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greyike's review
4.0
(4.25 or 4.5) I did not think I was going to like this book at first, or be able to finish — it starts out fast and hard (no pun intended) with one explicit sexcapade after another, but it is worth sticking with! I ended up really enjoying this book. I haven’t read another quite like it! It’s simultaneously silly and deep, NSFW and sweet, magical and mundane, and has a protagonist that is messy and at times frustrating, but that you ultimately can’t help liking and sympathizing with. I cringed, I laughed, I rooted for Paul. 10/10 would read this author again, really enjoyed her writing style and ability to place you so vividly in a time and place.
sball22's review
4.0
As social commentary, analysis, and critical theory, this book is golden. As a book with plot, characters, and enjoyability to read, it falls just below the mark. Mainly took a star off because I felt like it dragged on a lot at the end, but I’d still recommend this to anyone.
dingr's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
rcielocruz's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
sazerac's review
adventurous
dark
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
3.25
el_be_readin's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-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? Yes
4.75
ratatouille1312's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
emencii's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
3.5
addisonaugaitis's review against another edition
5.0
This book is so niche and just for me it’s so crazy
nathansnook's review
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.0
“..𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩.”
I only like this but I want to love it.
It took 15 years for Lawlor to write this, always pledging that they were never concerned with character development, but the curse of this is that they use Paul as vessel for exploration. In all the crevices of sex and self.
Though smut runs fierce and forward to balance out all the dull moments in relationship-building throughout the book, it goes on for too long, feeling too much like graduate thesis in pools of the first half, painfully aware that Lawlor writes from the campus, is concerned with only the bubble in which they write in.
When Paul finds himself in San Francisco, a burst of earnestness arises. Not sure if this is because Lawlor lands in the precise sentiment they want to write in or if it’s because it became so personal to me.
You see, if I had this when I first moved to San Francisco as a Vietnamese-American queer tween twink who didn’t know what they wanted to do in life, changing majors thrice and working double shifts in a day while all going through stacked credits, I think life would’ve been kinder to me. If I had Paul alongside me, I could’ve done it alone, but with much more courage.
I mean, I’m still here. I went through it all. The ups. The downs. Though ends always haunted me. I thought of ends all the time. The great full stop that plagues your adolescence. Because life was hard. Life was abusive. Life was beyond me. That’s why I left to SF. All much like Paul, only to find him nearly a decade after.
What I’m trying to say is I lived this too early to love it in its lateness.
if I had read this when I first moved to SF, I think I would’ve been a lot kinder to the book. I would’ve been more forgiving with the way the book meandors. The way nothing really happens. The way it’s bloated by sex without much depth. But here I am. At 30. Wondering wondering wondering and still wandering much like Paul. Happy to have this in my hands better late than never.
I only like this but I want to love it.
It took 15 years for Lawlor to write this, always pledging that they were never concerned with character development, but the curse of this is that they use Paul as vessel for exploration. In all the crevices of sex and self.
Though smut runs fierce and forward to balance out all the dull moments in relationship-building throughout the book, it goes on for too long, feeling too much like graduate thesis in pools of the first half, painfully aware that Lawlor writes from the campus, is concerned with only the bubble in which they write in.
When Paul finds himself in San Francisco, a burst of earnestness arises. Not sure if this is because Lawlor lands in the precise sentiment they want to write in or if it’s because it became so personal to me.
You see, if I had this when I first moved to San Francisco as a Vietnamese-American queer tween twink who didn’t know what they wanted to do in life, changing majors thrice and working double shifts in a day while all going through stacked credits, I think life would’ve been kinder to me. If I had Paul alongside me, I could’ve done it alone, but with much more courage.
I mean, I’m still here. I went through it all. The ups. The downs. Though ends always haunted me. I thought of ends all the time. The great full stop that plagues your adolescence. Because life was hard. Life was abusive. Life was beyond me. That’s why I left to SF. All much like Paul, only to find him nearly a decade after.
What I’m trying to say is I lived this too early to love it in its lateness.
if I had read this when I first moved to SF, I think I would’ve been a lot kinder to the book. I would’ve been more forgiving with the way the book meandors. The way nothing really happens. The way it’s bloated by sex without much depth. But here I am. At 30. Wondering wondering wondering and still wandering much like Paul. Happy to have this in my hands better late than never.