Robbie Couch

Real Rating: 3.75* of five

The Publisher Says: From the New York Times bestselling author of If I See You Again Tomorrow comes a delightful and heartwarming novel about family, love, grief, and one precocious houseplant, that reminds us of the beauty of living a life in full Bloom.

Morris Warner is withering away. After the sudden death of his husband, Fred, he has shut himself off from the world. No more going to movies with friends, or swims in Lake Michigan, instead preferring the quiet show more loneliness of his history books and Jeopardy episodes with only the cat to hear his answers.

Morris’s stepdaughter, Sloan, feels like she has nowhere to grow. She’s about to get married to the man of her dreams, if only her mother will let her actually plan her own wedding and trust her to build her own life after her father’s death.

Jade is drying out. Literally. As a plant in Morris’s home, she and her plant housemates have been slowly wasting away, leaf by falling leaf, since Fred’s death and Morris’s lack of care. She needs to come up with a plan to make her new owner come back to life, no matter what it takes.

New York Times bestselling author Robbie Couch’s Bloom is a wondrous novel where family, love, kindness, and yes, Mother Nature, triumph.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Masses of w-verbing = one star irrevocably, irretrievably gone.

Y'all need to stop that. Jade wouldn't like it, stolidly practical being that she is. Neither do I.

It's the PoVs...Jade the succulent jade plant, abandoned by Fred's untimely passing and neglected by Morris; Morris the bereft widower of Fred, who's really withering up and giving up his life from grief (been there, bud); and Sloan who's Fred's youngest daughter, stuck in a cesspit of grief for her favorite parent and still going through with her ghastly, Babbitty mother's vision of what her wedding to her one true love Todd ought to be.

It all kicks off as Sloan has a bridezilla moment in the florist shop and runs right TF away from her bickering mother and aunt as each tries to force her own choices on Sloan. Even though she's never been close to Morris, her father's teaching colleague and now his widower she runs to her dad's house to talk to Morris about walking her down the aisle. Maybe a giant middle finger at her mom, who got left by Fred for Morris ten-plus years ago...but also, the more Sloan tries to get up the nerve to ask him for the favor, a damned good idea. She had Morris as a teacher in the aftermath of The Affair, that turned into the happy marriage. Her Babbitty mother was not likely to be supportive of Sloan spending a lot of time with the happy couple. So she has never really been in close contact with Morris for long, and so does not already know how destroyed he was by Fred's death.

It causes Sloan to stop thinking about her rage at her Babbitty mother to begin to do things with and for Morris, starting with rescuing Jade from the dark corner she was absent-mindedly shoved into and forgotten by grieving Morris. It's how Jade survives, even thrives, as the story unfolds with its very grown-up restructuring of family ties among all these players and more. Todd isn't a flashy or noisy character, yet he loves Sloan enough to get along with her Babbitty mother, her snotty sister, her gross brother and invisible brother-in-law.

Deserves a damn medal, does Todd.

I'll cut the book report short to observe the story continues its gentle way through the different parties as each processes the grief and the inevitable regret of loss sinking in, in the most surprising ways that you can never see coming. A lot of old hurts...Sloan was never the daughter her Babbitty mother wanted her to be, Morris was the love of her Babbitty mother's one great love's life with all the terrible pain that brings, Jade is dealt a violence and fears she will actually die this time...all interleafed very deftly, very structurally appropriately. You don't need to know details until you get there.

I'd say the ending felt...irresolute...but it feels exactly like the endpoints of real-life complex family situations feel. It's not The End, it's the place the strands come together, cross into a knot and start a new strand of everyone's interrelationship. If you liked Remarkably Bright Creatures or Love & Saffron, this will appeal to you. show less

I just finished reading “Another First Chance” by Robbie Couch at my local coffee haunt and I cried. Fortunately, the person who runs the coffee shop is a friend and not unaccustomed to me having over-the-top emotional responses while reading.

This book was a joy to read. That might be an unexpected response if you have read the summary of the story. There is tragedy in this book, but it is also a remarkable tale about learning to live with loss and what that looks like for people.

Dylan show more was River’s best friend for a lot of their lives. Then revelatory night, Dylan was killed in a car accident while texting. River had sent a text moments before Dylan’s accident.

A year passes as River struggles to deal with a life minus Dylan – and the book opens on the anniversary of the accident. The people in Dylan’s life don’t seem to think he is dealing with loss the way he should be. Then Affinity sets up a trial at the school and with the odd help of a classmate who blackmails him – River signs up.

As the novel continues, the author slips in some visits with Dylan that lead up to the final moments of his life.

The Affinity Trials seem a little off from the moment River first walks back into the converted school. The participants are divided into teams and none of the tasks or surveys they are participating in seem consistent with anything River was expecting. Then he meets Nash who is a member of the football teams who is running a summer camp at the same time as the Affinity Trial. As River’s feeling grow for Nash, he finds himself questioning everything that is happening at the trial.

Oh! Folks, this is a good one. I was a little hesitant to read it at first because of the subject matter. I lost my best friend when I was young – and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to revisit the feelings. But ending-provoked-tears aside, this story is beautiful. I have to say I think it brought me a little more closer myself as I took this journey with River.

Robbie couch always writes strong characters, and balance is what Couch has mastered. His characters often face intense emotions and yet, the emotions don’t take over the narrative. The characters remail authentic, fully seated in the real world and I love that.

River is mourning the loss of his best friend, feeling lonely, and at the very same time he is isolating himself a little. It’s so relatable because sometimes when we most need support to assist us in processing a life-changing event, we “turtle” and try to muddle through. Each part of River’s journey is well-written and made me feel as though I was sitting and listening to River try and work things out. This really is a heart-warming novel.

There are some things I would love to write about…but I don’t want to spoil this novel for any potential reader. I didn’t read anything about it before I started, and I hope you all get that experience. Couch has fantastic pacing, and this story hits all the right peaks. show less

Robbie Couch's debut young adult novel is a good read. Sky spends his life living with his best friend Bree's family, trying not to think about how his mom disowned him for being gay, and planning an epic promposal for his crush, Ari.

Unfortunately, someone manages to leak a photo of Ari and Bree's promposal wall full of ridiculous ideas and suggestions. The message that is sent out to everyone is homophobic and racist (Ari - the crush is referred to as a terrorist). Of course, Sky's first show more reaction is to turtle in his room and avoid everyone. He cuts off his friends and found family and runs through all the "doom" scenarios that we all would.

The friends, some teachers, Bree's family, and some people from the past work together to try and find out who posted the photo and make a statement that their school and their prom are welcoming to everyone.

That's a really brief summary, but there's quite a bit going on in this story. One of the things I liked about Couch's style was that even though there's some really horrible stuff happening to the characters… the way they move through it all felt quite "real" to me. It's not overly dramatic and the characters don't spend pages catastrophizing.

Sky is a wonderful character. He's always been quite self-aware. He just hasn't been "out". Some of his discomfort from being/ acting gay comes from a place of confusion. He thinks he's different from his straight friends… and hasn't really even given some of them the chance to get to know him truly. There's a lovely subplot with Sky and his best friend Marshall. Marshall is straight and interested in sports… and Sky makes a lot of assumptions about what he can and can't tell Marshall. Couch's story lets us follow along as the friendship between the two young men grows and changes.

As Sky's world grows bigger, there are always people who aren't supportive but there are a lot of people who are. Couch does a fantastic job of balancing everything in this novel.

The plot is engaging, and I found the mysteries in Sky's story interesting. I didn't really put the book down once I started it and I found it thoroughly entertaining. It contains a lot of humor, snappy dialogue, and some lovely, flustered teens. A wonderful read. show less

I loved "The Sky Blues" by Robbie Couch so I was really excited when I saw that "Blaine For the Win" was available. I just finished reading this lovely coming-of-age YA novel and I absolutely loved it. It's actually one of my favourite YA novels this year.

When this novel opens, high school student Blaine is painting murals and late for a date with his awesome and slightly-posh boyfriend, Joey, for their anniversary. What Blaine doesn't see coming is Joey dumping him at the restaurant when show more they should be having the best night ever.

It turns out that Joey thinks that Blaine isn't serious enough. Joey has his life planned out. He knows where he wants to go to school, he knows what career he wants. And Joey has realized (with the help of his parents) that Blaine isn't the guy for him.

Heart-broken, Blaine retreats home to lick his wounds. Blaine eventually hatches a plan to run for student council to prove to Joey that he can be serious. After all, if he wins the election, then surely he can win Joey back.

This book is utterly readable and I was drawn in from the very beginning. I loved being invited into Blaine's mind, his emotions and his story. I was rooting for him from the beginning. The story unfolds at a great pace, there's a lot going on but Couch keeps it all manageable and engaging.

The cast of supporting characters is wonderful and engaging and they have varying interests. Their voices are unique and I always love that. They are a team of the kind of friends you want in your life; they tell the truth and they have your back. There's a lot of truth in the conversations that the characters have and it was refreshing.

Be prepared to have tears in your eyes or a smile on your face... sometimes, both at the same time! Loved this one. show less