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A review by hannahb1533
The Hookup Dilemma by Constance Gillam
3.0
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
I will start by saying that if I could give 3.5 stars on Goodreads that’s what this book would be.
Rashida is a good critic who is also on a mission to save her grandma’s neighborhood outside of Atlanta from gentrification from a development company. One night she meets a Elliot at a bar and they share a night of passion that they both hope leads to something more… until she finds out that Elliot is temporarily running his dad’s company and that said company is the development company interested in her grandma’s neighborhood.
I really enjoyed the way that this book took a look at gentrification and the implications and threats it poses to marginalized and vulnerable populations. It was clear that the author did their research in these topics and the situation felt realistic and was eye opening.
The characters are developed but I also wanted a little bit more. I feel like Rashida we understand more than we do Elliot. We learn more about Rashida’s life and get more of her personality. With Elliot his character development is largely focused on the push and pull between his desire to have Rashida and his desire to make his dad proud. I wanted to know more about him than his job, I found it hard to understand what made Rashida so drawn to him (besides his abilities in bed).
The place that made this book a slower read for me than other was the pacing. I enjoyed reading the book but the pacing varied and that slowed me down as a reader. At times it felt like shorts spans of time took up multiple chapter but then the last 2 or so chapters were paced very quickly. I was thrown off at the end when they say the process they need to undergo to help save the community will be a long one; yet a few pages later it is done and solved. The final scene between Rashida and Elliot along with the epilogue that followed also felt very rushed.
Where this book rates high for me is the spice quality. The spice scenes in this book are in fact very spicy, yet also written in a tasteful way. Pleasure is seen through the reactions of both characters.
Overall, the book was a good read, it just probably isn’t one I would feel a need to pick up again.
I will start by saying that if I could give 3.5 stars on Goodreads that’s what this book would be.
Rashida is a good critic who is also on a mission to save her grandma’s neighborhood outside of Atlanta from gentrification from a development company. One night she meets a Elliot at a bar and they share a night of passion that they both hope leads to something more… until she finds out that Elliot is temporarily running his dad’s company and that said company is the development company interested in her grandma’s neighborhood.
I really enjoyed the way that this book took a look at gentrification and the implications and threats it poses to marginalized and vulnerable populations. It was clear that the author did their research in these topics and the situation felt realistic and was eye opening.
The characters are developed but I also wanted a little bit more. I feel like Rashida we understand more than we do Elliot. We learn more about Rashida’s life and get more of her personality. With Elliot his character development is largely focused on the push and pull between his desire to have Rashida and his desire to make his dad proud. I wanted to know more about him than his job, I found it hard to understand what made Rashida so drawn to him (besides his abilities in bed).
The place that made this book a slower read for me than other was the pacing. I enjoyed reading the book but the pacing varied and that slowed me down as a reader. At times it felt like shorts spans of time took up multiple chapter but then the last 2 or so chapters were paced very quickly. I was thrown off at the end when they say the process they need to undergo to help save the community will be a long one; yet a few pages later it is done and solved. The final scene between Rashida and Elliot along with the epilogue that followed also felt very rushed.
Where this book rates high for me is the spice quality. The spice scenes in this book are in fact very spicy, yet also written in a tasteful way. Pleasure is seen through the reactions of both characters.
Overall, the book was a good read, it just probably isn’t one I would feel a need to pick up again.