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rainbowbrarian's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
We Could Be Heroes by Phillip Ellis (@philipellis) - I have no idea how to rate this one out of 5
Thanks to @netgalley and Penguin Publishing Group for this ARC copy.
Okay friends... I kind of loved this books... all except for one scene. But I REALLY really hated that one scene. So I am kind of struggling on how I rate this one. It would have absolutely been a four stars read, save for the obligatory “things get ruined” so we can have the tension and the breakup and then the reunion. I am a lover of romance novels so I don’t have a problem with the formula, per se, but the way this one was done... just felt bad.
OKAY, so, it’s a romance between a closeted ‘All-American’ movie star and a Birmingham UK drag queen. And I have found that I really enjoy romances with drag queen characters. I love a skewering of toxic masculinity and they deliver that.
Our movie star, Patrick, is stuck with a morality clause in his contract which means NO GAYNESS ever, but he falls for Will (aka Grace Anatomy) and they have a little secret fling while Patrick is filming a superhero movie about Captain Kismet (sort of a golden age of comics superman type) in the UK. They have to keep it quiet and so the relationship goes as you might expect with appropriate tension around the whole not being able to be out thing.
My issue comes when they hit a boiling point and break up. I felt like Patrick’s behavior in that moment came TOTALLY out of left field. I don’t think anything in the writing had lead to him blowing up in such a spectacularly awful manner. The callous and borderline abusive way that he treats Will in that moment was inexcusable. I know he was under stress, but DAMN. Not cool.
I did love the red carpet moment at the end. Also I haven’t even touched on the cool historical plotline with the creator of Captain Kismet that was snuck in there. I could have read a whole book about them. It felt very Cat Sebastian and we all know how much I adore Cat’s writing.
I’m a bit long winded here, but I am torn about this one. I liked 90% of this. But MAN, that other bit. Bugged me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Homophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, and Grief
There is a sexual role playing scene in which the dominant partner immediately throws out the sub without any aftercare.
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