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emotional
hopeful
informative
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Alcohol
Minor: Transphobia
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Transphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
the first 50% percent were kind of boring, but it got interesting in the end. i liked that the story began & ended at the same place and that the main characters were both over 40 :)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deadnaming
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Transphobia, Death of parent
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Sexual content, Transphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Homophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I loved this book! It was extremely steamy, and the author handled intimacy between a trans man and a cis man really well. So often trans romance stories are de-sexed, which is unfair because trans people have sex too! Honestly just a great book all around, about romance and intimacy between two men, one trans and one cis. There was no real transphobia in the book which I appreciated, and the author did a great job of writing about Nate's transness.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Transphobia, Death of parent, Alcohol
Some talk of alcoholism, some talk of drug use, some mild transphobia / deadnaming / misgendering, some mention of depression
emotional
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was very cautious when I started this book, because I didn't particularly like the way the synopsis had talked about Nate, one of the main characters. I wasn't quite sure how Nate being trans would be shown and discussed, and as someone who's not cis and whose depression can sometimes worsen by transphobia specifically, I was honestly a bit scared going into the story. And unfortunately, I had reason to.
When I read in the author's note that Northcote himself was trans, I was honestly surprised, because some of the ways he wrote Nate in felt a lot like a cis author trying to write a trans character. Obviously, I won't sit here and go, 'He's done it wrong!', because I'm not gonna invalidate his own experience as a trans man. But I was still thrown off a little, not gonna lie.
I think the main reason it surprised me was the way Nate was constantly deadnamed and misgendered throughout the entire book. And yes, obviously, the world is a horrible place to be trans in; there's always gonna be bigoted assholes who don't bother trying to learn. And part of it did make sense; if someone I've known for many, many years suddenly comes out to me as trans, has a different name and uses a different set of pronouns, I won't be able to promise to never make a mistake. I mean, I still misgender myself sometimes. What counts is you making an effort trying to learn and understand the other person. But the way Jack's parents were blatantly not trying for the majority of the book just made the reading experience a bit horrific for me, personally.
What bothered me the most about all the misgendering and deadnaming, however, were the flashbacks to the past. There were only about two or three, but in every single one of them, Nate was referred to by his deadname and Northcote used she/her pronouns in the text. And that's what made me upset the most, because there was absolutely no reason to do it that way? Sure, Nate was still living as a girl in those scenes and didn't even know he was trans, which I guess is the reason for it, but you could still??? use the right name and pronouns??? as an author??? It felt a bit vile to me, tbh.
There were some things about the plot that didn't particularly make sense to me, but I think some of them might've just have been me being asexual and not understanding allosexuals. Most people probably won't be on the same page as me. (For example, why Nate thought being friends with benefits with Jack was a good idea when he was clearly still into him. When did that ever end well??? ) The writing, too, felt a bit awkward to me at times, especially in the smutty scenes. But I think that was mostly because Northcote used some words that I'm not accustomed to seeing in romance books (Nate was blunt in a slightly different way than I'm used to).
I did like parts of the story, too, obviously! My favourite thing was possibly Nate as a father; the way he treated his daughter and cared for her was just heartwarming and beautiful to read about. I also did like the little subplot about the daughter herself. And Nate and Jack did have chemistry; personally, I just felt like it progressed a bit too quickly.
When I read in the author's note that Northcote himself was trans, I was honestly surprised, because some of the ways he wrote Nate in felt a lot like a cis author trying to write a trans character. Obviously, I won't sit here and go, 'He's done it wrong!', because I'm not gonna invalidate his own experience as a trans man. But I was still thrown off a little, not gonna lie.
I think the main reason it surprised me was the way Nate was constantly deadnamed and misgendered throughout the entire book. And yes, obviously, the world is a horrible place to be trans in; there's always gonna be bigoted assholes who don't bother trying to learn. And part of it did make sense; if someone I've known for many, many years suddenly comes out to me as trans, has a different name and uses a different set of pronouns, I won't be able to promise to never make a mistake. I mean, I still misgender myself sometimes. What counts is you making an effort trying to learn and understand the other person. But the way Jack's parents were blatantly not trying for the majority of the book just made the reading experience a bit horrific for me, personally.
What bothered me the most about all the misgendering and deadnaming, however, were the flashbacks to the past. There were only about two or three, but in every single one of them, Nate was referred to by his deadname and Northcote used she/her pronouns in the text. And that's what made me upset the most, because there was absolutely no reason to do it that way? Sure, Nate was still living as a girl in those scenes and didn't even know he was trans, which I guess is the reason for it, but you could still??? use the right name and pronouns??? as an author??? It felt a bit vile to me, tbh.
There were some things about the plot that didn't particularly make sense to me, but I think some of them might've just have been me being asexual and not understanding allosexuals. Most people probably won't be on the same page as me. (For example,
I did like parts of the story, too, obviously! My favourite thing was possibly Nate as a father; the way he treated his daughter and cared for her was just heartwarming and beautiful to read about. I also did like the little subplot about the daughter herself. And Nate and Jack did have chemistry; personally, I just felt like it progressed a bit too quickly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Transphobia
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Child abuse