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kberry513's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to love this book. Honestly, I expected to. But in addition to finding the main character annoying, this has a laundry list of issues that should have been addressed during the editing process.
Glaringly obvious things like at the beginning, it explicitly says Kian and Hudson dated for a year and a half and were good friends for a year and a half before they got together. Then near the end, there's a line that says something like "Ten months ago, the week before I met Hudson", which obviously doesn't add up. The guy Divya sets Kian up with, Wallace - in the beginning, he's a lawyer who Divya met in a case, but then when they're on their date, Wallace says Divya is a coworker. Even more egregiously on their date at the end, he is somehow now a doctor.
Then there were smaller things, like mentioning Hudson's parents bought his brownstone in Beacon Hill for $600k...unless it was a studio sized condo in a brownstone building, there's no way it would be less than a million dollars in that neighbors and Kian calls it Hudson's house. Also, there's no way Kian could have remained unemployed with student debt and be able to pay rent for the amount of time presumably he is unemployed. He and Hudson were still together when they graduated and it's been several months since their breakup. Also, Northeastern is unique in that it's a five year undergraduate track because all students do at least one six-month long co-op, so Kian should have had what amounts to at least one serious internship in his chosen field and would have at least some contacts in the journalist world. I know a lot of people who graduated from NU (including my parents) and also the company I work for currently has several co-op students from NU so I know it's still in place.
The other thing is that it felt like the author was trying too hard. From the insane amount of very niche pop culture references that really detract from the story, to the pushy way Kian continues to harp (both in his internal monologue and out loud a lot) about various issues that were brought up as bad but never addressed - on two separate occasions he tells members of his boyfriend's family his opinion that ethical billionaires don't exist but doesn't actually go in to detail on why or how they could address it. It just felt performative, like the author was a middle aged white man trying to be "woke" like the "kids" - only I know that isn't at all the case as I read the author bio.
On multiple occasions, Kian mentions Boston needs more Black people so I was curious and looked up demographics - in the last 30ish years the population of Boston went from being upwards of 70% white to around 50% white in 2020, with around 23% Black, which was more diverse than I was expecting based on the dialogue - unless what he meant was more along the lines of the colleges and upper class neighborhoods like where hudson lives in Beacon Hill need more diversity, which is a slightly different kettle of fish.
Also, we never find out what caused the initial break up - they don't address it, they just get back together.
Also also, what kind of Gen Z ever takes a regular taxi??? Several occasions Kian takes an Uber, he mentions being born in 99 and being 23, so this isn't set in the past, but for some reason twice he calls a taxi and sits in it while letting the meter go up while he's dillydallying. I get that it was for the narrative but it makes no sense. I've never once flagged a taxi down in Boston, you'd have to call a taxi company and why would you do that instead of an Uber which would be less experience and the price is fixed.
Which leads me to my final complaints - Kian is solidly in Gen Z. I double checked, but millennials were born between 81 and 94 or 96 at the very latest. So the fact that he is now running something for the digital magazines geared toward Gen X and Millennials is kind of silly; Gen X is currently all middle aged people from their 40s to mid 50s. It seems clear that the author is a millennial who is definitely over 30 and writing from the perspective he had when he was 23 only not taking into account the last decade but not having the story be set in the past and i think the disconnect is a little jarring.
There was a lot of potential here and ultimately I think it was the editing team that should have caught all this stuff. It was so distracting from the story that it was hard to get in to and honestly difficult to root for the characters.
Glaringly obvious things like at the beginning, it explicitly says Kian and Hudson dated for a year and a half and were good friends for a year and a half before they got together. Then near the end, there's a line that says something like "Ten months ago, the week before I met Hudson", which obviously doesn't add up. The guy Divya sets Kian up with, Wallace - in the beginning, he's a lawyer who Divya met in a case, but then when they're on their date, Wallace says Divya is a coworker. Even more egregiously on their date at the end, he is somehow now a doctor.
Then there were smaller things, like mentioning Hudson's parents bought his brownstone in Beacon Hill for $600k...unless it was a studio sized condo in a brownstone building, there's no way it would be less than a million dollars in that neighbors and Kian calls it Hudson's house. Also, there's no way Kian could have remained unemployed with student debt and be able to pay rent for the amount of time presumably he is unemployed. He and Hudson were still together when they graduated and it's been several months since their breakup. Also, Northeastern is unique in that it's a five year undergraduate track because all students do at least one six-month long co-op, so Kian should have had what amounts to at least one serious internship in his chosen field and would have at least some contacts in the journalist world. I know a lot of people who graduated from NU (including my parents) and also the company I work for currently has several co-op students from NU so I know it's still in place.
The other thing is that it felt like the author was trying too hard. From the insane amount of very niche pop culture references that really detract from the story, to the pushy way Kian continues to harp (both in his internal monologue and out loud a lot) about various issues that were brought up as bad but never addressed - on two separate occasions he tells members of his boyfriend's family his opinion that ethical billionaires don't exist but doesn't actually go in to detail on why or how they could address it. It just felt performative, like the author was a middle aged white man trying to be "woke" like the "kids" - only I know that isn't at all the case as I read the author bio.
On multiple occasions, Kian mentions Boston needs more Black people so I was curious and looked up demographics - in the last 30ish years the population of Boston went from being upwards of 70% white to around 50% white in 2020, with around 23% Black, which was more diverse than I was expecting based on the dialogue - unless what he meant was more along the lines of the colleges and upper class neighborhoods like where hudson lives in Beacon Hill need more diversity, which is a slightly different kettle of fish.
Also, we never find out what caused the initial break up - they don't address it, they just get back together.
Also also, what kind of Gen Z ever takes a regular taxi??? Several occasions Kian takes an Uber, he mentions being born in 99 and being 23, so this isn't set in the past, but for some reason twice he calls a taxi and sits in it while letting the meter go up while he's dillydallying. I get that it was for the narrative but it makes no sense. I've never once flagged a taxi down in Boston, you'd have to call a taxi company and why would you do that instead of an Uber which would be less experience and the price is fixed.
Which leads me to my final complaints - Kian is solidly in Gen Z. I double checked, but millennials were born between 81 and 94 or 96 at the very latest. So the fact that he is now running something for the digital magazines geared toward Gen X and Millennials is kind of silly; Gen X is currently all middle aged people from their 40s to mid 50s. It seems clear that the author is a millennial who is definitely over 30 and writing from the perspective he had when he was 23 only not taking into account the last decade but not having the story be set in the past and i think the disconnect is a little jarring.
There was a lot of potential here and ultimately I think it was the editing team that should have caught all this stuff. It was so distracting from the story that it was hard to get in to and honestly difficult to root for the characters.
jessicafaith's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
2.5
charliereads24's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
samellobo's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
nalia_danger's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
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
sarahspencerknits's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-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? It's complicated
4.25
saraharas's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
jackiehorne's review against another edition
DNF 120 pages in. I was really excited when I started reading Jackson's first adult rom com, a fake dating and a second chance romance about queer Black male characters, written by a queer black male writer. An embarrassing gap in the publishing field, that is, a gap that romance readers both queer and straight are eager to see filled. It's also got a narrator who is funny as fuck. Kian's voice pops off the page, entertaining, distinctive, often caustic; it engaged me immediately, and I was eager to read more.
But as the story went on, I found the book depended too much on that voice, focusing far too much on Kian's jokes and pop culture references and digressive asides at the expense of developing a plot or on even explaining what had happened to Kian and Hudson in their first-go round at romance. I kept waiting, and waiting, for the two characters to engage with one another, for things to happen to them or because of them, for any small sign of understanding at all why they were boyfriends for a year and a half, and what led Hudson to break up with Kian. The pleasure of a second chance romance lies in seeing how the characters will do it differently, better, the second time round; if you don't know what their first time round was like, or why it went bad, a lot of the pleasure ends up missing.
When I started skimming paragraphs, then skipping pages, I decided to check out other Goodreads reviews to see if things got better. But it seems they don't, which made me decide to DNF and return this one to the library.
But as the story went on, I found the book depended too much on that voice, focusing far too much on Kian's jokes and pop culture references and digressive asides at the expense of developing a plot or on even explaining what had happened to Kian and Hudson in their first-go round at romance. I kept waiting, and waiting, for the two characters to engage with one another, for things to happen to them or because of them, for any small sign of understanding at all why they were boyfriends for a year and a half, and what led Hudson to break up with Kian. The pleasure of a second chance romance lies in seeing how the characters will do it differently, better, the second time round; if you don't know what their first time round was like, or why it went bad, a lot of the pleasure ends up missing.
When I started skimming paragraphs, then skipping pages, I decided to check out other Goodreads reviews to see if things got better. But it seems they don't, which made me decide to DNF and return this one to the library.
timbuckle81's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5