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kellystellareads 's review for:
Love & Other Disasters
by Anita Kelly
This story is about two contestants on a Masterchef-like show who fall in love. Dahlia is recently divorced and trying to figure out what to do with her life next. She is usually delightful and spunky opposite London, the first nonbinary contestant on the show who is more serious and detail-oriented.
The story was fine, but not a lot stood out that would make this higher than three stars for me (though the scene with the cows on the farm, while brief, had me laughing out loud). Dahlia was my favorite character and had the best lines in my opinion. What dragged the book down for me a little was not using the cooking competition show backdrop enough. Challenges are briefly described (usually after they are over), and even big eliminations are done so fast you aren't even sure if it happened or the character was just imagining what could happen. I would have loved a little more cooking drama and getting to know the other contestants better. There aren't any really strong supportive characters because none of them get enough time to shine.
The nonbinary representation was good and showed the struggles without making it the only focus of the story. I feel like reading more books using they/them as pronouns is always helpful to make this more normal for everyone.
The story was fine, but not a lot stood out that would make this higher than three stars for me (though the scene with the cows on the farm, while brief, had me laughing out loud). Dahlia was my favorite character and had the best lines in my opinion. What dragged the book down for me a little was not using the cooking competition show backdrop enough. Challenges are briefly described (usually after they are over), and even big eliminations are done so fast you aren't even sure if it happened or the character was just imagining what could happen. I would have loved a little more cooking drama and getting to know the other contestants better. There aren't any really strong supportive characters because none of them get enough time to shine.
The nonbinary representation was good and showed the struggles without making it the only focus of the story. I feel like reading more books using they/them as pronouns is always helpful to make this more normal for everyone.