Reviews - The Companion | The StoryGraph

809 reviews for:

The Companion

E.E. Ottoman

3.68 AVERAGE

juls0899's review against another edition

3.5

hopeful relaxing 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

bebanimma's review against another edition

4.0

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: Complicated

slowburnsrus's review against another edition

5.0

emotional reflective slow-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

byejohn's review against another edition

3.75

lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Yes

Very cute! Not much happens, but like, in a charming way.

iam's review against another edition

2.5

I really wanted to like this based on the subject matter - I mean, hello? Trans4trans polyam historical romance?! May it was the wrong time for me to read this, but somehow I just wasn't super engaged.

Of course not every book with trans characters needs to center their transness, but here I found that part of the main characters' identities almost nebulous. They never outright talked about being trans, never called it by name, just sort of alluded to it. This included the sex scenes, which for me were sort of difficult to parse due to the ambiguous language. Maybe it was done this was to be affirming and not use gendered terms around genitalia, but even knowing the characters and what was going on, I just found it confusing.
That's a small complaint, however.

I was much more bothered by the how quickly the character dynamics shifted, especially with how their relationships lacked exposition. I had no clue how well, if at all Madeline and Victor knew each other at the beginning of the book. One the one hand it seemed they are acquainted via a mutual friend, but hadn't met or corresponded before, but on the other hand it felt like they jumped into bed together and expressed deep trust in each other after like two short conversations, so...

The romance/sex with Audrey also progresses quickly, though more reasonably, at least to me. At least when it comes to her and Madeline's relationship. Audrey and Victory's dynamic was, again, difficult for me to figure out.

Overall this is a lovely historical romance novella with an all trans cast, which I adored! However, I found the relationship dynamics didn't entirely work me. There are quite a few sex scenes, but due to their vague descriptions it did not feel like erotica to me.