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littlebookterror's review against another edition
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? Yes
2.75
Joey is a queer Maori man in a wheelchair due to a past sports injury and a motivational speaker. Ella is a 1ueer Chinese-Australian accountant at a marketing firm and a big fan of him. What was planned to be just a one night stand ends up turning into more when they meet again at her work.
The premise of the story is somewhat misleading - I was expecting to see them work together, maybe fight their attraction and just generally get some forced proximity. But the story is very short and features a lot of sex. (I mean this as a neutral statement. While I am maybe more particular as I like my sex in books as an ace person, this does not mean it's a bad thing - just that it doesn't work for me.)
This was missing the mark on too many issues:
- I don't feel I know these characters well. Both have multiple marginalizations, some just mentioned (queerness, race), while others play an important role (Joey's disability) and both often interact with famous people - all those things could have been interesting to explore but we don't linger on anything long.
- I was not feeling the romance either. It went too quickly and there were too many coincidences when it came to a main character making correct assumptions about the other person's mental state despite only knowing each other for a short time.
- And while there are quite a few sex scenes, aside from the nuanced discussion around disability, they added nothing else. No emotional release, not working out any issues or using intimacy to create a stronger bond. Superfast orgasm and (in my opinion) weak writing instead.
It just all feels a little rushed.
That entire scene with her grandmother felt unearned cause I certainly didn't think they were at that point in their relationship yet to make that moment impactful.
The premise of the story is somewhat misleading - I was expecting to see them work together, maybe fight their attraction and just generally get some forced proximity. But the story is very short and features a lot of sex. (I mean this as a neutral statement. While I am maybe more particular as I like my sex in books as an ace person, this does not mean it's a bad thing - just that it doesn't work for me.)
This was missing the mark on too many issues:
- I don't feel I know these characters well. Both have multiple marginalizations, some just mentioned (queerness, race), while others play an important role (Joey's disability) and both often interact with famous people - all those things could have been interesting to explore but we don't linger on anything long.
- I was not feeling the romance either. It went too quickly and there were too many coincidences when it came to a main character making correct assumptions about the other person's mental state despite only knowing each other for a short time.
- And while there are quite a few sex scenes, aside from the nuanced discussion around disability, they added nothing else. No emotional release, not working out any issues or using intimacy to create a stronger bond. Superfast orgasm and (in my opinion) weak writing instead.
It just all feels a little rushed.
That entire scene with her grandmother felt unearned cause I certainly didn't think they were at that point in their relationship yet to make that moment impactful.
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