Luna decides to come out to her friends at 24 years old. As she struggles with her sexuality and the validity of it, she also struggles with her friendships, career, and familial relationships. When her friendships, career and relationship overlap, she must determine what she wants. It's a relatable story.

Read if you like: flawed/chaotic characters, Hollywood setting, celeb romance, love triangle, 90s romances (it kinda reads like one), coming of age, figuring out sexuality

👍
+ The best character in this book is by far Val, the actress the MC falls for. She’s so cool, thoughtful, and the person with the least personal agenda in the book.
+ I appreciated getting a glimpse into the lives of people trying to break into the industry for behind-the-camera work in Hollywood. The MC wants to be a cinematographer, and her way of describing how she would shoot scenes from her own life added an interesting perspective as well.
+ Even though the MC isn’t willing to hear it, there are some cool conversations about what sex is, how virginity is not a straightforward concept and how most people’s definition of it is very heteronormative.
+ If you like flawed and chaotic characters, this book might be for you. I do appreciate that the book highlights that we don’t have to have everything figured out to be queer, that we don’t have to be perfect, and that coming out is a long journey.

👎
- The main character made no sense to me. She’s 24 but acts like a teenager most of the time, she’s way too old to be this obsessed with being a virgin and this clueless about what sex is. She just came out to various people but doesn’t seem like she has put any thought into what being bi means to her. She’s born and raised in LA, is Gen Z, her best friend is sapphic, but somehow still seems like she has had zero exposure to anything or anyone queer. Also somehow has no perception of power dynamics and why it’s not good to have a romance with your boss.
- She was also extremely selfish. She uses almost everyone she comes across. And gets upset when they don’t just welcome being used.
- MC’s BFFs are kinda shitty too.

Overall rating: 2.5 ⭐

Thank you to Vintage Books and NetGalley for the eARC!

More like 3.5/5 stars. I liked parts of this. Luna is a mess and I liked reading about her coming out experience, but I also didn't like a lot of it. This isn't really a romance, it's more about Luna figuring out her sexuality and there is a love triangle that really takes away from the main couple.

I also had a hard time with how sex and virginity were discussed in this book. I know that Luna had to go on a journey to discover what all that meant to her as a bisexual woman, but it was a bit much to read about. It also felt a tad out of place since Luna seems to be well versed in sexuality and the queer community so idk why she was so obsessed with what sex actually was. It did lead to an interesting convo with Valeria, but why couldn't that have been earlier in the story?

Either way I liked seeing Luna grow and change, but thought the romance with Romy was rushed and it was a shame that we spent so much time with Valeria when that's not who Luna ends up with. I felt like we didn't get to know Romy enough for me to be happy with the ending. If this was just a fiction novel I would've been okay with it, but this being called a rom com and being marketed a romance...well in my eyes, it's not a romance because of that.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

While this was overall a solid read for me and I really really appreciated the Jewish representation (especially within a queer contemporary book), I ended up being fairly disappointed by this overall. I'm not sure exactly why but I had a hard time getting through this and overall did not feel that connected to the story. While it wasn't done badly, I didn't love the love triangle aspect of it and did not find the characters to be that compelling or likeable. Additionally, while I didn't like the love triangle aspect I think I would have disliked it even more if I hadn't caught on to Valeria not being the only love interest. If I hadn't realized I bet (and based on others reviews it seems that this is true) that it would have found it to be very abrupt and odd shift especially because we spend so much of this book with Valeria.
I also found the spice to be very out of place? I'm not sure why exactly but this is not a book that I expected to have explicit scenes for some reason and as a result I tended to skip past them. I also thought this was especially true given Luna's weird ongoing obsession with sex and what virginity means throughout the book. While I feel that this is an important discussion to have and it can be very complicated and confusing, it felt like it came up too many times and became too repetitive and also infiltrated the sex scenes at times , making it kinda uncomfortable at times to read.

Overall I think this is going to be a 2.75 star read for me that I am rounding up to a 3 for this review.

This was a nice enjoyable read! I think there were definitely flaws in the writing and a lot of pop culture references which isn't always my favorite thing, but overall I was able to get through it and I did enjoy it. I love to read about the entertainment industry in general so that is always a plus for me. Romy was definitely my favorite character, I think she's very enjoyable to read about and is different from a lot of other non-binary characters we see now.

This was a solid 3.5 star read for me. I really enjoyed the story, however there were a few things that kept me from giving it the higher rating that I had originally hoped to give.

I really enjoyed the relatable feeling of queer panic and constant questioning that you go through when you come out, as we watch Luna experience her first days after realizing she is bisexual. It felt incredibly realistic in the beginning, However as we progressed, it started to feel... different. I did not love all the emphasis that was put on the logistics of losing your virginity - it would have been one thing if that was just like a little bit of the bi-panic / "baby queer" mind process during the book, but it came up quite frequently, and through the ENTIRE book. it felt redundant and unnecessary, almost distracting from some of the other aspects of the book.

Overall, I enjoyed this read, and would recommend to those looking for a sapphic, gay panic, hollywood rom-com! Thank you Netgalley and Carlyn Greenwald for providing me a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I really struggled with this book, because I just could not tell what the aim of the story was. Was it a romance? If so, it didn't come across in a way that had the reader rooting for the end pairing, because throughout the whole of the book, the main character was pursuing a relationship with somebody else. Or was this book about Luna confirming her sexuality? Because if it is, I don't think the way the book is written is a very good representation for that. There was a hell of a lot of internalised biphobia going on with the main character, that just seemed to never end. The side characters also all felt very one-dimensional; I did really like Valeria, and I would've loved if she had ended up being the end-game love interest after all, because she was fantastic, but everyone else was just meh.

My favourite trope is friends-to-lovers, but this book does a terrible job of conveying that trope. We focus on a completely different relationship for literally 80% of the book, only for there to be a sudden turnaround and for Luna to think to herself, "oh maybe I actually like my best friend instead, let's go see if it will work out with her". It just made the book feel really clunky and disjointed.

The premise of this Sizzle Reel was so alluring to me. I love a queer coming-of-age story and I’m also a big fan of a Hollywood setting so this felt like something that was going to be right up my alley. I only wish the execution lived up to my expectations. Instead of being the new favourite I had anticipated I’m walking away from this book feeling confused and frustrated.

Firstly, what I did like: Valeria! She is the star of this show. She’s so fun and fleshed out, she really felt like the only three-dimensional character to me. I loved her characterisation and her dialogue and wit were lovely.

I think most of my issues with this book are from the plot and the main character, Luna. I get that this was supposed to be about the chaos and coming of age associated with finding oneself. It’s totally expected that Luna’s a bit of a hot mess after coming out. It makes sense that this chaos puts the story into motion. However, I did not expect Luna to be a confusing chaos goblin for the WHOLE book. I mean... this really took the whole ‘chaotic gays’ meme to a new level. Right from the beginning of the book we’re supposed to believe that Luna has just come out and is smitten with America’s current sweetheart, Valeria Sullivan. But from that very same first chapter, we begin to get fed all these sporadic little romantic descriptions about Luna’s nonbinary bestie Romy. It was like the author was trying to breadcrumb bits of this love triangle into the story with little success. The whole story focused so heavily on Valeria, but then we’d get these randomly thrown lines about Romy when Luna’s focus and time barely spent with Romy. Instead of breadcrumbs here and there it was like every 50 pages or so I’d get 3 loaves of bread hurled at my head. It just didn’t feel smooth or realistic at all. The ‘tension’ between Romy and Luna was so lacking. Essentially this was a friends-to-lovers book in which the main character spends 90% of the story pining for someone else. I love a good friends-to-lovers story but I didn’t even sense a smidge of the trope until 85% in.

Overall, I just didn’t feel any of the emotions the author was intending I feel throughout the story. I know I was supposed to root for Luna and feel for her as she struggled to figure herself out and experiment with her sexuality, but I think the problem was that Luna was so focused on sex. She was so obsessed with ticking off ‘losing her queer virginity.’ Luna was just entirely too immature for my liking. At points in the story, Luna felt almost clinical and cold because she ignored all her emotions and gave up her chances at real self-actualization to seek external validation over whether or not what she and Valeria had done constituted queer sex. I mean she practically runs away from Valeria’s after their night together to ask Romy if she had ticked it off. She was so obsessed with fitting the criteria of queer that I feel the story misses out on giving us the real and raw emotions and turmoil that one should have during this journey. Especially reflecting on how the story ends, it feels really icky that Luna was so obsessed with having Romy validate her queerness. It almost felt like she was infantilising herself to Romy. In addition, I can see how this book could come off as offensive or belittling to bisexuals who do not share the same narrow definition of sex and virginity as Luna. For a book that tries and promises to be pretty progressive and often makes jokes about the character’s apparent wokeness, I think the stereotypes around virginity and the focus on cis-male appendages have the potential to be quite frustrating and hurtful for queer readers, specifically non-binary and lesbian readers.

Unfortunately, the ending just made me incredibly frustrated… which pretty sums up my entire experience with this book. The relationship that prevails wasn’t well-developed but rather felt rushed and forced, and frankly left a bad taste in my mouth. I really wanted to love this but all the parts that I did like ended up being nearly inconsequential and all that’s left in the end is the messy, chaotic parts.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Sizzle Reel by Carlyn Greenwald

This is a coming out queer story within a coming-of-age story. Luna is going to become a cinematographer by paying her dues as a PA for a Hollywood talent agent. She is also in the process of coming to terms with her sexuality and had just come out to her best friends as bi. She meets, Valeria at work and is immediately enamored with the young Oscar winner. To her surprise, Valeria shows interest in Luna but as they get closer Luna's best friend Romy starts acting increasingly odd.

This is a love triangle and Valeria is center stage in the middle of it. Valeria wanted to come out in her own terms but gets forced out before she was ready to tell people about being bi-sexual. It was fairly decent story. I agree with others don't go reading this a current day coming out read it as a coming out story say 10 years ago. Where it was much harder for someone to come out and except there identity. if you go into this book understanding that it will be an enjoyable coming out book. For me even as an older LGBGTQ member this felt what I experienced coming out to people I cared about.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for a free copy of Sizzle Reel for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

I adored this book! Luna is very relatable, and I enjoyed seeing her interact with both Romy and Valeria. The ending was a bit predictable, but I liked it nonetheless. The book does read a bit YA, but as a lover of all genre-ages, it didn't matter much to me.

Thank you to the author for the gifted copy (totally forgot I had it on NetGalley also)

What had the makings of a great sapphic book, fell a little short for me but wasn't totally terrible. I had so many high hopes for this and was just a little underwhelmed by the plot development and some of the character's actions.

I feel like this has the bones of a great book, but ended up falling short, but overall enjoyable. I think some of the writing was redundant, and leaned a bit YA given that it isn’t

this book ended exactly the way I knew it would…and I was still pissed about it.

Luna Roth just had her bisexual awakening and is determined to put her newfound sexuality to good use. When she catches the attention of actress Valeria Sullivan, sparks fly and Luna discovers what she’s been missing.

……which is why the ending made me SO MAD. Spoilers start here folks!!! So throughout the book it was hinted that Luna had passing thoughts about liking one of her best friends, Romy, who was very obviously in love with Luna throughout the book. This is why I wasn’t incredibly surprised when Luna ended up with Romy after a fall-out with Valeria. It’s not that I didn’t like Romy, I just didn’t feel the same chemistry between her and Luna as I did with Luna and Valeria. Luna’s obsession with the definition of virginity and what constitutes as sex was also an annoying point for me throughout the book.

I actually had fun reading this until the ending :(

I received an advanced copy of Sizzle Reel by Carlyn Greenwald from the publisher Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Aspiring cinematographer Luna Roth has just come out as bisexual at age 24, and while her best friend and fellow queer Romy is excited, she’s having trouble flirting with girls and she cannot even wrap her head around telling her story. Plus, her cruel boss has used this to push that she (the boss) celebrates diversity. But then A-list actressValeria Sullivan walks into the talent agency and is interested in Luna’s cinematography and Luna leverages this for a job. Plus, if she is also gay, Luna might have her first kiss with a girl wrapped up too.

What I Loved: I was really excited to read this one. I actually genuinely enjoyed the side characters Romy and Valeria. They were both likable characters and put up with a lot of crap. I enjoyed them and was happy when they showed up.

What I Didn’t Like: Luna took a promising book and kind of wrecked it for me. I’m not queer, so please take my words with that in conception. There are several reviews from queer readers who raise similar issues to me, and I would encourage you to read them. Luna is a dislikable character who seems to be scheming like a high schooler to get her crush to date her while constantly talking about it to her friends and overthinking. Also to be fair she kind of plays her crush too and this is ignored. Also, you know the whole time the way the book is going to end and this makes Luna read as blissfully ignorant and unthinking to everyone. A lot of this could be considered as her being inexperienced and immature, but I feel like that's not fully it, however it is worth noting the character is written as inexperienced, still I don't think being inexperienced is really an excuse for some of this behavior. There are also some really troubling obsessions with sex and virginity that are weird.

Who Should Read It: People who like predictable romances where a lead is a bit naïve.

Summary: Recently out, Luna has the chance to get the career and get the girl.

I enjoy a story about an average person and a movie about falling in love. Luna is working as an assistant, but her goal is to be a cinematographer. She is also newly out, and she hasn't told everyone.

When she gets fired and is outted within the same week - she ends up working on the set of one of her favourite actresses and allies.

Although she is starting a relationship with Val - her best friend has been the person who answers and guides her in her journey

This is a book of discovery and best friend love.

This was super cute, and the cover is beautiful

This story started out very promising to me but slowly started shifting towards a direction that made me feel increasingly uncomfortable as a queer woman who also realized they were queer and came out later in life that pushed this book into 2.5 star territory for me. There is so much I could say about this book but also at the same time I feel exhausted by the characters, the story, and much of the dialogue. I understand the author was trying to tell a story of a character coming out later in life but, wow. The heavy internalized biphobia was a lot to deal with over and over again, so much so that I the impression I am left with coloring the book more than any sort of satisfying resolve and education and remorse and growth and relearning is internalized biphobia and the obsessive insistence that only penetrative intercourse counts towards losing virginity. The obsession "losing virginity" to begin with made the story read much more Young Adult than New Adult, which was not at all what I was expecting given the ages of the characters and the setting of the story. The trope the book ultimately ends up being is one of my favorite romance tropes to read, but in this iteration of the trope, the pivot from where the story was going did not work for me at all. I’m happy for the characters finding happiness but this journey was just not for me. I will round my overall score up to 3 stars from 2.5 because the rating doesn’t allow half stars and Carlyn Greenwald is mother for giving us that Hot Ones training scene. Never have I ever felt so seen in a romance novel and I love her so much for giving the culture that scene. Iconic. I really enjoyed how seamlessly Greenwald incorporated inclusive phrases so that non-binary, trans, queer people can feel seen, respected, and held space for in a romance novel and do it well I really appreciated.

Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage for providing an electronic advanced reader galley in exchange for my honest review.

MY RATING 3/5 STARS
While I enjoyed my time reading this book overall, I think it had a hard time actually gripping my attention, so it took me quite a while for me to finish it.

Through the book we follow Luna who has recently discovered that she is bi and wants to explore this new part of her sexuality. Because of this she gets an internal pressure to have sex with someone who isn’t a man so she can lose her virginity.

To deal with her anxieties and struggles we see Luna going to a therapist, which I really loved as it was great to see her be able to articulate what she was going through. Additionally, I always think that it is great to see more positive representation around therapy and how that can help us.

I really loved Romy as a side character, and I would have loved to see and hear more about her.
Lastly, I think the ending of the book felt a little rushed, and I would have liked for the final outcome to be a bit more fleshed out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Stunning debut! Absolutely a wonderful one as well too and I can't wait for more book by Carlyn! And I loved the writing overall!

This story was an okay read, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I wasn't anticipating so many controversial topics to be included in this story. There were some very slow parts in the beginning and things I felt slowed the story down. Luna is an aspiring cinematographer, coming out in her 20s. Valeria is an A-list celebrity Luna ends up working with due to a very public, dramatic scene at her Hollywood Talent Management job that she witnessed. Luna is crushing on Valeria, her bestie, Romy is supporting their best friend through her coming out questions and revelations.
While Luna's character was kind of hard for me to connect with, I really, really liked Romy's character a lot as well as Valeria. I think it was just hard for me to connect with this story and Luna overall. I feel like a lot of the romance was lost with the other topics that are in the book. That might not be a deterrent for some readers, but this just isn't the style of romance novel that makes my heart fly. I hope this book finds its way into the hands of people who really enjoy this type of story.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.