A review by patelyne
Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall

challenging emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

Paris is about to be a contestant on the popular British baking reality show Baked Expectations. That much stress and international attention seems an odd life choice for a guy who has never met an imaginary disaster scenario he couldn’t speedrun in his head, but his roommate Morag signed him up in hopes of boosting his self confidence and … well, he isn’t good at saying no?

Enter Tariq, fellow contestant, who’s introduction to Paris is a smack to the face. Literally. With a fridge door. Oof. He’s everything Paris isn’t - outgoing, friendly with everyone from the first hello and confident. So unapologetically himself in basically every way. And, starting from the dramatic rebuffs of Paris’ *many* apologies for the Fridge Door Incident, Tariq makes it a personal mission to draw him out. 

Despite the rocky start - and (many) further bumps and miscommunications along the way - they end up at the beginnings a relationship. Unsurprisingly - since this is based around a baking competition - there are enough food descriptions that made me constantly snackish. Surprisingly, there were many more tears than I expected from a romcom, and also more laughs than I expected with a book about some serious mental health and racial/cultural issues.
But it worked, like, really *really* well for me. 

I enjoyed this book So Much - I read it in less than 24 hrs and only wished it were longer - and will absolutely be rereading it again. I am the worst when it comes to saying conclusively which one is my absolute favorite, but I can safely say this is in my top reads for the year. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC!
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