That said, When Katie Met Cassidy is not only a pitch-perfect nod to Nora Ephron’s classic. Perri also achieves two distinct and impressive feats in this book. First, she offers readers a romance that has both feminine and masculine traits, but without any of the toxic masculinity we have come to tolerate and begrudgingly accept ... Second, Perri graciously allows readers who perhaps have never encountered people like Cassidy a glimpse inside her head ... I feel as though I cannot rave about this book enough ... Both a lighthearted romance and a deeply nuanced exploration of identity, When Katie Met Cassidy truly has it all.
...get ready to laugh, cry, and rediscover your faith in romance ... When Katie Met Cassidy follows standard rom-com tropes and standard gay-girl-meets-straight-girl tropes, but Perri’s clean writing style and superb wit carry the book beyond the usual and into something laugh-out-loud funny, sincere, and fresh ... Beyond its likeable protagonists, When Katie Met Cassidy draws a rich portrait of the lesbian community.
I was totally charmed from the first page of When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri and utterly hooked by the end of the first chapter. Perri's lively and funny voice brings a fresh perspective to that familiar and beloved story of a single girl finding love in the big city.
While Perri’s tale is a romance, it lacks some of the requisite heat and deep yearning that make for the best entries in the genre ... There’s nothing wrong with the notion of opposites attracting, but Perri never fully builds a convincing enough reason for these two to be together ... The most compelling part of the novel is the questions it raises about identity and finding one’s place in the world ... A romance is meant to guarantee a happily-ever-after at its conclusion by definition, but it should never feel undeservingly inevitable.
A gutsy book that breathes a breath of fresh air into the genre of romance novels, When Katie Met Cassidy boldly explores the dynamic nature of sexuality and gender. Brimming with joy and humor, this quick-paced plot opens a window into the LGBTQ community, developing characters who are relatable and grounding it with a core romance that is truly heartwarming.
The book is a psychic break from the tropes of rom-coms past, blissfully free of tired bro BS and women made to chase emotionally unavailable men ... When Katie Met Cassidy cements what Call Me by Your Name started ... Perhaps most powerful of all, When Katie Met Cassidy isn’t bogged down by death and disaster. On the contrary, it’s allowed to blossom in its own, magical little world ... with all the makings of a Garry Marshall or Nora Ephron classic.
Perri’s (The Assistants, 2016) second novel is similar to her first in being a combination of fun and fulfilling, but the content this time is softer and runs deeper. Expect some typical rom-com tropes, like the opposites-attract scenario of commitment-prone romantic meets commitment-phobe realist ... honest conversations about female identity and sexuality included throughout. The cast of supporting characters and the rambunctious Greenwich Village bar scene are added bonuses. A romance with a big heart and refreshing perspective.
...flimsy ... Perri doesn’t do much to turn the book’s minor characters into real people ... nothing really feels at stake. Areas of conflict are hinted at with no follow-through, culminating an overly sweet, unsatisfying ending. Though the love story at the center is solid, readers will be disappointed by the narrative’s slapdash feel.
