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A review by kovost
I'm a Gay Wizard by V.S. Santoni
1.0
DNF @ 60%
I say this with the utmost sorrow and regret (and vague heap of guilt), but I… have a lot of problems with this book and no patience to heave my ass through the final leg.
Where I wanted to love this because it’s advertised as perfect for fans of Carry On, I ended up disappointed, extremely uncomfortable at times, and with an overall detachment from the characters to the point of not really caring where the plot took me. With a little nudge, because I’m stubborn to a fault, I came to the conclusion that trying to ride out the last 40% for the sake of saying I finished it wasn’t worth it.
In a TL;DR kind of fashion, I’ll make a bullet list.
• The concept is interesting and appealing by summary, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired in its lackluster dryness layered on top of a lot of problematic things that come packing with a swift punch to the jaw if you have no idea that they’re there.
• The pacing is… strange and scattered, but mostly just too damn fast and disjointed.
• There’s definitely some underdevelopment with the characters both as individuals and together. I had no real attachment or interest in Johnny as a character. Like I had no real feelings about him one way or the other, except for mild peevishness at times. I literally just did not care about him or anyone else.
• There’s an extreme and noticeable lack of chemistry with the love interest, making their interactions that are meant to further their relationship awkward and hollow, and making it very hard for me, as a reader, to buy into it even a fraction. I have a love-hate relationship with insta-love romances as it is, but this one felt so forced and superficial that I couldn’t even look at it objectively and go “well, you moved a little too fast, I would have liked to see a little building, a dash of slow-burn maybe possibly, but I can see the potential”
Separately, these things are tolerable enough so long as there are other qualities keeping my interest. Altogether, delivered to me in the same kind of form as when your necklaces get extremely knotted and you can’t seem to find the end or beginning of them to even start untangling them so you’re frustrated and flustered and slowly losing the ability to care, it’s too much and I just can’t justify spending any more time on it. I’m sure the book has rounds of editing to go still and I’ve seen some glowing reviews so I don’t know if this is a “it’s not you, it’s me” situation but I’m not sure if I would recommend this one. (Also, that necklace thing might just be me and my severe impatience, but.)
Rep: gay and latinx mc, gay li, a trans side character, queer minor characters
Warnings: bullying, a violent hate crime (detailed), transphobia, homophobia, slurs and derogatory terms for both, forced outing, and kidnapping
↠ read for the reading rush
I say this with the utmost sorrow and regret (and vague heap of guilt), but I… have a lot of problems with this book and no patience to heave my ass through the final leg.
Where I wanted to love this because it’s advertised as perfect for fans of Carry On, I ended up disappointed, extremely uncomfortable at times, and with an overall detachment from the characters to the point of not really caring where the plot took me. With a little nudge, because I’m stubborn to a fault, I came to the conclusion that trying to ride out the last 40% for the sake of saying I finished it wasn’t worth it.
In a TL;DR kind of fashion, I’ll make a bullet list.
• The concept is interesting and appealing by summary, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired in its lackluster dryness layered on top of a lot of problematic things that come packing with a swift punch to the jaw if you have no idea that they’re there.
• The pacing is… strange and scattered, but mostly just too damn fast and disjointed.
• There’s definitely some underdevelopment with the characters both as individuals and together. I had no real attachment or interest in Johnny as a character. Like I had no real feelings about him one way or the other, except for mild peevishness at times. I literally just did not care about him or anyone else.
• There’s an extreme and noticeable lack of chemistry with the love interest, making their interactions that are meant to further their relationship awkward and hollow, and making it very hard for me, as a reader, to buy into it even a fraction. I have a love-hate relationship with insta-love romances as it is, but this one felt so forced and superficial that I couldn’t even look at it objectively and go “well, you moved a little too fast, I would have liked to see a little building, a dash of slow-burn maybe possibly, but I can see the potential”
Separately, these things are tolerable enough so long as there are other qualities keeping my interest. Altogether, delivered to me in the same kind of form as when your necklaces get extremely knotted and you can’t seem to find the end or beginning of them to even start untangling them so you’re frustrated and flustered and slowly losing the ability to care, it’s too much and I just can’t justify spending any more time on it. I’m sure the book has rounds of editing to go still and I’ve seen some glowing reviews so I don’t know if this is a “it’s not you, it’s me” situation but I’m not sure if I would recommend this one. (Also, that necklace thing might just be me and my severe impatience, but.)
Rep: gay and latinx mc, gay li, a trans side character, queer minor characters
Warnings: bullying, a violent hate crime (detailed), transphobia, homophobia, slurs and derogatory terms for both, forced outing, and kidnapping
↠ read for the reading rush