I wanted to like this more, since it's a queer NA title, but unfortunately it came off kind of teach-y. But I am rating up a bit since it is a queer NA title, after all. While it was nice to read about queer ladies, it wasn't very convincing. Too much emphasis was on how hot Payton was and the details of Kendall's fame didn't feel authentic. The writing itself was decent, but there was lots of capitalization where none was necessary. A bit more tell-y than show-y, but not a bad first effort. Hopefully future efforts will be a bit more subtle. ( )

I'm not going to write some huge takedown here. I just wanted this to be so much more than it was, which was probably part of the problem. The will they/won't they loooong build up very common in F/F is very long--I think they kiss around 60%--and the ending is predictable and gets the characters out of an entirely self-created situation. Occasionally there was a real spark in the dialogue between the two--or others--that was clever/playful and showed some chemistry. But often ran toward Young Adult rather than New Adult (ugh) in its sensibilities generally, and generally mediocre prose. A LOT of "OMG! I can't believe I just said that!" like, at least four or five times, by multiple characters. Check your filters, people.

I love what you wanted to be, little book. Don't give up. More NA F/F please (since the mainstays of FF are definitely a little...older). I might not be nice, but it's because I love. ( )

This is amongst the best friends-to-lovers / celebrity-commoner books in the lesfic genre. It is engaging, both the main characters are immensely likeable and their story keeps us deeply invested.

Read the full review @https://www.bestlesficreviews.com/2019/01/the-gravity-between-us-by-kristen-zimmer.html ( )

Heartwarming and authentic

The early part of the story, where it alternates between the perspectives of the two protagonists as they fall, headlong into mutually unrequited love with each other (which, of course, means it is anything BUT unrequited, but they don't know that) is one of the best written examples of that story line that I have ever read. The erotica sections of the story are really minor and not particularly necessary, though fairly well written. ( )

Debunking the enviable life of fame and glamour, Zimmer offers us a window into the lives of starlets and how those lives effect their friends and family. Written using a trade-off perspective between two bestfriends who've somewhat drifted apart as their professional lives have drawn them in different directions, it would be a disservice to simply classify the Gravity Between Us (an absolutely terrific song btw) as young adult lesbian romance. Kendall, the up-and-coming premier Hollywood actress, although highly successful and already wise in the ways of stardom, is struggling with feelings of detachment from her somwhat-estranged bestfriend. Payton, a film composer who's settled on a school where composition isn't taught, is also struggling with the loss of Kendall in her life. Yet, for Payton the separation is much harder--although they'd been friends forever, somewhere along the line Payton developed feelings for Kendall and won't let herself broach them to her a bestfriend she's terrified of losing.

What i enjoyed most about Gravity was Kendall and Payton's character development. Kendall is constantly fighting the battle for individuality in a field where all of her life choices have already been made for her. Payton, having been transplanted into Beverly Hills and finding herself downgraded from being treated as an intellectual by her peers to that of arm-candy by the paparazzi, suffers almost daily with feelings of unrequited love, martyrdom and deep loss. Additionally, I enjoyed the way Zimmer painted Hollywood, contrary to what many must imagine to be a life of ease, to be instead a muzzle or trap that actors walk into knowingly. Finally, although it's trite, Kendall's lifestyle embodies the timeless lesson that money simply cannot buy happiness--placing fame and fortune above love and personal freedom is no way to live.

So then for the criticism: I honestly couldn't put myself in Kendall's shoes. Kendall never once stopped to think she might be bisexual and simply wrote off her past relationships with men since they were not as fulfilling as being with Payton. I also wasn't the hugest fan of Lauren's character (no doubt, the reader isn't supposed to like her) in that her representation of out gay woman in Hollywood was more than a little shallow. Lauren also gave up on Payton way too easily and it struct me as unrealistic that she would have been able to repress her obvious feelings for Payton while they were living together. ( )