Becoming You

Airlie Porter travels to Ireland with her best friend Hannah. Both are 28 and looking for adventure during their year working in Ireland. On the plane on their way from Australia, they meet Olivia Swanson. Airlie and Olivia make an obvious connection, although neither have any idea of what the connection is. On a whim, the two young women go to stay with Olivia in her cottage in the country. Olivia has been living in Ireland for years, and has been married to Gavin for over a decade, although they make better friends than lovers.

After a month of settling in, the two young Aussies head to Dublin to find work. There they find casual work and new friends, and new lodgings with the gorgeous Rachel, a single lesbian who also has an eye for Airlie.

Airlie ended her engagement to a chap in Australia not long before she arrived, so having an attraction to two women is confusing and challenges everything she knows about herself. One of the women is comfortable being a lesbian, and the other is straight and married. Who knows how this mess will work out?

This wasn’t a standard lesbian romance. I’ve read coming out stories before, but this book reveals how messy and difficult it can be. Airlie believes she is straight, but has really been hiding from herself for a long time. Trying to deal with this new idea of herself, as well as the internalised homophobia is tricky when she’s trying to deal with two women who are attracted to her.

The complications in her relationships with Olivia and Rachel are well written, and make sense with the development of Airlie’s character. There was a lovely sense of revelation and the building of strength and confidence within Airlie that was beautifully matched by what was happening around her.

This was cleverly written and was a very engaging story. More complex than most, it was interesting to read and had enough to keep me wanting to turn the pages.

Reviewed by Pippa Wischer

This book ran the gamut of emotions. I liked Airlie's character and connected with her on quite a few levels. ...Overall, I experienced the most feeling in the back and forth of Airlie's struggle to accept being a lesbian... The writing is smooth, if a bit sparse on description. No editing problems. I would definitely read this author again.

Reviewed by Maegan Moore

‘Becoming You’ is one of those novels that you don’t want to let go. Even though I knew what I wanted to happen to Airlie, I didn’t want it to finish. This book packs an emotional punch and I needed to sit and ponder what exactly I was feeling. Airlie and her friend Hannah travel from Australia to Ireland and meet married woman Olivia on the flight. They become friends and accept an invitation to stay with her and her husband in Galway. Airlie can’t put her finger on why she is so drawn to Olivia and becomes uncomfortable. Airlie’s story is of finding out who and what she is. It is about accepting herself. People have to be true to themselves and decide to be happy. Michelle Grubb has written a sexy and powerfully emotional tale that had me entranced. It was passionate and gut-wrenching at times but so uplifting and beautiful too. If you’re not in tears at some point I’d be surprised. A truly exceptional read.

Reviewed by Karen McIntosh

What an emotional roller coaster! Becoming You by Michelle Grubb' will keep your head spinning. There are some...powerful moments... The main characters had me banging my head from time to time with their emotional drama but I liked the book. Great supporting characters. It's well written and brings up some difficult moments that I'm sure will hit home for some readers. I would recommend it to others.

Reviewed by Kris Johnson

This book is a roller coaster ride of emotions! I really enjoyed following Airlie's journey which had me riding the wave of her emotional self-discovery. Airlie was a great main character who was realistic and likable. I thought all the secondary characters were a perfect fit for Airlie and the story. I struggled to put this book down even during the very difficult times.

...this was a fantastic book. I found it emotionally gripping with a great story line and characters.

Reviewed by Catherine Cheong