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elleyotter 's review for:
Romance Languages
by A.J. Truman
Rating: 3.5 stars
I really liked Julian as a side character in the earlier books in the series, so I was excited to finally read his book! Trigger warning for ALLLLL of the fatphobia, especially from Julian's (horrible) mom and lots of internalized fatphobia as well. If that's a trigger for you, probably skip this one. TW for addiction/gambling addiction.
Julian and Seamus are across-the-hall neighbors at their school; Julian teaches French and Seamus teaches Spanish. When it comes out that Julian is a virgin and hoping to lose his virginity by his 36th birthday (which is coming up quickly!), Seamus offers to help him "round the bases" and punch his V-card. There are a LOT of review that seem to have a lot of beef with this being a totally unrealistic response from a straight man - I'd like to point out that Seamus justifies his actions as not only wanting to help his friend, but that he's bi-curious. He admits SEVERAL TIMES he is bi-curious, so the people saying things like "he doesn't realize he's not straight until the end" are just... off base. More than his sexuality, Seamus' hesitance to get into a relationship stems from shame and self-worth issues around his gambling addiction and debt. Add in Julias' own shame around his weight and body, and there's such an interesting dynamic between these two. They can each see the other's faults and flaws and love them and how it makes the other a real person; but at the same time they view their own flaws as unlovable. I just wanna hug them both so big!
This is the third book in the South Rock High series, and can be read as a standalone. The couples from the previous books (who are Julian's friends and fellow teachers) do show up heavily as side characters in this one with some minor spoilers for the earlier books.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are unbiased and my own.
Like this review?
Check out more of my reviews on my blog, Elley the Book Otter
I really liked Julian as a side character in the earlier books in the series, so I was excited to finally read his book! Trigger warning for ALLLLL of the fatphobia, especially from Julian's (horrible) mom and lots of internalized fatphobia as well. If that's a trigger for you, probably skip this one. TW for addiction/gambling addiction.
Julian and Seamus are across-the-hall neighbors at their school; Julian teaches French and Seamus teaches Spanish. When it comes out that Julian is a virgin and hoping to lose his virginity by his 36th birthday (which is coming up quickly!), Seamus offers to help him "round the bases" and punch his V-card. There are a LOT of review that seem to have a lot of beef with this being a totally unrealistic response from a straight man - I'd like to point out that Seamus justifies his actions as not only wanting to help his friend, but that he's bi-curious. He admits SEVERAL TIMES he is bi-curious, so the people saying things like "he doesn't realize he's not straight until the end" are just... off base. More than his sexuality, Seamus' hesitance to get into a relationship stems from shame and self-worth issues around his gambling addiction and debt. Add in Julias' own shame around his weight and body, and there's such an interesting dynamic between these two. They can each see the other's faults and flaws and love them and how it makes the other a real person; but at the same time they view their own flaws as unlovable. I just wanna hug them both so big!
This is the third book in the South Rock High series, and can be read as a standalone. The couples from the previous books (who are Julian's friends and fellow teachers) do show up heavily as side characters in this one with some minor spoilers for the earlier books.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are unbiased and my own.
Like this review?
Check out more of my reviews on my blog, Elley the Book Otter