Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall

49 reviews

emmas_bookshelf'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

5.0

Imagine two guys went on Great British Bake Off and fell in love? It’s this book. Alexis Hall is magnificent at writing wonderfully complex characters with huge depth of personality, and I loved reading about Paris and Tariq both on and off the show. Main character Paris has a lot of anxiety issues and while my anxiety isn’t as severe, it was still very relatable. Highly recommend this book!!!

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meganpbennett's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I really really loved Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, and was a little disappointed by Paris Daillencourt. But that seems to be the theme with Alexis Hall sequels. Parts of it were really really good, parts of it were really really funny, parts of it were really really touching, and parts of it were really really disappointing. So it averages out to three stars.

Alexis Hall doesn't write traditional romance, and PD, like RP and BfM, are very much relationship fiction, as opposed to romance novels. Knowing that going in makes the book better, as you don't spend half the book trying to figure out how, exactly, it's a romance novel.

Like RP, I found some of the sections very hard to read, because the person in charge of the filming is, frankly, an abusive bully to her charges. Which is not a good thing at all, but is an especially bad thing when the main character has an undiagnosed anxiety disorder. I also found the last section, the one with the tweets way way too over the top and very much unnecessarily harsh. I was also disappointed in the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the eARC!

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chambersaurusrx's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

4.75

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betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

Let me just start by saying if you're looking for a cute rom-com, this book is not it. It's billed as a lighthearted romance, but it is definitely not that. And that is not a bad thing! I love Alexis Hall's writing, and I love that he often goes outside the box when writing romance. Because of that, I almost think this book feels more realistic. It felt more like real-life to me.

The strongest aspect of this book is the way that Hall portrays Paris's anxiety. Paris has a pretty severe anxiety disorder, and it is exhausting being in his head for a good majority of the book. He is constantly second guessing himself, doesn't believe he's good enough, and torpedoes a lot of his relationships. Even though I don't struggle with severe anxiety like Paris does, Paris's voice felt authentic and realistic. And I think it will turn a lot of people away from this book.

Another aspect that makes this standout from other romance is Tariq's view on sex before marriage. It's another thing that you don't see a lot in romance, but I appreciated the focus on the fact that you can have romantic relationships without sex. More of this kind of romance, please!

Of course, the baking aspects were all lovely and wonderful, especially if you're a fan of Bake Off. I do hope Hall continues this series, because I think it's a really fun idea for a romance series and both books in it so far have been reallyl strong!

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unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad 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

ARC Review - pub date 11/1/22

The thing about Alexis Hall is that he writes RoNos that look like they’re gonna be super fluffy and then hit you with the sledgehammer of reality.

To whit, the latest installment in the Bake Expectations series: Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble. This is a romance featuring Paris, a man with intense undiagnosed anxiety, and Tariq, a man who is an absolute ray of sunshine. The two MCs were basically heartbreakingly realistic. Paris’s anxiety is intense and graphic. He is incredibly deep in his head - everyone hates him, he’s going to mess up, he’s the worst, etc etc etc. Enter Tariq, a devout Muslim and very out gay man, who tries his very best to “help” Paris while also being kind of into him aka Tariq kinda takes Paris on as a project, which never ends well.

Although this book definitely has a love story in it and ends on an HEA, its focus really isn’t the romance. Paris has an incredibly hard time with his mental health and so that the book becomes more about his struggles. I was much more concerned about Paris getting help than I was about whether he and Tariq ended up together. On the one hand, I loved how realistic and relatable the conflicts in the book were, but on the other, if you are looking for a comforting read about a comforting reality show - this ain’t it.

All that said? There were scenes and moments in this book where I was laughing out loud and reading passages to my husband. I suppose just like real life, there are funny and sweet moments mixed up with the bad ones.

Oh, and Paris’s parents are *gone* like they simply don’t text him back…ever? Even when he repeatedly asks them to? That little detail alone was a gut punch, and added to Paris’s intensely bad time and my angst as a reader. In sum, this book feels a lot like Queenie by Candace Carty-Williams in that there is an MC who is struggling realistically and mightily with their mental health and the general state of the world and you’re simultaneously rooting for them and empathizing with them and also very frustrated by their circumstances. It can be a really emotionally taxing thing to read a book like that so I want to make sure other readers are ready.

👍🏻Recommended with a big dose of check the CW and make sure you have the emotional capacity for this. Lovable and very realistic characters as well as mental health are a huge focus in this book, the romance is sweet but I would not call it the focus.

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literarycavy's review against another edition

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2.5

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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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

Thanks to Forever for the free advance copy of this book.

- Honestly, I'd read Alexis Hall's grocery list at this point. I adore his writing: the banter is top notch and the characters feel like real, flawed, lovely people.
- PARIS DAILLENCOURT IS ABOUT TO CRUMBLE was a bit tougher to read than other Hall books, though. Reading from Paris' point of view through his intense anxiety was often hard and frustrating, though possibly because I could see my past self in him.
- One of the best things about this particular series is that I'm never sure if the towns and the pastries Hall names are real or if they're satire, lol. Either way, they sound delicious.

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bananathebookbestie's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective 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

I enjoyed this book! After reading Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, I was so excited to read another book in the same setting of Bake Expectations. This book followed a different structure from the first book, and we got to see a lot after the show finished and was airing. I think that helped with development of the characters and their relationships a lot.

Our main character, Paris, is dealing with a lot and he doesn't quite know how to manage it. He has undiagnosed general anxiety disorder, was essentially abandoned by his rich and famous parents, and is an excellent baker but cannot get out of his head (ya know, because of the anxiety). He spends most of the novel working through his self esteem and personal issues while on a reality TV baking competition his roommate entered him in. On Bake Expectations, he meets fellow contestant Tariq Hassan — after smacking him in the face with a fridge door — and they really hit it off (pun intended). Their relationship is very young and sweet, while also dealing with a lot of personal issues with each other. Tariq is Muslim and takes his religion and being gay very seriously and doesn't want to minimize either part of himself for anyone.

When reviewing Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, I said it read more like women's fiction than a romcom; I would say the same about this book. It focused way more on Paris' anxiety and troubles and having him work through them until he finally gets a diagnosis, therapy and medicine to manage his anxiety. The relationship with Tariq was very cute and important, but to me, didn't feel like the central theme of the story.

Overall, I loved the characters still and thought the bakes and pacing were fantastic. I do think having Tariq's point of view would've been beneficial to the story so we could get a break from all the Parisian thinking — at times it was very overwhelming (and I have anxiety!).

Alexis Hall really does write great representation and characters full of depth. He is an auto-read author for me and I'm excited to see what the third installment of the series will be. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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purplepenning's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

"By 'eck it's gorgeous"! A little heavy, but never stodgy, book two in the Winner Bakes All series is different from but as good as the first one (Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake) and could definitely stand alone. "Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble" is a sweet, poignant, personal, coming-of-age story wrapped in a satisfying romance and topped with just enough quirky baking competition capers to give it that extra something. The sensitive portrayal and pacing of Paris's anxiety and mental health issues and the navigation of the personal and relationship differences between Paris and Tariq (an openly gay Muslim) is *chef's kiss*. Plus, there are scrummy good bakes.

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