As someone who loved Fangirl when I was in college, I was really looking forward to reading this new adult release from Rowell. Unfortunately, the experience fell a bit flat for me.

The main characters felt so flat to me and, throughout most of their conversations, the way they talked to one another seemed forced. It really took me out of the concept that they were supposed to have romantic feelings toward one another.

Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Slow by Rainbow Rowell. Oops, I mean Slow Dance. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Let me start by telling you how much I adore Rainbow Rowell. I’ve LOVED so many of her books that I jumped for joy when I got this arc. Like I still think about Eleanor and Park and their mixed tapes and the time travel phone calls in Landline. Its pub day is 7/30 so I was super exited to read it and shout it out. Then I read it.

Something’s missing. It didn’t work. The premise was cute; Shiloh and Cary were best friends throughout high school, went separate ways, reunite, then awkwardly figure out if they can be more than friends. But they were both poor communicators and that trope got boring. Flipping back in time between the early 90s and 2006 Rowell missed all opportunities for sprinkling in nostalgia and the chapters just became windows to view how Cary always had feelings for Shiloh.

Neither was attractive as both were repeatedly described to have moles and awful teeth, and I just didn’t get it. In real life we all have moles and crooked teeth, but if you want to put this out there as romance then the stretch marks, sallow skin, crooked eyes and gangly limbs shouldn’t be repeatedly described. Ad nauseum. I get that she wanted them to be insecure and weird but so were the sex scenes and their lack of chemistry. They are now in their 30s and she wants to poke and bite him and tug his hair like she did when she was 17. Yeah no. Slow Dance was painfully slow and disjointed and will be a book I’ve forgotten about by next week which made me want to cry. Paso Doble right by this when you spot it on the shelves.

Slow Dance is a second chance romance where we follow Shiloh and Cary, two best friends in a high school trio, the third being Mikey, come together for the first time in over a decade at Mikey's second wedding. Shiloh finds herself fresh out of a divorce with two young children and Cary is fifteen years deep into a career in the Navy. What follows is a back and forth through time reviewing Shiloh and Cary's situationship as it progressed throughout high school and college and in the present.

I struggled with this book and did not really understand why Shiloh and Carey even liked each other. The two consistently had terrible communication, which I recognize is a trope that some people really enjoy, but I found very frustrating. Additionally, the jumping back and forth in the timeline was challenging to follow follow without some sort of year indicator because it’s not always clear to me how far back in time you go. Sometimes it was back to high school, sometimes college, sometimes back to the wedding.

I will say, I really enjoyed when Shiloh and Carey started exchanging emails, I love a little epistolary moment and that was very fun.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced copy.

4.5 stars rounded up
Rainbow Rowell has written a romance for people who want to read about authentic relationships where everything is not perfect, the people are not the most beautiful on earth, and they have hangups and obligations. Slow Dance tells the story of Shiloh and Cary, best and inseparable friends in high school who have not spoken to each other for more than a decade. When they reconnect at their friend's wedding, the friendship rekindles and old feelings emerge.

I loved the dual timeline where the reader gets to see the friendship as it once was, how it fell apart, and also how the feelings are rekindled into more than just a friendship. It made me feel a little nostalgic of the close friendships from high school that we thought would never end. The reality of Shiloh's and Cary's separate family obligations made the story feel very authentic.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow Books for the digital ARC of Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell. The opinions in this review are my own.

I was so excited to get another book release from Rainbow Rowell! I adore Fangirl and Eleanor & Park so I quickly requested Slow Dance.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and how the characters were friends in high school but still had chemistry all these years later. Rowell excels at writing relatable, real characters which is what I love about her writing. On the flip side, this story was very slow and I’m not a big fan of the miscommunication trope.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have been so anxiously awaiting another adult novel from Rainbow Rowell after absolutely falling in love with Landline. This did not disappoint in the slightest. These characters are messy and flawed with family issues and so much love to give. Love love love!

Have you ever seen a meme or heard a song or read a book that made you think, “holy buckets, I thought it was just me! I feel so seen!” Slow Dance was that for me. These are REAL people relatable in a way I’ve rarely encountered in literature before (or probably ever will because Rainbow Rowell is absolute magic).

Shiloh and Cary are both understandably dysfunctional teens who grow up to be slightly less dysfunctional adults who are doing their best at life. The flashbacks are so perfectly woven in in a stream of consciousness.

My absolute favorite part of this book is when Shiloh thinks about how she loves watching her children eat. Later that day my toddler must’ve thought I was crazy because I was tearing up watching him eat a sandwich.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC of Slow Dance! This is my honest review.

The title is very appropriate. What would you do if you met up with your old high school crush and you were both single? This story is about two people who clearly love each other but let life get in the way. Enjoyable romance.

A slow burn romance by Rainbow Rowell is exactly what the reader ordered! I was so excited to see a new novel by Ms. Rowell, I'm a huge fan. This book was achingly sweet and full of hope and promise.

3.5 Stars

The story unfolded at a slower pace, which usually fits my preference for romance. However, themes of second chances and romances later in life didn't quite resonate with me. Despite this, I found the character development intriguing and enjoyed how the story wrapped up.

The story employs a back-and-forth timeline effectively, particularly suited to its narrative. It portrays how Shiloh and Carey rediscover each other after 14 years, still deeply in love and now mature enough to pursue what they truly want. However, their older age brings along complexities such as divorce, communication challenges, and family issues.

This was my first experience with Rainbow Rowell's novels, and despite this one not entirely resonating with me, I'm open to exploring more of her works.

I was excited to read this one - I remember liking Rowell when I was younger.

Overall, this was cute - the couple was cute, I was individually rooting for the characters and invested in both of them. It was fun and quick, and for the most part, lighthearted - which is all I want in a romance.

However, I tend to go into books (and movies, for that matter) blind. The slight drawback for me was that the military storyline, which isn’t my personal preference - though, again, something that I would’ve known had I read the blurb and not just gotten excited about a new Rowell. I did appreciate that the story did acknowledge that there is nuance in matters like those.

The book was fun and a great distraction, and I can’t really ask for much else.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

DNF. It pains me, truly, because I have loved everything I’ve read by Rainbow Rowell. This just wasn’t it. The main characters were insufferable, especially Shiloh. I could not stand her. The whole lack of communication was frustrating. There wasn’t anything in the plot or characters that made me want to keep reading.

I really liked this story and these characters. Their friendship felt so familiar and then after years them being able to rekindle it made a great story. I was really worried as I got closer to the end of this book that there was going to be a sad conclusion and that was going to be heartbreaking. However, the author wraps this story up nicely and I loved the happy ending.

This was a super quick read for me that left me feeling nostalgic and happy. I highly recommend this book!

m not sure why but I didn’t really connect with any of these characters. I enjoyed some aspects of this one like the conversations abound Shiloh’s feelings about sex and just attraction in general but I feel like everything just fell flat for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early access to Slow Dance.

I've loved many of Rainbow Rowell's books through the years (Eleanor and Park, Fangirl, and Attachments) so I was really excited when she announced she was working on an adult romance novel. In Slow Dance, we meet Cary and Shiloh, best friends who high school who never become more until a fight in college keeps them away from each other for 14 years. They reconnect at another high school's friend's wedding and try to see if they can make it more this time by finally confessing their feelings for each other. I enjoyed the present and before alternating timelines of this book and the characters were developed in their sometimes annoying personalities. I felt that the pacing of this book was off though and it was too long. There was a part in the middle where I was totally hooked and didn't want to stop reading but it took me a while to care about the characters and the ending wasn't my favorite either. I will still recommend this book as the writing is strong and there are some sweet moments but this wasn't a typical romance to me.

I am straight up not a romance girlie, but I loved this. These characters are flawed and there’s a ton of miscommunication/lack of communication and just life that gets in the way.

I also really appreciated the jumping back and forth in time as you got the full picture of the relationships and the depth they contain.

Shiloh, Cary and Mikey have been a trio of besties for years. Everyone at their high school thinks Shiloh and Cary are a couple but they’ve never dated as both are too afraid of ruining what they do have.

Then, in a blink, 14 years passes with no communication between Cary and Shiloh until they finally meet again at Mikey’s wedding reception. And they meet like a match to a firecracker.

But they’ve both lived through a lot and misunderstood a lot and are still facing a lot.

Spoiler, there’s a happy ending. But the knowledge of the years of yearning make it so sweet.

A new Rainbow Rowell book is a banner occasion - I should have waited, I should have taken more time to savor this one, because I know it will be a while until I have another book from Rainbow. But I'm not perfect, and so I gulped this down in 24 hours, neglecting some things I needed to do in favor of spending time in Omaha with Shiloh and Cary, two of Rainbow's most perfect imperfect characters.

3.5, rounded to 4

Shiloh and Cary were best friends in high school and only friends, despite what many others assumed about their relationship. After high school, Cary joined the Navy and Shiloh want to college. Cary visited Shiloh once while she was a freshman and although they admitted their feelings for each other and slept together, their relationship floundered after that and eventually collapsed. They haven’t truly spoken to each other in 14 years when they are reunited at the second wedding for their other close friend from high school, Mikey, a successful artist.

Shiloh is thirty-three, divorced with two small children and back living with her mother in house she grew up in. Cary has advanced in the Navy, with postings in various states and countries. He has five more years in the Navy until he can retire. His mother, whose health is deteriorating, still lives in the house he grew up in. Despite the fact that he has older sisters who live close by, Cary supports his mother financially, including covering her mortgage, and tries to manage any other problems she has from afar.

Even after 14 years, Shiloh and Cary are both deeply attracted to one another, and #SlowDance is the story of how they reconnect—at first as friends and then as romantic partners—and the numerous bumps they encounter along the way, including a variety of communication and family troubles.

Rowell is a good writer, who has created interesting, complex characters, dealing with very challenging family situations. The novel is structured with frequent jumps back and forth in time—sometimes by many years, some times by a few months or days. This was very distracting and made it difficult to retain details of the story, especially since it covered more so many years. Rather than being able to get lost in a smooth narrative flow, the overall novel felt disjointed and episodic.

Structural matters aside, this is an entertaining, very slow burn, second chance, friends-to-lovers romance.

Thanks to #NetGalley and @WmMorrowBooks for the ARC.

Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC of this book! I went through a big Rainbow Rowell binge about 6 years ago when I first started reading a lot more and I jumped at the chance to read her latest adult novel.

“Slow Dance” is a simple story about my best friends who were really in love and just didn’t know how to communicate that and work it out as teenagers. I loved her real the story was. There was nothing grand about it, it was just the story of two people reconnecting and learning to make it work because they are in love. Shiloh and Cary are both strong headed characters who make frustrating decisions, but ultimately I loved them for how much they cared.

I finished this book in 24 hours. I enjoyed the back and forth between timelines in our characters lives. It was a little confusing at first because it wasn’t labeled for each chapter, but I appreciated getting glimpses of their past and getting both the female and male main characters’ perspectives. Even though I read this clicking the pacing was off, some chapters were repetitive and others too short. Either way I couldn’t stop till I found out how it ended.

This was bittersweet, beautiful, and authentic. I’ve never read a romance novel with this type of writing, so I had moments of confusion, but there were many times where I had to pause to absorb what was written, in a good way.

This is about two best friends that fall in love before they even know it. It’s goes back in forth between before and now, before being grade school years, to now in their adult years. This felt painfully real and I kept thinking that this reminded me of Normal People by Sally Rooney, but less hurtful lol.

This was my first novel by Rainbow Rowell and I’m so glad I was given the chance to read it. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! Read this to feel alllll the emotions, especially if you love the friends to lovers trope.