While I enjoyed my time reading “Just as You Are” by Camille Kellogg, I think marketing this as a rom-com is pretty off base. This honestly felt like queer fiction novel with a romantic subplot.

This is more about Liz Baker and her personal journey of with her friend group and first real job. Liz and her roommates work at a queer magazine that is saved from being shut down by two lesbians. One of those new owners, Daria, isn’t exactly thrilled to be there and she and Liz clash from the beginning.

Although I didn’t love this as a romance, there were parts I enjoyed and hope to see more of in the future. There’s diversity represented in the characters with a trans poc, Jane, who is Liz’s best friend and a major secondary character. I was actually more interested in her storyline several different times.

I also loved the talks about gender expression and presentation. Liz doesn’t think she’s non-binary but she also isn’t always comfortable being seen as too feminine or masculine. She’s insecure about how’s she seen and how she feels and I got a lot out of her internal struggles with that.

Her job at a queer magazine was also a big plus for me. As someone who spent my teen/early twenties reading AfterEllen and then Autostraddle, I appreciated the love for magazines/websites that highlights queer culture, especially for those that may not see anyone like themselves where they are.

The romance wasn’t for me. It felt like Liz and Daria spent the majority of the story disliking each other and then all of sudden they were very much into each other. I didn’t see any kind of connection or growth that made their “relationship” make sense. I would’ve liked that developed a lot more for me to believe in them as a couple. I also had to laugh that the blurb says this is steamy. There was one intimate scene and that’s it. When I think of steamy, I imagine several explicit scenes, such as Alexandria Bellefleur.

In the end, while this wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, I enjoyed it enough that I will certainly be reading whatever Kellogg may put out next.

I received an ARC from Random House Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this unique, queer Pride and Prejudice retelling. The elements of the original were so wonderfully reworked to create a unique yet recognizable story. I also really appreciated the fact that Liz spent time thinking about her identity and that it was really relatable.This was such a fun read.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

2/5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC.

I'm going to completely honest with you, I was so bored reading this. I felt like none of the characters had any depth, the dialogue was bland, the romance was half-baked, and the book wasn't advertised correctly. It was more of a coming-of-age story rather than a romance, and if I'd have known that before going into the book, I feel as though I would have known more of what to expect.

I finished this book this morning and have since been struggling with the words I need to talk about this book - so this review may not be entirely coherent, sorry!

Just as you are was a book I knew I'd love, primarily from the strong reception it had received but further by the characters and settings themselves.

It's been a while since I've been sucked into a book and rendered it unputdownable. But this morning, for the last 40% (hey, I'm a slow reader this took a lot of time!), my phone didn't leave my hand as devoured this book. This novel was fun, serious when it needed to be and delightfully queer throughout.

With a protagonist who's gender expression could probably be described with just an "ehhh" and the shrug emoji and several nonbinary and trans leading cast members. As well as a butch love interest who is absolutely the love of my life, daria is an Angel and i adore her. no further questions pls.

This novel centres the Nether Fields, a magazine for queer women, non-binary and trans people. Throughout it, the cast struggle with dealing with new management (hello daria and bailey!) and then as you can imagine, angst and humor alike follows!

I can't wait to purchase my own copy to reread in the future, or... in a couple weeks. A very very easy 5 stars, I loved this a whole bunch!!

Just as You Are was a fun romance in an interesting setting, setting up an enemies-to-lovers type situation between a journalist at a queer magazine and one of the owners that has come in to rescue the magazine. There were fun parts and scenes I loved, but also times when I didn't quite follow how they'd gone from enemies to loves. I think this was partly because the 'enemies' section of their relationship felt a bit petty from the beginning, so it was hard to feel what the emotional growth either of them would need to get them to a place where they were right for each other. Even so, the story flowed well and was a quick and easy read. If you're looking for a romance to read this summer, this could be just the thing.

**Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review**

Title: Just as You Are
Author: Camille Kellogg
Summary: Liz Baker and her three roommates work at the Nether Fields, a queer magazine in New York that’s on the verge of shutting down—until it’s bought at the last minute by two wealthy lesbians. Liz knows she’s lucky to still have a paycheck but it’s hard to feel grateful with minority investor Daria Fitzgerald slashing budgets, cancelling bagel Fridays, and password protecting the color printer to prevent “frivolous use.” When Liz overhears Daria scoffing at her listicles, she knows that it’s only a matter of time before her impulsive mouth gets herself fired.
But as Liz and Daria wind up having to spend more and more time together, Liz starts to see a softer side to Daria—she’s funny, thoughtful, and likes the way Liz’s gender presentation varies between butch and femme. Despite the evidence that Liz can’t trust her, it’s hard to keep hating Daria—and even harder to resist the chemistry between them.
This page-turning, sexy, and delightfully funny rom-com celebrates queer culture, chosen family, and falling in love against your better judgment.
Pros: found family plays a big role in the story; the plot depicts a common struggle in the real world where queer media doesn’t get the support it always deserves.
Cons: I didn’t feel a connection build between Liz and Daria, it just was; I didn’t like that every “important” place in the magazine’s office was named after some queer icon and that the MC explained it every time it was referenced; hard to connect with the characters.
ARC provided by @netgalley in exchange for an honest review. #randomhousepublishinggroup #queerbookstagram #lgbt #wlw #lgbtqia #loveislove #queerrepresentationmatters #lgbtqbooks #bookstagram #queerbooks #books #booklover #booksofinstagram #bookish #booksbooksbooks #bookworm #booknerd #lgbtqreads #pride #queerreads #romance #lesbianromance #wlwromance #prideandprejudice

I enjoyed this coming of age queer romance, although it took me a bit to get into it. This was a fresh take on queer romance that focused on found family. And while I liked it, it definitely was a bit heavier than the rom com markets it – plenty of content warnings for cheating, alcoholism, and more, so be sure to check those out before picking this up.

I powered through this book in less than 24 hours. It's a great summer / beach read if you want something light and easy. The characters are super queer and there are nuances of queer culture sprinkled everywhere in this book. I'm not always a huge fan of romance books but I loved it! I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something cute, queer and fun!

I absolutely loved this! This book had an incredible plot with fully-formed side characters that I thought elevated the story. I had a ton of fun following the roommates until the end of the book (IYKYK). This was a great spin on the classic P&P retelling. I learned so much about queerness while reading and the characters seemed incredibly authentic. I liked Daria's character and I liked Liz's character and I can understand why they'd be drawn to one another, I just wish we could have seen a bit more of that on page. Oh and that little tidbit of Daria creating and IG just to communicate with Liz, that's my catnip. Will read more from Camille for sure.

I love a Pride and Prejudice retelling, and this one was deliciously queer. It did feel a bit too long to me, in the same way that the original P&P kind of drags on some. I also... would have preferred more sexy times.

3.5 stars

I enjoyed this queer Pride and Prejudice retelling.

Set in New York
Online queer magazine

1 descriptive spicy scene. Other explicit content mentioned. Check content warnings (drugs, mentally abusive relationship, homophobia).

Great representation (trans, gay, lesbian, nonbinary, androgyny, pansexual)

Pride and prejudice correlation is pretty obvious (same names and storyline). Predictable but the journalism aspect was fun.
Ending wrapped up kinda suddenly considering all the previous obstacles. I’m kinda bummed that we didn’t see any justice with the antagonists. Sorta felt like loose ends.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for this digital ARC.

LGBTQIA+ Pride Month #10 ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

rep: lesbian, non-binary, trans

I finished this before Focus on Craft Book Club! Someone send me a prize. Now if only I can make myself go...

So last month I read a Chinese American retelling of Pride and Prejudice. This month's is gay. Are P&P retellings my thing? Fairytale retellings certainly aren't.

Growing up, I loved Lizzy as a character. She and Jo from Little Women were strong female characters I looked up to. I'm not even that traditional, but nowadays I think I vibe a little more with Jane and Meg. None of this has anything to do with anything. Well, it might.

I'm sure a subset of people find Darcy toxic. In this same way, Lizzy is also toxic. But they work through their differences to come together as a couple. And at first, I found this book a little iffy, as I do with any retelling ever, but Liz and Daria really work for me. Liz less so than Daria. But here we are.

I mentioned queer books written for queer folk in my Dykette review. This is more of the same, and I appreciate that so much. Sure, I had to Urban Dictionary some things, but I didn't mind. I love learning new things. To the other subset of people that complain about almost bilingual books in the same vein, these books aren't for you. But you can make them for you. Or don't. Someone else will read and enjoy them.

I always get a little preachy. It's fine. You know what I'm about. But I inherently liked this queer retelling. It's always nice to see familiar characters updated for the times. Say what you will about the The Eye of the World TV show. I enjoyed the diverse cast.

This isn't really a review review, is it? I always seem to get off track. Know this. If you're looking for something that's the same, but also different, this may be for you. Read diversely. Live inclusively. Try new things. You never know. Your life may change for the better.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Already bought a copy! Adorable story and surprisingly realistic. Not a huge fan personally, but that’s just preference, not the actual book

I’m so glad I finally read Just As You Are by Camille Kellogg, after hearing such great things from folks about this story. It’s a perfect read year round, but especially during Pride Month. The enemies-to-lovers workplace romance between Liz, a staff writer at a LGBTQ+ magazine, and Daria, the minority owner, was full of emotion, found family, and queer icons (I loved all the names of the office spaces & machines…).

One thing that kept it from being a 5-star read for me was that I didn’t fully buy into their romantic relationship. It’s like one second they were hating each other, then the next they’re in love. It could have been because I switched between the audio and e-book version of the book, or because of the single POV, but I was surprised by Daria & Liz’s romance. However, I do think this book had some funny moments and captured the big and small moments of queer joy.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House for the eARC in exchange for a review.

Just as you are


This took me a few tries to get into it, but once I did I few through it in less than a day! I ended up alternating between the audiobook and ebook (thank you PRH audio and Berkley!)

I enjoyed this modern queer Pride and Prejudice retelling! Liz’s magazine has gone under when she finds out that two wealthy lesbians have purchased it. Bailey and Daria are vastly different and Daria is clear from the start she believes some of the magazine’s content is below her. As they’re thrown together, Liz and Daria start to see different sides of each other.

Although nothing will ever compare to Pride and Prejudice in my opinion, I thought this was a great retelling. I loved the queer identity rep and how Daria and Liz were really able to discuss this and see each other. I also liked seeing the magazine and how one runs from the inside. Daria and Liz started off as enemies before becoming more. I really liked how this was handled. I listened to the audiobook and Bailey Carr is one of my favorite narrators. I’m excited to see what Kellogg writes next!

I want to start off by saying I definitely wouldn't consider this a romcom, for sure more a contemporary romance but that's not to say it wasn't a great read. Honestly I didn't think the romance was the main part of the book, a big part of the books was focused on Liz learning about herself and figuring out who she wants to be and exactly where she fits and it was nice to see her come out of her shell. I honestly quite enjoyed that part of the book. Of course I did also enjoy that the romance was enemies to lovers.... I'm always a sucker for that trope. I liked seeing Liz and Daria learn more about each other and realize they aren't so different in some ways and well as seeing both of them grow and become a more true version of themselves both separately and together. Definitely an enjoyable read, I think it feeling more contemporary just threw me off a bit.

This modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice was unapologetically queer! If I were teaching P&P, I'd suggest this novel as a potential project for students to write about retellings and how they change or update the story. The setting was a nice twist: NY with the character group working at a queer magazine desperately in need of financial backing. While a number of Liz's friends were POC, both Liz and Daria were white. I enjoyed that shift from Daria's (Darcy character) slight towards Liz having to do with her skills as a writer (criticizing her listicles) rather than her family. Liz seems to have a found family and I appreciated the blow out between Jane and Liz about each other's behaviour and their accountability. My complaints were that I didn't really feel the chemistry between Daria and Liz and while there were some physical scenes between the two, the build up didn't seem to have the pay off I was hoping for.

Just As You Are was one of my most anticipated books of 2023, for a couple reasons: it features a butch lesbian love interest, it's a lesbian Pride and Prejudice retelling, and the mc is a lesbian writer who's trying to figure their gender presentation out.
It did not disappoint! At first I was struggling to see the P&P retelling aspect, but that definitely came into play more about half way through the book and OH.MY.GODS it was so good! Daria and Liz have insane chemistry, and the charisma that Daria has even though she's so aloof and cold the first half of the book? I am in love.
I really appreciated and loved how diverse this book was. Jane, Liz's best friend and roommate, (and who is this retelling's version of Elizabeth Bennet's oldest sister,) is a queer black trans woman who is the definition of an angel. I loved her romance with Bailey and it was so just freaking heartwarming and wonderful to see her have such a swoon-y romance (especially that ending!)
Liz is a fantastic main character. She's flawed, but passionate and earnest. She cares about her friends and her job but doesn't always go about expressing that the right way. She wants to be a serious literary writer but can't seem to get past being more of a 'fluffy' writer (boy that hit close to home) and most importantly, she can't seem to figure where she falls, gender wise. She's masc, but sometimes femme, but sometimes androgynous and that changes depending on how she's feeling and who she may be dating. I got serious genderfluid vibes from her, and even though in the book it ends without her having it all figured out, in my headcanon she realizes she's a wonderfully genderfluid lesbian. I saw myself reflected so much in her and that's a very uncommon experience for me!
Daria's experiences with being butch also hit really close to home, as a femme who has a very butch girlfriend, I saw my gf's experience of moving through the world as a GNC lesbian reflected in Daria's story, and that's not something I see often in books.
I kid you not I spent this whole book kicking my feet, grinning and squealing with how good the tension was and how CUTE the ending was! This is definitely a book I see myself rereading in the future. 5/5 stars

Not really a romance. Not really a comedy. Not at all what I was expecting. This story was more about workplace problems and complications. The main relationship didn't really seem very realistic.

I gravitated towards this book because of the two masc-presenting characters and then found out it’s a Pride and Prejudice queer retelling in New York City and I was sold! For the most part this story follows Liz Baker as she starts reflecting and questioning her job, her love life, and the way she presents herself gender wise. The book does have an insightful discussion on finding ways to present gender in a way that makes one feel comfortable.
Liz works as a writer for a queer magazine, but finds herself relieved that it may shut down due to insufficient funds, and she can finally start on that book she has always wanted to write. But, the magazine is bought out by a two queer woman who manages the place similarly to Chris and Ben from Parks and Recreation. The Ben to Liz’s Leslie being Daria Fitzgerald. Daria calls Liz’s contribution to the paper as just fluff and so begins the workplace antics.
This story, like many LGBTQ+ of now, includes a close friend group that makes me envious to have a queer group of my own. I would love to read a book from the perspective of Liz’s best friend Jane. Overall, I enjoyed the book and look forward to more from the author!