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sushieyeroll's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
4.75
rabhim's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
fast-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
5.0
the_escape_artist_'s review against another edition
4.0
This book was delightful. Had all the best tropes of the genre, but focused on the love and self discovery of two queer people. It also deals with mental health and neuro diversity in a really beautiful and authentic way. If you like love stories that don’t conform to a white hetero framework you will really enjoy this book.
yellowswagger's review against another edition
5.0
What a wonderful story. It is a reminder that we are all worthy of love, not despite our struggles, but for who we are fully. It gets lightly and enjoyably steamy. It has a lot of heart. I would love to see this adapted to a television show.
revri's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
OVERALL RATING: 8.17/10 -> 4 stars on StoryGraph.
Characters: 8
It’s an uncommon thing for both protagonists in a romance to receive a fair amount of love and spotlight, but the author managed to achieve that with this book. Both Dev and Charlie’s complicated struggles as well as their progress get shown descriptively without either getting thrown to the backseat in favor of the other, thanks to the switching back and forth between their POVs.
But to give some constructive criticisms, it’s a bit of a shame that side characters like Ryan, Jules, Skylar, or Parisa are there solely to support the main characters without any real impact on the flow of the narrative on their own. Also, it’s kinda odd that Maureen is the full-on cartoonish villain, and the channel executives somehow get portrayed as the “liberal” one in this scenario.
Setting/Theme: 10
This book could be qualified as a criticism towards the Bachelor Nation or the modern reality TV realm in general with many of the dark sides brought up in this book: exploitative and manipulative tactics, “performative” diversity, toxic working conditions, etc. The book also discussed mental health issues or how social norms pressured us to chase after a certain idea of love, not the one we choose for ourselves. Within the frame of a romance story, I think the aforementioned topics were covered with thoughts and care so that they actively played a part in shaping the main narrative.
Writing Style: 8
The writing meets my standard of a typical queer romance, with many shining parts that evoke strong emotions in me. The choice of attaching the relationship development with the filming process also helps me immerse more into their world as if I’m one of the witnesses on the set.
However, the aspect that is a bit lacking is the spices/smuts because somehow the writing for those scenes reminds me of the ones in fanfic in terms of being a little over-descriptive and lacking intense moments.
Plot: 7
The formation of their love connection at first came off a bit forced and out-of-place for me, but the chemistry is full-blown once the pieces are settled in place. I think the author pairs the progression of the forbidden love with the quest of battling their internal issues quite well throughout the story. Even though the fallout and ending are a bit dulcified, it is unexpected (for me) and perfectly fits the vanilla fairy-tale atmosphere of the fictional world.
On the thing that came up a bit short, I think there should be more proper communications between them to resolve their issues instead of the repeated cycle of Dev pulling away and Charlie reaching.
Logic: 6
Even with the nature of the book being a HEA queer romance for people who seeks escapism, this book still requires some suspension of disbelief because there’s (sadly) little chance much of this can happen in real life. For example, even with Maureen’s getting kicked out, it’s hard to believe that the channel executives are willing to upset their “traditional” viewer demographic, especially with something as taboo as a queer relationship on national TV. Or the huge backlash waves they received with the decision to rebrand the series conveniently get dimmed down for the sake of a happily-ever-after . I mean I would love it if that’s the world we live in, but I wish there was a bit more realism woven in so that the story doesn’t feel too sugarcoated.
There’s also some inconsistency in Charlie’s boundaries like how he makes it clear on night one that people give him notice before touching, but then that never gets mentioned again anytime someone touches him later. Or how he is super concerned about “cleanliness” for the first part but that magically disappears in the latter, as if Dev’s love somehow manages to “fix” his issues.
Intrigue/Enjoyment: 10
I have a soft spot for both gay romances and reality TV, so this book already has an advantage by combining both of my favorite things in the world. Thankfully, this book didn’t let down my anticipation and it was a charming reading journey from beginning to end.
cierrareads's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.5
maestroalberti's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
4.75
megreadsau's review against another edition
Just not vibing. The narrations are weird purely because the POV of this book doesn't need multiple narrators....just not it