Scan barcode
A review by effinalice
Just by Looking at Him by Ryan O'Connell
medium-paced
3.0
I'm conflicted on this one.
Just By Looking at Him was a cover buy for me. Admittedly after purchasing it it sat on my shelves for about a year. I decided to pick it up as part of the Diverse Baseline Challenge. One of the prompts for the month of April is to read a book with chronic illness or pain representation. Elliot, our main character is a disabled gay man with cerebral palsy and he is set on burning down his life (metaphorically). Elliot has been in a long term relationship that has become stale. Although he is moderately well off with a stable job and in a loving relationship, he starts to feel like life is passing him by. He wants a chance to be reckless so he begins to have clandestine meet ups with sex workers unbeknownst to his boyfriend.
The book honestly took me by surprise. It reads very modern. There are tons of self degrading jokes and references to the 2000s. Some parts had me laughing out loud. Other parts felt a bit repetitive.
Elliot is an unlikeable character. You want to root for him and then he does sometime that will piss you off. We follow him on a journey of self-acceptable and growth.
If you're someone who loves reading books about messy relationships or messy people, this one will definitely scratch that itch.
Just By Looking at Him was a cover buy for me. Admittedly after purchasing it it sat on my shelves for about a year. I decided to pick it up as part of the Diverse Baseline Challenge. One of the prompts for the month of April is to read a book with chronic illness or pain representation. Elliot, our main character is a disabled gay man with cerebral palsy and he is set on burning down his life (metaphorically). Elliot has been in a long term relationship that has become stale. Although he is moderately well off with a stable job and in a loving relationship, he starts to feel like life is passing him by. He wants a chance to be reckless so he begins to have clandestine meet ups with sex workers unbeknownst to his boyfriend.
The book honestly took me by surprise. It reads very modern. There are tons of self degrading jokes and references to the 2000s. Some parts had me laughing out loud. Other parts felt a bit repetitive.
Elliot is an unlikeable character. You want to root for him and then he does sometime that will piss you off. We follow him on a journey of self-acceptable and growth.
If you're someone who loves reading books about messy relationships or messy people, this one will definitely scratch that itch.