A review by shinysue
Cookies For My Orc Neighbor by Michele Mills

hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

The writing is fine, but the author has a lot of internalized misogyny which made the novella difficult to get through towards the end. Despite her working and him not, she still does all the cooking. The dynamic feels very wish-fulfill-y, where she gives up domestic power but he's the right guy to give it up for. This could potentially work for a monster society, but they live in a human society so this feels really gross and dangerous in the same way it's dangerous for literally every woman who enters this kind of dynamic. Plus, the epilogue (even *her* epilogue) is literally about him and his future career. Nothing about her future career. And her "plan" to be that special someone that can make him calm? Apparently that goes against everything he knows about his own people, and yet it works? Definitely wish-fulfill-y.