Spoilers ahead

I’m not sure where to begin with this one, as it missed the mark for me on a few levels. I’ll say it’s a cool concept for a story and the structure is interesting (there are articles woven through and multi-POV), the sanctuary itself sounds like heaven. Sign me up!

First POV can create a really intimate feeling but in this case it didn’t work for me because the three women’s voices were too similar. One of the only distinctions was that Hattie drops a lot of F-bombs, but I wasn’t sure why. Then there are the love stories. One of them was instantaneous and I spent the whole book trying to figure out why- to no avail. Another one I was really rooting for until it veered completely off course. The one that was supposed to be most prominent was the most developed but I didn’t believe the chemistry. I liked the idea of one of them being asexual but that fell by the wayside and could have been explored more thoughtfully. In the end that character seemed more demisexual but that loop wasn’t closed. And then there’s the sexy bartender who’s tossed aside like day-old wine; I felt bad for her. And there’s a lot of drinking to drown feelings, which ok, but it seemed like a lot without going all the way there. Good thing was that one character especially had a well-developed arc that was interesting to follow, and the body positivity was great to see. Ultimately, I felt the book was pro-women but didn’t shed the best light on them, maybe that’s the point- that we’re all complicated.

Short summary: 3 best friends run the Hummingbird Sanctuary together and are thrown into disarray when a journalist and her two friends descend on the resort for 4 days while reviewing it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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