Scan barcode
A review by sharonleavy
Double Booked by Lily Lindon
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Gina plans to go home, pour some wine, and watch Friends. Her best friend Soph has other ideas - she wants Gina to come with her to a local gay club to see a lesbian rock band. Gina reluctantly agrees - and finds herself in the unenviable position of questioning her sexuality at age 26, seven years into a long term relationship with a man.
Right - I'll start with the Pros:
- It's nice to see a book about questioning your sexuality in your twenties. Often this kind of storyline is limited to YA books, and this one does a great job of conveying the confusion and feelings of being torn between two worlds when someone realises that they're not straight after decades of assuming they were. The author speaks about how several things can contribute to this - from lack of representation to internalised homophobia, biphobia within the queer community, or a reluctance to assign labels or make a grand declaration.
"You don't need to declare anything about yourself, or do anything you don't want to do."
Preach, sis.
- A gay bar that remains Halloween themed ALL YEAR ROUND???
GIMME.
- Gina's colleague, Alexa. I adored her, she reminded me of Fleabag's sister, who remains one of my favourite supporting characters of all time.
UNFORTUNATELY.
This descended into fucking chaos from Part Two onwards. The solution that Gina & Douglas came up with for Gina's desire to explore her queer side was just ludicrous to me. I felt that it fed into stereotypes about bisexual women wanting the best of both worlds, when there are many, many bisexual, queer & questioning women who are in perfectly happy long term relationships or marriages with men. Some of us even have children. It just made me feel icky that the notion of Gina coming to terms with her sexuality had to include so many grand gestures. Also the "butch" makeover - can we not.
Kit was just the worst, and why did nobody tell Sophie that calling her YouTube channel SophSnob just sounds like Soph's Knob? What kind of mate are you, Gina?!
Two stars for Part One - it had great potential.
The rest was a mess.
Also, this was sold as a rom-com. It's not a rom-com.
Thanks to the publisher for the Netgalley ARC, sorry I couldn't be more positive about this one, it's a shame because I was looking forward to it.
Right - I'll start with the Pros:
- It's nice to see a book about questioning your sexuality in your twenties. Often this kind of storyline is limited to YA books, and this one does a great job of conveying the confusion and feelings of being torn between two worlds when someone realises that they're not straight after decades of assuming they were. The author speaks about how several things can contribute to this - from lack of representation to internalised homophobia, biphobia within the queer community, or a reluctance to assign labels or make a grand declaration.
"You don't need to declare anything about yourself, or do anything you don't want to do."
Preach, sis.
- A gay bar that remains Halloween themed ALL YEAR ROUND???
GIMME.
- Gina's colleague, Alexa. I adored her, she reminded me of Fleabag's sister, who remains one of my favourite supporting characters of all time.
UNFORTUNATELY.
This descended into fucking chaos from Part Two onwards. The solution that Gina & Douglas came up with for Gina's desire to explore her queer side was just ludicrous to me. I felt that it fed into stereotypes about bisexual women wanting the best of both worlds, when there are many, many bisexual, queer & questioning women who are in perfectly happy long term relationships or marriages with men. Some of us even have children. It just made me feel icky that the notion of Gina coming to terms with her sexuality had to include so many grand gestures. Also the "butch" makeover - can we not.
Kit was just the worst, and why did nobody tell Sophie that calling her YouTube channel SophSnob just sounds like Soph's Knob? What kind of mate are you, Gina?!
Two stars for Part One - it had great potential.
The rest was a mess.
Also, this was sold as a rom-com. It's not a rom-com.
Thanks to the publisher for the Netgalley ARC, sorry I couldn't be more positive about this one, it's a shame because I was looking forward to it.