Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon
CW: Struggles with Depression, Past Teen Pregnancy, Past Abandonment by Parent, Heavy Drinking, Serious Injury, Reconciling with a Parent, Described Sex, Divorce, Unprofessional Bosses, Body Insecurity, Property Damage, Public Proposal
4.5/5
I love reading books by Rachel Lynn Solomon, so Weather Girl was destined to be a hit with me. A Jewish romantic comedy is always something I'm ready for. Throw in some weather puns, some attention to mental health, and a plus sized love interest - that's even better! The audiobook format truly enhanced the experience with this book. This romance was absolutely worth my time!
In Weather Girl, Ari Abrams and Russell Barringer, weather and sports reports respectively, scheme to get their bosses back together. The news station that they work for may be successful, but it is not smooth sailing internally. Their bosses have been divorced for a while and cannot stand each other, but Ari and Russell believe that there's still a spark. More importantly, if the ex-couple can work things out, the station will benefit. Along the way, Ari and Russell discover feelings for each other. Russell is nervous about letting Ari into his daughter's life and Ari is nervous about letting Russell know about her depression. They'll have to let their walls down if they want things to work.
The copy I had of Weather Girl came with a forward from Solomon. In it she discussed how personal it was to write Ari as having depression. Ari's relationship with mental health was written from someone who has experience with depression and wanted to see this in a romance novel. I have anxiety and I'm autistic, but I believe I'm in a place to confirm that the depression was written well. My only complaint about this topic is that Solomon categorized depression under neurodiversity during the forward. Technically, because she used "neurodiverse" instead of "neurodivergent", it works, but I don't believe this is what she meant, given the context. Neurodiversity covers every way a brain can be, including the neurotypical brain, but depression does not fall under neurodivergence. If you would like to know more about this, please reach out to me on here or social media.
While this book is like many romcom books I have read, I did find myself falling asleep during one of the sex scenes (can you blame an ace girl?). There were some things I found refreshing though. One thing was Russell. He is a single dad, aged 29, and he's plus sized. He has a good relationship with his ex and he loves his daughter a lot. Russell is a very enjoyable love interest for Ari. Another one was Alex, Ari's brother. He is gay, which I've seen many authors slip in to check a box, but he feels like a natural character and has a sweet, detailed relationship with his husband. The final element was the pace of the book. The story took over a year for the characters without dragging or causing me to lose track of how much time had passed. It had been a while since I read a book that included that much time. More books could benefit from giving their characters breathing room.
As I mentioned above, this audiobook was particularly good! Sarah Mollo-Christensen generally has a great voice and I've enjoyed listening to her in other books, but Weather Girl was extra-special. Given that this is a Jewish story that takes place over a longer period of time, more religious experiences were included than there's normally time for. One is a Shabbat dinner at Ari's mother's house. The blessing over the candles is not spoken, but chanted. I loved that Mollo-Christensen sang the prayer instead of just reading it out. It meant a lot to me to hear the proper tune and know that non-Jews would hear it too.
If learning more about meteorology through the eyes of a Jewish woman on antidepressants appeals to you, Weather Girl should be your next read! It has great representation, comedic twists, more than one romantic tale, and lots of information about Seattle. Give it a go and you might just fall for Ari and Russell's romance!
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