The 52 Book Club 2022 Challenge Prompt: 23. An author with an X, Y, or Z in their name

Other Possible Prompts: 5. Chapters have titles, 36. Recommended by a favorite author, 45. A book with illustrated people on the cover, 46. A job title in the title, 52. Published in 2022

What a cute one! I was wary about Weather Girl because it sounded too similar to The Ex Talk that I didn’t think it’d be worth the read, but I was wrong. Weather Girl is all its own, and I enjoyed it even more than The Ex Talk. This is Solomon coming into her own.

Weather Girl follows Ari, weather-obsessed twenty-something meteorologist, after her engagement is broken off and she’s finally had enough of her divorced bosses fighting with one another. The tension is so bad, she’s starting to dislike her job – and there’s nothing Ari loves more than rain and her job. Drunk after a holiday party, her and her sports reporter coworker Russell hatch a plan to get their bosses back together.

The more time they spend together scheming, the closer Russell and Ari grow. But Ari, carrying the baggage of depression and being burnt by past relationships, is hesitant despite her comfort with Russell. And Russell, a parent, has a tough time bringing his two worlds together.

I cannot start this review without saying the representation of mental illness in this story, and the conversations around them, are so well done. It’s easy to glamorize things like depression and anxiety through literature, but Solomon’s characters are frank and honest about trauma; and even better, they’re having self-aware and critical conversations to do better for themselves and those around them. Not to just “be better”, but to be kind to ourselves and our reactions to things as people with mental illness. The people in Ari’s life, particularly her brother, warm the heart with their unbridled support, without overstepping.

The romance, also, is a step up from The Ex Talk. I liked her debut, but it was admittedly slow and cooled off. This is much, much better. My hesitation to read her in the future has been whisked away by this one book. It reminded me more of a Jasmine Guillory novel, and I really liked that. Solomon hit that perfect note in tone with this one.

I really liked both Ari and Russell’s characters. Actually, there wasn’t really any characters in this one that I didn’t like! Torrance and Seth, their bosses that start the book as exes, are a little too much at first – but if there’s anything you can take from this book, it’s that people can grow. Even the characters I didn’t love at the beginning come around. They grow. And not just in little ways: there’s therapy involved, medication in some cases, and the journey from A to B is a long one. That sets this one apart in my opinion.

I’m also a sucker for a romance book with a kid in it… I loved Elodie, Russell’s daughter, and the element of depth she added to Russell’s character through their bond was really enjoyable to watch. Kids just soften a story somehow, even if they are in their pre-teen years. Elodie was a glowing supporting character to this story.

So, with all this good stuff, I definitely recommend Weather Girl. I only really gave it 4.5 stars because, like The Ex Talk, it took me a while to get through it for some reason. I got through three-quarters of it in just a couple hours, then proceeded to ignore it for like a week. I couldn’t tell you why, I just didn’t at all feel like picking it back up again.

But go get it!! That last line probably didn’t sell you, haha. But I really did enjoy this one, and I think fans of Jasmine Guillory, or those that enjoyed The Ex Talk, probably will as well.

Have an awesome week!