title: Maybe Once, Maybe Twice
author: Allison Rose Greenberg
publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
publication date: October 3, 2023
pages: 336
peppers: 3 (on this scale)
warnings:
- on-page sexual assault
- death of a parent
- vomit
summary: The book jumps timelines between important moments in Maggie's life from age fourteen, when she meets and falls in love with Asher, to age thirty-nine, at the end of the novel. In that time, there are two men whose love changes her, and other men who cause other impacts on her life. While she works consistently to get her singing and song-writing career going, she learns a lot about herself.
tropes:
- second-chance (and third and more) romance
- marriage pact (times two)
- death of a parent
- strong best friend
- we make beautiful music together
- famous lover
- creepy "mentor"
what I liked:
- The book gives a thorough accounting of much of Maggie's life through seemingly disjointed snapshots, mostly on her birthdays.
- Best friend Summer is a great character.
what I didn’t like:
- I thought this was a romance novel, but by 75% of the book, I still didn't know who the MMC was supposed to be. (If I had not gotten romance vibes from the cover, I might have had a different attitude about there being two male leads in Maggie's life.)
- I'm not a music person, so this might not bother anyone else, but for me, there were too many of Maggie's song lyrics, especially in a long list at the end.
overall rating: 4 (of 5 stars)