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Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'
Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall
13 reviews
mirandyli's review
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism
marmaladereads's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.75
How does a zero spice book about anxiety have so many dick jokes?
It turns out I actually love books that give you the worst kind of secondhand embarrassment. Paris is the worst kind of disaster "keeps fucking everything up when it was actually going okay because anxiety" kind of way and I was cringing and laughing on his behalf the entire time. This book is a painful look at anxiety disorder and we're in Paris's head the whole time which is honestly a little cringe but it is also hilarious and snarky in a very classic Alexis Hall type of way. And yes, it is like 40% penis jokes. A shocking amount of penis jokes, really. (They're all funny.)
I do think the second half is when things fall apart a little bit. Paris gets predictably better (this is a romance novel, after all, everyone gets their HEA) but I do wish the time scale was a looot longer. It just happened a bit too quickly for me given how severe his anxiety was, it felt a wee bit too magical therapy moment.
Oh, and there's the whole baking competition bit, so that's nice too, I guess.
It turns out I actually love books that give you the worst kind of secondhand embarrassment. Paris is the worst kind of disaster "keeps fucking everything up when it was actually going okay because anxiety" kind of way and I was cringing and laughing on his behalf the entire time. This book is a painful look at anxiety disorder and we're in Paris's head the whole time which is honestly a little cringe but it is also hilarious and snarky in a very classic Alexis Hall type of way. And yes, it is like 40% penis jokes. A shocking amount of penis jokes, really. (They're all funny.)
I do think the second half is when things fall apart a little bit. Paris gets predictably better (this is a romance novel, after all, everyone gets their HEA) but I do wish the time scale was a looot longer. It just happened a bit too quickly for me given how severe his anxiety was, it felt a wee bit too magical therapy moment.
Oh, and there's the whole baking competition bit, so that's nice too, I guess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Toxic friendship
stormeno's review against another edition
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Islamophobia
Minor: Sexual content and Classism
vagaybond's review
emotional
sad
tense
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I have a lot of baggage that this book poked at. I wanted to sympathize with the protagonist but the kissing without asking and the groping without asking are just not things that make a character likeable or relatable.
The mental illness stuff also seemed well above and beyond generalized anxiety disorder, IMO. But maybe wealthy cis men have a different experience with pathologization than I do. I've been diagnosed with BPD a few times over and feel doubtful that Paris didn't have some kind of cluster B thing going on. Also just applying 1 therapy and 1 medication just seemed like way too simple a fix and not representative of the reality of what interacting with the mental health care system is like.
I've got other stuff I typed out and then deleted but yeah. This is definitely my least favourite Alexis Hall book by a long shot.
The mental illness stuff also seemed well above and beyond generalized anxiety disorder, IMO. But maybe wealthy cis men have a different experience with pathologization than I do. I've been diagnosed with BPD a few times over and feel doubtful that Paris didn't have some kind of cluster B thing going on. Also just applying 1 therapy and 1 medication just seemed like way too simple a fix and not representative of the reality of what interacting with the mental health care system is like.
I've got other stuff I typed out and then deleted but yeah. This is definitely my least favourite Alexis Hall book by a long shot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Racism and Sexual assault
arf27's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Homophobia and Islamophobia
pkc's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry
amanda_reads13's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
2.5
Paris is going on a baking show despite his severe anxiety.
Paris has undiagnosed anxiety, severe anxiety. Since this is a single POV book, we are stuck in Paris' head for the entirety of the book. It was a lot. I wish there were multiple POVs in this book, because I got tired of Paris' self-destructive behaviour and whiny attitude very fast.
I don't like how Paris' selfishness was passed as a symptom of his anxiety. As someone who actual has generalized anxiety disorder, I find this a really disrespectful and irresponsible angle to take. Yes he is anxious and has catastrophic thinking, but that doesn't make you an asshole.
I like that we saw Paris getting help and part of his healing journey.
Tropes: competition, friends to lovers
Paris has undiagnosed anxiety, severe anxiety. Since this is a single POV book, we are stuck in Paris' head for the entirety of the book. It was a lot. I wish there were multiple POVs in this book, because I got tired of Paris' self-destructive behaviour and whiny attitude very fast.
I don't like how Paris' selfishness was passed as a symptom of his anxiety. As someone who actual has generalized anxiety disorder, I find this a really disrespectful and irresponsible angle to take. Yes he is anxious and has catastrophic thinking, but that doesn't make you an asshole.
I like that we saw Paris getting help and part of his healing journey.
Tropes: competition, friends to lovers
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
littlewishling's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
I loved this. Hall does such a wonderful job creating flawed protagonists that grow with their stories and I really related to Paris and absolutely adored Tariq.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Minor: Toxic relationship
historic_wince's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
3.75
I think the overall format of the "Winner Bakes All" series works really well. It’s this perfect situation in which unlikely people are grouped together (forced proximity) with one common interest/goal, but since they only compete on the weekends, for a set number of weeks, there’s a delicious slice of life quality to both books. But Hall also really gets to play with his characters. While while the main characters of Rosaline Palmer were in their late 20s and early 30s, Paris and Tariq are university students, still figuring themselves out, and that gives Paris Daillencourt a distinctly ‘new adult’ feel than the previous book.
That being said, I think some readers won’t enjoy this ‘season’ of Bake Expectations, both because the protagonists are younger and due to the nature of their character arcs. While there are some humorous scenes sprinkled throughout, I agree with other reviewers that this book is not a romcom. It does, however fit the bill of being a romance novel by having HFN/hopeful ending.
Our titular character Paris is suffering from an undiagnosed anxiety disorder, and, I would argue, severe depression. He is severely lacking a support system and has developed unhealthy coping mechanisms over the past several years. Within the very stressful situation of being on Bake Expectations, his condition understandably worsens. Readers get trapped with Paris in his anxiety, excessive worries, and catastrophizing. He’s hitting all the standard distorted thinking tropes. For readers with anxiety and/or depression, these scenes (which are numerous) may be very difficult to read, may be triggering, may seem all too relatable. As clear in other reviews, many readers might find Paris irritating and annoying—mirroring exactly in universe social media users who label Paris a twat.
And while at times Paris is selfish and hurtful to those close to him, he’s also a young kid, with a still-developing prefrontal cortex in a brain that has trained itself to sabotage all of his positive experiences.
The relationship at the center of this novel is also a bit of a disaster, but that seems fitting for the context and ages of Paris and Tariq. Is it a good idea to start dating your co-star/competition within the narrow context of a reality tv show? No, absolutely not, but they’re fucking 20 years olds. We’re not making our best choices at that age.
The many comments about Paris’s temperament and whether or not Tariq was too forgiving or not patient and understanding enough of Paris’s condition are marginally understandable. But also make me empathize with anyone in their lives that might be suffering with a mental illness. Because we both need to give Tariq and Paris some grace. Tariq thought he could fix his boyfriend, but severely underestimated the extent of Paris’ distorted thinking. Paris Daillencourt is that scene in Rosaline Palmer when Rosaline suggests to Harry that he might have anxiety, but with less mature main characters. Characters who are still growing and in different stages of defining their values, and that’s okay!
While it wasn't my favorite Alexis Hall reading experience, I'll still be picking up the next book in this series.
While it wasn't my favorite Alexis Hall reading experience, I'll still be picking up the next book in this series.
Other things:
Paris’ parents are completely absent from the story despite Paris texting them weekly. They are negligent and emotionally abusive. And probably huge narcissists.
I loved the dynamic between Tariq and his family.
I also really enjoyed that Tariq was both firm and proud of his many identities. Many, many people view religion and homosexuality as incompatible. It is a spot of contention in both religious and queer communities. So, it was nice to see a queer man with a positive relationship with his faith, even though I am not a particularly religious person.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Homophobia and Islamophobia
Minor: Religious bigotry
sara_ataglance's review against another edition
challenging
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, and Abandonment