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thegreatmanda 's review for:
Looking for Group
by Alexis Hall
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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:
Yes
I did something with this book that I don't normally do, which was to listen to the audio edition while reading the physical paperback, and pausing the audio when there was an annotation mark. The audio edition of Looking for Group is a delight; it's a full cast performance with some music and sound design, but just enough to add atmosphere without distracting or overwhelming. The narration and one main character are performed by Will M Watt, who is my personal favorite audio performer and is in top form here. His narrated versions of the characters who also have their own voice actors aren't jarringly different, and every character has their own unique and authentic sound.
For me, the annotations in an Alexis Hall novel are essential reading. I love the additional background on many of the references, and the character insights are top notch. I would have really loathed a couple of the characters in this story without Hall's additional thoughts on their behavior patterns.
The story itself is a love letter to the golden age of World of Warcraft and the MMORPG, and to figuring out who you are and what matters to you about human connection—oh, and it's also a very sweet new adult romance. Drew and Kit are charming, as are their online guild family. These boys are very sweet as they figure out how having a boyfriend works, not to mention just general living as an adult. There are interesting comparisons to be made here between these 19-year-old characters and For Real's Toby, who has had a lot more exposure to different experiences and people. It’s part of what makes Toby capable of wrangling a 37-year-old boyfriend in a relationship with a lot of sex and kink, while neither Drew nor Kit would have any business dating someone that much older. It’s interesting watching the sweetness of these two falling for one another, overlaid with Drew learning how to relate to people who are more different from himself than he ever has before.
As much as I wanted to be disappointed in Drew and Sanee, I remember too well what it was like being a presumed-straight nineteen-year-old, and yeah. For young people who have never had cause to examine their own identities, peers confronting their own unrealized identity tend to feel like a big joke. If you don’t join them in laughing about it, you’re a wet blanket and taking yourself too seriously. Like so many prejudices and micro aggressions pervasive in human society, this level of homophobia is easy to dismiss by those who aren’t its target. Expressions of it tend to be immediately followed, as we do see in the case of Sanee, with a horrified declaration, of course I’m not a homophobe! Sanee was the most frustrating character for me. While Drew's bad takes and bad behaviors are rooted in his deepest anxieties, Sanee seems completely confident that his own bad takes are the only correct way to feel.
Kit still has plenty of growing up to do, but he has a better understanding and acceptance of who he is and wat he wants. This is one example of what a person can get out of having a wider variety of ages, experiences, and backgrounds in one's friends. Drew, on the other hand, feels exactly 19-and-always-thought-he-was-straight boy to me, and thank goodness his first boyfriend has some extra maturity to gracefully handle some of the dumb shit that will inevitably come out of Drew’s mouth as a result. Drew has a clearer sense of self as a piece of his friend group, while Kit feels most himself when he's alone or at least only with people he trusts to understand him; learning to bridge that gap gives rise to their central struggle toward stability. The climactic moments of that struggle were heart-rending, but the resolution felt that much sweeter.
I thoroughly feel for Drew in the situations where he can feel that something is off or he's put his foot in his mouth, but he isn’t perceptive enough to understand what it is or how he can make it better. I enjoyed seeing him grow through those experiences and talk them through with friends, both in game and outside of it. There is an excellent emotional beat between Drew and Sanee where they have an honest conversation and mutual perspective shift, which felt as momentous for Drew as a person as the main conflict resolution did—with the added bonus of finally showing us the reality underneath Sanee's brazen dickishness.
I've talked a lot about Sanee here because I had to think about him the most out of Drew's friend group, but I really enjoyed the rest of them.
Anyone who remembers being this young or having friends this clueless will find something to love here, and if you've ever loved time spent in a virtual world, you will love this one.
For me, the annotations in an Alexis Hall novel are essential reading. I love the additional background on many of the references, and the character insights are top notch. I would have really loathed a couple of the characters in this story without Hall's additional thoughts on their behavior patterns.
The story itself is a love letter to the golden age of World of Warcraft and the MMORPG, and to figuring out who you are and what matters to you about human connection—oh, and it's also a very sweet new adult romance. Drew and Kit are charming, as are their online guild family. These boys are very sweet as they figure out how having a boyfriend works, not to mention just general living as an adult. There are interesting comparisons to be made here between these 19-year-old characters and For Real's Toby, who has had a lot more exposure to different experiences and people. It’s part of what makes Toby capable of wrangling a 37-year-old boyfriend in a relationship with a lot of sex and kink, while neither Drew nor Kit would have any business dating someone that much older. It’s interesting watching the sweetness of these two falling for one another, overlaid with Drew learning how to relate to people who are more different from himself than he ever has before.
As much as I wanted to be disappointed in Drew and Sanee, I remember too well what it was like being a presumed-straight nineteen-year-old, and yeah. For young people who have never had cause to examine their own identities, peers confronting their own unrealized identity tend to feel like a big joke. If you don’t join them in laughing about it, you’re a wet blanket and taking yourself too seriously. Like so many prejudices and micro aggressions pervasive in human society, this level of homophobia is easy to dismiss by those who aren’t its target. Expressions of it tend to be immediately followed, as we do see in the case of Sanee, with a horrified declaration, of course I’m not a homophobe! Sanee was the most frustrating character for me. While Drew's bad takes and bad behaviors are rooted in his deepest anxieties, Sanee seems completely confident that his own bad takes are the only correct way to feel.
Kit still has plenty of growing up to do, but he has a better understanding and acceptance of who he is and wat he wants. This is one example of what a person can get out of having a wider variety of ages, experiences, and backgrounds in one's friends. Drew, on the other hand, feels exactly 19-and-always-thought-he-was-straight boy to me, and thank goodness his first boyfriend has some extra maturity to gracefully handle some of the dumb shit that will inevitably come out of Drew’s mouth as a result. Drew has a clearer sense of self as a piece of his friend group, while Kit feels most himself when he's alone or at least only with people he trusts to understand him; learning to bridge that gap gives rise to their central struggle toward stability. The climactic moments of that struggle were heart-rending, but the resolution felt that much sweeter.
I thoroughly feel for Drew in the situations where he can feel that something is off or he's put his foot in his mouth, but he isn’t perceptive enough to understand what it is or how he can make it better. I enjoyed seeing him grow through those experiences and talk them through with friends, both in game and outside of it. There is an excellent emotional beat between Drew and Sanee where they have an honest conversation and mutual perspective shift, which felt as momentous for Drew as a person as the main conflict resolution did—with the added bonus of finally showing us the reality underneath Sanee's brazen dickishness.
I've talked a lot about Sanee here because I had to think about him the most out of Drew's friend group, but I really enjoyed the rest of them.
Anyone who remembers being this young or having friends this clueless will find something to love here, and if you've ever loved time spent in a virtual world, you will love this one.