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by Rainbow Rowell (July 30, 2024) – Many thanks to @williammorrowbooks for the ARC and finish copies of this really special and unique love story. Below is my honest review.

Shiloh and Cary were inseparable, growing up on the wrong side of Omaha in the early 1990s. They were as close as three friends could be, but despite what everyone thought, they never dated. They each had dreams for the future; for Shiloh, that meant college, and for Cary, that meant the Navy. They both wanted out of their struggling family situations but knew their friendship would endure. In 2006, 14 years later, they attend the wedding of a close high school friend and it is one of the first times they’ve spoken since high school graduation. As they unpack their past and what caused their friendship to fall apart, one thing is clear to everyone around them – they’ve always been in love. But with the complications of divorce, children, aging parents, and lives built in different places, leave any room for a happy ending?

Slow Dance was a slow start, but with each chapter, I became more invested in the complicated story of Shiloh and Cary. They were both deeply flawed and genuinely loving people struggling to do what’s best for those they care for. Watching them both be vulnerable with each other was a highlight of the book, one that could only be realized through the slow construction of their friendship through the dual timeline in which the story unfolds. I loved the timeline in which the book is set because there was a different intentionality that went into maintaining relationships in the early 1990s – pay phones, postcards, letters – there was no immediacy to communication like today. This isn’t an escapist romance – it deals with divorce, loneliness, complicated families, struggles with poverty, and the very Gex X lived experience of being caught between caring for children and aging parents while trying to carve out your own happiness. 

The fact that Rowell can write this raw, real, complicated romance and also write a perfect LGBTQ fantasy series about vampires, dragon wings and magic is amazing.