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Corinne
You want to walk away from the things that were bad for you and never look back.
That's what Corinne Callahan wants.
Cast out of the fundamentalist church she was raised in and cut off from her family, Corinne builds a new life for herself. A good one. But she never stops missing the life—and the love— she's left behind.
It's Enoch Miller who ruins everything for her. It was always Enoch Miller. She'll never get him out from under her skin.
Set over fifteen years and told with astonishing intimacy, Rebecca Morrow's Corinne is the story of a woman who risks everything she's built for the one man she can never have.
That's what Corinne Callahan wants.
Cast out of the fundamentalist church she was raised in and cut off from her family, Corinne builds a new life for herself. A good one. But she never stops missing the life—and the love— she's left behind.
It's Enoch Miller who ruins everything for her. It was always Enoch Miller. She'll never get him out from under her skin.
Set over fifteen years and told with astonishing intimacy, Rebecca Morrow's Corinne is the story of a woman who risks everything she's built for the one man she can never have.
432 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 12, 2022
77 people are currently reading
9055 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 631 reviews
September 3, 2022
the only reason i picked this up (or even heard about it) is because there is a rumour floating around the internet that rebecca morrow is a pseudonym for stephanie meyer, of twilight fame.
so, obviously, i had to investigate. lol.
and i have to say, im not convinced its her.
other than that, i dont really have much to say about this. i dont think i would have picked this up otherwise, so i knew this probably wasnt a book for me. i mean, it had its moments, but overall, i wasnt really feeling this one.
↠ 2.5 stars
so, obviously, i had to investigate. lol.
and i have to say, im not convinced its her.
other than that, i dont really have much to say about this. i dont think i would have picked this up otherwise, so i knew this probably wasnt a book for me. i mean, it had its moments, but overall, i wasnt really feeling this one.
↠ 2.5 stars
July 31, 2023
4.5 Stars
This book came across my radar back in November 2021 via a marketing email that piqued my interest. It spoke of forbidden love and intimacy...and there were loads of it! It's ironic that this took me more than half a year to pick up and read- then wound up being such an enjoyable page-turner. It's a story about a couple of 18 year olds finishing up high school who are involved in a church with a strict moral code. The main female character of Corinne is one that I found very real and appealing. She's not the most beautiful or popular girl in town by a longshot. She doesn't have a lot of money or pretty clothes, she's short and a tad pudgy, and she's a bit of a rebel by nature. She's also secretly in love with Enoch Miller, one of the Elders in the church. The Elders get to monitor the church parking lot, quietly take attendance of the congregation, and monitor the church basement when people go down there to (allegedly) use the bathroom. Corinne always sits towards the back of the church and uses the two allotted opportunities to go downstairs for bathroom breaks. Sometimes she extends them by wandering around the carpeted rooms, and occasionally Enoch Miller would encounter her as he trolled the terrain. Enoch was like a huge rectangle, tall with cherry red hair and full lips. Not traditionally handsome in the general sense, but he was Corinne's "person" as if he was imprinted on her. However, it was common knowledge that he was promised to marry the incredibly gorgeous Shannon Frank. Shannon had beautiful clothes, was popular and when the time came to gather in groups and congregate after mass Corinne always suspected she was whispering about her. Corinne's church uniform consisted of a ratty black sweater and a long skirt- the only "nice" outfit she really had.
The story quickly heated up when Corinne's family temporarily moved in with Enoch's family. Corinne's stepfather had abandoned the family, leaving her mother and siblings in need of shelter. They took up in the Miller's basement, and tried to stay to themselves and not encroach on the Miller's privacy. However, Bonnie Miller announced that Corinne's family should come upstairs and join the Millers for dinner and bible study one day a week. Eventually, Mrs. Miller encouraged the eldest children, Enoch and Corinne to get out some board games to enjoy until bedtime. They had quite a few in the closet such as Monopoly, Clue and Operation, to name just a few. Standard Monopoly play was too boring with the regular rules, so they would make up more complex rules which expanded to the use of other games. The younger children were more interested in Nintendo so were immersed in videogames, but Enoch and Corinne thrived on playing their customized Monopoly game. Soon there were several board games laid out permanently in the living room that were games in progress to be picked up after bible study night. Enoch and Corinne's relationship deliciously unfolded into stolen moments of a sizzling romance, all the more exciting for its forbidden nature. Even though they were part of the same church, Corinne's family were viewed as being from the wrong side of town, and besides, Enoch was set to marry Shannon. The secret and furtive romantic meet ups made for a riveting read, fearful that they would be caught.
There's a tipping point moment in the story and then it catapults to 14 years later when Enoch and Corinne are in their 30s. There is a lot of yearning and explicit intimacy in this novel, both physical and conversational. I enjoyed the dialogue and the two main characters. They were both very likeable and fleshed out characters, quite different but the same in their shared, undeniable and enduring love for each other. I rooted for them the whole way, as they navigated their intense feelings and the rocky road of outside forces to its resolution. This was an unexpected joy to read, and I will be looking out for future novels from this author.
Thank you to the publisher St. Martin's Press for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
This book came across my radar back in November 2021 via a marketing email that piqued my interest. It spoke of forbidden love and intimacy...and there were loads of it! It's ironic that this took me more than half a year to pick up and read- then wound up being such an enjoyable page-turner. It's a story about a couple of 18 year olds finishing up high school who are involved in a church with a strict moral code. The main female character of Corinne is one that I found very real and appealing. She's not the most beautiful or popular girl in town by a longshot. She doesn't have a lot of money or pretty clothes, she's short and a tad pudgy, and she's a bit of a rebel by nature. She's also secretly in love with Enoch Miller, one of the Elders in the church. The Elders get to monitor the church parking lot, quietly take attendance of the congregation, and monitor the church basement when people go down there to (allegedly) use the bathroom. Corinne always sits towards the back of the church and uses the two allotted opportunities to go downstairs for bathroom breaks. Sometimes she extends them by wandering around the carpeted rooms, and occasionally Enoch Miller would encounter her as he trolled the terrain. Enoch was like a huge rectangle, tall with cherry red hair and full lips. Not traditionally handsome in the general sense, but he was Corinne's "person" as if he was imprinted on her. However, it was common knowledge that he was promised to marry the incredibly gorgeous Shannon Frank. Shannon had beautiful clothes, was popular and when the time came to gather in groups and congregate after mass Corinne always suspected she was whispering about her. Corinne's church uniform consisted of a ratty black sweater and a long skirt- the only "nice" outfit she really had.
The story quickly heated up when Corinne's family temporarily moved in with Enoch's family. Corinne's stepfather had abandoned the family, leaving her mother and siblings in need of shelter. They took up in the Miller's basement, and tried to stay to themselves and not encroach on the Miller's privacy. However, Bonnie Miller announced that Corinne's family should come upstairs and join the Millers for dinner and bible study one day a week. Eventually, Mrs. Miller encouraged the eldest children, Enoch and Corinne to get out some board games to enjoy until bedtime. They had quite a few in the closet such as Monopoly, Clue and Operation, to name just a few. Standard Monopoly play was too boring with the regular rules, so they would make up more complex rules which expanded to the use of other games. The younger children were more interested in Nintendo so were immersed in videogames, but Enoch and Corinne thrived on playing their customized Monopoly game. Soon there were several board games laid out permanently in the living room that were games in progress to be picked up after bible study night. Enoch and Corinne's relationship deliciously unfolded into stolen moments of a sizzling romance, all the more exciting for its forbidden nature. Even though they were part of the same church, Corinne's family were viewed as being from the wrong side of town, and besides, Enoch was set to marry Shannon. The secret and furtive romantic meet ups made for a riveting read, fearful that they would be caught.
There's a tipping point moment in the story and then it catapults to 14 years later when Enoch and Corinne are in their 30s. There is a lot of yearning and explicit intimacy in this novel, both physical and conversational. I enjoyed the dialogue and the two main characters. They were both very likeable and fleshed out characters, quite different but the same in their shared, undeniable and enduring love for each other. I rooted for them the whole way, as they navigated their intense feelings and the rocky road of outside forces to its resolution. This was an unexpected joy to read, and I will be looking out for future novels from this author.
Thank you to the publisher St. Martin's Press for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
June 14, 2022
I was so surprised by this book.
I went in expecting some Mormon-like fan fiction, but what I got was a compelling tale about well developed and relatablly imperfect lead characters in a unique setting.
It's so interesting that the author doesn't name the specific religion. Having spent a good chunk of my childhood with two different fundamentalist religions/churches, the church in the book felt similar to both though ideologically they seem pretty different. The time commitment, the aversion to "worldly" people and higher education, the culture of encouraged snitching and just the general sense of shame and guilt was all spot on.
I think my favorite part of this story is that Corrine went out into the world for 13 years where she got a college education, dated multiple men and started a career. The decisions she made, she made fully understanding her options and the potential consequences. So while I don't think I would have signed up for what she did, you can't say she did so naively.
I've seen others comment on the sex scenes. Were they hot and steamy? No, but they make sense for a couple who grew up in an insular community without access to real sex ed and r rated movies. Those scenes helped showcase Enoch's willingness to change for Corrine and Corrine's increasing ability to communicate her wants and needs. Also kudos to the author for the plus size inclusion.
The story could do with some editing. There were some parts, especially in the 1992 section, that felt redundant. We get it, Corrine is an outsider, we don't need 6 chapters on in. Additionally sometimes Corrine and Enoch's dialog was boring. I get that because they were separated they want to talk about everything all the time but some of the conversations were almost too mundane to be included in the story.
Overall this book had a lot more depth than I was expecting and I would recommend it.
Shout out to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
I went in expecting some Mormon-like fan fiction, but what I got was a compelling tale about well developed and relatablly imperfect lead characters in a unique setting.
It's so interesting that the author doesn't name the specific religion. Having spent a good chunk of my childhood with two different fundamentalist religions/churches, the church in the book felt similar to both though ideologically they seem pretty different. The time commitment, the aversion to "worldly" people and higher education, the culture of encouraged snitching and just the general sense of shame and guilt was all spot on.
I think my favorite part of this story is that Corrine went out into the world for 13 years where she got a college education, dated multiple men and started a career. The decisions she made, she made fully understanding her options and the potential consequences. So while I don't think I would have signed up for what she did, you can't say she did so naively.
I've seen others comment on the sex scenes. Were they hot and steamy? No, but they make sense for a couple who grew up in an insular community without access to real sex ed and r rated movies. Those scenes helped showcase Enoch's willingness to change for Corrine and Corrine's increasing ability to communicate her wants and needs. Also kudos to the author for the plus size inclusion.
The story could do with some editing. There were some parts, especially in the 1992 section, that felt redundant. We get it, Corrine is an outsider, we don't need 6 chapters on in. Additionally sometimes Corrine and Enoch's dialog was boring. I get that because they were separated they want to talk about everything all the time but some of the conversations were almost too mundane to be included in the story.
Overall this book had a lot more depth than I was expecting and I would recommend it.
Shout out to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
November 16, 2022
There's been a lot of buzz lately about how Stephenie Meyer is the author behind Corinne and while I think that's a fair guess, it's not the right one.
Friends, I'm here to tell you that I am 99.9% certain that this is a Rainbow Rowell book. (The remaining .1% is leaving room for Jesus, like people would half-jokingly say at the church dances I attended as a teen.) I'll get into why, but first, a bit about the book.
Corinne grew up in a very fundamentalist church in Kansas. During her senior year of high school, her dad left and her family is taken under the wing and into the basement of another family from church. That family's eldest son is Enoch Miller, a boy Corinne can hardly think about without feeling that uncertain teenaged swirl of first love and hormones. Enoch studiously doesn't pay much attention to her, but it's hard to ignore one another when you're living under the same roof. And then Corinne has to leave, leaving the church behind, which she was never really that keen on anyway. Thirteen years pass and they find themselves back in the same hometown, unable to ignore one another. The story is a lot about faith and love and family and romance and sex and how all of those things are influenced by growing up in an extremely strict religion. I think the Jodi Picoult blurb on the front is doing the book a bit of a disservice. It's not Romeo & Juliet. It's Corinne & Enoch.
Okay, so you want to know why I think it's Rainbow? I should start this by saying that I'm a bit of a fangirl. (Ha.) And I don't want to be weird about it, but I'm a librarian, so I can't help but be a bit weird about books.
-Honestly, I had it nailed from the first page. I re-read Landline most Decembers and Georgie does this thing where she refers to Neal three times. ("Neal, Neal, Neal.") Corinne does this constantly and from page one.
-There are lots of parantheticals. (Like, lots of them.) (Seriously, so many.)
-The humor is very dry and quippy. I laughed a lot, especially at "mildly slutty Laura Ingalls Wilder".
-There's a ton of dialogue and phone conversations and that wouldn't be that odd except that Rainbow LOVES a phone conversation. She wrote a whole-ass book about it.
-The story is very Midwestern and fat-positive. Positive might not be the exact right word here, but it's what I'm going with for now.
-The pop culture references flow like spice, with lots of recognizable ones for Rainbow like Star Wars and M*A*S*H and indie folk bands. I'm pretty sure I caught a couple of nods to The Mountain Goats in there, too. This might be weird, but I also happen to love all of those things so it's maybe not that strange that I would pick up on those.
-Lots of holiday food. (Again, she wrote an entire novella that revolves around jello salad.)
-Finally, before I go TOO Charlie-Day-Yarn-Wall.gif, it's her usual publisher.
-Okay, fine, one more Charlie Day moment. The Morrow/Rowell name overlap is too much for me to just ignore.
-Update from November 2022: Just checked the audio and Rebecca Lowman is involved. She does most of Rainbow's audio. Case closed!
Rainbow, if you happen to see this, hi and I think you're great.
Friends, I'm here to tell you that I am 99.9% certain that this is a Rainbow Rowell book. (The remaining .1% is leaving room for Jesus, like people would half-jokingly say at the church dances I attended as a teen.) I'll get into why, but first, a bit about the book.
Corinne grew up in a very fundamentalist church in Kansas. During her senior year of high school, her dad left and her family is taken under the wing and into the basement of another family from church. That family's eldest son is Enoch Miller, a boy Corinne can hardly think about without feeling that uncertain teenaged swirl of first love and hormones. Enoch studiously doesn't pay much attention to her, but it's hard to ignore one another when you're living under the same roof. And then Corinne has to leave, leaving the church behind, which she was never really that keen on anyway. Thirteen years pass and they find themselves back in the same hometown, unable to ignore one another. The story is a lot about faith and love and family and romance and sex and how all of those things are influenced by growing up in an extremely strict religion. I think the Jodi Picoult blurb on the front is doing the book a bit of a disservice. It's not Romeo & Juliet. It's Corinne & Enoch.
Okay, so you want to know why I think it's Rainbow? I should start this by saying that I'm a bit of a fangirl. (Ha.) And I don't want to be weird about it, but I'm a librarian, so I can't help but be a bit weird about books.
-Honestly, I had it nailed from the first page. I re-read Landline most Decembers and Georgie does this thing where she refers to Neal three times. ("Neal, Neal, Neal.") Corinne does this constantly and from page one.
-There are lots of parantheticals. (Like, lots of them.) (Seriously, so many.)
-The humor is very dry and quippy. I laughed a lot, especially at "mildly slutty Laura Ingalls Wilder".
-There's a ton of dialogue and phone conversations and that wouldn't be that odd except that Rainbow LOVES a phone conversation. She wrote a whole-ass book about it.
-The story is very Midwestern and fat-positive. Positive might not be the exact right word here, but it's what I'm going with for now.
-The pop culture references flow like spice, with lots of recognizable ones for Rainbow like Star Wars and M*A*S*H and indie folk bands. I'm pretty sure I caught a couple of nods to The Mountain Goats in there, too. This might be weird, but I also happen to love all of those things so it's maybe not that strange that I would pick up on those.
-Lots of holiday food. (Again, she wrote an entire novella that revolves around jello salad.)
-Finally, before I go TOO Charlie-Day-Yarn-Wall.gif, it's her usual publisher.
-Okay, fine, one more Charlie Day moment. The Morrow/Rowell name overlap is too much for me to just ignore.
-Update from November 2022: Just checked the audio and Rebecca Lowman is involved. She does most of Rainbow's audio. Case closed!
Rainbow, if you happen to see this, hi and I think you're great.
September 20, 2022
WOW… Corinne was a damn good book. I could not put this down. All I can say is, I think I believe the theory that Stephenie Meyer wrote this under the pseudonym Rebecca Morrow. I also do not think this is a book everyone will like!
CW: religious bigotry, misogyny, sexual content, abandonment, homophobia, and sexism
CW: religious bigotry, misogyny, sexual content, abandonment, homophobia, and sexism
December 17, 2023
1.5 stars
I'm 99% sure this was written by Rainbow Rowell. To see why, check out my full review and investigation.
This was a mortifying ordeal. I will never forget how I felt reading Morrow/Rowell describe the LI's body and the sex scenes. Anyone who describes this as romance is lying to you. The ending is harrowing.
March 25, 2022
Morrow is a pseudonym for a "New Year Times Best-Selling Author" and that's such a cop-out to me. I need to know who this person is and how they captured so many aspects of fundamentalism and romance so well. I can seriously see myself so often. The stolen kisses in my father's garage with one of the more "secular" members of our church. The fascination with boys in the church, even though they weren't always the cutest, but to me they were BOYS so yeah.
The head coverings, the authority of all males in the church over me (a female). The strict adherence to dress codes, the training of how to answer questions about our faith, the judgmental training - oh my judgement was sky-high. I waver between massive anxiety attacks and fear during the reading of this book and just awe at seeing it placed on a page. I've seen reviews where it seems unbelievable about how these characters are so child-like in nature or say too many "I love you's."
But that's what happens when you are raised in a church that refuses to discuss these things in an open, listening manner. When even saying "I love you" is portrayed as a sin unless sanctioned by the church.
If you struggle to understand the impact of fundamentalism on those who have managed to escape it, read this book. Many of the things both Enoch and Corinne struggled with mentally and physically are a part of our daily lives.
The head coverings, the authority of all males in the church over me (a female). The strict adherence to dress codes, the training of how to answer questions about our faith, the judgmental training - oh my judgement was sky-high. I waver between massive anxiety attacks and fear during the reading of this book and just awe at seeing it placed on a page. I've seen reviews where it seems unbelievable about how these characters are so child-like in nature or say too many "I love you's."
But that's what happens when you are raised in a church that refuses to discuss these things in an open, listening manner. When even saying "I love you" is portrayed as a sin unless sanctioned by the church.
If you struggle to understand the impact of fundamentalism on those who have managed to escape it, read this book. Many of the things both Enoch and Corinne struggled with mentally and physically are a part of our daily lives.
September 15, 2022
Corinne is… well, it’s difficult to describe.
The plot goes like this: Corinne Callahan grows up in a fundamentalist Christian church, but she feels like an outsider due to her unconventional appearance and her family’s poor background and low status in the community. Enoch Miller comes from a well-respected family and church members consider his future to be very promising. The two teenagers fall in love, but after a “shameful” sexual encounter, Corinne is excommunicated and disowned. More than a decade later, she lives a secular but fairly simple and uncontroversial life and her family reluctantly welcomes her back into their homes for the occasional holiday and family dinner. It is at one of these dinners that she unexpectedly meets Enoch again. The attraction and feelings are still there… but so is the conflict between self and community, between earthly desire and godly restraint.
I wouldn’t classify Corinne as a romance because it isn’t just about the relationship between Corinne and Enoch. It touches on many important issues related to sexuality, morality, and religion. Also, the ending isn’t as optimistic as that in a traditional romance novel. But I wouldn’t categorize it as women’s fiction or literary fiction either because there are many, many sex scenes. They’re not exactly erotic due to the characters’ strict upbringings and their resulting awkwardness, but the scenes aren’t really flowery prose either. I supposed the novel lies somewhere between romance and women’s fiction.
The story was fascinating to me. I am not and never have been a Christian so I liked getting a look at a fundamentalist community, albeit a fictionalized, unspecified one. The premise was gripping. I truly had no idea where the characters and their story were heading. And the characters themselves were interesting. I appreciated how Corinne and Enoch weren’t one-dimensional. They were likable, but they were also flawed in understandable, realistic ways.
…it’s too bad I disliked the writing. The story had a very promising start, but the author’s style grated on me more and more over time. The short, repetitive sentences. The constant asides in parantheses. The persistent, redundant physical descriptions of the characters. These things didn’t seem so prevalent at the beginning but I felt like they multiplied in later chapters. It got so aggravating I almost didn’t finish the book, but I really wanted to see what happened to Corinne and Enoch. Ugh.
I cannot in good faith recommend this book to anyone but I would not judge them if they did read it.
The plot goes like this: Corinne Callahan grows up in a fundamentalist Christian church, but she feels like an outsider due to her unconventional appearance and her family’s poor background and low status in the community. Enoch Miller comes from a well-respected family and church members consider his future to be very promising. The two teenagers fall in love, but after a “shameful” sexual encounter, Corinne is excommunicated and disowned. More than a decade later, she lives a secular but fairly simple and uncontroversial life and her family reluctantly welcomes her back into their homes for the occasional holiday and family dinner. It is at one of these dinners that she unexpectedly meets Enoch again. The attraction and feelings are still there… but so is the conflict between self and community, between earthly desire and godly restraint.
I wouldn’t classify Corinne as a romance because it isn’t just about the relationship between Corinne and Enoch. It touches on many important issues related to sexuality, morality, and religion. Also, the ending isn’t as optimistic as that in a traditional romance novel. But I wouldn’t categorize it as women’s fiction or literary fiction either because there are many, many sex scenes. They’re not exactly erotic due to the characters’ strict upbringings and their resulting awkwardness, but the scenes aren’t really flowery prose either. I supposed the novel lies somewhere between romance and women’s fiction.
The story was fascinating to me. I am not and never have been a Christian so I liked getting a look at a fundamentalist community, albeit a fictionalized, unspecified one. The premise was gripping. I truly had no idea where the characters and their story were heading. And the characters themselves were interesting. I appreciated how Corinne and Enoch weren’t one-dimensional. They were likable, but they were also flawed in understandable, realistic ways.
…it’s too bad I disliked the writing. The story had a very promising start, but the author’s style grated on me more and more over time. The short, repetitive sentences. The constant asides in parantheses. The persistent, redundant physical descriptions of the characters. These things didn’t seem so prevalent at the beginning but I felt like they multiplied in later chapters. It got so aggravating I almost didn’t finish the book, but I really wanted to see what happened to Corinne and Enoch. Ugh.
I cannot in good faith recommend this book to anyone but I would not judge them if they did read it.
February 9, 2022
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: July 12, 2022
As a teenager, Corinne Callahan was excommunicated from her church and cut off from her family. Forced to start over, Corinne is able to build a good life for herself, with a great job, great friends in a great city with people she loves. But when her mother suffers a heart attack, Corinne returns to the family home and is happy to be welcomed back with open arms. Although her mother and siblings are still active in their church, Corinne refuses to return to the one place who told her she wasn’t good enough. Until the reason for her excommunication, and her true love, forces Corinne to re-evaluate what she is willing to give up……again.
The first one third of “Corinne” by Rebecca Morrow started off hot- I was pulled into the angsty teenage romance of Enoch and Corinne, and the strict religious upbringings of both youth that led to constant challenges in every facet of their young lives. Corinne’s treatment by the church (especially as a woman) and the double standards of their practices, was reprehensible and yet completely accurate and believable. I wanted more of Corinne and Enoch growing up under the dark cloud of the Church, most of the intense religious scrutiny both families faced, and more of the difficult journey faced by Corinne’s family when their father left.
What I got instead, for the majority of the rest of the novel, is a lot of sex. First sex, forbidden sex, awkward sex, passionate sex….just a lot of sex. Human reproductive organs and human sex acts being labeled every name possible, constant touching, groping and fondling- it got to be a bit much. Although Enoch and Corinne are a great couple, they seemed to mesh well only when in the bedroom. Fundamentally, they were both entirely different people and I wondered if the sacrifice was worth it?
The writing itself was clever, with the novel being narrated in the third person. Short sentences and short chapters made the novel easy to read, but I would’ve loved another perspective (something from Enoch perhaps?). Morrow is a gifted storyteller, but the story itself was lacking. I am not a fan of erotic novels (I’ve said this before), so maybe it’s just not the right story for me.
Expected publication date: July 12, 2022
As a teenager, Corinne Callahan was excommunicated from her church and cut off from her family. Forced to start over, Corinne is able to build a good life for herself, with a great job, great friends in a great city with people she loves. But when her mother suffers a heart attack, Corinne returns to the family home and is happy to be welcomed back with open arms. Although her mother and siblings are still active in their church, Corinne refuses to return to the one place who told her she wasn’t good enough. Until the reason for her excommunication, and her true love, forces Corinne to re-evaluate what she is willing to give up……again.
The first one third of “Corinne” by Rebecca Morrow started off hot- I was pulled into the angsty teenage romance of Enoch and Corinne, and the strict religious upbringings of both youth that led to constant challenges in every facet of their young lives. Corinne’s treatment by the church (especially as a woman) and the double standards of their practices, was reprehensible and yet completely accurate and believable. I wanted more of Corinne and Enoch growing up under the dark cloud of the Church, most of the intense religious scrutiny both families faced, and more of the difficult journey faced by Corinne’s family when their father left.
What I got instead, for the majority of the rest of the novel, is a lot of sex. First sex, forbidden sex, awkward sex, passionate sex….just a lot of sex. Human reproductive organs and human sex acts being labeled every name possible, constant touching, groping and fondling- it got to be a bit much. Although Enoch and Corinne are a great couple, they seemed to mesh well only when in the bedroom. Fundamentally, they were both entirely different people and I wondered if the sacrifice was worth it?
The writing itself was clever, with the novel being narrated in the third person. Short sentences and short chapters made the novel easy to read, but I would’ve loved another perspective (something from Enoch perhaps?). Morrow is a gifted storyteller, but the story itself was lacking. I am not a fan of erotic novels (I’ve said this before), so maybe it’s just not the right story for me.
April 24, 2023
Yea....I'm going to have say that while it was interesting attempting to figure out who wrote this book, I had a horrible experience with it. It handles the experience of those growing up in a fundamentalist Christian community well; however, the writing and the "romantic" elements of this book just didn't work for me. There are individuals that will connect with the impact that specific religious communities have on youth; however, I just couldn't get past the writing and the cringy "steamy" scenes. If you're interested in hearing more of my thoughts about this one check out my video review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyuvi...
April 6, 2023
Is it weird for me to say that this would have been more successful if it wasn't fiction? Like, I was vibing with a lot of the themes and commentary around religion from the author, but I was not into the characters or writing at all. A mixed bag, but not mad I read it
July 16, 2022
Read if you like:
⬗ Forbidden Romance
⬗ Second chance love
⬗ Spice
4.5★
Summary: After being cast out of the fundamentalist church she was raised in and shunned by her family, Corinne Callahan leaves the town and life she knows to build the life she wants. But after her mother falls ill, Corinne finds herself back where she started. And then there is Enoch Miller, the boy she never forgot. As they once again grow close, she must reconcile the past she left behind and the future she imagines.
Thoughts: Wow. This book wasn’t at all what I imagined it to be. A modern day retelling of Romeo and Juliet, it hooked me from page one and never let me go.
Rebecca Morrow is a pseudonym of an unidentified New York Times Best Selling Author. Whomever he or she may be, they have a very strong sense of the various aspects of life in the fundamentalist church. Although it was hard at times to read how strict and demanding the church was of it’s congregants, I really appreciated the knowledge I gained from it.
The relationship between Corinne and Enoch, spanning over 15 years, was exquisite and the author’s prose in some of the most intimate of scenes was incredibly beautiful. Her repetition of names as well as her flashes of past to present showing that in essence, time stood still, all create an intensity to their relationship that had me fully invested in the outcome.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this beautiful book in exchange for my honest review.
⬗ Forbidden Romance
⬗ Second chance love
⬗ Spice
4.5★
Summary: After being cast out of the fundamentalist church she was raised in and shunned by her family, Corinne Callahan leaves the town and life she knows to build the life she wants. But after her mother falls ill, Corinne finds herself back where she started. And then there is Enoch Miller, the boy she never forgot. As they once again grow close, she must reconcile the past she left behind and the future she imagines.
Thoughts: Wow. This book wasn’t at all what I imagined it to be. A modern day retelling of Romeo and Juliet, it hooked me from page one and never let me go.
Rebecca Morrow is a pseudonym of an unidentified New York Times Best Selling Author. Whomever he or she may be, they have a very strong sense of the various aspects of life in the fundamentalist church. Although it was hard at times to read how strict and demanding the church was of it’s congregants, I really appreciated the knowledge I gained from it.
The relationship between Corinne and Enoch, spanning over 15 years, was exquisite and the author’s prose in some of the most intimate of scenes was incredibly beautiful. Her repetition of names as well as her flashes of past to present showing that in essence, time stood still, all create an intensity to their relationship that had me fully invested in the outcome.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this beautiful book in exchange for my honest review.
June 15, 2022
i am sorry to all nine people who liked this review i do not know what to tell u this book is so bad but i love it so much
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April 26, 2025Yes, I definitely picked this up because of the rumors floating around about who the author might be. I'm not convinced it's Stephenie Meyer but maybe Shannon Hale? I am curious.
Mixed feelings on this. I do think it does a great job of capturing Christian fundamentalism and it's doing some important things thematically. The way it deals with misogyny in the church and ideas about sex is often pretty spot on. This depicts a church a bit more conservative than what I grew up with but I'm very familiar with this version and there is a good amount of overlap.
The actual writing was okay some of the time but there were some things I found irritating. Like yes, we get that the love interests name is Enoch. You can use pronouns instead of repeating his name 50 million times. Also not a big fan of the choices with describing some of the sex scenes. There were a couple that kind of squicked me out. It felt more like reading a sex scene from Joe Abercombie writing grim dark fantasy- maybe realistic but not at all sexy- versus reading an actual romance. Speaking of which, I'm honestly not sold on the romance either. Or the ending of the book for that matter. But it mostly works as a vehicle for talking about the impact of fundamentalist theology.
Mixed feelings on this. I do think it does a great job of capturing Christian fundamentalism and it's doing some important things thematically. The way it deals with misogyny in the church and ideas about sex is often pretty spot on. This depicts a church a bit more conservative than what I grew up with but I'm very familiar with this version and there is a good amount of overlap.
The actual writing was okay some of the time but there were some things I found irritating. Like yes, we get that the love interests name is Enoch. You can use pronouns instead of repeating his name 50 million times. Also not a big fan of the choices with describing some of the sex scenes. There were a couple that kind of squicked me out. It felt more like reading a sex scene from Joe Abercombie writing grim dark fantasy- maybe realistic but not at all sexy- versus reading an actual romance. Speaking of which, I'm honestly not sold on the romance either. Or the ending of the book for that matter. But it mostly works as a vehicle for talking about the impact of fundamentalist theology.
June 4, 2022
If you'd told me some cis/het love story would've gotten me like this book did, I'd have laughed at you. But that mix of fundamentalist evangelical shame about sex and love... well, I get that. So watching this love story unfurl between to characters don't look like movie stars, who are funny and quirky about sex, and who love each other despite the odds--it just swept away my defenses. And then I was in it.
I rooted for Corinne and Enoch--even though my feminist side said she should just run for the hills, far away from him and her family and all the damage and judgement the church had laid at her feet.
But also get loving someone, even when it's wildly complicated and probably shouldn't work.
I liked both of the characters, even though I wanted to shake them. I hated their fundamentalist families & the church they came from (on-brand for me). Both of the characters grew away from their upbringing in different ways, challenged their beliefs & had different faith outcomes. Which felt real.
I think that was the thing for me: it all felt real. Not the way we wish people were... but the way they really are.
The unbridled misogyny that existed in the church sphere in this book also rang true--and (for me) that was the ultimate conflict Corinne faced. Would give herself over to marginalization and exploitation for love? How would she be able to find any grounding in self-esteem & self-worth when she'd always been second-class, a temptress, a blight on the goodness the men around her were trying to achieve?
And, just so you know, all these question are bandied about through copious sex scenes. I usually hate sex scenes because they feel so performative and artificial. But these sex scenes (and the narration of them in the character's minds) were really well done. Thoughtful, tender, funny, problematized, and sometimes really hot. Just like real life. Which is GREAT because there are a LOT of them!
This one is definitely worth a read if you re a full-grown looking for a love story that's fundamentally different.
P.S. Rebecca Morrow is a pseudonym for a "bestselling author." That makes me really nervous because it's important to me to know who I am endorsing. I don't know who this person is. Just FYI.
I rooted for Corinne and Enoch--even though my feminist side said she should just run for the hills, far away from him and her family and all the damage and judgement the church had laid at her feet.
But also get loving someone, even when it's wildly complicated and probably shouldn't work.
I liked both of the characters, even though I wanted to shake them. I hated their fundamentalist families & the church they came from (on-brand for me). Both of the characters grew away from their upbringing in different ways, challenged their beliefs & had different faith outcomes. Which felt real.
I think that was the thing for me: it all felt real. Not the way we wish people were... but the way they really are.
The unbridled misogyny that existed in the church sphere in this book also rang true--and (for me) that was the ultimate conflict Corinne faced. Would give herself over to marginalization and exploitation for love? How would she be able to find any grounding in self-esteem & self-worth when she'd always been second-class, a temptress, a blight on the goodness the men around her were trying to achieve?
And, just so you know, all these question are bandied about through copious sex scenes. I usually hate sex scenes because they feel so performative and artificial. But these sex scenes (and the narration of them in the character's minds) were really well done. Thoughtful, tender, funny, problematized, and sometimes really hot. Just like real life. Which is GREAT because there are a LOT of them!
This one is definitely worth a read if you re a full-grown looking for a love story that's fundamentally different.
P.S. Rebecca Morrow is a pseudonym for a "bestselling author." That makes me really nervous because it's important to me to know who I am endorsing. I don't know who this person is. Just FYI.
April 18, 2022
Thank you, NetGalley, for a free and advanced copy of this book.
Corinne by Rebecca Morrow is a book that takes place in two halves. The first half we meet Corinne in her high school years, where she is being raised with a mother who is deeply invested in a strongly fundamental religious belief. This restricts the things Corinne is able to do, and she is falling in love with a boy named Enoch. During this portion of the book, I was under the impression that Corinne wanted to get out of the church and into the "worldly" reality.
The second half of this book is 15 years later - Corinne was cast out of her church and her family, and she spends this time going to school and building a life for herself. At the time that the reader sees her again, she moves back to her hometown to rebuild connections with her family.
Ok, so, I'm on board still here. I get why she would want to reconnect and have family in her life. Where this book takes a dive (for me) is when Enoch gets involved again. This whole book is a romance novel written about two people caught up in the perils of fundamentalism religion. It's marketed as a "modern day Romeo and Juliet" and I'm honestly just really annoyed with that comparison. Because here's the thing: the dilemma keeping Corinne and Enoch apart is the church, and that their deeply religious families don't (and won't) approve.
But Corinne doesn't even believe in religion anymore? And Enoch makes decisions that are confusing and honestly kind of hypocritical? I don't know, I really struggled with this book. Enoch seems ok with divorcing his wife because she is gay - he accepts her and wants her to be happy, and they even remain friends - but also really strongly still wants to be in a church that...doesn't accept the LGBTQ+ community. Also if there had been a drinking game for the amount of times Enoch said "honey" we'd all be wasted and unconscious on the floor.
Mostly I wasn't invested, and I was annoyed because the whole time my head kept screaming: "if you two love each other so much, go to a church that is a little more relaxed and actually fits your vibes instead of trying to conform to something that doesn't accept you!!!!!!!!" And don't get me started on how Corinne becomes this shell of her former strong, independent, fierce adult self when she returns home and starts dating Enoch again. I was....not a fan.
Corinne by Rebecca Morrow is a book that takes place in two halves. The first half we meet Corinne in her high school years, where she is being raised with a mother who is deeply invested in a strongly fundamental religious belief. This restricts the things Corinne is able to do, and she is falling in love with a boy named Enoch. During this portion of the book, I was under the impression that Corinne wanted to get out of the church and into the "worldly" reality.
The second half of this book is 15 years later - Corinne was cast out of her church and her family, and she spends this time going to school and building a life for herself. At the time that the reader sees her again, she moves back to her hometown to rebuild connections with her family.
Ok, so, I'm on board still here. I get why she would want to reconnect and have family in her life. Where this book takes a dive (for me) is when Enoch gets involved again. This whole book is a romance novel written about two people caught up in the perils of fundamentalism religion. It's marketed as a "modern day Romeo and Juliet" and I'm honestly just really annoyed with that comparison. Because here's the thing: the dilemma keeping Corinne and Enoch apart is the church, and that their deeply religious families don't (and won't) approve.
But Corinne doesn't even believe in religion anymore? And Enoch makes decisions that are confusing and honestly kind of hypocritical? I don't know, I really struggled with this book. Enoch seems ok with divorcing his wife because she is gay - he accepts her and wants her to be happy, and they even remain friends - but also really strongly still wants to be in a church that...doesn't accept the LGBTQ+ community. Also if there had been a drinking game for the amount of times Enoch said "honey" we'd all be wasted and unconscious on the floor.
Mostly I wasn't invested, and I was annoyed because the whole time my head kept screaming: "if you two love each other so much, go to a church that is a little more relaxed and actually fits your vibes instead of trying to conform to something that doesn't accept you!!!!!!!!" And don't get me started on how Corinne becomes this shell of her former strong, independent, fierce adult self when she returns home and starts dating Enoch again. I was....not a fan.
February 27, 2023
Welcome to Rainbow Rowell's secret book!**
**speculation/my opinion
Corrine is a romance featuring a woman who has left her fundamentalist Christian community but has recently reunited with her first love from high school (Enoch, Enoch, Enoch). Rebecca Morrow, the author, is a pseudonym for a NYT-bestselling author. I enjoyed the book and gave it 4 stars.
Y'all, it is NOT by Stephenie Meyer of Twilight fame. I could jokingly say "because the writing in this is actually good", but that would be mean. In reality, it does not have her particular writing voice or style or quirks. That being said, this book's voice was VERY familiar to me, and after reading I am convinced it is Rainbow Rowell. Here's why:
--RR tends to do a lot of parenthetical clarifications in her writing. (She, too, has the occasional stylistic writing quirk that is inescapable).
--RR has a tendency to use double anaphora, and very rarely uses the Rule of 3. This means she has a tendency to repeat beginnings of sentences or phrases 2 times, but she very rarely speaks in 3s. This book is full of that, except for the "Enoch, Enoch, Enoch" repetition that often feels out of place. In my opinion that's because it's not matching the duple meter of the rest of the book. (Sometimes we even get double anaphora via parenthetical clarifications!) (Sometimes quirks or devices like these are pointing towards an author's voice.)
--There's an undercurrent of humor at times in this book. Twilight isn't funny. RR's other books are.
--Meyer tags nearly every line of dialogue (he said, she shouted) but this book doesn't do that.
--Nerd references (Legend of Zelda) and references to the very early 90s (fits RR's age compared to main character) are on-brand for RR.
--At times, short sentence fragments. Little trickles of info. <--RR quirk, not Meyer
--She is self-proclaimed as someone who loves love stories, though she has a "hard time connecting with them" (per her 9/2/22 instagram post). This particular romance does have explicit sex scenes, but they're incredibly grounded in reality and at times intentional awkwardness rather than escapism per traditional romance. I cannot say the same for Meyer (Twilight was not grounded in reality, and was typically unintentionally awkward in sexual encounters).
--The book is set in Kansas and RR mostly sets books in Nebraska or nearby geographically.
--RR is part of the LDS faith community, and the book's unspecified religion has a lot of overlap with LDS-style faith traditions--including the name Enoch.
--Rainbow Rowell's other adult novel, Landline, was also published by St. Martin's press.
--Rebecca Morrow has the same number of letters in first and last name as Rainbow Rowell. A stretch, I know, but I find it curious.
Anyway, I'm curious to know what you all think about my deductions! I really did enjoy the book, and I'm loving the author mystery as well.
Edit: I forgot to post my update here that I was at a book festival in Nov 2022 and spoke directly with an editor from the publisher who confirmed that yes, Rebecca Morrow and Rainbow Rowell use the same editor for their books at that publisher. They obviously couldn't spill if they're the same person, but they were able to clearly confirm that yes, same editor is used.
**speculation/my opinion
Corrine is a romance featuring a woman who has left her fundamentalist Christian community but has recently reunited with her first love from high school (Enoch, Enoch, Enoch). Rebecca Morrow, the author, is a pseudonym for a NYT-bestselling author. I enjoyed the book and gave it 4 stars.
Y'all, it is NOT by Stephenie Meyer of Twilight fame. I could jokingly say "because the writing in this is actually good", but that would be mean. In reality, it does not have her particular writing voice or style or quirks. That being said, this book's voice was VERY familiar to me, and after reading I am convinced it is Rainbow Rowell. Here's why:
--RR tends to do a lot of parenthetical clarifications in her writing. (She, too, has the occasional stylistic writing quirk that is inescapable).
--RR has a tendency to use double anaphora, and very rarely uses the Rule of 3. This means she has a tendency to repeat beginnings of sentences or phrases 2 times, but she very rarely speaks in 3s. This book is full of that, except for the "Enoch, Enoch, Enoch" repetition that often feels out of place. In my opinion that's because it's not matching the duple meter of the rest of the book. (Sometimes we even get double anaphora via parenthetical clarifications!) (Sometimes quirks or devices like these are pointing towards an author's voice.)
--There's an undercurrent of humor at times in this book. Twilight isn't funny. RR's other books are.
--Meyer tags nearly every line of dialogue (he said, she shouted) but this book doesn't do that.
--Nerd references (Legend of Zelda) and references to the very early 90s (fits RR's age compared to main character) are on-brand for RR.
--At times, short sentence fragments. Little trickles of info. <--RR quirk, not Meyer
--She is self-proclaimed as someone who loves love stories, though she has a "hard time connecting with them" (per her 9/2/22 instagram post). This particular romance does have explicit sex scenes, but they're incredibly grounded in reality and at times intentional awkwardness rather than escapism per traditional romance. I cannot say the same for Meyer (Twilight was not grounded in reality, and was typically unintentionally awkward in sexual encounters).
--The book is set in Kansas and RR mostly sets books in Nebraska or nearby geographically.
--RR is part of the LDS faith community, and the book's unspecified religion has a lot of overlap with LDS-style faith traditions--including the name Enoch.
--Rainbow Rowell's other adult novel, Landline, was also published by St. Martin's press.
--Rebecca Morrow has the same number of letters in first and last name as Rainbow Rowell. A stretch, I know, but I find it curious.
Anyway, I'm curious to know what you all think about my deductions! I really did enjoy the book, and I'm loving the author mystery as well.
Edit: I forgot to post my update here that I was at a book festival in Nov 2022 and spoke directly with an editor from the publisher who confirmed that yes, Rebecca Morrow and Rainbow Rowell use the same editor for their books at that publisher. They obviously couldn't spill if they're the same person, but they were able to clearly confirm that yes, same editor is used.
February 15, 2022
I really enjoyed this great story. I couldn't put it down. The story flowed page after page. An incredible book on many levels-as a examination of the complicated interpersonal lives of anyone trying to pull themselves away from the morass of fundamentalism, as a love story starring two physically imperfect people, as an exploration of what it means to be in a committed relationship. It's beautiful. What a love story that you won't want to miss out on. Will recommend this book for my book club. Will be a fun and interesting book to discuss. Rebecca Morrow I am waiting on your next great book.
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June 22, 2025...Yawn..... I have to wonder if all this TikTok drama is just PR because this book is ... not very gripping. And NO WAY was it written by Stephenie Meyer. I will give my opinion of the author's identity below.
I'm no huge Twilight fan but I can see the appeal of Stephenie Meyer's vibe. She tends toward the lengthy and overwrought, not the dry and understated. I don't think her fans would love this one.
To me, not enough happens in Corinne. It's not really literary fiction but not plot-driven enough to be commercial fiction.
In 1992, two sheltered Christian kids in Kansas are attracted to each other and feel guilty acting on it and
Nothing to see here.
I had theories about the author. Veronica Roth, perhaps? Shannon Hale? Colleen Houck? Kirsten White (no, she just wrote a different book about religious trauma...
But I am on 100% board with Gretchen Alice and Jen (not me) that the author is none other than Rainbow Rowell. I would bet money on it.
If she admits it, someone let me know!!
I'm no huge Twilight fan but I can see the appeal of Stephenie Meyer's vibe. She tends toward the lengthy and overwrought, not the dry and understated. I don't think her fans would love this one.
To me, not enough happens in Corinne. It's not really literary fiction but not plot-driven enough to be commercial fiction.
In 1992, two sheltered Christian kids in Kansas are attracted to each other and feel guilty acting on it and
Nothing to see here.
I had theories about the author. Veronica Roth, perhaps? Shannon Hale? Colleen Houck? Kirsten White (no, she just wrote a different book about religious trauma...
But I am on 100% board with Gretchen Alice and Jen (not me) that the author is none other than Rainbow Rowell. I would bet money on it.
If she admits it, someone let me know!!
February 20, 2022
There are some books you read that feel so familiar, so lived in, so representative of cultures that you know, that you don’t know how the author isn’t from your town. Corinne feels like that book. The story of Corinne and Enoch’s childhood from the pressures of their families and religion to the way they reinforce those same beliefs themselves is absolutely compelling. I couldn’t read fast enough.
I was caught up in their reunion and the way they wrestled with their own wants and desires against the weight of their culture. I wanted them to be happy! I wanted them to break up and never speak and I wanted them to be together forever!
This book is a grown up romance about what happens when you are honest about what your heart wants. About what happens when you decide that is more important that the lessons and rules you were taught. Sexy and powerful, heartbreaking and uplifting all at once, I was sobbing by the end of the story. Morrow hit this one out of the park and I can’t wait to read anything else she writes.
I was caught up in their reunion and the way they wrestled with their own wants and desires against the weight of their culture. I wanted them to be happy! I wanted them to break up and never speak and I wanted them to be together forever!
This book is a grown up romance about what happens when you are honest about what your heart wants. About what happens when you decide that is more important that the lessons and rules you were taught. Sexy and powerful, heartbreaking and uplifting all at once, I was sobbing by the end of the story. Morrow hit this one out of the park and I can’t wait to read anything else she writes.
July 15, 2022
I really wanted to like this book, but it just did not (for me) live up to expectations. I am dying to know what 'best-selling author' wrote it under the pseudonym Rebecca Morrow, curious why they did not want to take credit, and what type of books they write under their real name. The first part of the book, when Corinne and Enoch are in high school was the best part, and once the two of them are adults it just seemed to be poorly written sex scenes. If not for the first section hooking me, I would probably have DNFed the book.
August 6, 2022
This contemporary fiction explores what happens when two people continue to choose each other despite the barriers. Corinne was cast out of her church and subsequently cut off by her family after she had sex with Enoch…but since he confessed and repented, he got to stay in the fold. Thirteen years later, Corinne is conditionally allowed to come to her family’s Sunday dinner but she’s still considered a sinner. And then she crosses paths with Enoch again. Enoch, who is divorced. Enoch, who still wants to spend time with her. Enoch, who she can never resist. (I’m intentionally repeating Enoch’s name because that’s a feature in this book. The writing style mostly worked for me but there are a lot of repetitive words and sentences and an over-reliance on parentheses. Those elements should have been more of a sprinkle than the whole cake.)
The reason I wanted to read this and why I wasn’t sure if it would work for me is the same: I have a lot of religious baggage. The church isn’t labeled by denomination but it is incredibly repressive and misogynistic, with many restrictions on what woman can do, say, and wear. There’s a great deal of pressure to not be “of the world”. Being cast out of the church puts Corinne’s life on an entirely different trajectory where she goes to college after all, starts dating, and even lives in Boston. I don’t know how this will work for someone who isn’t familiar with patriarchal churches or Christianity in general. While my evangelical upbringing wasn’t as bad as Corinne and Enoch’s church and I’m no longer religious, plenty still resonated. I had to take my time with it as a result but I’m glad I read it.
The book is structured in two parts. In part 1, it’s 1992 and Corinne and Enoch are 18 years old. Then we jump ahead to 2005 in part two. The first part is around 20% so the bulk of the story is about what happens when Enoch and Corinne reconnect and what this will mean for the church and their families. When they start spending time together, it’s not clear what will happen between them. I was often nervous while I read, hoping Corinne wouldn’t be retraumatized in the process or sucked back into the church. But there were so many lovely moments too. They have a very clear connection beyond their attraction. I didn’t know if I should root for them to be together or for them to go their separate ways. Beyond the trauma of what happened when they were 18, there’s still a major roadblock of Enoch still being in the church while Corinne refuses to ever go back. Enoch can’t date Corinne without losing good standing in the church. Corinne dating Enoch means risking being shunned by her family all over again.
What most interested me was the way this story deals with the ramifications of purity culture. It explicitly deals with sex so if you don’t want to read sex scenes or conversations about it, you should probably skip this. I've read some romance that pushes back against purity culture but I don't think I've read contemporary fiction doing that before so it was refreshing on that front. Corinne and Enoch are in their early 30s and figuring out what healthy sex and sexuality look like when they grew up with very little sex education and a lot of negative messages. They’re both wrestling with shame.
The church emphasizes women pleasing their husbands without any expectation (or direction) of mutual pleasure. Enoch realizes how little he knows about what good sex is like, even though he’s divorced. He and his wife got married after high school because that was the path they were on. Years later, she came out as lesbian and left him. She just thought sex was something to endure, which made figuring out her sexuality that much harder. (It’s worth noting the church is homophobic toward her—and casts her out—but Enoch isn’t. I’m not sure how he’s so accepting given his upbringing.) This forces Enoch and Corinne to communicate about what they like and what feels good, with Corinne shepherding the way. Enoch has never used a condom before. They talk about birth control options and family planning. There’s a lot of good work happening on page and we can see how lost Enoch is at times, how he wants to be with Corinne and make it good for her while grappling with the fact that he didn’t know he should have tried to do that with his wife. Regardless of how his efforts wouldn’t have ultimately made a difference with Shannon, he still should have thought beyond his own orgasm.
Corinne’s issues are different. She never regretted having sex with Enoch when they were 18 and she’s had sex with the other men she’s dated since. She won’t let Enoch refer to what they did then or what they do now as a sin. However, the way she talked about various sex acts and how she could take or leave them made me wonder if she might be on the ace spectrum or if this was more a function of how purity culture crept in to her life. She’s never orgasmed with a partner before and isn’t bothered by that, as she still gets pleasure out of the act. They’re both great at reassuring each other and building each other up despite insecurities. But whenever I started to think they were making excellent progress, I'd get a reminder of how much they still have to work through, like their inability to use words for genitals. They've both been damaged by purity culture but they're working through it.
The story also grapples with belonging. Corinne never felt a part of the church. Her family was poor, her stepfather didn’t believe, she wasn’t popular and didn’t really fit in. It’s always been home to Enoch, in part because he was considered anointed, meant to be a leader. Things shifted after his divorce because it signified he was no longer qualified to be a leader. He’s at a bit of loose ends when he and Corinne encounter each other again but he still believes in God and still wants to go to church, despite everything. I was hard-pressed to understand why Enoch wanted to continue going there, especially once he I wanted to know how he reconciled the difference between his beliefs (dating Corinne is okay, Shannon isn’t a sinner for being lesbian) and staying there.
Corinne is very clear that Enoch can’t be with her out of some misguided mission to save her. She does want to fully belong with her family, however. This was probably my biggest sticking point because I could not understand why she’d want any connection with them or how she settle for the crumb of a weekly dinner given the way they turned their backs on her when she was only 18. Plenty of people want to maintain relationships with toxic family members—I’m just not one of them. Corinne and I have very different personalities. I had to accept that my ways are not her ways and hope that it wouldn’t come back to bite her.
Despite Enoch and Corinne being pulled toward connection with these harmful people/places, they still choose each other and they choose themselves. Their relationship is a slow evolution and while there’s much they don’t know, they know they love each other and that their love cannot be a bad thing. In the end,
Corinne was a compelling main character who was easy to root for. She deserved to have someone in her corner, to scale the walls she’s built up and help lower her defenses. In many ways, Enoch is that person but the ending leaves a lot unknown and left me feeling melancholy. I hope they make it, but I don’t know that I trust Enoch not to break her heart again.
Note: Books marketed as “the pen name of a NYT bestselling author” really frustrate me. I probably would have skipped this if the premise hadn’t been so tailor made for me. There are valid reasons for using a pen name but I would rather they just let the writing speak for itself. If this author’s identity ever comes out and they’re revealed to be an asshole, I reserve the right to rescind this review.
Characters: Corinne is a 31 year old fat white freelance planner. Enoch is a 31 year old fat (“built like a brick”) white electrician who wears glasses. They are 18 when the book begins. This is set in 1992 and 2005 Kansas.
Content notes: FMC is cast out of church and cut off from family , religious abuse, infidelity , past divorce , FMC’s mom had a heart attack one year ago but doing fine, one instance of child physical abuse , home eviction, purity culture, sexism, misogyny, homophobia (toward secondary characters), past toxic relationship (FMC’s ex was an alcoholic), FMC’s stepfather is an alcoholic and abandoned the family (he’s in and out of their lives), past death of MMC’s father (lung cancer), pregnant secondary character, secondary character on Atkins diet, alcohol references (FMC drank a little in the past), unsafe sex practices (no condom first time, second time they used pullout method and spermicide; safe practices after that), birth control discussions, family planning discussion, on page sex, period sex, cigarettes (secondary character), gendered pejorative, gender essentialism, ableist language, Harry Potter reference, FMC mentions never going to frat parties in college because she didn’t want to get raped, mention of teen friend who got pregnant and considered abortion, reference to FMC’s biological father not being involved
The reason I wanted to read this and why I wasn’t sure if it would work for me is the same: I have a lot of religious baggage. The church isn’t labeled by denomination but it is incredibly repressive and misogynistic, with many restrictions on what woman can do, say, and wear. There’s a great deal of pressure to not be “of the world”. Being cast out of the church puts Corinne’s life on an entirely different trajectory where she goes to college after all, starts dating, and even lives in Boston. I don’t know how this will work for someone who isn’t familiar with patriarchal churches or Christianity in general. While my evangelical upbringing wasn’t as bad as Corinne and Enoch’s church and I’m no longer religious, plenty still resonated. I had to take my time with it as a result but I’m glad I read it.
The book is structured in two parts. In part 1, it’s 1992 and Corinne and Enoch are 18 years old. Then we jump ahead to 2005 in part two. The first part is around 20% so the bulk of the story is about what happens when Enoch and Corinne reconnect and what this will mean for the church and their families. When they start spending time together, it’s not clear what will happen between them. I was often nervous while I read, hoping Corinne wouldn’t be retraumatized in the process or sucked back into the church. But there were so many lovely moments too. They have a very clear connection beyond their attraction. I didn’t know if I should root for them to be together or for them to go their separate ways. Beyond the trauma of what happened when they were 18, there’s still a major roadblock of Enoch still being in the church while Corinne refuses to ever go back. Enoch can’t date Corinne without losing good standing in the church. Corinne dating Enoch means risking being shunned by her family all over again.
What most interested me was the way this story deals with the ramifications of purity culture. It explicitly deals with sex so if you don’t want to read sex scenes or conversations about it, you should probably skip this. I've read some romance that pushes back against purity culture but I don't think I've read contemporary fiction doing that before so it was refreshing on that front. Corinne and Enoch are in their early 30s and figuring out what healthy sex and sexuality look like when they grew up with very little sex education and a lot of negative messages. They’re both wrestling with shame.
The church emphasizes women pleasing their husbands without any expectation (or direction) of mutual pleasure. Enoch realizes how little he knows about what good sex is like, even though he’s divorced. He and his wife got married after high school because that was the path they were on. Years later, she came out as lesbian and left him. She just thought sex was something to endure, which made figuring out her sexuality that much harder. (It’s worth noting the church is homophobic toward her—and casts her out—but Enoch isn’t. I’m not sure how he’s so accepting given his upbringing.) This forces Enoch and Corinne to communicate about what they like and what feels good, with Corinne shepherding the way. Enoch has never used a condom before. They talk about birth control options and family planning. There’s a lot of good work happening on page and we can see how lost Enoch is at times, how he wants to be with Corinne and make it good for her while grappling with the fact that he didn’t know he should have tried to do that with his wife. Regardless of how his efforts wouldn’t have ultimately made a difference with Shannon, he still should have thought beyond his own orgasm.
Corinne’s issues are different. She never regretted having sex with Enoch when they were 18 and she’s had sex with the other men she’s dated since. She won’t let Enoch refer to what they did then or what they do now as a sin. However, the way she talked about various sex acts and how she could take or leave them made me wonder if she might be on the ace spectrum or if this was more a function of how purity culture crept in to her life. She’s never orgasmed with a partner before and isn’t bothered by that, as she still gets pleasure out of the act. They’re both great at reassuring each other and building each other up despite insecurities. But whenever I started to think they were making excellent progress, I'd get a reminder of how much they still have to work through, like their inability to use words for genitals. They've both been damaged by purity culture but they're working through it.
The story also grapples with belonging. Corinne never felt a part of the church. Her family was poor, her stepfather didn’t believe, she wasn’t popular and didn’t really fit in. It’s always been home to Enoch, in part because he was considered anointed, meant to be a leader. Things shifted after his divorce because it signified he was no longer qualified to be a leader. He’s at a bit of loose ends when he and Corinne encounter each other again but he still believes in God and still wants to go to church, despite everything. I was hard-pressed to understand why Enoch wanted to continue going there, especially once he I wanted to know how he reconciled the difference between his beliefs (dating Corinne is okay, Shannon isn’t a sinner for being lesbian) and staying there.
Corinne is very clear that Enoch can’t be with her out of some misguided mission to save her. She does want to fully belong with her family, however. This was probably my biggest sticking point because I could not understand why she’d want any connection with them or how she settle for the crumb of a weekly dinner given the way they turned their backs on her when she was only 18. Plenty of people want to maintain relationships with toxic family members—I’m just not one of them. Corinne and I have very different personalities. I had to accept that my ways are not her ways and hope that it wouldn’t come back to bite her.
Despite Enoch and Corinne being pulled toward connection with these harmful people/places, they still choose each other and they choose themselves. Their relationship is a slow evolution and while there’s much they don’t know, they know they love each other and that their love cannot be a bad thing. In the end,
Corinne was a compelling main character who was easy to root for. She deserved to have someone in her corner, to scale the walls she’s built up and help lower her defenses. In many ways, Enoch is that person but the ending leaves a lot unknown and left me feeling melancholy. I hope they make it, but I don’t know that I trust Enoch not to break her heart again.
Note: Books marketed as “the pen name of a NYT bestselling author” really frustrate me. I probably would have skipped this if the premise hadn’t been so tailor made for me. There are valid reasons for using a pen name but I would rather they just let the writing speak for itself. If this author’s identity ever comes out and they’re revealed to be an asshole, I reserve the right to rescind this review.
Characters: Corinne is a 31 year old fat white freelance planner. Enoch is a 31 year old fat (“built like a brick”) white electrician who wears glasses. They are 18 when the book begins. This is set in 1992 and 2005 Kansas.
Content notes: FMC is cast out of church and cut off from family , religious abuse, infidelity , past divorce , FMC’s mom had a heart attack one year ago but doing fine, one instance of child physical abuse , home eviction, purity culture, sexism, misogyny, homophobia (toward secondary characters), past toxic relationship (FMC’s ex was an alcoholic), FMC’s stepfather is an alcoholic and abandoned the family (he’s in and out of their lives), past death of MMC’s father (lung cancer), pregnant secondary character, secondary character on Atkins diet, alcohol references (FMC drank a little in the past), unsafe sex practices (no condom first time, second time they used pullout method and spermicide; safe practices after that), birth control discussions, family planning discussion, on page sex, period sex, cigarettes (secondary character), gendered pejorative, gender essentialism, ableist language, Harry Potter reference, FMC mentions never going to frat parties in college because she didn’t want to get raped, mention of teen friend who got pregnant and considered abortion, reference to FMC’s biological father not being involved
January 14, 2022
This book was.... a lot. Many of the reviews I read mentioned the graphic nature of the relationship, but I have to be honest and say that I did not see it that way at all. It WAS an open door romance, but not distasteful or graphic IMO.
I have conflicting feelings over Corinne (the book and the character). While I think the book was very well written and they storyline was interesting, the story within the context of "The Church" was difficult for me to reconcile. Corinne was raised in The Church and held to a strict legalistic set of do's and don'ts. Enoch was also raised in the church, but being a male meant different rules applied to him.
Corinne and Enoch essentially grow up together, but after a marking event in their teenage lives, Enoch moves towards a life within The Church and Corinne moves away from it. When they are reunited ten plus years later, they have to decide how (or if) they can move forward as adults. Especially considering Enoch is still committed to the church and Corinne is still.... not.
Corinne is a tough look at love, absolution, religion, and forgiveness. There were times Enoch and Corinne seemed very childish even though they were in their 30's, but then again they grew up extremely sheltered and protected from the outside world, so it made sense that their emotional growth was a bit stunted. Overall it was a book that seemed realistic even though parts were extreme. It shows how easy it is to be dragged down or made to believe your worth is based on others' perceptions. And how religion and relationship are two different entities.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I have conflicting feelings over Corinne (the book and the character). While I think the book was very well written and they storyline was interesting, the story within the context of "The Church" was difficult for me to reconcile. Corinne was raised in The Church and held to a strict legalistic set of do's and don'ts. Enoch was also raised in the church, but being a male meant different rules applied to him.
Corinne and Enoch essentially grow up together, but after a marking event in their teenage lives, Enoch moves towards a life within The Church and Corinne moves away from it. When they are reunited ten plus years later, they have to decide how (or if) they can move forward as adults. Especially considering Enoch is still committed to the church and Corinne is still.... not.
Corinne is a tough look at love, absolution, religion, and forgiveness. There were times Enoch and Corinne seemed very childish even though they were in their 30's, but then again they grew up extremely sheltered and protected from the outside world, so it made sense that their emotional growth was a bit stunted. Overall it was a book that seemed realistic even though parts were extreme. It shows how easy it is to be dragged down or made to believe your worth is based on others' perceptions. And how religion and relationship are two different entities.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
August 9, 2022
Rounded up from 4.5 stars. I couldn't resist . . . I've never seen a book with my name!
This was a slow, tender, quiet surprise of a book. It's marketed as women's fiction but it totally meets the criteria for a romance (with a somewhat atypical formula). Ultimately, it's a book where almost nothing happens (particularly in the second half) with lots of small sort of domestic moments. It was somehow exactly what I needed to read right now.
It's about Corinne (and Enoch) and a surprisingly enduring love. Their connection with each other felt very authentic to me, and the tension that built along with it was palpable. The characters were compelling. Considering their fundamentalist upbringing, Corinne was a resilient character who stays true to herself and Enoch experiences an impressive amount of growth.
The author uses an abundance of repetition, small echoes, callbacks and double meanings in the writing. It almost feels like too much, but ultimately I was drawn to the voice. Also, considering the book was not marketed as romance, I was surprised at the amount of steam. It was an interesting device to depict individual and relationship growth. Apparently the author is a best-selling NYT author using a pseudonym - which is intriguing.
I received a digital Advanced Review Copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a slow, tender, quiet surprise of a book. It's marketed as women's fiction but it totally meets the criteria for a romance (with a somewhat atypical formula). Ultimately, it's a book where almost nothing happens (particularly in the second half) with lots of small sort of domestic moments. It was somehow exactly what I needed to read right now.
It's about Corinne (and Enoch) and a surprisingly enduring love. Their connection with each other felt very authentic to me, and the tension that built along with it was palpable. The characters were compelling. Considering their fundamentalist upbringing, Corinne was a resilient character who stays true to herself and Enoch experiences an impressive amount of growth.
The author uses an abundance of repetition, small echoes, callbacks and double meanings in the writing. It almost feels like too much, but ultimately I was drawn to the voice. Also, considering the book was not marketed as romance, I was surprised at the amount of steam. It was an interesting device to depict individual and relationship growth. Apparently the author is a best-selling NYT author using a pseudonym - which is intriguing.
I received a digital Advanced Review Copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
June 4, 2022
I’m torn as to what my thoughts are on Corinne. While I did like the premise of how love and wanton abandon can be hindered by strict religious upbringing, I could not appreciate all the eroticism behind it. And there was quite a bit of intimate details, which I thought took away from the drama.
The characters in the story didn’t appeal to me. They all seemed brainwashed with tunnel vision. The “my way or the highway” mindset. The main character, Corinne was the only character that seemed to have a balanced compass.
Storywise, I just didn’t like the flow. The sentences were abrupt and that allowed for a staccato-like tempo, which carried through the entire novel. Not the worst women’s fiction, but not the best. Two and a half stars, rounded up.
I received a digital ARC from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.
The characters in the story didn’t appeal to me. They all seemed brainwashed with tunnel vision. The “my way or the highway” mindset. The main character, Corinne was the only character that seemed to have a balanced compass.
Storywise, I just didn’t like the flow. The sentences were abrupt and that allowed for a staccato-like tempo, which carried through the entire novel. Not the worst women’s fiction, but not the best. Two and a half stars, rounded up.
I received a digital ARC from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.
July 18, 2022
I was looking forward to this book for so long that at some point it got easy to over look it, and so part of me is really happy that I finally made myself sit down and read it. I'll say that over all I have pretty positive things to say about my experience having finished reading this.... It's not perfect though.
I think that the book definitely relies on finding a reader that is familiar with growing up around or in a somewhat restrictive environment, and to some degree deconstructing some of the things they learned in said environment. Overall though I don't know if the book examined the impact of that to the degree that I expected, or if the romantic arc followed a trajectory that I wanted.
The premise of the book sets up a lot of interesting potential in the past timeline. The chapters we get in their childhood were uncomfortable to read at times, and as we got near to the point where we were going to flash forward things got a little predictable. I will say that the events of the story after the flash forward weren't as predictable until I realized we were going with a more standard romance angle and so of course there were just beats of a romance novel the story was going to have to hit.
Again, overall those beats were fine. Like the deconstructing, everything after the flash forward fell a little flat to me. The character dynamics and the way that the story played out just never really hit the highs it could have. In the flash forward chapters that was definitely more disappointing as the bulk of the book is told after what happens between Corinne and Enoch as children, so the page time there could have been utilized in better ways as far as I was concerned. I did enjoy the story though, it was a cute time, and I was able to fly through this one. So to people that already were interested I think it would be worth the time spent reading, for most readers though I think the odds are higher this won't be a banger.
I think that the book definitely relies on finding a reader that is familiar with growing up around or in a somewhat restrictive environment, and to some degree deconstructing some of the things they learned in said environment. Overall though I don't know if the book examined the impact of that to the degree that I expected, or if the romantic arc followed a trajectory that I wanted.
The premise of the book sets up a lot of interesting potential in the past timeline. The chapters we get in their childhood were uncomfortable to read at times, and as we got near to the point where we were going to flash forward things got a little predictable. I will say that the events of the story after the flash forward weren't as predictable until I realized we were going with a more standard romance angle and so of course there were just beats of a romance novel the story was going to have to hit.
Again, overall those beats were fine. Like the deconstructing, everything after the flash forward fell a little flat to me. The character dynamics and the way that the story played out just never really hit the highs it could have. In the flash forward chapters that was definitely more disappointing as the bulk of the book is told after what happens between Corinne and Enoch as children, so the page time there could have been utilized in better ways as far as I was concerned. I did enjoy the story though, it was a cute time, and I was able to fly through this one. So to people that already were interested I think it would be worth the time spent reading, for most readers though I think the odds are higher this won't be a banger.
March 31, 2022
Have you ever seen the Keanu Reeves movie Destination Wedding? Where him and Winona Ryder talk to each other in various scenes, there’s a very thin plot, and then they have sex? That’s basically this book.
And yet.
I haven’t read a book quite like this before. And I think this is gonna be one of those books where you either love it or hate it.
And, fuck it. I LOVED it. I felt so fucking seen, with Corinne as the protagonist. I felt like this book, despite a very thin plot, managed to walk a wonderful line of spiritual and childhood trauma and love without giving life lessons or a moral of the story.
Yes, there are some sexy scenes. And it’s not that the characters do it a lot (there’s actually a lot of discussion around NOT doing it), it’s just that the scenes are so much more in depth than the other scenes in the book.
And, of course, that’s the fucking point. And I LOVED it. I loved that the story was told in that way because, I can’t stress this enough, I haven’t read a book quite like it before.
This isn’t gonna be everyone’s cup of tea - but if you’ve ever struggled with family disownment or religious questioning or a strict upbringing, a lot of this book is going to ring true to your own experience. I felt myself processing a lot of shit I didn’t even realize needed processing. And, of course, I was sobbing by the end. Emotions are a lot, ya know?
So no regrets, Rebecca Morrow (pseudonym of a NYT best selling author and I’ll be curious to know who). This one was worth the read to me, and I think whether you end up liking it or not, it’ll be a great book to center a discussion around.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for sending me an ARC to review!
And yet.
I haven’t read a book quite like this before. And I think this is gonna be one of those books where you either love it or hate it.
And, fuck it. I LOVED it. I felt so fucking seen, with Corinne as the protagonist. I felt like this book, despite a very thin plot, managed to walk a wonderful line of spiritual and childhood trauma and love without giving life lessons or a moral of the story.
Yes, there are some sexy scenes. And it’s not that the characters do it a lot (there’s actually a lot of discussion around NOT doing it), it’s just that the scenes are so much more in depth than the other scenes in the book.
And, of course, that’s the fucking point. And I LOVED it. I loved that the story was told in that way because, I can’t stress this enough, I haven’t read a book quite like it before.
This isn’t gonna be everyone’s cup of tea - but if you’ve ever struggled with family disownment or religious questioning or a strict upbringing, a lot of this book is going to ring true to your own experience. I felt myself processing a lot of shit I didn’t even realize needed processing. And, of course, I was sobbing by the end. Emotions are a lot, ya know?
So no regrets, Rebecca Morrow (pseudonym of a NYT best selling author and I’ll be curious to know who). This one was worth the read to me, and I think whether you end up liking it or not, it’ll be a great book to center a discussion around.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for sending me an ARC to review!
July 10, 2022
2 stars is a rating I rarely give, but Corinne just didn't do it for me and after reading the snyopsis, I felt duped.
The synopsis, a girl raised in a very strict Fundamentalist religion and family who is cut off from family by the church longs to return and longs most for Enoch, the reason she was shunned by her community, caught my eye and led me to believe this would be a book about Corinne maturing, learning to live on her own, and other such struggles.
The synopsis is misleading, the characters were very immature as adults - they were essentially frozen in their maturity level at the age (teens) we met them at the start of the book. I DNF'd at just over 50% because I was tired of the thin plot that was mostly all about the various sex acts Corinne and Enoch enjoyed. I was bored and grew weary of waiting for something that occur that would actually interest me.
Thank you to Netgalley. All thoughts are my own.
The synopsis, a girl raised in a very strict Fundamentalist religion and family who is cut off from family by the church longs to return and longs most for Enoch, the reason she was shunned by her community, caught my eye and led me to believe this would be a book about Corinne maturing, learning to live on her own, and other such struggles.
The synopsis is misleading, the characters were very immature as adults - they were essentially frozen in their maturity level at the age (teens) we met them at the start of the book. I DNF'd at just over 50% because I was tired of the thin plot that was mostly all about the various sex acts Corinne and Enoch enjoyed. I was bored and grew weary of waiting for something that occur that would actually interest me.
Thank you to Netgalley. All thoughts are my own.
December 14, 2021
I was asked to review “Corinne” by Rebecca Morrow. The premise of the novel intrigued me because I adore novels where the couple is kept apart (typically because of family). Here, it’s not just family but also the church that Corinne was raised in.
I wasn’t quite into the sappy parts of the tale (or the erotica) but if you want a novel about a couple who tries to overcome odds to be together, this is your novel.
Thank you the Rebecca Morrow, NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel.
I wasn’t quite into the sappy parts of the tale (or the erotica) but if you want a novel about a couple who tries to overcome odds to be together, this is your novel.
Thank you the Rebecca Morrow, NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel.
September 13, 2022
Social media buzz got me to read this, with rumors about who the “nyt bestselling author” is. Quite the disappointment, although not to be fair, it isn’t the worst book I’ve read this month.
My complaints
1) quite long for how little character development there is (and so many parentheses)(completely unnecessarily)
2) theme of leaving religion has so much potential - and it fell flat. Exploration and resolution could have been better
3) Corinne’s extreme lack of boundaries and assertiveness. Sorry after 10 years you’re moving back to a small town to resume being mistreated by your family? Because your mom, who is as warm as the neighbor I’ve known a year, had a health scare? Baby girl no.
4) romance scenes were comically bad. Entertainingly terrible. The word “leaking” is used TWICE in what is supposed to be a sexual way. Why??
5) on more than one occasion a grown adult drinks a glass of milk for hydration. Not with dessert or breakfast, some dinner time hydration. Who does that??
My complaints
1) quite long for how little character development there is (and so many parentheses)(completely unnecessarily)
2) theme of leaving religion has so much potential - and it fell flat. Exploration and resolution could have been better
3) Corinne’s extreme lack of boundaries and assertiveness. Sorry after 10 years you’re moving back to a small town to resume being mistreated by your family? Because your mom, who is as warm as the neighbor I’ve known a year, had a health scare? Baby girl no.
4) romance scenes were comically bad. Entertainingly terrible. The word “leaking” is used TWICE in what is supposed to be a sexual way. Why??
5) on more than one occasion a grown adult drinks a glass of milk for hydration. Not with dessert or breakfast, some dinner time hydration. Who does that??
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