Scan barcode
A review by genej101
Anyone But Her by Erica Lee
3.0
Three stars only because I liked it more than the first two of hers I read, incidentally, this is the last time I buy more than one book from any author until I've read at least one book from that author. I won't be going back for others.
The fake dating trope is so overused that it didn't even interest me in this circumstance of the unwitting gay twins - I mean really? Neither tipped at ALL during their entire 26 years of life? I suppose that's possible, given the uber religious family history, but both having been living out and proud since high school and never had a conversation, a real conversation? Then big brother refuses to believe his own twin when SHE tells him flat out? There's just so much wrong in this family dynamic, the only one I really liked was Nana.
I did like that this time the relationship didn't take until the last chapter to take off. But then the usual trope of x gets x, x loses x, x gets x back again reared its head and that bit was more than silly. Both feel a lifelong kind of love and one of them cuts that off because she's friends with her beloved's brother? That's just so wrong on so many levels. I just have had it with this formula no matter how it gets dressed up, it never varies and is always annoying in fiction. In real life, people work things out, or try to, they don't just quit, then eventually see the light as so often happens in fiction.
I really liked Charlie and Reagan together, that was a sweet a love story and may continue being one. I do like that Jamie finally pulls his head out of his rear and helps the women get together. I don't like, but am not surprised by, the parents being as unyielding as they are, though it was very nice to see other members of that family reach out in comfort and acceptance. After 26 years of being deathly afraid of their parents, Jamie and Charlie don't go home for Christmas and their parents are surprised, though still unyielding in their homophobia. I know family dynamics are complicated and that this is the experience of many young gay people, some of those families willing accept them, reluctantly come to accept them, and a few just excommunicate their own children. Having lost two children that will never not grate on me.
So, there's an almost happy ending. The women want FOUR kids, so the unyielding parents will finally get their grandchildren but will never see them? That's the implication and that is incredibly sad, not happy. And, I'm finished with Ms. Lee. At last. So, I'm happy even if almost no one else is.
The fake dating trope is so overused that it didn't even interest me in this circumstance of the unwitting gay twins - I mean really? Neither tipped at ALL during their entire 26 years of life? I suppose that's possible, given the uber religious family history, but both having been living out and proud since high school and never had a conversation, a real conversation? Then big brother refuses to believe his own twin when SHE tells him flat out? There's just so much wrong in this family dynamic, the only one I really liked was Nana.
I did like that this time the relationship didn't take until the last chapter to take off. But then the usual trope of x gets x, x loses x, x gets x back again reared its head and that bit was more than silly. Both feel a lifelong kind of love and one of them cuts that off because she's friends with her beloved's brother? That's just so wrong on so many levels. I just have had it with this formula no matter how it gets dressed up, it never varies and is always annoying in fiction. In real life, people work things out, or try to, they don't just quit, then eventually see the light as so often happens in fiction.
I really liked Charlie and Reagan together, that was a sweet a love story and may continue being one. I do like that Jamie finally pulls his head out of his rear and helps the women get together. I don't like, but am not surprised by, the parents being as unyielding as they are, though it was very nice to see other members of that family reach out in comfort and acceptance. After 26 years of being deathly afraid of their parents, Jamie and Charlie don't go home for Christmas and their parents are surprised, though still unyielding in their homophobia. I know family dynamics are complicated and that this is the experience of many young gay people, some of those families willing accept them, reluctantly come to accept them, and a few just excommunicate their own children. Having lost two children that will never not grate on me.
So, there's an almost happy ending. The women want FOUR kids, so the unyielding parents will finally get their grandchildren but will never see them? That's the implication and that is incredibly sad, not happy. And, I'm finished with Ms. Lee. At last. So, I'm happy even if almost no one else is.