Reviews

3 stars. It was a fun read and quite relatable for a gay man like myself (expect the sculptured bodies hahah) but it was a cute read but very very predictable like all rom coms tbh haha. It’s worth a if you just need to get out of slump or have it in the background when doing chores as it is easy to get back into the story if you’ve missed some parts. Yeah worth a read

hpachay's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I enjoyed reading Best Men, but it definitely felt like a chore to get through at times. The humor is decent, with some nods to gay stereotypes, New Yorker life, and some snarky internal and external dialogue, and interesting character quirks (Stella's eternal coldness, Paige's indecisiveness, Janet's toxic leadership). However, the book suffers from some critical flaws that keep me from rating this book higher. Max is honestly insufferable and pretentious, and he pretty much says that he's "not like the other girls" with his attacks on gay culture (we get it bestie, you think you're cool with your horrible substitute for the word brunch). He's also very codependent on Paige at the beginning of the novel, to the point where I wonder if he has any other friends; probably not because he's so unlikeable. I took issue with Paige's constant use of the GBF trope, and thought they glossed over the issue, but she was so entertaining to me that I forgave her. The ending of the book did felt very rushed, but I enjoyed the buildup of Max and Chasten's relationship and was satisfied when they finally got together, although it felt like Max hadn't really grown from the start of the novel. All in all a decent read, but you really have to look past Max to be able to enjoy it.

***Side note: in the book preview for Karger's next book The Bump, there's a line about how women are lucky and can have one night of sex and then nine months later they have a baby, whereas gays have to go through the difficulties of surrogacy to get a baby. In my opinion this was an incredibly misogynist and reductive take on child-bearing and ignorant on the difficulty women face during pregnancy and childbirth. This left such a bad taste in my mouth that I probably won't read The Bump.

dsauriol1991's review against another edition

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4.0

This book was super sweet and fun! Here we follow Max & Chasten who are co best men for a wedding (Max for the bride and Chasten for the groom) - They start off on rocky footing but soon start to develop feelings. Definitely worth the hype!

thesawyerbean's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

hardlyworking's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

amarreth's review

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funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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