{"id":22443,"date":"2023-09-28T22:49:56","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T02:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=22443"},"modified":"2026-03-22T08:56:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T12:56:00","slug":"only-when-its-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22443","title":{"rendered":"Only When It’s Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

Only When It’s Us<\/em> (2020) Chloe Liese<\/a> (Bergman Brothers)<\/p>\n

\"Only<\/a>Trigger Warnings: cancer, death, grief<\/p>\n

I read Always Only You<\/em> and liked it, but didn’t rush out to read other books in the series. Finally, I decided I might be in the mood to try another, and tore through the story, despite all the very hard things in it.<\/p>\n

Then I read the author’s note and I liked it even more.<\/p>\n

Growth also enabled me to pursue republishing this story when I learned the ways I could make this story so much stronger. <\/p>\n

Since beginning my author journey, I have grown in my knowledge of how best to write authentic representation. Where I am as an author now is not where I began, and when I learned that aspects of the late-deafened representation in this book fell short of the standard for authenticity that I strive for, I wanted to correct that through critique and resolution of those inaccuracies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All the kudos for that.<\/p>\n

Ryder was ready to start his first year at UCLA when everything changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cRy.\u201d I hear it like I\u2019m underwater, faint and warped. That\u2019s what life sounds like with moderate and severe hearing loss, in the right and left ears, respectively. Bacterial meningitis came out of nowhere just a few cruel weeks before preseason at UCLA began.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Willa has goals, and she is not going to let anything stop her from achieving them–including her Business Mathematics professor who is seemingly trying to be a complete bastard to her–especially when he makes her partner with the lumberjack who has seemingly become the bane of her existence in that class.<\/p>\n

Several things–I liked Ryder way more than I liked Willa. Eventually we discover why Willa tends to react rather than act, and why she doesn’t trust, but her reaction to discovering why Ryder was seemingly ignoring her felt really lacking in any empathy.<\/p>\n

The two are seemingly the same age, but Ryder is far more mature, which made him seem significantly older than her.<\/p>\n

I was frustrated by both characters refusing to open up and share with each other. Some of it is understandable.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m hiding it on purpose. Because if no one knows it\u2019s there, there\u2019s no pressure to talk, no expectation to hear perfectly. Maybe that seems to defeat the purpose of the hearing aid, but it doesn\u2019t. The hearing aid is for me, not for others\u2019 convenience.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some of it far less so.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t lie to Ryder, but I didn\u2019t exactly tell him the truth either. It\u2019s just that talking about your sick-with-cancer mom is about as uncomfortable a conversation topic as I can think of, and as I\u2019ve admitted, squidgy dialogues aren\u2019t my speed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One bit I especially liked was how the story dealt with grief.<\/p>\n

“Let me start again. Willa, your grief is valid. Your pain is real.\u201d <\/p>\n

I stare at her. \u201cBut?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBut nothing.\u201d Rooney shifts in her chair, scooting closer. \u201cAnd <\/em>it\u2019s threatening your well-being. I think it\u2019s time to go talk to someone. Go to grief counseling. I don\u2019t know if they\u2019re suitable for this, but maybe also look into antidepressants. It\u2019s been months, and you\u2019re still struggling to function, Willa. There\u2019s no shame in grief. You\u2019ll grieve as long as you need to. There\u2019s just room for caution when it\u2019s compromising your well-being.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That is a really fantastic summation of dealing with grief.<\/p>\n

There were parts of the story I felt could have been tightened up a bit, places where things were a bit slow, but overall, I enjoyed it and I loved how important it is to the author to get the representation right.<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Only When It’s Us (2020) Chloe Liese (Bergman Brothers) Trigger Warnings: cancer, death, grief I read Always Only You and liked it, but didn’t rush out to read other books in the series. Finally, I decided I might be in the mood to try another, and tore through the story, despite all the very hard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,292,204,207,26,934],"tags":[711,710,611,503,213],"class_list":["post-22443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-ebook","category-good","category-mental-health-rep","category-romance","category-trigger-warnings","tag-bergman-brothers","tag-chloe-liese","tag-deaf","tag-death","tag-grief"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5PZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20901,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20901","url_meta":{"origin":22443,"position":0},"title":"Always Only You","author":"Michelle","date":"October 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Always Only You (2020) Chloe Liese (Bergman Brothers) Frankie is a social media coordinator for the LA Kings hockey team, which (considering the nature of hockey) gives her plenty to do. I also document informal charitable outings geared toward our most underrepresented fans. It\u2019s not in my exact job description,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Always Only You","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Always-Only-You.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22449,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22449","url_meta":{"origin":22443,"position":1},"title":"Ever After Always","author":"Michelle","date":"October 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Ever After Always (2021) Chloe Liese (Bergman Brothers) Aiden and Freya have been married for almost a decade, but the last six months have not been good. They have, in fact, been bad. But that\u2019s when it all went downhill. That\u2019s when it tripped something inside me that I haven\u2019t\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ever After Always","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Ever-After-Always.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Ever-After-Always.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Ever-After-Always.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23162,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23162","url_meta":{"origin":22443,"position":2},"title":"Two Wrongs Make a Right","author":"Michelle","date":"February 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Two Wrongs Make a Right (2022) Chloe Liese (The Wilmot Sisters) I picked up my first book by Chloe Liese because it was highly rated and had a female main character with ASD. I've very much enjoyed every book of hers I've read since then, although I don't read them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two Wrongs Make a Right","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Two-Wrongs-Make-a-Right.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Two-Wrongs-Make-a-Right.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Two-Wrongs-Make-a-Right.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25622,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25622","url_meta":{"origin":22443,"position":3},"title":"The Mistletoe Motive","author":"Michelle","date":"January 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Mistletoe Motive (2021) Chloe Liese There is a lot I love about this story: the ace rep, the female lead with ASD, the single point-of-view. 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