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A review by nickartrip102
The Dating Disaster by Saxon James
2.0
I freaking hate Felix
After dipping my toes in some other ponds, I decided to circle back to the Franklin U series to give the second book in the series a try. I really enjoyed Saxon James' other works (the himbos in the Frat Stars series are top tier) so I was so excited to see that they had written this installment, The Dating Disaster. The story follows Felix and Marshall, two young men at Franklin University who share a really bad first date. Things only become more awkward when Marshall rents the free room in Felix’s living space. This is a romance, so it isn’t difficult to figure out what comes next! Here are my thoughts, with spoilers:
The prologue was hot, but annoying. I was instantly turned off by Felix’s shitty attitude! Listen, I champion sex positivity. Lean in, shout it out, do your thing. He judges Marshall rather harshly before allowing Marshall the opportunity to judge him. It seemed like a defense mechanism that would play part in some communication issues down the line, so I prepared myself for that. On the other hand, while being sex positive is a great thing, being so sexually forward in a somewhat aggressive manner with someone on a first date while bemoaning your lack of stability in a partner…is not quite it. Either cool your jets or your expectations, kid.
Turns out Marshall is demisexual, which is why Felix’s advances were so ill-received. Although there were a few moments of subtle judgment on Marshall’s part, I found him to be much more tolerable when compared with Felix’s persistent petulance. I think one positive of this situation was that it allowed for a unique take on the whole miscommunication issue. It also felt somehow off to me, but I’m by no means an expert on demisexuality or what that representation should look like in the romance genre so that’s a line of thinking I didn’t want to explore too much (at least without further research.)
I think the sex positivity messaging was where it really felt like this book missed the mark. Like, Felix celebrates his sexual expression, but also feels very limited by it. He seems to recognize that much of his own sexual activity and feelings arose as a result of his parent’s divorce. There’s a lot of conflation between sexuality and self worth going on in this book, and I’m not saying these things can’t exist alongside or as part of sex positivity, but it didn’t feel like these issues were given the proper consideration. As a result Felix comes across as a really problematic character for much of the story.
At the halfway point, I couldn’t see any reason why Marshall should be interested in Felix. He’s twinky and has curls. That’s it. He reduces Marshall to the level of sexual access he has to him. He is then angered when he overhears a conversation where Marshall tells his friend that he has lost his virginity. His friend jokes about losing it to someone “easy” (Felix is not identified by name in this conversation) and storms away before he can even hear Marshall’s response. Personally, I was more annoyed that Marshall lost his virginity in a scene on the beach after going for a walk to get tacos with Felix. Sandy, post-taco anal sex does not sound ideal.
I thought it was nice when Bowser half-heartedly called out Felix for his constant objectification of other men and warned him to back off of Marshall. Seeing another character call out this behavior and having Felix recognize it definitely went a long way. I also appreciated the way Felix adjusted his behavior after Marshall reveals that he is demisexual, but the damage for his character was already done. While I thought the scenes of Felix among Marshall’s family were certainly nice, I still couldn’t find a mutual connection between the two men by this point. Marshall clearly adores Felix, but the reasons seemed superficial. We never really see the character atone for his judgment or do anything romantically reciprocal with Marshall.
My feelings toward Felix definitely tempered my reaction to the epilogue as well. Set ten years in the future, we revisit Marshall and Felix as they are watching their niece and nephew. They contemplate having children of their own and Felix playfully insists that Marshall not love their children more than him or find them cuter than him. I literally groaned. I know this was mean jokingly, but it also seemed very on brand for his character. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was indeed still that girl ten years later.
After dipping my toes in some other ponds, I decided to circle back to the Franklin U series to give the second book in the series a try. I really enjoyed Saxon James' other works (the himbos in the Frat Stars series are top tier) so I was so excited to see that they had written this installment, The Dating Disaster. The story follows Felix and Marshall, two young men at Franklin University who share a really bad first date. Things only become more awkward when Marshall rents the free room in Felix’s living space. This is a romance, so it isn’t difficult to figure out what comes next! Here are my thoughts, with spoilers:
The prologue was hot, but annoying. I was instantly turned off by Felix’s shitty attitude! Listen, I champion sex positivity. Lean in, shout it out, do your thing. He judges Marshall rather harshly before allowing Marshall the opportunity to judge him. It seemed like a defense mechanism that would play part in some communication issues down the line, so I prepared myself for that. On the other hand, while being sex positive is a great thing, being so sexually forward in a somewhat aggressive manner with someone on a first date while bemoaning your lack of stability in a partner…is not quite it. Either cool your jets or your expectations, kid.
Turns out Marshall is demisexual, which is why Felix’s advances were so ill-received. Although there were a few moments of subtle judgment on Marshall’s part, I found him to be much more tolerable when compared with Felix’s persistent petulance. I think one positive of this situation was that it allowed for a unique take on the whole miscommunication issue. It also felt somehow off to me, but I’m by no means an expert on demisexuality or what that representation should look like in the romance genre so that’s a line of thinking I didn’t want to explore too much (at least without further research.)
I think the sex positivity messaging was where it really felt like this book missed the mark. Like, Felix celebrates his sexual expression, but also feels very limited by it. He seems to recognize that much of his own sexual activity and feelings arose as a result of his parent’s divorce. There’s a lot of conflation between sexuality and self worth going on in this book, and I’m not saying these things can’t exist alongside or as part of sex positivity, but it didn’t feel like these issues were given the proper consideration. As a result Felix comes across as a really problematic character for much of the story.
At the halfway point, I couldn’t see any reason why Marshall should be interested in Felix. He’s twinky and has curls. That’s it. He reduces Marshall to the level of sexual access he has to him. He is then angered when he overhears a conversation where Marshall tells his friend that he has lost his virginity. His friend jokes about losing it to someone “easy” (Felix is not identified by name in this conversation) and storms away before he can even hear Marshall’s response. Personally, I was more annoyed that Marshall lost his virginity in a scene on the beach after going for a walk to get tacos with Felix. Sandy, post-taco anal sex does not sound ideal.
I thought it was nice when Bowser half-heartedly called out Felix for his constant objectification of other men and warned him to back off of Marshall. Seeing another character call out this behavior and having Felix recognize it definitely went a long way. I also appreciated the way Felix adjusted his behavior after Marshall reveals that he is demisexual, but the damage for his character was already done. While I thought the scenes of Felix among Marshall’s family were certainly nice, I still couldn’t find a mutual connection between the two men by this point. Marshall clearly adores Felix, but the reasons seemed superficial. We never really see the character atone for his judgment or do anything romantically reciprocal with Marshall.
My feelings toward Felix definitely tempered my reaction to the epilogue as well. Set ten years in the future, we revisit Marshall and Felix as they are watching their niece and nephew. They contemplate having children of their own and Felix playfully insists that Marshall not love their children more than him or find them cuter than him. I literally groaned. I know this was mean jokingly, but it also seemed very on brand for his character. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was indeed still that girl ten years later.