Stamped by Nyx

Normally I don’t do book reviews, but I just had to with this one.

I was reading a book the other day that got me thinking. Leading up to the chapter, it was clear the main characters like-liked the other (yes, I am using “old-school” middle grade lingo). However, there was a moment when the girl blurted out her feelings to the boy–word vomit style.

A part of me did cringe a bit at it, but I had to stop and pull myself aside for a moment. There are a lot of books in the world where the MC and the love interest dance around the fact that they like each other. There are books that are slow-burn, and ones that are filled to the brim with lustful smut. And there are books with everything in between. Yet, I rarely see or hear about books where it’s blurted out–that could contribute to “show not tell” in books

But let’s be real with each other for the remainder of this post. Teens/young adults, especially if they haven’t done relationships like that before, are awkward. You may be the person who is okay with dancing around love confessions, but there are people who aren’t. I know a person or two who would rather blurt everything out even if it was obviously in plain sight.

Yes, that moment in the book was cringe (as well as the love interest’s reaction), but it was real. It showed how two young adults can be so dorky and awkward with each other, no matter how comfortable they are with the other. If I had someone confess their feelings for me word-vomit style, I would LOVE it because that’s less of a “do they like me, do they not like me?” mindset I have to worry about.

Mind you, there is a difference between love-bombing and confessing feelings.

After setting aside the cringe, I found it to be cute. The MC, Carme, has anxiety, so it makes sense that she would lay it all out on the table–before and after arguing with herself about it. She was verbally and emotionally vulnerable with the guy. Thankfully, the feelings were reciprocated. To me, it goes to show what many people want in a relationship, yet there isn’t much representation for it.

Slow-burn, smut, and dancing around emotions can be fun, but it’s refreshing to see blatant boldness.

If you agree with anything I said in my spur-of-the-moment “book review,” feel free to let me know! Especially since I’m the one who wrote the scene in my debut novel ‘Remember The Moon.’

My book comes out on June 21, 2025 (e-book format) on Amazon KDP and Rakuten Kobo. If you love awkward characters because not everybody can be a Rico Suave, I think you might just like ‘Remember The Moon’.

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