Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell ©2024 was like its title.... slow moving. Plot is secondary to character development in this romance and yet I kept turning the pages to see how the confusing relationship between Shiloh and Cary grew. Slow Dance was the August 2024 pick of Reese's Book Club. I do not know what the desirable criteria are for a "good summer read" but Reese's picks for 2024 — June (The Unwedding @ 3 stars), July (The Cliffs @ 0 stars), and August (Slow Dance @ 2 stars) — were not stellar in my opinion. Is there some assumption that during the summer months we all have beach brain? Typically I like the choices of Reese's Book Club, so this summer appears to be an anomaly. (I gave her January pick, First Lie Wins, pick 5 stars.)
Shilo and Cary along with their friend Mikey are a trio of close friends all throughout high school. They go their separate ways after graduation only to meet up again at reunions and weddings. It seems inevitable that Shiloh and Carry will wind up with each other, an outcome obvious to all but the two of them. How they "dance" around each other is initially amusing to me and then becomes increasingly frustrating. I want to say "Get on with it already!" I was focused on finishing the novel to learn if they ever did figure out their relationship or if a sad final parting was in the cards. Rainbow Rowell threw in a smattering of white trash upbringing, hoarding, marital infidelity, aging parents, and body image insecurities as a method to give the novel an interesting backdrop. (As an aside, I think the most amusing part of this book was that when my husband passed the spot where I had set it down, he kept trying to pluck the curling flower petal off the cover image.)
★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it
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