It has been a few weeks since I finished this one and I'm still recovering from the emotional roller-coaster. I try to go into books as blind as possible, but I try to check out content warnings. I have listed some at the end.

As soon as I started this one, I knew I was in for a few tears and heartbreak... and I was correct. What I didn’t expect was just how hard this would hit me emotionally.

Logan and Rosemary have a strong bond with their former teacher, Joe, which was incredibly touching. I admired how deeply he influenced their lives, he was there for both of them to support them, and it's so sweet to see how they've kept in touch. Joe requests for them to accompany him on his final journey across the country which forces Logan and Rosemary to set aside their differences and past history for the sake of someone they both cherish deeply.

Alison leads us on an emotional journey, showcasing remarkable growth for Logan and Rosemary, and their bond with Joe is incredibly heartwarming. A truly sweet tale of found family, full of heartfelt moments. Despite death being a significant theme, Alison handles it with utmost care.

Trigger warnings: Taking care of a loved one with a terminal illness, reference to an off-page loss of parent to overdose, and op-page loss of a parental figure.

Thank you to Alison Cochrun, Atria Books, and Simon & Schuster for the eARC all opinions are my own.

Wow! What a touching story filled with love for teachers and road trips. Logan, Rosemary and Joe go on an epic road trip that they all know ends in sadness but yet as you read you are filled with joy and love and everything all at once. You fall in love with each character and their individual stories and quirks. I found myself laughing out loud and playing the music mentioned in the story to really feel immersed. You know how it will end and yet you keep reading heading towards a sad moment when they have to say a final goodbye to a teacher that made them both feel accepted and gave them a lifelong love of learning as well as led them to their profession to become that teacher for other kids. When it finally comes, it is of course gut wrenching but also beautiful and that just shows what a talent Alison Cochrun is as a storyteller. Your heart breaks and mends as you read and I loved it. I will definitely be seeking out more by Alison Cochrun in the future. In fact, I just borrowed Kiss Her Once for Me from the library!

I received an early digital reader copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Artia Books and Netgalley for the ARC!!!

This book gets infinity stars! I laughed out loud so many times, I cried and I will forever recommend this book.

What you can expect
- sapphic romance
- a road trip
- love and loss
- laugh out loud scenes
- childhood friends to enemies to lovers
- a long lost love
- an artist
- a cabin in Maine

This book was simply unreal, do yourself a favour and read this now!

I LOVED this! I loved Cochrun’s other two novels so I was so excited for this. I loved the journey the characters went on and their dynamic. The romance was great and I adored Joe. I felt really immersed in the world with the descriptions of all their road trip destinations. I would recommend everyone pick this up!!

Thank you to S&S and Netgallery for the free arc copy. All opinions are my own.

This book fucking ruined me. Absolutely madness. I cried a lil while I was reading it at work on my fucking lunch break.

A rom-com about death? Sign me the FUCK up! This was beautifully written and the ache and pain I felt not only from Rosemary and Logan but also the side characters, Joe, Remy, and more.

I will always recommend Cochruns books. They're brilliant. So well made.

An absolute love letter to teachers! Here We Go Again by @alisoncochrun ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

👨‍🏫 “Because life is a prickly pear…It’s always going to be beautiful and painful.” 🛣️

This book was not the fun, silly rom-com I expected it to be…it was so much more! The impact Joe had on both Rosemary & Logan was incredible and absolute perfection!

Rosemary & Logan were school friends that didn’t last. Now they’re teaching at the same school they grew up in and both still remain friends with their teacher Joe who suffering from cancer. When he asks the girls to get him to Bar Harbor, Maine to spend his remaining days the road trip that ensues is nothing short of life-changing for them all.

While I loved Logan’s character, I really fell in love with Rosemary! I just seemed to connect with her and I really enjoyed her development from being a kid in school to a teacher falling in love with her childhood best friend!

Thank you @simonandschuster for the Advanced Readers Copy! I loved it so much I just had to go out and buy a hard copy for myself!

It’s been too long since I’ve written proper book review but I actually finished this ARC before the publication date and REALLY enjoyed this book so here it goes.

I read most of this while on a train going down to Portland which was an excellent vibe, but honestly, the more I think about this book, the more I love it.

On the surface, Here We Go Again is a story about two women, Rosemary and Logan, who are asked to go on a road trip with their beloved former teacher who is dying of cancer. The twist is, they also happen to be childhood best friends turned rivals. And also there is Dyke Drama.

It’s a campy-sounding synopsis, but what stands out to me most about this book is how real it all feels. The way Cochrun portrays these characters, their interactions, and the way they see the world, it just feel so raw and real in a way I haven’t seen in a book in a very long time.

Right from the beginning, I cared about these characters and the author does a wonderful job with developing them throughout the book in a way that kept me invested and made it feel like I was really getting to know them as people. I felt so much for these characters. I felt their joy, their confusion, their grief, and all the ups and downs in between. The relationships between the characters was also a strength of this book. Logan and Rosemary’s past and how that affects their current nuanced relationship was very well fleshed out. The way their relationship is impacted by ADHD (another highlight of this book: seeing the two very different portrayals of ADHD in the main characters) also felt very believable. I especially loved the dynamic with Joe as the elder-queer-mentor and found it very special to see Joe also develop as a character throughout the book, which I feel like is rare to see with mentor type characters. I honestly didn’t care that much about the romance between Rosemary and Logan that develops throughout the book, which may be a downfall for some, but I didn't mind at all. Perhaps its because the characters and their relationship development felt so real and personal that it didn't have the magical swoony vibes of most fictional romances. And I think that's kind of beaitiful.

The subtle ways queer ?culture? was shown in this book was another thing I really enjoyed. Just little moments strewn throughout the book: when they run into the hotel owner in Idaho who has a trans daughter and there is a moment of connection, the butch mechanic and the underground drag bar in Mississippi, when Logan doesn’t get why Joe’s brother can’t help him and Joe comments how glad he is that Logan is from a time when the reason isn’t obvious. Just little moments that felt so special. And also just the portrayal of old queer people was so lovely and something I want to read more of.

Anyway, that’s about it, I don’t know how to end this. This book was really good! And it made me want to go out into the world and see cool shit!

I’ve been trying to pick up more sapphic reads this year and I think I’m succeeding haha. This cover is what drew me in initially. I was very excited to see that I was able to receive a complimentary copy to review for Netgalley and Atria Books. I had such a good time with this book I’m not going to lie. I loved this idea that the girls, well women both shared a favourite teacher and it followed through with them until adulthood. And as a nurse I loved the aspect of having Joe make them come together and go on a road trip where they are essentially his care givers for the trip. Obviously I shed some tears during this read but I won’t spoil anything. It was just so cute and wholesome. I need more to be honest. I’d love Joe’s story (fingers crossed pretty please). There was a bit of spice too but not too much. I was well rounded! I would absolutely recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Books (Atria Books) for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Logan is known as being a player, here for a good time but not a long time, leaving before she can be left. Rosemary is guarded and a perfectionist, pouring all of herself into everything she does. They were best friends as kids, then hated each other, lost touch for 10 years, and then became coworkers. They are now tasked with driving their former high school English teacher and father figure, who is dying, on a road trip across the country so that he can die in his cottage by the water. Except... they hate each other, right?

Some parts of the story were frustrating (Logan sometimes), but so much more of it was incredibly well done. There's lots of queer rep, some rep on the Ace spectrum, neurodiverse rep, talk of addictions and mommy/daddy issues. The characters as a whole and their journey is emotional and complex, but I loved being on the adventure with them. It's like a hug.

CW: cursing, death of a father figure, mentions of cancer, sexual content, grief, illness, strained parental relationships

Logan Maletis and Rosemary Hale used to be inseparable friends as kids. They wrote stories together, dreamed of futures away from their small town, but events just before high school tore them apart and they went from the best of friends, to enemies.

It is 10 years before they see each other again, where they end up both working at the high school in the small town where they grew up. Every interaction between them is hate filled and spiteful. On the last day of school they both get summoned by their favourite high school teacher who shaped them both into the people they are today. He is dying and his one wish is to do a cross-country road trip from washington to maine to die with dignity in his lakeside cottage.

Thus Logan and Rosemary are forced to embark on an adventure together to honour one of their favourite people. Nothing goes to plan from the start but ultimately it ends up being the trip all 3 of them need.

This book was so queer in the absolute best way. Reading it felt like therapy and healing in a way I have not experienced in a long time. The representation of 2 presentations of ADHD in women was so lovely to see. The humor was top tier, using iconic queer females to swear was honestly genius. Every element of this novel just felt outrageous but also so human, realistic and affirming. It is a tough read, it explores many forms of trauma, and obviously a character is literally slowly dying on page but I truly think the author did such a beautiful job balancing the heavy with lighter elements.

Logan Maletis and Rosemary Hale were the best of friends until one day that all changed, and then they weren't. Now, they're in their 30s, still not getting along, living their life that they’re not fully content with.
Their former English teacher, Joe, makes a request to Logan and Rosemary to go on a road trip to Maine as his dying wish. After some convincing, the three of them, along with his dog, embark on the cross-country adventure that may lead Logan and Rosemary to a new future and a life together.

The descriptions of all the scenery and the places they visited were a delight to read and was something I still appreciated even though I have aphantasia, the inability to voluntarily form mental images.

Admittedly, I had trouble reading the first third of the book due to the constant arguing and bickering between Logan and Rosemary. However, I’m glad I pushed through, it was a world of difference and I would've missed the best parts of the book.

In the end, it was sad, of course, but it wasn’t like we didn’t see Joe's death coming. There were so many wonderful moments in the storytelling that my review could never do it justice. There were lots of laughter, crying, and sometimes both at the same time.

While death is a tough topic for a lot of people, this book dealt with the subject matter in a beautiful and mostly humorous manner. I would've given Here We Go Again Five Stars if the arguing between the two main characters wasn't as much as it was. I definitely recommend this book if you don’t mind that there is death and loss.

As with 99% of the books I read, I went into Here We Go Again without knowing what it was about other than ‘sapphic road trip’ and ‘childhood friends turned enemies’. When I realized what I was in for - death, grief, pain - I wondered if I’d made a mistake. There was a part of me that even considered setting it aside, but I decided I was in a good enough headspace to read something I knew would likely rip my heart to shreds, and I’m so glad I carried on. So, so glad.

I’ve never read anything like Here We Go Again. ‘A romcom about death’ doesn’t sound like it should work, does it? And yet it did. Alison Cochrun somehow managed to weave together a story that was funny, painful, inspiring, messy, bittersweet, hopeful, chaotic, romantic, joyful, complicated, and all around beautiful. I loved the themes of life and death, beauty and pain existing simultaneously, and what it means to love someone even when it scares you and even when you know you can and likely will get hurt. I related so much to both Rosemary and Logan, and found myself wanting to hug them both so tightly throughout the book. I truly appreciated that they both had ADHD and how we got to see two sides of essentially the same coin and how differently it can present for everyone. I also appreciated (and related to) Rosemary’s anxiety and her desperate need for control. I enjoyed getting to know them - and Joe, of course - and learning their depths while watching them grow. And, even though it was incredibly painful on many levels, I appreciated Joe’s story of wanting to die on his own terms. So few people get this option in life, and the lengths they all went to and the true, unconditional love between Joe, Rosemary, and Logan touched me deeply.

Like I said, I’m so glad I didn’t let that initial fear compel me to set this book aside. I couldn’t have known this going in, but a story about living and loving to the fullest, pursuing your passions, and doing the necessary work to heal from past trauma was exactly what I needed. Despite the heartbreaking moments, this story filled me with so much hope and left me with a huge, teary smile on my face.

Where to start?
As an adhd queer person whose English teacher meant everything to them and who just lost their grandparents (like the author did when writing)…and who tends to run when things get painful…this book destroyed me in so many good, heart-wrenching ways.
The characters are beautiful. The writing is beautiful. The scenes are beautiful. The journey is beautiful. Every single moment gripped my heart. The description of death throughout the way - the way they loved eachother and chose eachother and the way they all took care of eachother was so, so good.
The acknowledgment of the lives of brown and Black queer and trans people, and the AIDS crisis, all so rarely mentioned in modern queer romcoms, was so important. The art. The love for all bodies, even aging ones, given the dignity they deserve. The beauty of dying and how it happens. The nurturing. It’s a love letter to English teachers, queer elders, neurodivergent minds, grief, life, music, and queer icons’ names used in the place of “oh my god”.
This book is just so, so good and I don’t know how to tell you all that you should read it and feel ALL the feelings it brings up. What a gift to the world.

Rosemary and Logan were childhood best friends turned enemies and now as adults, coworkers that do their best to ignore each other if not outright drive each other crazy on a daily basis. When their former English teacher, mentor, and friend Joe announces his cancer has progressed and he doesn’t want to die in a stuffy hospital, the two antagonistic women reluctantly agree to drive him cross-country so he can die in peace in his idyllic Maine cottage. Uptight Rosemary has the trip meticulously planned while Logan is determined to introduce fun for Joe at every turn. As the adventure goes off the rails and Joe gets sicker, the two women rediscover their former friendship and sparks fly between them.
——————————-

Here We Go Again had a super fun plot and premise. It was full of laugh out loud moments that were heartwarming and at times heartbreaking. By the end my stomach hurt from laughing and I was sure that this book had wrecked me.

You get two love stories for the price of one as the story progresses. Logan and Rosemary and their new(ish), eye-opening, unexplored, prickly love and Joe and Remy’s never ending, yearning for, pure and joyful love. AND you get the love the girls have for Joe. So really three love stories.

Queerness is embraced, celebrated and respected throughout and I know I won’t be able to stop thinking about this book.

I've been sitting on this review for a couple of months now because I wasn't sure how to express my thoughts in the best way possible. As a lesbian who always got a little too attached to my English teachers starting a wlw book with a dedication that says: "And for every queer teenager who became a little too attached to their English teacher. I see you. I love you." made me want to start crying on the spot. Overall, I loved this book and I will always be a fan of more people writing wlw books because it is something that is definitely not common enough in my opinion. The one thing I'd have to say is: it was quite infuriating to read through the miscomunnication as I am the #1 hater of that specific trope. However, I admire the issues and difficult topics that were brought up throughout the book, especially Rosemary's alcoholism. I liked seeing the relationship grow between Rosemary and Logan, but I just wished we'd have seen better communication between them. I've enjoyed every book by Alison Cochrun that I've read so far and I'm glad I can add this to my collection when it comes out on April 2nd 2024.

i was excited to read this because i read and loved the charm offensive when it came out. i still have kiss her once for my on my tbr, so i'm hoping to get to that soon.

this one didn't really work for me, i felt like it dragged a lot once they got on the road trip itself and it felt very repetitive, so i found it tough to get through.

there's a lot of representation i loved in this novel though:

ADHD rep (coming from a neurodivergent girlie like myself)
themes on loss, death and grief
themes on friendship and people who made a difference in your life.

however, it felt hard to believe these women were in their early 30s and that their former teacher was in his 60s? everyone felt kind of immature and it pulled me out of the story.

i struggled to figure out what i was supposed to be rooting for and i didn't particularly care for logan.

at the end of the day, the plotline didn't work for me and it felt like it just dragged on with very little development. since i've read this author before, i will read her again, though.

thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the eARC!

Alison Cochrun's latest novel, Here We Go Again, follows two former best friends-turned-enemies as they embark on a road trip alongside their ailing former teacher, Joe, and his furry companion. Torn apart by an incident in their youth, their desire to help Joe accomplish one of his dying wishes pushes them to put aside their differences. Yet, as they're pulled together, is it possible that they may go from enemies to friends to... lovers?

I've been following Cochrun since her first novel The Charm Offensive. She has a real knack for marrying fun with more serious contemplations. In this case, this novel deals with the loss of family figures, palliative care, grief, and outing. The opening page of the novel includes a more detailed warning list for readers who may be concerned about engaging with this material at this time. I think the novel's handling of end=of-life care in all its messiness is where it truly excelled. Logan, Rosemary, and Joe are all complicated characters who don't always make the "right" choice but that's part of what makes this novel really stick. Yet, I did find myself struggling with some of its quirks, particularly the running gag of Logan's references to celebrities got grating very quickly. Cochrun also occasionally dips into this keynote-style of dialogue that feels unnecessarily didactic considering its audience. Nonetheless, there's a lot of heart in this novel and I did enjoy the ride.

Alison Cochrun has such an affinity for writing beautifully real stories about beautifully real and flawed people and this one was no different. When I read her last book, Kiss Her Once For Me, I found the romance to be a bit lacking and this one didn't have that issue quite as badly. I found my investment in the romance to be a bit hit or miss, but when I was invested it was a smash hit for sure. This one also had a bit more explicit content in contrast to her other two books, but it was still very emotion/connection focused which is one of the things I so appreciate about Alison's works.

There are so many things that set this author's work apart from others that I love, and one of the biggest ones is the descriptors and traits of her characters. A common occurrence in romance is that the main character and love interest are very attractive, and while they might have flaws, there is often an implication of perfection in a way that's not realistic. Which, to be fair, is okay! Sometimes those types of stories are what my mood calls for. But stories like this one, where even the introductory descriptions of the character's features are of those that are not viewed as traditionally attractive, but the underlying implication that the narrator finds them to be, stick with me so much longer. Logan and Rosemary were described in such a vivid yet understated way I could picture them together very clearly, and I knew exactly what kind of person they were from these details alone. People are very messy, and Alison's characters always capture that for me

Another thing that I always appreciate about this author's work is the mental health representation. She's not afraid to get into the ugliness of mental health struggles, and yet these struggles never take away from the comedy and levity of the story. I especially appreciated the depiction of the spectrum of ADHD, especially femme people which is often underrepresented, and has a unique set of struggles. This representation paired very well with the overarching commentary on the importance of teaching, and the struggles folks can face in education spaces (special shout out to the mentions of pedagogy and Freire, we love to see it). Rosemary's experience especially spoke to me, as a fellow neurodiverse master planner. So often neurodiversity, ADHD particularly, is discussed as something that is messy and chaotic, and dysfunctional, but it can also be things that aren't easily noticed on the outside, and I really appreciated that this book made a point of that

The depiction of death in this book, like the other aspects mentioned, was so incredibly raw and real. For a book whose plot surrounds a literal death road trip, the tone somehow managed to be quite funny, hopeful, and most of all loving and supportive, given how heavy the themes were. Joe's experience throughout really highlights how little dignity there can be in dying, and how last wishes can give you back some of that lost autonomy. I think this aspect of the story will probably stick with me the longest, it was handled with such care. As discussed throughout, tragedy and comedy often go hand in hand, and I think having both simultaneously occurring throughout really strengthened the impact of both.

All in all, while the romance wasn't my absolute favorite, the themes and the story of this book really shone through. If you're looking for a book about the importance of teachers, the diversities of queerness and coming out, road trips but make it all about dying, and found family, you should definitely pick this one up

I would first like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and Alison Cochrun for the arc I received of this novel! Here We Go Again is a second-chance sapphic romance centred around a cross country road-trip and the death of a mutual loved one. And it was beautiful. The characters in this book were so rich with detail and came alive off the page with Cochrun’s storytelling. I found myself tearing up in more than one instance. It was an incredibly moving depiction of love, loss, reconnection, and making the most out of life. I know this story and these characters will stay with me moving forward. After loving this one as much as I did and also enjoying Kiss Her Once for Me I think Cochrun is now an auto buy author for me!!

Wow, where to begin?

I read Kiss Her Once For Me back in December 2023. If Alison Cochrun knows anything, it's how to write relationships that are messy until they aren't anymore.

I laughed, I cried (really hard), I cringed at some points, but I loved this book. The exploration of grief was really well done. The relationship between Logan and Rosemary was frustrating, but understandable given their circumstances.

As usual, thank you to netgalley for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review :)