Slow Dance
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3.7 • 167 Ratings
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Rainbow Rowell comes Slow Dance—her smartest, funniest, most powerful novel yet
“If you, like me, think thirty-somethings methodically working through their issues is very hot, Slow Dance is the book for you. The people in it feel like people you know or maybe even people you’ve been. Slow Dance is sexy, sweet, wise, and nostalgic—Jane Austen’s Persuasion for our times.”
— Gabrielle Zevin, New York Times bestselling author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Shiloh Butler was supposed to get out of north Omaha.
She used to sit out on the front porch with her best friend, Cary, and plot their escape. Shiloh was going to be an actress – she had a scholarship to a good school – and Cary was laser-focused on the Navy. Sharp, stoic, golden-eyed Cary . . . thin as a stick of gum and poor as dirt. He was probably the most decent person Shiloh has ever known. She hasn’t spoken to him in fourteen years.
When Shiloh gets an invitation to a high school friend’s wedding, Cary is the first and only thing on her mind.
She desperately wants to see him again, but she doesn’t know if she can bear being seen by him. What would Cary think of Shiloh at thirty-three? A divorced mom living in the same house she grew up in. Someone who works behind a desk, not onstage.
Would Cary even want to see Shiloh after all this time? After everything?
The answer, it turns out, is yes.
In her triumphant return to adult fiction, Rainbow Rowell has written a love story so honest and human – so cathartic – you’ll feel it in your bones. Slow Dance is as sharp and compassionate as you’d expect from Rowell. Deeply, profoundly romantic, it’s a power ballad of a book.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The path to love for the couple in this tender, emotional romance is long—and worth it. In high school, best friends Shiloh and Cary always quietly harbored feelings for each other. But after their one romantic encounter went terribly wrong, they went their separate ways. Now, 14 years later, he’s in the navy and she’s a single mom. And yet, when they reunite at an old friend’s wedding, they discover that the spark between them is still glowing. Author Rainbow Rowell crafts a gorgeously evocative tale around these two flawed and relatable characters. While Cary is straightlaced and Shiloh is quirky and artistic, we could sense what has drawn them together since their teen years in working-class Omaha. Narrator Rebecca Lowman beautifully portrays the characters’ messiness, uncertainty, and regret—along with their much-deserved feelings of excitement and hope. Kick back with this wonderfully bittersweet listen.
Customer Reviews
Not my favorite by a long shot
I really had a hard time liking either of these main characters. It’s honestly a miracle that it ended up the way it did. They both just seemed to constantly get in their own way. Some of the plot seemed entirely superfluous and unnecessary. Very Random. It moved really slowly and I really struggled to finish. For me this was an about face from her other books that I’ve loved.
Also, whether it was the way it was written or the way it was read, in the audiobook, I had a hard time keeping up with who was saying what.
Mikey and Lois were the best part of this book.
Also, I’m curious as to why setting is 2006.
Slow Dance
I couldn’t wait for this audio to be over. It was so drawn out and so hem just “poof” the end. The author’s use of the name Shiloh was awful! Why in the world didn’t her editor catch it? Shiloh’s poking, kicking, pinching, and actually biting was so juvenile; making her despicable person. A halfway decent man would never put up with that kind of behaviour. I could picture bruises being all over the poor guy’s body. Describing the boyfriend as basically ugly, I feel the author was punishing him for the way he looked. Shame on you, Ms Rainbow Rowell!
Slow dance
Painfully slow