I was on my way to Italy when I got the okay to read Every Step She Takes by Alison Cochrun from NetGalley. The timing couldn't have been better. I read it in two days, most of it on the flight to Rome. I've also read The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun, and really enjoyed that book. Cochrun doesn't shy away from having diverse characters dealing with real-world problems, and I'm here for it.

Thirty-five-year-old Sadie is stuck working in the antiques shop she inherited from her grandmother, working long hours and feeling adrift. She's given all her energy to the business and helping to raise her younger sister while her mother was dealing with grief. We meet her while she's attempting to placate her family by going on dates with any man her sister throws at her, with no resulting sparks. She's forced out of her comfort zone when her intrepid sister is injured and can't attend a guided walking tour of the Camino trail in Portugal, and Sadie offers to go in her stead.

Naïve and underprepared, she boards the plane and immediately melts down as turbulence has her coming out to her neighbor. Enter Mal, an unmoored lesbian and heir to a wealthy Portuguese winery, jumping from one thing to the next to avoid the messy middle of jobs and relationships. Turns out they're on the same Camino walking trip, with a group of fem queers and one enthusiastic Italian gay ma, and Sadie can't pretend she didn't stress come out to a stranger. She convinces Mal to help her live the queer adolescence she never had.

What ensues is a light-hearted coming-of-queer story between two women trying to forge their own path, but not sure where that path is, how to get to it, and where it leads. I love later-in-life queer awakenings. People super struggle to understand how someone couldn't know they're queer. It's much easier than you think. And it's the reason I prefer the term queer to encompass the LGBTQIA+ community. It's less restrictive and allows people's understanding of themselves to grow and thrive without judgement or expectation.

Everyone's journey through self-discovery is different, something we all intrinsically know, but refuse to apply to sexuality and gender expression–or lack thereof. This book explores one person's journey that defies expectations, and I enjoyed coming along on the journey. It would have been easy for Sadie's anxiety and naivety to become annoying, but Cochrun seems to know the exact point when that line is reached and injects more confidence into the character, which shows Sadie's growth. I also enjoyed Sadie as a fat character along with the brief but poignant conversation about fat as an adjective, like tall or thin. I'm an avid listener of Maintenance Phase, a podcast that debunks health myths and often tackles fatphobia, so this was extra nice to read.

This is the perfect travel or beach read. Even if you don't leave the comfort (hopefully) of your home but want a fictional vacation, this is a great pick. Out September 2nd, grab it at your local bookshop or on bookshop.org.