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A review by jackiehorne
The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai
3.0
ARC courtesy of Netgalley
Rai shifts from erotic romance to straight-out contemporary with this story of an app developer with a chip on her shoulder and the man who hopes for a second chance to make a better second impression. Thirty-seven-year-old Rhiannon Hunter, an African-American entrepreneur, is looking to expand her dating app company by negotiating the purchase of a competitor. But her business plan becomes more complicated when the new spokesman for her target company turns out to be the hunky guy with whom she last hooked-up—and who later ghosted her.
The feminist underpinnings of Rai's romance are clear:
"The funny thing was, Rhiannon could be sweet and kind, and she was loyal to the death, if she loved a person. But no one would have ever described her as sweet, kind, and loyal. Because the world had decided long ago what a sweet, kind, and loyal woman looked like, and it wasn't her.... When she'd found herself heartbroken and alone four years ago, she'd made a promise to create an alternate universe for herself. One in which she didn't spend hours and days and weeks and months losing time mourning people who who treated her poorly. In the other universe, with her time reclaimed, she owned the world."
I loved reading about an African-American woman who had made it in the computer app world, especially one who had overcome sexism in her past work life. I did wish, though, that Rai had showed us, rather than just told us, about Rhiannon's kind and sweet side. She's so tough and closed off, even to the reader, it make it difficult to feel strongly for her or to relate.
I wasn't as charmed as some reviewers were with the story's depictions of app-dating life (having not experienced it personally myself), although young readers with whom I've talked about the book say that those depictions are hilariously dead-on accurate. Rai depicts the impact of the NFL's attitude towards CTE on one former football player and his family with skill and care, too.
The big disappointment here: the love story fell surprisingly flat. Rai's previous books have been emotional roller coaster rides, with strong chemistry between all protagonists and lots of feels for the reader. Not so much in this one. Rhi's continued bad feelings towards Samson, even after she discovers the very excusable reason for his ghosting her, made it difficult for me as a reader to like or relate to her, or to buy into the idea that her feelings for Samson are changing. Samson's repeated observation that Rhi is "tough and blunt" but also "super adorable" was a bit more convincing, but still, not as emotionally moving as I'm used to from Rai's previous books.
Rai shifts from erotic romance to straight-out contemporary with this story of an app developer with a chip on her shoulder and the man who hopes for a second chance to make a better second impression. Thirty-seven-year-old Rhiannon Hunter, an African-American entrepreneur, is looking to expand her dating app company by negotiating the purchase of a competitor. But her business plan becomes more complicated when the new spokesman for her target company turns out to be the hunky guy with whom she last hooked-up—and who later ghosted her.
The feminist underpinnings of Rai's romance are clear:
"The funny thing was, Rhiannon could be sweet and kind, and she was loyal to the death, if she loved a person. But no one would have ever described her as sweet, kind, and loyal. Because the world had decided long ago what a sweet, kind, and loyal woman looked like, and it wasn't her.... When she'd found herself heartbroken and alone four years ago, she'd made a promise to create an alternate universe for herself. One in which she didn't spend hours and days and weeks and months losing time mourning people who who treated her poorly. In the other universe, with her time reclaimed, she owned the world."
I loved reading about an African-American woman who had made it in the computer app world, especially one who had overcome sexism in her past work life. I did wish, though, that Rai had showed us, rather than just told us, about Rhiannon's kind and sweet side. She's so tough and closed off, even to the reader, it make it difficult to feel strongly for her or to relate.
I wasn't as charmed as some reviewers were with the story's depictions of app-dating life (having not experienced it personally myself), although young readers with whom I've talked about the book say that those depictions are hilariously dead-on accurate. Rai depicts the impact of the NFL's attitude towards CTE on one former football player and his family with skill and care, too.
The big disappointment here: the love story fell surprisingly flat. Rai's previous books have been emotional roller coaster rides, with strong chemistry between all protagonists and lots of feels for the reader. Not so much in this one. Rhi's continued bad feelings towards Samson, even after she discovers the very excusable reason for his ghosting her, made it difficult for me as a reader to like or relate to her, or to buy into the idea that her feelings for Samson are changing. Samson's repeated observation that Rhi is "tough and blunt" but also "super adorable" was a bit more convincing, but still, not as emotionally moving as I'm used to from Rai's previous books.