Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'

Role Playing by Cathy Yardley

91 reviews

smallmac's review

emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

3.0

Some of the references are going to age really fast (Jujutsu Kaisen), but I enjoyed the depictions of online chat interactions.  They felt pretty accurate to experiences I've had playing MMOs, even if they were a bit verbose.  Overall a nice, breezy romance with little friction.  It could have gone further into the sticky parts of Maggie and Aiden's lives, but it didn't have to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Outing, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

jackieyvette's review

emotional funny inspiring 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

4.75

Now this is a modern contemporary romance. Realistic without being boring, Romantic without being cringey and had all the right plot points. Maggie was fun, honest and caring and Aiden was charming, kind and pragmatic. They were an introvert match made in heaven. 
The conversations regarding Aiden's sexuality were done so well too which was surprising to me because rarely ever do contemporary modern romances speak about LGBTQ+ people and spaces with the care and respect it deserves. Also, the leads being 48/50 was such a good call. Nothing blander than a late twenties/early thirties romance. Newsflash people, older people fall in love too!

Side characters that were not actual friends to the main characters all sucked. Mrs. Bishop, Deb, Patience, Sheryl, Trev, Davey, even Kit pissed me off in the end. So, shitty people ruining two actual good people in love, as realistic as it can get.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Toxic friendship, Biphobia, Cursing, and Homophobia

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

10 out of 10, no notes!

This is a friends to lovers romance where the people in the couple are 50ish year old introverts who met through an online gaming guild. I love a romance novel that gives me a couple that’s not just young, hot and cis! This book is all about accepting yourself and finding your people who will love you no matter what. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Outing, Homophobia, Biphobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Grief

claire_riach's review

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Outing, and Biphobia

Minor: Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Acephobia/Arophobia

amberlfaris's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia and Homophobia

Moderate: Abandonment

sunnyd76's review against another edition

funny hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Homophobia, and Acephobia/Arophobia

literaryintersections's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this - the 45+ main characters, the queer rep (ace and bi), the gaming and nerd culture, the way that Maggie and Aiden fell for each other. It was so sweet and perfect. What I did not love was the really toxic families, how long that dragged on, and hthe horrible things they said. I know it’s realistic but it’s also super traumatic and I wish there was less of it. 

Overall a great read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia and Biphobia

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Abandonment

annahamburger's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Mental illness, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Outing, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Xenophobia

Minor: Violence, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Cancer, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Medical content, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Car accident, Dementia, Pregnancy, and Racism

sdupont's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.75

This book is a bit of a slow burn much like the romance between Maggie and Aiden. It starts off with a slow pace but once the characters meet IRL the pacing and story picks up. Aiden is a sweetheart, I just wanted to give him a hug and defend him just like Maggie did. Maggie is a bad bitch and I just loved how self assured she was. Aiden’s family was the worst and Deb was annoying af, they served their purpose in the plot but their page count was suffering. You definitely don’t need to be a gamer to enjoy this one. I recommend it for someone looking for a meaningful bond between characters in their 50’s. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Outing

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Car accident and Racism

bibliomania_express's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Role Playing by Cathy Yardley is a fierce and sweet romance that features main characters in their late foeties/early fifties, standing up for yourself (and others), asexual and bisexual rep, and gaming adults. 

I absolutely loved Maggie and Aiden and their slow-burn romance. Maggie deals with social anxiety and introversion, but she's also fierce and unafraid to be herself. She tells off so many people in this book and I absolutely loved it. Especially the scene at the wedding. And Aiden - he's so kind and thoughtful, but had been shit on by his family for so long. He tries to do well by his horrid, homophobic mother, and I was cheering for him as he learned to be more assertive. 

This book also shows how much knowledge can help people struggling with their identities. Aiden is on the ace spectrum, but he has frequently felt like something is wrong with him since he didn't have the label. Yardley does a fantastic job showing how much having the language to speak about himself means to Aiden, even in his early fifties. 

This book has been on my radar for a while now, so I'm glad I finally picked it up. 

Some content warnings for homophobia/biphobia/acephobia (all challenged by the text), misogyny (also challenged), discussions of hospice care and elder care.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia and Biphobia

Moderate: Dementia

Minor: Car accident, Cancer, and Death of parent