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mick 's review for:
Love & Other Disasters
by Anita Kelly
Before I review, thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Dahlia Woodson and London Parker are contestants on a reality TV cooking show, which is already enough to draw me in to a romance novel, but also, London is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns!
There’s enough about the show to keep things interesting on that front, the characters feel like they have depth beyond their romance and cooking (there is plenty of backstory and plans for what they want to do with the prize money if they win). The queer sex scenes are steamy and feel authentic, and the consent/communication with each other was awesome. I loved that there was a mix of people who were supportive of London’s identity (both on the cast and in their own life) and people who were problematic. As someone who is genderqueer and uses they/them pronouns, this made it feel authentic without the issue that sometimes happens where all queer and trans stories have to either have trauma in their backstories or have a fairy tale.
I had two tiny criticisms, which were that there’s a reference to London getting “dumb girl gifts” every birthday, which seems like an inelegant way to talk about gifts that didn’t match London’s interests considering that we’re talking about thinking beyond the gender binary. Also, when Dahlia wants to go for a snack run and London is described as in pajamas and not wearing a binder and says they can’t go out in their current state, it seems glossed over the issue is much less likely to be looking a mess/being in PJs than wearing a binder, and yet they go out without a discussion of that. Seems like a missed opportunity to affirm that a binder is a critical item for stepping into public for some folks. (I thought that’s where it was going when the binder was mentioned but then it didn’t come back up!) That being said, these small things didn't take away from my overall feelings about the book.
All in all, this was super cute, totally my kind of novel at a glance, and I am delighted that it met my expectations.
Dahlia Woodson and London Parker are contestants on a reality TV cooking show, which is already enough to draw me in to a romance novel, but also, London is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns!
There’s enough about the show to keep things interesting on that front, the characters feel like they have depth beyond their romance and cooking (there is plenty of backstory and plans for what they want to do with the prize money if they win). The queer sex scenes are steamy and feel authentic, and the consent/communication with each other was awesome. I loved that there was a mix of people who were supportive of London’s identity (both on the cast and in their own life) and people who were problematic. As someone who is genderqueer and uses they/them pronouns, this made it feel authentic without the issue that sometimes happens where all queer and trans stories have to either have trauma in their backstories or have a fairy tale.
I had two tiny criticisms, which were that there’s a reference to London getting “dumb girl gifts” every birthday, which seems like an inelegant way to talk about gifts that didn’t match London’s interests considering that we’re talking about thinking beyond the gender binary. Also, when Dahlia wants to go for a snack run and London is described as in pajamas and not wearing a binder and says they can’t go out in their current state, it seems glossed over the issue is much less likely to be looking a mess/being in PJs than wearing a binder, and yet they go out without a discussion of that. Seems like a missed opportunity to affirm that a binder is a critical item for stepping into public for some folks. (I thought that’s where it was going when the binder was mentioned but then it didn’t come back up!) That being said, these small things didn't take away from my overall feelings about the book.
All in all, this was super cute, totally my kind of novel at a glance, and I am delighted that it met my expectations.