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emptzuu's review against another edition
I should have taken Colleen Hoover's praise for this book as a warning sign, but I ignored it and kept reading. Big mistake. This book, written by women for women (and particularly for heterosexual audiences), is highly problematic and is unfortunately touted as a modern classic in M/M relationships. I've since learned that both authors have troubling histories: Sabrina Bowen often includes misogyny in her books. At the same time, Elle Kennedy fetishizes lesbian relationships and body-shames women, and her works frequently contain misogynistic themes. Starting Pride Month with a book filled with homophobia, biphobia, lesbophobia, a hint of transphobia, M/M fetishization, sexism, and racism was incredibly disheartening.
The clichés in this book are unbearable, and the "dude-bro" dialogue and behavior are even worse. Wes and Jamie interact like stereotypical teenage girls, despite their macho exteriors. Despite being friends, they never discuss their issues, feelings, or thoughts. Everything is centered around sex.
The bisexual representation is poorly executed. Jamie is depicted as being bi only for Wes. He mentions missing being with girls because of how soft they are and constantly checks out girls even when he's with Wes. Jamie's struggle with his new sexuality is minimal, which felt unrealistic. There's a minor scene where Wes squeezes Jamie's ass in public, and Jamie looks around nervously, but that's about it. When he realizes he is bi, his response is, "My family will love me anyway," which seemed too easy. I wanted more conflict, inner struggles, and mixed feelings. This portrayal reinforces harmful stereotypes about bisexual people being promiscuous or obsessed with sex.
Wes's biphobia towards Jamie is another issue. Wes believes Jamie can't be bi because he has a girlfriend and sleeps with women, a narrow-minded view. Wes fears Jamie will leave him for a woman, reinforcing the stereotype that bisexual people are cheaters or prone to polyamory. It's hypocritical that Wes, a gay man, can flirt with women, but Jamie, a bisexual man, gets called out for merely looking at a woman. Wes also corrects Jamie for a gay stereotype but then calls him "too gay" for anything remotely gay.
The book also fetishizes lesbians. When Jamie is "struggling" with his sexuality, he watches lesbian porn, claiming he loves seeing two women together. Jamie, you can like women without fetishizing lesbians. Additionally, there's a tasteless comment about trans people: "I could announce I wanted to live my life as a transsexual vampire yeti, and they’d still say, ‘Oh, Jamie. You’re so cute.'"
The misogyny in this book is appalling. Women are depicted as bitches, puck bunnies, a pair of tits (or a nice rack), desperate, a good lay, and little else. Wes is portrayed as so attractive that any woman literally foams at the mouth upon seeing him. There are random instances where a woman simply exists, and Wes mentally dismisses her with, "Those (boobs, idk dude) don't work on me sweetheart." Wes constantly calls women "doll," like a caricature from 1920s New York City.
Wes's tribal tattoos are another issue. Though the specifics aren't mentioned, it's in bad taste for an author to include tribal tattoos without cultural context. These tattoos hold deep meaning for the cultures they originate from, and appropriating them is damaging. Wes having "golden-toned" skin is another questionable detail. Moreover, the book includes a racial slur, further highlighting its insensitivity.
The clichés in this book are unbearable, and the "dude-bro" dialogue and behavior are even worse. Wes and Jamie interact like stereotypical teenage girls, despite their macho exteriors. Despite being friends, they never discuss their issues, feelings, or thoughts. Everything is centered around sex.
The bisexual representation is poorly executed. Jamie is depicted as being bi only for Wes. He mentions missing being with girls because of how soft they are and constantly checks out girls even when he's with Wes. Jamie's struggle with his new sexuality is minimal, which felt unrealistic. There's a minor scene where Wes squeezes Jamie's ass in public, and Jamie looks around nervously, but that's about it. When he realizes he is bi, his response is, "My family will love me anyway," which seemed too easy. I wanted more conflict, inner struggles, and mixed feelings. This portrayal reinforces harmful stereotypes about bisexual people being promiscuous or obsessed with sex.
Wes's biphobia towards Jamie is another issue. Wes believes Jamie can't be bi because he has a girlfriend and sleeps with women, a narrow-minded view. Wes fears Jamie will leave him for a woman, reinforcing the stereotype that bisexual people are cheaters or prone to polyamory. It's hypocritical that Wes, a gay man, can flirt with women, but Jamie, a bisexual man, gets called out for merely looking at a woman. Wes also corrects Jamie for a gay stereotype but then calls him "too gay" for anything remotely gay.
The book also fetishizes lesbians. When Jamie is "struggling" with his sexuality, he watches lesbian porn, claiming he loves seeing two women together. Jamie, you can like women without fetishizing lesbians. Additionally, there's a tasteless comment about trans people: "I could announce I wanted to live my life as a transsexual vampire yeti, and they’d still say, ‘Oh, Jamie. You’re so cute.'"
The misogyny in this book is appalling. Women are depicted as bitches, puck bunnies, a pair of tits (or a nice rack), desperate, a good lay, and little else. Wes is portrayed as so attractive that any woman literally foams at the mouth upon seeing him. There are random instances where a woman simply exists, and Wes mentally dismisses her with, "Those (boobs, idk dude) don't work on me sweetheart." Wes constantly calls women "doll," like a caricature from 1920s New York City.
Wes's tribal tattoos are another issue. Though the specifics aren't mentioned, it's in bad taste for an author to include tribal tattoos without cultural context. These tattoos hold deep meaning for the cultures they originate from, and appropriating them is damaging. Wes having "golden-toned" skin is another questionable detail. Moreover, the book includes a racial slur, further highlighting its insensitivity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Cultural appropriation
leahkarge's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I’m conflicted on how to rate this. Overall, the plot was enjoyable and a good friends to lovers storyline. But there are a lot of issues that I would’ve expected to be edited out or modified when it was re-released in 2021. I probably would’ve enjoyed this more if I’d read it in 2015 when it was initially published and before I started learning how to really tackle my own internalized misogyny, fatphobia, and queerphobia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Biphobia, and Transphobia
angelica_96's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The biphobia was prominent but could have been worse????
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia
mrsherrera's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia and Homophobia
blackcat_readingrainbow's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
2.25
I read this in a day and I had a pretty good time. I didn’t find it stunning or super funny or fall in love with the characters or the main couple. I guess the best way to put it is you might want to read this book if you want a good way to kill 6 hours and have a good time, but don’t want something that will be super emotional or live in your head rent free once you’ve finished.
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Biphobia
the gay lead has some slightly biphobic views, but nothing I considered particularly intense; it was mostly the insecurity stuff of worrying that his bf would miss having sex with women and stuff like that. There’s a few slurs thrown around by angry teenagers but that’s quickly corrected by the main characters. There’s an instance in which the main couple is called slurs and told they shouldn’t work around children, but they’re supported by other characters.frantic_vampire's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I’ve fallen in love with yet another lgbtq+ hockey series and I’m not mad about it. I loved Jamie and Wes together. They were funny and sweet and still managed to be total sports dude-bros (in a good way😂).
One of the things that I absolutely loved about this book was the care that the authors took with Jamie figuring out his sexuality. We got to see him questioning what he thought he knew about himself and doing researching and finding a label that works for him. It was really nice, and it was refreshing to see someone going through that process. I feel like that piece is often left out of books were someone is figuring out they aren’t as straight as they thought they were. I also really appreciated Jamie’s family support structure. I loved that the only objection they had to Wes was the football team he was a fan of.
And I can’t forget about Wes! He was just the sweetest, angsty-est, goofball. I loved that he had this golden retriever energy about him and was willing to do literally anything for Jamie.
I think my only objections about this book were some of the wording/phrasing choices. Sometimes they took me out of the story, but otherwise I loved this book so much! I’m giving Him four stars and I can’t wait to get my grubby little hands on the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Biphobia
Moderate: Misogyny
kaitlyng's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Biphobia
kermittttt's review against another edition
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
the biphobia is so wild in this like what also i didn’t care about these characters at all until the last 20 pages. hoping the next book is better!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia
parasolcrafter's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
this book was definitely...fine. its nothing groundbreaking, its nothing spectacular, but its not horrible either. its just...a fine book. i didnt know it would be so sex-heavy when i got into it so it was a little jarring - it really does turn out to be more porn that substance near the halfway mark - which is fine, i just wish everything else would have been developed more. like there should have been more tension and angst before there was any relationship development, but for what this book is, its okay. i guess the other books in the series can go more into depth on the two characters, but i dont have much hope bc this book was quite shallow :/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Alcohol, Biphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Sexual content
violetsto_'s review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
is this book very problematic? absolutely. did i ignore the parts i didn't like and have a great time? absolutely!!!
likes:
- wes having a tongue piercing was much more intriguing than i thought it'd be. i'm ... gonna leave it at that. (the tattoos sound so ugly tho, which seems accurate for wes)
- they have some cute friendship moments
- yeah idk most of the good parts were horny, since their friendship didn't have much depth beyond like pranks and talking shit?
dislikes:
- jamie really said being from california is a personality (which felt like a personal attack ngl)
- both wes and jamie are hypermasculine sports bro talking about tits and dicks and the single woman character is meaningless to the story except to be jealous of, so ...
- this book does not handle it's bi mc with care ... wes tries to "call him out" for liking women? like yeah, that's what bi is, bud. (some of wes' biphobic comments could be more sympathetically seen as wes being insecure rather than issue with jamie's sexuality, but this one is ... especially bad)
steam:
- it was a steamy summer camp romp!
- jamie's ... steamy scene dialogue was a particular highlight
likes:
- wes having a tongue piercing was much more intriguing than i thought it'd be. i'm ... gonna leave it at that. (the tattoos sound so ugly tho, which seems accurate for wes)
- they have some cute friendship moments
- yeah idk most of the good parts were horny, since their friendship didn't have much depth beyond like pranks and talking shit?
dislikes:
- jamie really said being from california is a personality (which felt like a personal attack ngl)
- both wes and jamie are hypermasculine sports bro talking about tits and dicks and the single woman character is meaningless to the story except to be jealous of, so ...
- this book does not handle it's bi mc with care ... wes tries to "call him out" for liking women? like yeah, that's what bi is, bud. (some of wes' biphobic comments could be more sympathetically seen as wes being insecure rather than issue with jamie's sexuality, but this one is ... especially bad)
steam:
- it was a steamy summer camp romp!
- jamie's ... steamy scene dialogue was a particular highlight
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia