A review by romancingthereader
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I think I could write a 400 page dissertation on what I loved about this book. And Iโ€™d still want to go back and edit in more details.

๐Ÿ“• ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป: The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

๐Ÿ“™ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€: Standalone

๐Ÿ“— ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜€: E-book on Kindle. Borrowed from Libby app.

๐Ÿ“˜ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฟ๐—ฒ: Contemporary romance

๐Ÿ“” ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜€: LGBTQIA+ rep, non-binary rep, second chance, friends-to-lovers, food as a love language, getaway vibes.

๐Ÿ“– ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€: Theo and Kit broke each others hearts four years ago right before taking the trip of a lifetime. But as fate would have it, they both wait until the last minute to use their trip vouchers and end up on the same European food tour.

๐ŸŒŸ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„: There is, quite simply, nothing I didnโ€™t love about this book.

The setting - this indulgent food tour across the most decadent placesโ€ฆ the characters - so deep and layered and utterly humanโ€ฆ the structure - how it switched POVs midway and both main characters had the most intensely relatable inner monologuesโ€ฆ the last 20% - where I sobbed through a love story for the ages.

It was all perfect. This book was like a sexy Eat, Pray, Love. It awakened so much in me. 

But perhaps the most important part for me was the way that sex and partnership and love was depicted. I always think about how people say theyโ€™d love to live in certain fantasy romance novels - but thisโ€ฆ THIS is where Iโ€™d like to live. Where you love who you want so deliberately. Where love isnโ€™t defined by gender or even confined to just two people. 

This book is transcendent. Itโ€™s easily my top read of 2024, without question. 

๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด: 5/5 โญโญโญโญโญ  

๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น: 3.5/5 ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ