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stormeno's review against another edition
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Islamophobia, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia
Minor: Sexual content and Classism
morganish's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Alexis Hall continues to be one of my favorite authors. I'm not sure I can even explain it; just that I feel pretty confident that I can pick up one of his books, get sucked in, and ultimately have a really good time and miss it once it's over. That being said, I do think there's some stuff to critique here - ways that this book is potentially exclusionary in its audience, ways that hearken back to some issues that continue to be problematic across Hall's work imho.
What Worked For Me
The Pacing and Premise: I'm easy. I love the Great British Baking Show, I love queer stories, and I love Alexis Hall's writing. And I can't really explain it, but the Winner Takes All series feels like a spiritual successor to Bridget Jones's Diary (the film, haven't read the book), which I had a brief obsession with in high school. Yes, in the obvious British-ness. But also the way each protagonist enters the story carrying a bunch of self-conscious baggage, the competition giving them hope they can remake themselves into a someone they have more confidence in. The structure of the work is also helpful in providing an expectation for how the story will go, a nice cozy framework while the characters get to know each other and work through their issues.
The Representation of Extreme Low Self-Esteem and Anxiety: Paris's anxiety is absolutely out of control for the bulk of the book, in a way that has him totally removed from reality. To me, this felt really grounded and relatable, since anxiety that revolves around self-esteem issues are so often like that in real life. The fact that Paris is struggling with this specifically as a young adult in university adds an additional level of realism, too. That's typically when anxiety issues can suddenly manifest or rear up, and is often when young people are forced to confront how to deal with it + the fallout. There were times Paris's anxiety frankly made him a dick because he was so centered on himself. Or he was incapable of treating minor problems he'd essentially made up in his head with the same level of catastrophization as issues that cause real harm. But the book is ultimately about him slowly learning to deal with that and to realize that the people around him deserve better. However much it makes him frustrating sometimes, this feels like a real coming-of-age book in that way, where growing up means becoming a better version of yourself than the coping mechanisms embraced during youth.
The Representation of Extreme Low Self-Esteem and Anxiety: Paris's anxiety is absolutely out of control for the bulk of the book, in a way that has him totally removed from reality. To me, this felt really grounded and relatable, since anxiety that revolves around self-esteem issues are so often like that in real life. The fact that Paris is struggling with this specifically as a young adult in university adds an additional level of realism, too. That's typically when anxiety issues can suddenly manifest or rear up, and is often when young people are forced to confront how to deal with it + the fallout. There were times Paris's anxiety frankly made him a dick because he was so centered on himself. Or he was incapable of treating minor problems he'd essentially made up in his head with the same level of catastrophization as issues that cause real harm. But the book is ultimately about him slowly learning to deal with that and to realize that the people around him deserve better. However much it makes him frustrating sometimes, this feels like a real coming-of-age book in that way, where growing up means becoming a better version of yourself than the coping mechanisms embraced during youth.
What I'm on the Fence About
The Humor: I really enjoy Alexis Hall's humor. It's oftentimes irreverent, poking fun at powerful figures or the absurdity of social conventions. This usually works well when writing about how absurd cishet norms and homophobia are. Add in his unabashed Britishness in tone and how good he is at effortlessly inserting banter, and I'm pretty much sold. However, the downside to his sense of humor is that he often seems to feel this need to poke at all sorts of power structures and systemic ills, even when he's not an insider and doesn't have a full understanding of whether or not those jokes are challenging things like racism... or are actually just racist jokes. As a result, Hall's writing can sometimes echo Paris's self-conscious egocentrism with how he writes about rich white characters, unsure where exactly he's supposed to fall and what exactly his role is supposed to be. Because I love Alexis Hall's writing so much, I would really like to see him spend more time delving into other perspectives and doing more research - not so that he can center other types of people, but so that his stories expand beyond his discomfort and actually become more inclusive. Including in his humor.
What Wasn't My Thing
Representation: That all leads me into this point, which is that, while I'm not a Bangladeshi-British person, I would not be at all surprised if moments in this book come across as cringy, tone-deaf, or flat-out racist. The humor, for one, but a lot of other little stuff, too. It's not that every moment is bad, but there are enough that made me go "hmmmm, okay." Granted, Paris is a privileged white person who's learning that his anxiety is actually self-centering, and therefore unfair and harmful to all sorts of other people. But Tariq puts up with a lot from him, for some reason. All the while Hall's class consciousness, where his rich protagonists catch crap from the other "normal" people for being rich, hits an all-time high of discomfort in how it all blends together. Like, why is Tariq offended that Paris wanted to make him a nice meal full of good ingredients? Is this a British thing? I've never heard of a person with less money rejecting "fancy" food and... blaming the person with more money for splurging on them to show them they care? Not unless it's an intentional manipulative power move on the part of the richer person, or there's something unethical about the harvesting of the food. This just makes it seem like everything that could possibly be associated with rich people (middle class people in Britain, I guess) is automatically evil by association. In Alexis Hall's world, having enough money to be financially stable is something you should always feel embarrassed and bad about if you want to be perceived as a good rich person, rather than looking at individual purchases/actions as part of a larger system, requiring personal responsibility and new approaches when some aspect of wealth is actually harmful.
Who This Is For
At the end of the day, this is for me, because even with all the critiques, I still love Alexis Hall's writing, characterization, and benign humor. If you're someone who's really triggered or uncomfortable by reading about characters with intense anxiety, you absolutely should not read this - it's basically the entire book. Certain people with anxiety probably should read this as the wake-up call it very much provides, but I'm not sure how to single those people out from the people who genuinely don't need it. I'd also say BIPOC readers may want to take a pass unless it's affirming to you to see white MCs deal with aspects of their own racism, however imperfectly. Otherwise, if you like Bridget Jones and/or the Great British Baking Show and have a high tolerance following imperfect characters with intense anxiety, this could be a great book.
Content Warnings
Intense depiction of anxiety, racism and classism (including coming from the MC), Islamaphobia. There's probably other stuff, too, but those are what I recall really sticking out to me. Might want to check with other reviews, just in case.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Racism and Classism
readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism
Minor: Homophobia, Classism, and Toxic relationship
town_scar's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Homophobia
kbairbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for approving me this arc.
As someone who struggles with mental health issues, I really appreciated that this book sheds light on how debilitating these struggles can be. I liked that there was a more realistic growth progression (although it was sped up because of the storyline at the end). I also liked that the relationship had more organic ups and downs rather than being picture perfect/nobody owns up to their mistakes. I also liked the character Joy and all the yummy desserts.
Now I’m not sure if there was a ‘dry British humor’ thing going on that just went way over my head but the majority to all of the characters struck me as MASSIVE jerks. Honestly they were all really quite dislike-able and hindered my reading experience. There were funny moments that I genuinely laughed out loud and the language of the book was super unique and fun. And I did start liking Paris and Tariq more at the end but overall I don’t think this was my favorite read.
As someone who struggles with mental health issues, I really appreciated that this book sheds light on how debilitating these struggles can be. I liked that there was a more realistic growth progression (although it was sped up because of the storyline at the end). I also liked that the relationship had more organic ups and downs rather than being picture perfect/nobody owns up to their mistakes. I also liked the character Joy and all the yummy desserts.
Now I’m not sure if there was a ‘dry British humor’ thing going on that just went way over my head but the majority to all of the characters struck me as MASSIVE jerks. Honestly they were all really quite dislike-able and hindered my reading experience. There were funny moments that I genuinely laughed out loud and the language of the book was super unique and fun. And I did start liking Paris and Tariq more at the end but overall I don’t think this was my favorite read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Bullying
Moderate: Islamophobia, Medical content, Racism, and Homophobia
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