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A review by kovost
Gena/Finn by Kat Helgeson, Hannah Moskowitz
2.0
So I've actually been thinking about this book a lot since I finished it because I wanted to write a coherent review, but honestly? Honestly, all this book did was disappoint me in the end. It made me just feel like I got queer-baited, and do you know how absolutely infuriating and annoying that is?
There was so much promise for this book, that's the worst part. The format of it was interesting and unique, the relationship between Gena and Finn was so pure and I really appreciated that it showed that you can form strong friendships with people over common interests on the internet and even develop feelings for people you're not with physically. Because yeah, it's such a common thing nowadays and I really appreciated that being painted in a good, bright light.
But that's where the good things stop. It ended up being a love triangle between Finn's boyfriend and Gena, I was pissed off with Finn more than half the time and I felt like I honest to god got queer-baited because despite it being acknowledged as a love triangle, nothing went anywhere. Nothing. And then the ending was so clipped and rushed and abrupt that it just tipped my anger over even more. It was honestly so far from the mark that I don't even want to put it on my LGBT+ shelf because I don't feel, at all, that it should be called that. It was good for all of the first quarter of the book and then it lost me, and the only reason I finished it was because the media format of it made it a quick read. I think I finished it in about four hours.
I rated it three stars originally, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it didn't even deserve three stars. It wasn't even good representation. It was just... bad and tbh, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for LGBT+ representation (especially wlw)
There was so much promise for this book, that's the worst part. The format of it was interesting and unique, the relationship between Gena and Finn was so pure and I really appreciated that it showed that you can form strong friendships with people over common interests on the internet and even develop feelings for people you're not with physically. Because yeah, it's such a common thing nowadays and I really appreciated that being painted in a good, bright light.
But that's where the good things stop. It ended up being a love triangle between Finn's boyfriend and Gena, I was pissed off with Finn more than half the time and I felt like I honest to god got queer-baited because despite it being acknowledged as a love triangle, nothing went anywhere. Nothing. And then the ending was so clipped and rushed and abrupt that it just tipped my anger over even more. It was honestly so far from the mark that I don't even want to put it on my LGBT+ shelf because I don't feel, at all, that it should be called that. It was good for all of the first quarter of the book and then it lost me, and the only reason I finished it was because the media format of it made it a quick read. I think I finished it in about four hours.
I rated it three stars originally, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it didn't even deserve three stars. It wasn't even good representation. It was just... bad and tbh, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for LGBT+ representation (especially wlw)