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A review by paragraphsandpages
Swipe Right for Murder by Derek Milman
2.0
This book was a lot, and not in a good way. It's kind of disappointing because I felt like it had a really strong start, but it just didn't follow through for me (or followed through way too much).
I love betrayals in thrillers, especially when they keep you so unsure of the side characters around the MC (and sometimes even unsure of the MC themselves), that you also have no idea who to trust, and what's going to happen next. This book definitely achieved that, but unfortunately, it just kept on going beyond that. It overshot the mark of 'uncomfortably aware of how untrustworthy everyone is' straight on to 'I can't even keep track of it all anymore, so what does it even matter.' It was here the book fully lost me, as the confusion could've made me enjoy the book even beyond the other issues I had with it.
I think I overall liked having LGBTQ+ history and issues being the core of this book, even beyond just having a few queer characters, but it felt a little heavy-handed at points too. I like that our main character struggled with the morality of the situation he found himself in, and that the book tried to tackle the 'is it really a crime if the victim deserved it?' without leaning too far into victim-blaming, but sadly this dilemma was solved by just making the villain commit crimes against innocents too, thereby nullifying any potential for him to be empathized with.
I also felt mildly uncomfortable the entire time due to the many minor/adult relationships/romantic or sexual encounters in this book, and while the book sort of tries to wrap this up properly in the end, the middle either ignored the ramifications of it too much or weirdly worded it. It wasn't even until the end that the MC really admitted there was something wrong with these relationships, and his role as a victim in them, which can be fair enough on it's own. However, it's coupled with the main character's friends constantly talking about how he's reckless and constantly getting himself into these difficult situations (often being relationships/encounters with older men) that sometimes came off as victim-blamey, and this was never really reconciled. I definitely feel like this aspect was done better than in some other books I've read, but I still didn't like it.
Overall, this book was a wild ride, and I feel like it could've been a pretty good read if it just toned it down a little bit more. I'm generally able to suspend disbelief in these sorts of stories, but there's always that tipping point where I go 'oh come on, that's just too much now', and unfortunately this book shot straight past that.
I love betrayals in thrillers, especially when they keep you so unsure of the side characters around the MC (and sometimes even unsure of the MC themselves), that you also have no idea who to trust, and what's going to happen next. This book definitely achieved that, but unfortunately, it just kept on going beyond that. It overshot the mark of 'uncomfortably aware of how untrustworthy everyone is' straight on to 'I can't even keep track of it all anymore, so what does it even matter.' It was here the book fully lost me, as the confusion could've made me enjoy the book even beyond the other issues I had with it.
I think I overall liked having LGBTQ+ history and issues being the core of this book, even beyond just having a few queer characters, but it felt a little heavy-handed at points too. I like that our main character struggled with the morality of the situation he found himself in, and that the book tried to tackle the 'is it really a crime if the victim deserved it?' without leaning too far into victim-blaming, but sadly this dilemma was solved by just making the villain commit crimes against innocents too, thereby nullifying any potential for him to be empathized with.
I also felt mildly uncomfortable the entire time due to the many minor/adult relationships/romantic or sexual encounters in this book, and while the book sort of tries to wrap this up properly in the end, the middle either ignored the ramifications of it too much or weirdly worded it. It wasn't even until the end that the MC really admitted there was something wrong with these relationships, and his role as a victim in them, which can be fair enough on it's own. However, it's coupled with the main character's friends constantly talking about how he's reckless and constantly getting himself into these difficult situations (often being relationships/encounters with older men) that sometimes came off as victim-blamey, and this was never really reconciled. I definitely feel like this aspect was done better than in some other books I've read, but I still didn't like it.
Overall, this book was a wild ride, and I feel like it could've been a pretty good read if it just toned it down a little bit more. I'm generally able to suspend disbelief in these sorts of stories, but there's always that tipping point where I go 'oh come on, that's just too much now', and unfortunately this book shot straight past that.