5 STARS!!!

I have loved all of Alison Cochrun's books thus far. I feel the same about "Here We Go Again." What an incredibly life-affirming piece of work this novel is. Cochrun is the queen of mixing drama with sadness, intense romance with pop culture references, and laugh-out-loud humor with serious introspection, and this book is no different. I will just say this now: if you have ever lost someone in your life, you will identify with this book in more than one way. The trauma of loss never leaves you, and reading "Here We Go Again" will likely stir up all kinds of emotions within you. It will test your limits as the bereaved. The ways I cried, the noises I made listening to this book... I am shocked the neighbors didn't call the cops to find out what was wrong because your girl. was. SOBBING. Like, heaving sobs, ugly tears, an 'eyes puffy for days' type of sadness. That being said, this book is more than its infinite sadness. Cochrun's writing is captivatingly beautiful, an ode to life and love and loss and truth and found family and second chances. It will warm your heart, only to turn around and break it multiple times over. At its core, this is a sapphic friends-to-enemies-to-lovers road trip story full of witty and snarky humor, self-discovery, and steeeeamy spice, though the grief often overshadows all of this. You *need* this book in your life, not only for its therapeutic value, but for its commentary on living and loving and having no regrets. An absolutely stunning novel!

Thank you to NetGalley, Alison Cochrun, and Atria Books for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

I laughed. I cried. I swooned. A wonderful book that hits every emotional note. Alison Cochrun is a must-read author!

Would recommend for fans of…
🌈 The Heart Principle
🌈 Forever Interrupted
🌈 Late Bloomer

GET YOUR TISSUES READY!

Alison Cochrun has quickly become known for her ability to write laugh-out-loud rom coms that also have extremely emotional and heartfelt themes, related to love, life, and mental health. In my book, she’s an “all hits, no misses” author. Here We Go Again, her latest novel, is definitely heavy on the emotions as it follows two women who embark on a road trip with their dying mentor to fulfill his final wishes, and find love along the way.

The first thing you need to know about this book is that while there is absolutely a romance storyline, it really takes a backseat to the larger focus on Joe, Logan and Rosemary’s former English teacher. That might be a turnoff for some readers but I thought it worked really well. Joe played an integral role in Logan and Rosemary’s journey, and I loved getting to see how he brought them together. He was by far my favorite character, and is one that will stay with me long after reading this book.

Though Here We Go Again is definitely sad, I also found it to be quite uplifting at parts. Cochrun does a good job of balancing sad, more poignant moments with some truly hilarious ones. In the hands of a less skilled writer a “death road trip romance” would have been a disaster, but Cochrun is able to handle the sensitive subject matter in a respectful and authentic way. I highly suggest reading the Author’s Note and acknowledgments, as Cochrun shares a lot about her own experiences that inspired the novel.

As a final note, as you may gather from the synopsis and review, there are parts of this book that are extremely heavy, and cancer is a huge part of that. If that’s not something you’re comfortable reading about, I’d suggest skipping this book.

In short, I’d wholeheartedly recommended Here We Go Again to anyone who’s looking for a romance that, while sad, offers a lot of life lessons. This will definitely end up on my Best of 2024 list!

Here We Go Again is out now. Thanks to Atria and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Alison Cochrun did just as well on this novel. I was enthralled from the beginning. I think every queer kid had that teacher, and as a teacher it felt good to think about. She wrote phenomenally about the process of death and dying and the feelings associated with them. I am excited to tell everyone to read this book, in particular those that have lost people important to them.

Here We Go Again

Oh my heart, this book! I'm not sure I've ever been so happy to read a book with so much grief? It's heavy and yet there is romance, and it's heartwarming. A very powerful story - I highly recommend this one.

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for this eARC! My opinions are my own.

I don’t often say this, but HERE WE GO AGAIN left me absolutely speechless. I was completely overwhelmed with a whole spectrum of emotions—happiness, grief, gratitude, awe—and all I could do was turn to my wife and let the tears flow. Fellow readers warned me this book would rip my heart out and they were right.

Oh, how right they were. I’ve never cried more over a book in my life. I’m tearing up trying to write this review.

Y’all. The truth is, I could sit here and try for long minutes to tell you what I thought about HERE WE GO AGAIN and none of my profound words would come close to encompassing what Alison Cochrun has accomplished.

So, instead, I’m going to give you a list of the things (and there were a LOT) I loved about this book. In no particular order:

🌈 Logan being a self-proclaimed fuck boy and the journey of growth she went on, even when doing so scared her to death
🌈 “Hale,” and the moment she became “Rosemary.”
🌈 Logan and Rosemary’s relationships with Joe, which were each so unique and realized and meaningful
🌈 La Tush and Rita Morenhoe
🌈 “Some things are more important than safety.”
🌈 All the Van Morrison songs, which I listened to after I read this book
🌈 “I’ve been waiting for you.”
🌈 Logan and Rosemary at the beach
🌈 Remy St. Patin
🌈 The nude paintings
🌈 The bathtub scene
🌈 Chad and Rebel
🌈 “She’s In Love with the Boy,” and “I would always change ‘boy’ to ‘girl.’’
🌈 The absolute care both women showed Joe even amidst their banter and their own grief over what was happening.

This is the first book I’ve read by Alison Cochrun and I’m now wondering why?! She’s such an amazing storyteller. I felt like everything that happened in this book NEEDED to happen. It reminded me that life is about the detours and the adventures you have along the way. The pacing was spot on.

All the characters were so real-feeling and their motivations made sense. Sure, I felt frustrated by Logan, Joe, or Rosemary at times, but I was supposed to. These were complicated characters in a very trying and emotional situation. They’re gonna make mistakes. They’re gonna grow from them. And what happens because of that was beautiful.

Joy. That’s the word I keep coming back to. For such a heavy book, for a book that made me sob, there was so also much queer joy and love contained within the pages. Also themes of self-love and healing and forgiveness.

I am glad I read this book! I was changed by this book. It’s one I’ve already thought back on several times; it’s one I’m going to buy and probably reread…when my heart is ready.

Thank you SO much for the chance to read this gorgeous book.

I loved this book. The Charm Offensive is already one of my favorites and now so is this one! This book dealt with anxiety, grief, and loss so well. Alison Cochrun is so good at having anxiety representation in her books. I instantly wanted more of Rosemary and Logan’s story.

That was so beautiful. In fact I"m typing this through tears. 😭 Thank you so so so much to Alison for this stunning story. It was funny, heartbreaking, and filled with hope. By the end I cared SO MUCH about these characters and my heart broke for them. This is a book I will truly recommend forever.

Thank you Atria for the gifted eARC. I feel so lucky to have read it.

Characters: 7/10
Plot/Tropes: 6/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Romance: 6/10
World/Other: 6/10
Overall: 7/10 stars

This is so up my alley. I love road trip romances, and I love old people approaching the end of their lives with good humor and grace. I truly enjoyed reading this, but the details of the process of dying are so candid and visceral that it casts a bit of a pall over the romance itself. I can certainly see the value in such a frank portrayal, but it's so harrowing that it's hard to imagine wanting to revisit this book for the romance. Still, I love the richly drawn characters and the complexity of the relationships between them.

This was….the perfect book. I laughed, I cried and it made me want to immediately drive to the nearest bookstore and purchase a copy for everyone I know to read. A truly beautiful story of found family with a second chance love story (or two) intertwined in the wild ride this book provides!

I don’t want to give anymore away but I mean it when I say you NEED to read this.

An easy five stars!

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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

🚐 What a romp! I love a good road trip romance story and this one was no different. It was especially fun since I’ve been to a lot of the places Logan & Rosemary stopped along the way. Thanks to @atriabooks and @netgalley for the look at this. It’s out now!

🚐 While this book is a lot of fun- and has some LOL moments. It also centers around the heavier topic of death and grief. There are some really powerful, meaningful moments alongside the romance and humor.

🚐 Read this one if you enjoy…
- sapphic romance
- road trip romance
- ONE BED (i mean, it’s a road trip. That’s gonna happen, right?)
- classic romance formula
- Van Morrison
- drag shows

🚐 Overall, I really enjoyed this one, and recommend it to any romance lover. Especially if you prefer some deeper plot lines. There are a few open door scenes, FYI!

A life-affirming novel from @alisoncochrun that follows Logan and Rosemary, former childhood best friends, now years later both teaching English at their small-town high school, who are asked by their former English teacher, Joe, to go on a cross-country road trip to fulfill one last wish before he passes. Through various detours, scenic routes, and the history between them, all three of our characters unpack baggage along the way, learning more about each other and themselves, more than any of them ever expected. A story about love, grief, and living for now, Cochrun has crafted a perfect rom-com about, simply put, death. Read to learn more about Rosemary, Logan, and Joe, and how their lives intertwined bringing us to this final road trip together.

Alison Cochrun is one of my favorite authors and she continues to amaze me with each story I read. Here We Go Again deals with grief and love deftly thanks to Alison’s ability to keep the story balanced. Both Logan and Rosemary have much trauma to unpack together, dating back to their friendship from years prior, in doing so, as their walls fall for each other, I was able to see myself so deeply in them. With Logan’s emotional well running so deep that she lets herself escape first before she can feel pain, feeling that deeply, emotions rampant within, is so hard to tussle with when most others don’t feel that same way, don’t feel so deeply that one wrong move could send sharp pain radiating through your body. With Rosemary, the need to be in control, the fear of letting go, causes her to never stray from her set path, never want to risk it all. Between these two, they felt like mirrors looking back at me, as I cried for them, ached for them, working through their past trauma to finally let the other in, feeling that connection to these characters, so deeply, is really remarkable. Alison just pierces my heart, breaks it in two, and puts it back together again, as her characters find their way through their past to live for the now in the present.

Then of course comes the whirlwind of grief, something everyone struggles with at some point in their life, here exemplified by watching a dearly beloved former English teacher passing right before their very eyes. Logan and Rosemary still have so much to learn from Joe and this last chance pushes them to the edge but these lessons about living life to the fullest, letting yourself have what you want, and owning who you are reverberate past the pages of this story and into your heart. As the three of them traveled, sang, danced, just exuded joy as they pushed through to the end, it also sends a powerful message about queer joy and loving yourself, embracing it rather than shoving it to the side, especially as the end is near. Joe teaches them to live for themselves, love themselves, and, honestly, fuck the bullshit of the past and let yourself have what you want. As I read, I couldn’t stop hearing “long live all the magic we made…I had the time of my life fighting dragon’s with you…” because Joe, as an openly queer educator, was their safe space way back when, when they were discovering their queerness, discovering who they are and what they wanted to become. Now he’s pushing them to do that very thing, the thing they both were so afraid to do and so long live the magic Joe made, and Rosemary and Logan both know they had the time of their life fighting dragons with him. They will continue to slay them, even as barriers arise, or flames come raining down as live goes on.

Tears well in my eyes as I think about them still, Logan, Rosemary, and Joe. A journey so beautiful and so heartwarming, filled with queer joy and love, it’s a world I never want to leave. I remember a few of my teachers from school and just how safe of a space they made for me, this book reminds me of them, the comfort in that feels so nice. Read this story, share it with your English teacher, then read it again, and long live all the magic you make, go fight dragons, live your life, explore what the world has to offer.

Scarf Rating: 🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣(10/5, my Stars)

Taylor Swift Songs I associate with this book: Long Live, this is me trying, seven, You All Over Me, That’s When, Everything Has Changed, Labyrinth, All You Had To Do Was Stay, This Love, Say Don’t Go, Daylight, The Archer, marjorie, I’m Only Me When I’m With You

I enjoyed reading a previous book by Alison Cochrun, so I was excited to read another one. Her latest book, "We Go Again," did not disappoint. Although the central theme of the mentor passing away was not a pleasant topic, the interactions between the characters were enjoyable. Cochrun did an excellent job describing the three characters' side adventures, making it an overall fun read.
I am eagerly awaiting her next book. I want to thank Netgalley for providing me with early access to this book.

Here we go again! I really love the fresh take the author brings to her novels! A death road trip romance? Can't say I've ever read one of those! :-) I loved the chemistry with Joe, though will admit continually thought about my English teachers as I was reading. I will not be booking any former teacher death road trips. Like Joe, I'm sad we didn't get more Remy but I enjoyed all that I did get. I loved the friends turned enemies turned lovers arc and I am so glad we didn't have to have a chapters long miscommunication to get there. I can't wait to see what else the author writes next!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

Here We Go Again, Alison Cochrun 🚐🗺️🌄
This book tugged at my heart strings and had me in tears. It’s centred around the terminal illness (and death) of a parental figure, so be warned about that before you go in and make sure you're in the right headspace to read that. But the journey is beautifully written and although the ending had me in tears, they were a cathartic sort of tears, and the ending felt right and good.

I wasn't sure about how much I liked Rosemary or Logan’s characters at the start of the book. Rosemary's anxiety set off my own anxiety multiple times and I had to keep putting the book on pause before I could continue. But the pair of them work on their flaws together and they wind up with a wonderful happy ending that put a giddy smile on my face. Now I know what happens, I think this is the sort of book I can read again and fall in love with even more on a second read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Alison Cochrun has done it again! She’s managed to write a queer romance that emotionally devastated me for days! We meet Rosemary and Logan: childhood best friends…until they weren’t. Ever since an incident that occurred when they were younger, they’ve been arch enemies. Even now, as adults teaching English at the high school they attended, they still loathe each other. The one thing they still have in common? The high school English teacher who shaped their lives and to whom they feel indebted: Joe.

The universe brings them back together at the end of a school year when Joe announces that he’s dying and wants to take a cross-country “death trip” from their small, pacific northwestern town to a seaside cottage he owns in Maine in which he intends to die on his own terms. The catch? He wants Rosemary and Logan to accompany him during the journey and be with him at the end. Will they be able to tolerate each other long enough to get Joe to Maine in one piece?

This book has everything! Important discussions about death/dying and grief (of all types!), friends to enemies to lovers (!!!), road trip shenanigans, elder queer romance, neurodiversity, and (though it’s not explicitly mentioned or discussed) one of our MCs reads as though she’s on the gray-ace spectrum. If you’re wondering how much ~sexy~ content there is in this book – not much! It’s considerably lighter on the intimate scenes and heavier on the emotional interactions. I was a mess when I finished this book, and I hope you will be too! Don’t forget to check out trigger and content warnings before reading! This material isn’t for the faint of heart.

I thought this was a romcom book but it's actually a romantic tragedy and I am crying on the train.

The childhood-best-friends-to-enemies-to-lovers-lesbains-with-ADHD-death-trip nobody knew they wanted. It started off alright but the way it progressed and ended really got to me. In public.

Logan and Rosemary used to be best friends, but have gone ten years without speaking. Now they are in their 30s, still living in the small town they grew up in, and teaching at their former high school, yet they are complete opposites in personality. Logan is chaotic and impulsive and Rosemary thrives on organization, routine, and structure. They are forced to come together when their beloved friend and former English teacher finds he only has a few months left to live and his final wish is for them to all go on a cross-country roadtrip so he can spend his last days at his second home on the coast of Maine.

First of all, pro tip, do not listen to this audiobook in public. I made a huge rookie mistake and listened to the last hour of the audiobook during my morning commute to work and arrived with red, puffy eyes and smeared makeup. The ending wrecked me emotionally even though I knew it was coming. This book is not as much of a romance as it is an emotional journey about friendship. This book is raw, heartbreaking, while also being heart-warming at the same time. The lengths Logan and Rosemary were willing to go for their friend and mentor led to some beautiful moments. And Joe, he really was the star of the show here. I think this book would make an incredible TV series (looking at you Netflix).

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Logan and Rosemary were childhood best friends, but as adults they've grown apart. The one person still connecting the two is their former high school English teacher Joe. When Joe asks the two to set aside their differences to give him the death trip he wants so he can pass away peacefully at his cottage in Maine, Rosemary and Logan must set aside the past and their differences to be there for Joe in his final months.

So I think this might be my favorite Alison Cochrun book? I loved Charm Offensive, Kiss her Once for Me was good, but there's just something about enemies to lovers that I truly enjoy. Logan is a witty, fun, gay disaster...Rosemary is also a gay disaster in her own type A, controlling way. The two have instant chemistry with each other and their different dynamics with Joe make this read so heartful and tender. Be prepared to get in your feels.