonist of this book; I ended up not finishing it. My favorite aspects were the depictions of the Armenian community and their gatherings, which reminded me a lot of my own culture, but the narrator was just not easy for me to root for.

https://lesbrary.com/sorry-bro-by-taleen-voskuni/

Taleen Voskuni’s promising sapphic debut packs more than your average meet-cute romance. Sorry, Bro follows an Armenian American woman’s quest to balance familial duty, identity, career aspirations, and, of course, love.

Nareh, a TV journalist in the San Francisco Bay Area, presents a polished persona on Instagram, but lacks self-assurance behind the scenes. She has not fully embraced her bisexuality, which she keeps a secret from her family, nor does she feel like a “real” Armenian with roots to her culture. Nareh’s identity crisis extends to her professional life. Constantly accepting the fluff assignments that her sexist, bigoted boss dumps on her, she holds her own journalistic talent in low esteem.

But when Trevor, her non-Armenian boyfriend of four years, pops the question in a crowded bar amid his tech bro buddies, Nareh has a moment of clarity. She no longer fits the mold that she’s created for herself. With Trevor leaving for a three-week business trip, Nareh asks for some space to reconsider their future.

Her mother has other plans for her. Armed with a spreadsheet of eligible Armenian bachelors, she urges Nareh to attend Explore Armenia, a weeks-long cultural convention that doubles as a singles meetup for Armenian American millennials across the Bay Area. A dutiful daughter, Nareh pep talks herself into showing up at the festivities, but no men strike her fancy, just one woman.

Nareh can’t look away from Erebuni, a chic, self-possessed woman who also happens to be an Explore Armenia board member with a day job at the Armenian Genocide Education Foundation. Erebuni not only pulls Nareh into her thrall, but also challenges her to investigate her Armenian heritage. Raised in a household where her late father aspired to white American ideals while her mother clung to Armenian culture, Nareh has until now failed to understand the impact of Armenia’s history on her family and the Armenian American community. As Nareh grows closer to Erebuni, she is forced to confront both her ambivalence about her ancestry as well as her bisexuality, which she fears will alienate her from the Armenian family she is just starting to better understand.

Voskuni does a beautiful job developing Nareh’s and Erebuni’s slow-simmering romance, which feels simultaneously familiar and refreshing. I rooted not only for their love, but for Nareh’s growth through the book as she carves a path that both empowers her and brings her closer to her family and greater community. I fell in love with Erebuni’s motley crew of Armenian American friends, who welcome Nareh into their fold and give her a newfound sense of belonging. Readers looking for steamy sex scenes won’t find them here—sex is broadly alluded to but remains Nareh’s and Erebuni’s little secret. But fans of this book will be happy to find that it is the first in a series: Lavash at First Sight hits shelves in 2024.

Content warnings: war, genocide, racism, sexism, homophobia/biphobia, death of a parent

I absolutely loved this book! The dynamic and relationships between the friends and the way they continuously supported each other no atter what. And watching the two main characters fall in love was cute and sweet. But this book was also emotional and dealt with the way our families can sometimes hold us to standards we can never reach.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me access to the free advanced digital copy of this book.

Sorry, Bro is an absolute incredible novel. This was my first ever romance and I am happy to say that it changed how I feel about the genre. Voskuni's debut knocked it out of the park and I cannot wait to read whatever she does next.

I wanted to like this one a lot because I haven't really read many books with Armenian culture but I did not like the romance and found the main female character very frustrating.

I had to dnf this book half of the way through. I had issues with the main character and plot. It was hard to get engaged with reading and the pacing as well.

Sorry, Bro is a beautiful story about rediscovering and embracing yourself. Nareh thought she had a perfect life until her boyfriend proposed, and it's not what she wanted. Now her mom wants her to attend Explore Armenia, a month-long series of events, and find the perfect Armenian man. The problem, she's met the perfect Armenian woman. This delightful romance explores not only embracing your culture but your whole identity as Nareh learns to be proudly Armenian, proudly bisexual, and proudly herself. I love it and would highly recommend.

This was such a fun book on so many levels, not only for the queer representation but the Armenian representation was A++ and made for a really interesting dynamic.

I really enjoyed this one! The romance was top-notch— Nareh and Erebuni had great chemistry, and I loved watching them come together. I loved all the Armenian culture woven through the story, and how a large part of Nareh’s personal narrative was her reconnecting with her Armenian roots.

All in all, this was a great f/f romance that I would definitely recommend!!

Sorry, Bro is the story of Nar, an Armenian American woman after she turns down a proposal and begins to attend a program exploring her heritage in a bid to find a husband. There she meets Erebuni, another woman, and the two begin to fall in love. This was pitched as a rom-com sapphic romance, and honestly I think I’ll just call it a rom-cringe.

My biggest issue is two-fold, and part of that isn’t exactly the book’s fault. This is a single POV romance, and these almost never work for me (and many people I’ve found). Our main character comes across as very wrapped up in herself at the expense of everyone around her. The side characters, even the romantic interest feels very flat, and the romance feels insta-love if not worse. The strange obsession and fixation as well of Nar on Erebuni’s Wiccan belief and practices felt borderline fetish to me (as someone with a history with the religion). Again, it’s possible that this is by product of being trapped in Nar’s head, I didn’t like her. But it also could simply have been the writing. I’ll also say, some of the use of language in here was incredibly cringe. You shouldn’t have to reach for a good analogy or expression. Don’t get overly creative or it comes off as ‘yikes’.

The biggest issue for me though was the use of the history of the Armenian people. From the beginning Nar is exceptionally dismissive of her people’s history, though she does seem to love her family and their culture at large. For a book that is quick to establish that this is important the plot, and for it’s credit does so beautifully, I was immediately offput by her attitude. I’m not Armenian American but the approach the character takes early and carries through a lot of the first half of the book - at one point literally stating ‘genocides are such a bummer’ really bothered me as an outside perspective. Again, I’d like to reenforce author does a great job showing the beauty of the culture and family, however making the character ‘learn to appreciate her history’ which I believe was the goal here, was not done well. Instead leaving the reader feeling very uncomfortable with the main character even after she realizes she is clearly in the wrong.

There is also the unavoidable conversation to have with the fact that this author seems to take it upon herself to invade Reviewers and the Review spaces. I was half way through, struggling with the book and checking friends reviews when this was mentioned so be aware this yourself if you’re a reviewer. If you’re the author - don’t do that. I’m not going to repeat what should be common sense, but don’t do that.

All in all, not a good one for me. It’s possible it will work for others, and I genuinely hope so. But it was a huge miss, a big cringe fest and incredibly difficult to get through. I can’t say I recommend it.

Unfortunately I DNF this. But note, this could be your cup of tea! I was so read for a queer armenian story and this just wasn’t it.

The writing wasn’t very exciting or well done - it was all over the place, I clear, and not interesting. I honestly couldn’t like Nar - she was chaotic, misogynistic, so immature.. And I saw reviews from Armenian reviewers about the Armenian rep being extremely harmful. Also read it felt more women’s fiction than romance which is not for me at this moment.

You can imagine being at a baseball game. In between innings, the camera zooms in on a happy couple; suddenly, one of them drops to one knee with a proposal of marriage on the big screen. For Nareh, this scene plays out a little differently. Her long-time boyfriend proposes filming the entire thing in a dirty beer hall with a rival reporter, including her passing out.

Embarrassed and unsure of herself, she tells him no, just as he leaves for a three-week business trip. Newly kind of single, she gives into her mother's wishes to size up Armenian men at various Armenian festivals. Nervous before entering the first event by herself, a woman approaches and invites her to go in with her. Suddenly, the festivities are much more enjoyable. While scoping the men on her Mom's list, she is more interested in Erebuni, the organizer of many of these events. Nareh had a lot of girlfriends in college, and Trevor may still want to reconcile, but she needs to follow her heart despite the fallout that can happen from her family.

A beautiful and rich story filled with culture, sexual tensions, and love. This reminds me a lot of One Last Stop. Will the neurotic and self-critical young women get the girl of her dreams?