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A review by sarahm96
Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall
Did not finish book. Stopped at 27%.
Thank you to Netgalley & Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this ARC.
I really wanted to love this book. Really, truly, I did. However, I gave up at page 50. I usually try to read at least 100 pages, but I DNF'd at page 50. The Winner Bakes All series had a great start with Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, so I figured Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble would be just as good. Alas, I was terribly mistaken.
The book's opening makes it abundantly clear that Paris has anxiety. I also suffer from anxiety & fully understand how paralyzing it can be, which is why this next sentence is going to be a bit of a hot take. Paris' extreme anxiety made me too anxious. I could feel his anxiety through the pages, & as someone who likes to read as a form of escape, this did not make the book particularly enjoyable for me.
Additionally, I generally do everything in my power to avoid any form of secondhand embarrassment, & the scene where Paris is talking to Tariq about Tariq's belief in no sex before marriage made me want to unzip my skin & crawl out of it. Alexis Hall is great at tackling social issues, so it was bizarre to me that the author would write Paris as having such a big issue with this belief. All that Paris had to do was say, "Oh okay, thanks for letting me know." I did not like how Tariq had to defend himself to Paris. As Morag pointed out, you don't have to understand beliefs, sexual orientation, or gender identity in order to respect them.
This novel being marketed as a romantic comedy felt off to me. Paris can barely form a sentence without worrying about something, so I'm not sure how he's ever going to make it to dating someone. Similarly, while his initial hesitation about his skills was understandable, his inability to accept that he was decent at baking was just fucking annoying. Perhaps Paris seeks help for his anxiety at some point in the book, but I unfortunately did not have enough incentive to stick around & find out.
I really wanted to love this book. Really, truly, I did. However, I gave up at page 50. I usually try to read at least 100 pages, but I DNF'd at page 50. The Winner Bakes All series had a great start with Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, so I figured Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble would be just as good. Alas, I was terribly mistaken.
The book's opening makes it abundantly clear that Paris has anxiety. I also suffer from anxiety & fully understand how paralyzing it can be, which is why this next sentence is going to be a bit of a hot take. Paris' extreme anxiety made me too anxious. I could feel his anxiety through the pages, & as someone who likes to read as a form of escape, this did not make the book particularly enjoyable for me.
Additionally, I generally do everything in my power to avoid any form of secondhand embarrassment, & the scene where Paris is talking to Tariq about Tariq's belief in no sex before marriage made me want to unzip my skin & crawl out of it. Alexis Hall is great at tackling social issues, so it was bizarre to me that the author would write Paris as having such a big issue with this belief. All that Paris had to do was say, "Oh okay, thanks for letting me know." I did not like how Tariq had to defend himself to Paris. As Morag pointed out, you don't have to understand beliefs, sexual orientation, or gender identity in order to respect them.
This novel being marketed as a romantic comedy felt off to me. Paris can barely form a sentence without worrying about something, so I'm not sure how he's ever going to make it to dating someone. Similarly, while his initial hesitation about his skills was understandable, his inability to accept that he was decent at baking was just fucking annoying. Perhaps Paris seeks help for his anxiety at some point in the book, but I unfortunately did not have enough incentive to stick around & find out.