This fantastic sapphic road-trip romance has shades of Mrs. Nash’s Ashes; rather than delivering ashes to a former lover, the goal is for two colleagues and former friends to bring their beloved dying drama teacher Joe across country to the love of his life. Although they both try very hard to avoid one another at their alma mater–where they both teach with Joe–Fuckboy Logan’s true meet-cute reunion with ice-queen Rosemary is when she (accidentally!) runs into Rosemary’s car with her own in an Applebee’s parking lot in their hometown. Joe brings them together again to let them know the cancer he has been fighting has metastasized, and he’s actively dying, and he wants them to take him on an epic road trip before he goes.

Logan, whose nickname is Chicken, has always had wanderlust but never been much more than fifteen minutes from her hometown. Rosemary, a planner, has mapped out every detail of the trip and shows up at Logan’s with a white chocolate mocha bribe. The trip should only take a week, with stops in major cities with good hospitals–just in case–but the best laid plans of mice and men, yadda yadda yadda. Logan agrees, they take off a second-hand van emblazed with the logo of The Queer Cuddler, and have their first fight before they’ve even left the driveway.

Rosemary and Logan are truly opposites attract: Rosemary, sort of WASPy, passes as straight, while ethnic Logan is openly gay; Rosemary has matching luggage and Logan’s belongings are stuffed into a duffle bag; Rosemary brings dried fruit and nuts and La Croix for road snacks while Logan loaded up on Funyans. Joe? Joe’s bringing along his record player and vinyl, a box of books, and a Pendleton blanket. And his dog. And his list of detours. He charmingly milks his death trip to take all the side trips he wants to fit in, smoke all the weed he wants, and to press Rosemary into correcting Logan’s assumption that she is straight.

Lyrics from musicals, literary and dramatic allusions, and pop culture references abound. Logan’s (and her father’s) penchant for substituting names of actors and singers for expletives/using the name of the Lord in vain is a cute tic, but could get a little wearing for some readers. Logan’s Greek Orthodox background adds a layer, as does the scenic descriptions of the landscapes they pass through from the Pacific Northwest to Bar Harbor, Maine. There are many sweet moments, like when they assume they are going to be victims of a hate crime in Idaho, the sublime view of the Grand Canyon, and how much Rosemary and Logan want to make Joe happy. The slow journey across the US mirrors the two former friends slowly becoming vulnerable to each other again in a very beautiful, often humorous, deliciously paced, wholly real way.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #HereWeGoAgain from #NetGalley, courtesy of Atria Books.

Cochrun captures the heart and magic of her first novel, "The Charm Offensive", in this story about two former-best-friends-turned-enemies who are forced into a cross-country road trip with their beloved dying English teacher. Logan and Rosemary are wonderful leads, and, as always, Cochrun's characters are sensitively written and well-developed. The side characters are all very enjoyable, and Logan and Rosemary's journey back to each other is lovely. If you're looking for a swoony F/F romance, this is the book for you. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for a digital review copy.

Alison Cochrun does it again!!! Listen, give me a book with a Mamma Mia title & hook in the first few pages? I’m already sold. At first the high strung anxious Rosemary and forgetful “fuck boy energy” Logan felt very much like caricatures in their descriptions, but both characters are so loveable as the story goes on and they find their way back to one another. I also loved each of their relationships with Joe and the love and support of/from a queer elder. It’s not something I’ve experienced in my own life but I loved reading about it on the page.

This was yet another queer romance by Cochrun that had so much depth, heart and soul that it brought me to tears at least once. Really glad I have waterproof mascara!

This one is a sapphic tale of two childhood friends turned enemies/adversaries turned road trip companions on a cross country journey to provide their one common love/link his dying wish.

It was incredible. The realness of the flawed characters. The trauma that scarred them. The fear of allowing others in. Cochrun writes characters that you laugh with, cry alongside, relate to deeply and root for to overcome. This book is no different.

This book wrecked me in the most gut-wrenching, devastating, and beautiful way possible.

Logan and Rosemary used to be childhood best friends, but an incident one summer in their teenage years turned them into enemies. After a decade of not speaking, Rosemary and Logan are teaching at the same high school in their hometown. When one of their former and beloved teachers asks them to drive him across the country as his dying wish, the two women must come together in order to help support someone they both love dearly.

This book had me laughing out loud and ugly sobbing. In addition to this beautiful and heartfelt story constructed around love and grief, Cochrun has woven in powerful elements around sexuality, gender, mental health, neurodiversity, and found family. I found Cochrun's depiction of how ADHD can present in women to be especially powerful and felt so connected to and seen by these characters as a result. I also really appreciated (as a former teacher myself) the essence and harsh realities of teaching that are presented in this book.

I honestly feel like I could talk about my love for this book for the entire duration of a cross country road trip and then some! While I usually enjoy many of the books I read, every once in a while I come across a book that shatters and devastates me in the best ways. There are not enough stars I could give this book to do it justice.

Thank you so much to Alison Cochrun, NetGalley, Goodreads, and Atria for a gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 STARS - I've been a fan of Alison Cochrun since I read and adored her first book The Charm Offensive and her recent book Kiss Her Once For Me. Her books have love, great banter and fantastic LGBTQIA2S+ representation.

Here We Go Again was a cute queer RomCom that centres around two childhood BFFs who had a falling out in high school. They've both returned to their hometown to work at their former high school, but the grudges remain. When their beloved high school English teacher/father figure Joe, who is terminally ill, asks Logan and Rosemary to drive him across the country so he can die at his ocean-side home, the two women make tentative amends for Joe's sake and head across the US.

This book had all the fixin's for a good queer RomCom ... but I wanted more. More romance. More (varied) conflict. Instead, we're given a very slowly paced story that dragged in several spots and the miscommunication trope raised its ugly head. I found the conflict repetitive particularly with Logan and her repeated regressions and constant reminder that she considers herself a 'fuckboy'. Logan and Rosemary's qualms felt juvenile (the overdone pop culture exclamations didn't help) and I found myself gravitating towards Joe's storyline which felt more authentic.

Joe is the heart of this book. Ahhh, sweet Joe. He's the kind of teacher everyone should have, and I consider this book to be a love letter to the teachers who make a positive mark on their students lives. Through Joe, Cochrun explores the struggles of terminal illness on the patient and on their caregivers. This book will squeeze a tear out of even the hardest of hearts.

This book had all the right elements - a good premise, complicated characters, enemies-to-lovers trope, emotional bits, funny bits and some spice. It has its charm and beautiful messages about love, friendship, making amends while you still can, loss and grief, but the execution of the story fell a bit short for me.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Atria Books for the advanced copy of this book which was provided in exchange for my honest review.

I saved this for my tropical vacation because it just seemed like the perfect book. And I was right: I laughed, I cried, I pondered death. What more could you ask for? And the Mamma Mia-esque title? Sign me up!

Logan and Rosemary are both such loveable characters in entirely different ways. Logan is all over the place and Rosemary is organized. Alison Cochrun writes characters SO well that it was an absolute delight (my delight, not Logan and Rosemary's) to have them both stuck on a road trip together and see what happens. It's the chaos & order dynamic. It's the childhood friends to enemies to lovers arc. It's the emotional growth and development that only comes from facing death head-on.

And it was so, so good. Tender moments between our two FMCs and deeper talks between them and their dear friend/teacher Joe. Funny moments of road trip catastrophes (as any road trip would have). Some spicy scenes later on in the book.

Definitely a GREAT summer/vacation/road trip read! So glad I got to read it.

4.25

Alison Cochrun has quickly become one of my favorite authors so I was extremely excited for this book. This is admittedly my least favorite of her books. Kiss Her Once for Me and The Charm Offensive were both five stars, but it was still a wonderful read.

My two problems with this book were one, the pacing of the romance somewhat bothered me. It’s enemies to lovers and the switch from enemies to lovers was much too fast for my taste. I liked the book a lot more after they reconnect but it’s an awkward transition. My other issue was just that some of the dialogue felt unrealistic and too prose-y to be real speech.

With that said, this is still an Alison Cochrun book. I am amazed by her ability to explore deeper concepts within her romance novels. The portrayal of platonic love and grief in this book I honestly preferred to the romance. Joe’s love for Logan and Rosemary and their love for him was so lovely. His decaying health and eventual death were so sad but also so beautifully done.

I love a book that can make me both laugh and cry and this book is just that. I’m so glad I read it and I will continue to read anything Alison Cochrun writes.

I have not stopped thinking about these characters since I finished this book Sunday night. I’m not sure what Alison Cochrun puts in her books, but I eat it up every time.

This book is about love, loss, healing, and all of the people who shaped you along the way (good and bad). It’s very aptly pitched as a ‘rom-com about death’ and it’s beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time, much like real life. I laughed, I cried, I fell in love with messy and flawed fictional characters.

These characters and their flaws were so real and raw. I truly feel like they are real people who I have become friends with along the way.

I absolutely recommend this one!

A beautiful, heartwarming story about found families and childhood friends to lover. This story had me hooked within the first 10 pages and I almost immediately fell in love with the characters. The love story between Joe and Remy was so achingly beautiful and devastating and I’ll forever hold this relationship and these characters close to my heart. The queer and neurodivergent representation was well written and I think will resonate with so many readers. I rate this book a five stars, easily!!!

I think a lot of what Cochrun did here was really strong, and it takes a lot of work to make a romcom about death work, but the beginning of this was a real slog for me. There's a difference between showing characters stagnating and making the book itself stagnate, and I think the first quarter of this went in the wrong direction. I was tempted to give up reading.

That said, the next three quarters were so good! Cochrun is such a talent, and I'll continue being a devoted reader.

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

Starting off I loved Joe very much and really liked Rosemary. I found Logan to be a bit annoying for my taste, but I do think she grows on you as the story continues. There is a lot of humor in this book which I really enjoyed. I didn’t like the multiple times that Logan compared Rosemary’s pursed lips to a cat butthole (once was enough) and I didn’t love the exclamation they used which was a famous person’s first name then “fucking” and then their last name. Nothing wrong with it, but it just wasn’t my thing.

Overall, a good story that will probably make you cry! Would recommend.

Book Review
Here We Go Again by Alice Cochran

Tropes
Queer love
Found family
Personal journey and growth
Coming out
Forging your own path
Mental Health
Neurodivergent
Childhood trauma

Characters
Rosie- love her, her hyper fixation on organization and need to control are coping mechanisms I recognize in myself

Logan- love her straightforward sassiness, her ability to own her sexuality , she fronts a carefree attitude to hide the fact that cares soo much

Joe- teacher, mentor, father figure; he changed Rosie and Logan’s lives
I immediately became attached and invested in him , I knew he was going to die but I couldnt stop myself

Odie - cause every death road trip needs a furry sidekick

Thoughts
📚Cried at the end😭 have your Kleenex handy
📚Cochrans writing of childhood trauma, inevitable death and many more complex issues was expertly executed with compassion and kindness
📚 the cover suggests a light hearted read, but it is anything but
📚 the witty banter and chemistry, the use of jokes and sex to deflect from intimacy, the utter exhaustion at always being in flight response, it all felt soo real- I was emotionally tapped at the end of this book
📚this book is screaming for a playlist (every road trip needs one) - the music references , the songs🎶 APT
📚Easily my favourite book from this author!

Quote
“Love is finding someone who helps you rewrite the story of yourself”

Thank you to @netgalley @atriabooks for my digital ARC in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own

Logan and Rosemary started out as the best of friends in middle school. But after an incident the two have been bitter enemies, even into adulthood as they are both teaching at their small-town high school. When the former friends find out their beloved high school English teacher is dying of cancer, he guilts them into taking him on a cross-country road trip to the location where he wants to die.

As the former friends are forced to be in close contact for such a long period of time, secrets of the past can't stay in the dark. A beautiful Queer mix of falling in love and the heartache of loss. This is a truly lovely mix of humor and sadness and a fantastic new read from Alison Cochrun.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Alison Cochrun for providing me with an eARC of 'Here We Go Again' for review.

As someone who considers The Charm Offensive as one of my favorite books of all time, I was more than excited to dive into this one. Though it started off slow, I was soon enamoured by the heartwarming road trip adventure and the endearing characters. The book is an emotional rollercoaster, with moments of laughter and sadness, and a beautiful exploration of the meaning and purpose of life, as well as a celebration of life itself.

However, I must advise you to check the content warnings before diving in. Overall, 'Here We Go Again' is a must-read for anyone seeking an engaging and emotional journey that will leave you feeling uplifted and fulfilled.

i’ve tried reading this multiple times and find it so boring. i unfortunately have to dnf at 20%

the characters were lackluster and not very entertaining, not to mention extremely immature for their age. there was nothing i found myself invested in while reading the book (or attempting to) and i was constantly getting distracted or skimming. i was excited for this one so maybe i will pick it back up again in the future, but that doesn’t seem promising.

I loved Here We Go Again so much. It was a heartbreaking and heartwarming read that left me crying at 1 am through the last 20% or so. It's also very funny, from the dialogue to the sometimes wild ride of a road trip. Leads Logan and Rosemary are childhood friends turned enemies who try to mend things enough to bring their beloved mentor Joe on a cross-country road trip before he passes away from cancer. Too-casual Logan and uptight Rosemary have been fighting for years, unable to see their similarities or remember how to be friends (or that they both wanted to be more). Joe is done fighting cancer and wants to have one last adventure before he dies, and he brings a stubborn humor, and sometimes wisdom, to his relationship with both women.

Alison Cochrun delves into so much here, though I was most moved by her explorations of grief, neurodivergence and mental health, and demisexuality. Her writing about dying and grief was so moving, both in the details of dying (such as the depictions of end-of-life care) and the emotional elements (from Logan and Rosemary grappling with the impending loss differently to the arc of Joe being reunited for a goodbye with his former lover). There are a few quirks of Cochrun's writing here that bothered me, but I let them go with this story being so affecting otherwise.

Absolutely loved this book! When it comes out, it will be our Book Club pick! Truly a great story of frenemies to more (no spoilers!), with great life lessons along the way. Remember, you don't have always to follow the itinerary, the best memories come from events that aren't planned. Readers will be able to see themselves in Logan and Rosemary with each of their strengths and faults. I appreciated the descriptions of the setting and how powerful each moment was.

Highly, highly recommend for a fun, emotional read!

4.5 ⭐️
I haven’t cried this hard about a book since I read Babel. Joe, Logan, and Rosemary are all very real, very flawed humans that don’t even necessarily value change but do change nonetheless. I loved the premise of a road trip rom com. I have always loved road trips and it was a news experience for me to hear about areas of the US I have never been to.

Joe is an icon and his influence on Logan and Rosemary reminded me of some of the great teachers I had in middle school and high school that believed in me before I knew how much potential I had. Plus I love a plotter, and Joe definitely had tricks up his sleeve.

Some of the metaphors in this book absolutely took me out and I WILL be using them when my friends need a pep talk on life.

The queer rep was so good and obnoxious in the most accurate way. If you’ve ever been in a queer friend group, that’s exactly what it felt like reading some of the references made in the book.

I also really enjoyed some of the historical contexts mentioned like their ethnic backgrounds and how the AIDS epidemic was discussed.

This was an incredibly beautiful, heartbreaking, and heart mending read. Rosemary and Logan are the ex-best friends that almost every queer woman remembers from her youth. But unlike so many, they reunite and are able to work through their past and reconnect all whilst taking care of a dying loved one.

The many settings of this book are described in such vivid detail, they made me feel like I was there and simultaneously like I’d never experienced such beauty before. Clearly Cochrun did her research and it’s much appreciated! Even the small detail of name dropping the right grocery stores in each region of the US.

This is very much so a book about dying and caring for a dying loved one. That is a difficult topic for me but I think it was handled with grace and I found it to overall be cathartic to read as Logan and Rosemary went through the pain or caretaking and grief. Overall a stunning, emotional, wonderfully queer read.