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A review by clemfandango69
The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Elle Kennedy’s books really seem to have this undercurrent of misogyny to them, most often reflected in the way male characters, including the MMCs, talk about women. Despite DNF’ing a few of her titles, I gave this one a shot because she’s so prolific in the hockey-romance space, and I keep hoping I’ll find one by her that I like. But unfortunately and unsurprisingly, that same issue persisted in this book. (Speaking of her other books, there are frequent nods to those characters in this, which I personally find tedious. I don’t know who this man is. He could be walking down the street, and I wouldn’t know a thing. Sorry to this man.)
The writing is fine. There were some comedic gems here and there, and the sex scenes were solid. I liked that the FMC is also a hockey player, and she had a couple decent feminist-lite takes. But fuck man, why take the sexism and misogyny of the worst men in the real world into romantic fiction?! Why make the bar subterranean even in fantasy?
In addition to that gripe, this book started off s l o w l y. If nearly 200 pages have passed and your two leads haven’t even kissed yet, you better have built some intense sexual tension or you need to tighten that shit up. This needed editing.
Also, I REALLY hated how the FMC continued to call the MMC by his first name despite him explicitly telling her not to and explaining why it was triggering for him. She really took some kind of trauma-ignorant, charmed-life, nepo-baby approach, wanting the MMC to ~*reclaim*~ his first name, whether he wanted to or not. Even though he had already embraced going by his last name as a way to honor his mom. It annoyed me every time she did it. UGH.
Anyway, lesson learned. Elle Kennedy’s books still give me the ick.
The writing is fine. There were some comedic gems here and there, and the sex scenes were solid. I liked that the FMC is also a hockey player, and she had a couple decent feminist-lite takes. But fuck man, why take the sexism and misogyny of the worst men in the real world into romantic fiction?! Why make the bar subterranean even in fantasy?
In addition to that gripe, this book started off s l o w l y. If nearly 200 pages have passed and your two leads haven’t even kissed yet, you better have built some intense sexual tension or you need to tighten that shit up. This needed editing.
Also, I REALLY hated how the FMC continued to call the MMC by his first name despite him explicitly telling her not to and explaining why it was triggering for him. She really took some kind of trauma-ignorant, charmed-life, nepo-baby approach, wanting the MMC to ~*reclaim*~ his first name, whether he wanted to or not. Even though he had already embraced going by his last name as a way to honor his mom. It annoyed me every time she did it. UGH.
Anyway, lesson learned. Elle Kennedy’s books still give me the ick.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny
FMC and others repeatedly use MMC’s first name despite it being triggering for him. That disregard may upset other people with PTSD.