Review: Act Your Age, Eve Brown

Well, this was just a delightful read!

Ask almost anyone that knows me, casually, and they’ll tell you I don’t have a sense of humor. It’s not true. My humor just doesn’t coincide with today’s comedy standards. I honestly don’t know what the fuss is with most comedians. I don’t like most comedy movies. And if it’s a book that’s supposed to be funny? Most of the time I’m rolling my eyes.

There have been books that make me laugh. But, I can’t even remember the last book that made me laugh out loud, snicker, and chuckle to myself, like I did here. I was sitting on the couch reading as my wife sewed at the table and she had to ask what I was reading because I just don’t laugh like this when reading.

This book is everything I could have possibly wanted. I loved the two main characters. I felt like I knew Eve and Jacob; they were so well portrayed. Eve, with her privilege and insecurities, and her so kind and loving heart. Jacob with his lack of trust and self-protectiveness.

Watching them fall into friendship and companionship and then love is just an absolute joy.

I can’t talk about this book without mentioning the representation here. Eve is clearly neurodivergent – being a woman, she’s never been diagnosed, but she comes to accept her own truths. She’s also not thin and is beautifully comfortable in her body with no self-consciousness. Jacob is diagnosed as having autism, and it’s also treated as just a different way of dealing with the world. Something that I have come to appreciate more and more in the last few years.

Also, the pansexual grandma is probably the absolute best and I’d love to see more with her and her partner anytime.

This is a mostly light-hearted romance, with lots of laughter and joy, and very little angst. There’s a moment of miscommunication and assumptions towards the end, but both characters are fighting towards each other – something that is quickly becoming one of my favorite romance tropes.

Act Your Age, Eve Brown is the first Talia Hibbert book I’ve ever read, but it damn sure won’t be the last. I loved this book from the first page and can’t wait to dive into more of Talia Hibbert’s backlist.