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A review by melonreads
Hard Sell by Hudson Lin
2.0
Wow, this book had so many issues, I hardly know where to start.
I was initially very excited by this book based on the cover and blurb. A m/m book with 2 Asian MCs sounded very promising and based on the blurb, it was a brother’s best friend trope, which I personally love. However, that’s also where the good news begins AND ends.
I never really got a very good read on Tobin and his desperate need for independence and to stand on his own two feet. I get that he’s the baby of the family and everyone sort of hovers and he feels a little claustrophobic. But he grew up in a wealthy family, went off to college, and spurred his parents financial assistance with college and I...didn’t really understand that.
Daniel, I actually had a better read on - he grew up poor, with a single mom who worked hard to make ends meet, he basically became the 3rd de facto son in Tobin’s family, and I got his need to be financially independent and well off, his incessant need to “repay” Tobin’s family for all that they’d given him. Bu it really pissed me off how he treated Tobin for the bulk of the book.
I don’t recall the age gap between the two characters but sometimes, they really treated Tobin so young and it just felt really weird.
Next - the corporate business-y part of the book, which is how Tobin and Daniel end up back in each other’s orbit after hooking up 7 years earlier at Tobin’s brother (also Daniel’s best friend) Wei’s bachelor party. They were at cross purposes and I totally get that but I do thing too much of this book focused on that and the inclusion of Cyrus, the owner of the struggling company Daniel’s company is trying to takeover and Tobin’s company is trying to save, added nothing but extraneous complications. Cyrus is a transphobic, homophobic asshole and possibly a pedophile. No, seriously. There’s a plot line in the book where it’s thought that he’s engaging in sex trafficking and basically everyone knows and decides to not turn him in but instead, use it as leverage to get him to sell the business to Daniel’s company and I was like WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING??? It was such a bizarre part of the story that really went nowhere so I’m not sure what the point of including it in the book even was.
Tobin also lives with his lesbian roommate and her girlfriend and I have to say, I felt some of the language he used to describe her and her girlfriend was really offensive AF.
It’s too bad that there were so many problems with this book because based on the cover and the trope, there was a potential for this book to be amazing. There was also an accident where Daniel, while driving, is distracted and hits a cyclist and...again, why? Based on what followed (a scene where Tobin takes care of Daniel and their emotional intimacy and physical intimacy is furthered) I can kind of see why it was in the book but surely there were better ways to do it. It just all felt a little too much.
CW: transphobic, homophobic side character, possibly a pedophile, sex trafficking, car accident, I don’t know if i covered all of it, there was so much that happened that felt unnecessary to the central romance.
I received an ARC, the review is all mine.
I was initially very excited by this book based on the cover and blurb. A m/m book with 2 Asian MCs sounded very promising and based on the blurb, it was a brother’s best friend trope, which I personally love. However, that’s also where the good news begins AND ends.
I never really got a very good read on Tobin and his desperate need for independence and to stand on his own two feet. I get that he’s the baby of the family and everyone sort of hovers and he feels a little claustrophobic. But he grew up in a wealthy family, went off to college, and spurred his parents financial assistance with college and I...didn’t really understand that.
Daniel, I actually had a better read on - he grew up poor, with a single mom who worked hard to make ends meet, he basically became the 3rd de facto son in Tobin’s family, and I got his need to be financially independent and well off, his incessant need to “repay” Tobin’s family for all that they’d given him. Bu it really pissed me off how he treated Tobin for the bulk of the book.
I don’t recall the age gap between the two characters but sometimes, they really treated Tobin so young and it just felt really weird.
Next - the corporate business-y part of the book, which is how Tobin and Daniel end up back in each other’s orbit after hooking up 7 years earlier at Tobin’s brother (also Daniel’s best friend) Wei’s bachelor party. They were at cross purposes and I totally get that but I do thing too much of this book focused on that and the inclusion of Cyrus, the owner of the struggling company Daniel’s company is trying to takeover and Tobin’s company is trying to save, added nothing but extraneous complications. Cyrus is a transphobic, homophobic asshole and possibly a pedophile. No, seriously. There’s a plot line in the book where it’s thought that he’s engaging in sex trafficking and basically everyone knows and decides to not turn him in but instead, use it as leverage to get him to sell the business to Daniel’s company and I was like WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING??? It was such a bizarre part of the story that really went nowhere so I’m not sure what the point of including it in the book even was.
Tobin also lives with his lesbian roommate and her girlfriend and I have to say, I felt some of the language he used to describe her and her girlfriend was really offensive AF.
It’s too bad that there were so many problems with this book because based on the cover and the trope, there was a potential for this book to be amazing. There was also an accident where Daniel, while driving, is distracted and hits a cyclist and...again, why? Based on what followed (a scene where Tobin takes care of Daniel and their emotional intimacy and physical intimacy is furthered) I can kind of see why it was in the book but surely there were better ways to do it. It just all felt a little too much.
CW: transphobic, homophobic side character, possibly a pedophile, sex trafficking, car accident, I don’t know if i covered all of it, there was so much that happened that felt unnecessary to the central romance.
I received an ARC, the review is all mine.