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A review by renkeeling
Peaches and Honey by Imogen Markwell-Tweed
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
2.5
Here’s the thing: I REALLY loved this book, but I’m giving it a low rating for two reasons: one, this book needed to be longer. While Matt and Heath were super cute, I think more attention needed to be given to them, especially towards the end. I think the build up for their relationship was done well, but then it kinda started to fall apart imo. I also would’ve liked to hear about arrangements with Ben, if things work out, etc.
The second, and more important reason, is honestly the fact that Heaths race was not thought out. On the cover, Heath is depicted as black, but his race is not once mentioned, not even in a physical description. It feels like the author wanted brownie points for having a black love interest but didn’t want to do the work to respectfully portray a black gay man. There’s even a passage where Heath mentions his reluctance to live in the south because he’s gay but doesn’t mention his race?? And Heath, to my knowledge, was the only person of color in the book. And yet his race was never mentioned. Fuck his first reaction with Matt is when Matt CALLS THE COPS ON HEATH? Can we talk about the implications of that?
Overall, it was a good read, but I can’t give this book a high rating because it really just doesn’t feel right. I hope this author can do better in the future to actually represent POC.
The second, and more important reason, is honestly the fact that Heaths race was not thought out. On the cover, Heath is depicted as black, but his race is not once mentioned, not even in a physical description. It feels like the author wanted brownie points for having a black love interest but didn’t want to do the work to respectfully portray a black gay man. There’s even a passage where Heath mentions his reluctance to live in the south because he’s gay but doesn’t mention his race?? And Heath, to my knowledge, was the only person of color in the book. And yet his race was never mentioned. Fuck his first reaction with Matt is when Matt CALLS THE COPS ON HEATH? Can we talk about the implications of that?
Overall, it was a good read, but I can’t give this book a high rating because it really just doesn’t feel right. I hope this author can do better in the future to actually represent POC.