Grape Juice follows Alice as she sets out to rural France for a summer working at a vineyard during harvest season. She joins a group of international seasonal workers, all unique in their own ways and adding both emotional depth and comedic relief to the story. When she meets Henri, a fellow summer harvester, sparks fly and their connection is instant. Through conversations between the vines as they pick grapes, Alice's cold and reluctant heart begins to melt and she comes to many realizations about herself, her life back in NYC, and her past relationships that have pushed her to this penultimate summer in the French countryside with Henri.

Eliza Dumais has done what no author has done for me before: managed to make me fall in love with her writing in just a few pages. From the first few scenes of this novella, I knew this was going to be one of my favorite books of the year because of the writing style alone, not even knowing where the romance was going to go. All of her characters felt so utterly real, not just the hero and heroine of the romance at the center of this book. I found myself setting my e-reader down to merely process her words and soak in the meaning behind each and every one. With beautiful prose, immersive settings, and the most vulnerable romance, Grape Juice is sure to top my best books of the year list and I will be anxiously awaiting for another book from Eliza Dumais!

I absolutely loved this, and if you've enjoyed any of the other novells in this imprint I think this will be right up your alley (and if you haven't - you absolutely should read them because I'm obsessed!). Also if you like stories about letting yourself live and love again.

This story packs so much in so little. I loved the writing and the descriptions, and how it transported me to a vineyard in France. Spending time with this story was really beautiful. I also found the romance with Alice and Henri really refreshing, and I loved the whole set of characters. Seeing their connections form was so lovely.

Definitely pick this one up - you won't regret it!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All views are my own.

“You know, if you strip away the poetry, all of this is just grape juice.”

I’ve never highlighted a book so much in my life. As though I could press each saved phrase into my skin, carry them around like talismans or tattoos. Reading Grape Juice felt like eavesdropping on something sacred and unguarded. Like being handed someone’s heart and soul in a paper cup and told to drink.

The story follows Alice, who has withdrawn into herself so violently as to become emotionally jaded with life. A business trip becomes an opportunity to escape the monotony. What she finds among the grapevines, the dusk, the slow press of other people’s lives, is not reinvention exactly, but reawakening.

This book undoes you quietly. With softness, yes, but also with precision. I haven’t felt this smitten with a story, its characters, or its author, in a long time, but ”I’m so glad you happened.”

Thank you to NetGalley, 831 Stories, and Eliza Dumais for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I absolutely loved this! While it was short, it certainly packed a punch. I loved all of the side characters, and the friend group/found family in this was so well written. Each side character had completely different dispositions and attitudes, and they all worked so well together. I loved Alice and Henri too, and the romance between them was super well-written. The book was fast-paced and to the point, and I also loved the author's writing style! Overall, I loved this book and would completely recommend it :)