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A review by veritytease
Fakers by Mark Summers
3.0
2.5 stars rounded up
What an interesting premise.
In a world where many celeb romances are as fake as a Kardashian's arse, what an interesting twist that two male stars of a waning TV show would drum up interest and boost ratings by appearing to be the next hot couple.
Fandoms are packed with passionate shippers fascinated with fanfiction (Johnlock FTW!), eager to go nuts at the mere mention of two male characters getting all hot and steamy.
Honestly, I felt like the idea could have been pushed even further- can you imagine two heterosexual men trying to navigate (faux) dating when the object of their affection, at least in the public eye, is another man?
Unfortunately, the interesting plot was buried under an avalanche of words and I think a few ruthless beta readers would have whipped this book into shape. It reads more like fanfiction.
Just to clarify- I LOVE fanfiction. Not only was it my gateway to MM stories, but I also ended up writing my master's thesis on the topic.
The problem is that readers expect much more from publish books and I think this one is in need of more editing and a critical eye.
It was the little things like not knowing who "he" referred to in a sentence or the repetition of words which grated. All I can say is let's not be afraid of synonyms.
What is more, the book has pacing and story developement issues. By 30% I still wasn't sure who I was rooting for. I was afraid I'd misunderstood and the hot lurve will happen between Aiden and his gay BFF Oliver, who seems to feature much more prominently than Noah.
Again, an eagle-eyed beta would spot such problems and, what is more, point out that there's no need to rehash the same ideas when a good paragraph or two would suffice. MM readers are more than fine with a 100-page book if each sentence is well crafted, meaningful and pushes the plot forward.
All in all, this is an interesting debut and I look forward to watching Mark Summers grow as an author. The ideas are certainly there and after ironing out issues I think we can expect interesting things from him in the future.
Copy kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
What an interesting premise.
In a world where many celeb romances are as fake as a Kardashian's arse, what an interesting twist that two male stars of a waning TV show would drum up interest and boost ratings by appearing to be the next hot couple.
Fandoms are packed with passionate shippers fascinated with fanfiction (Johnlock FTW!), eager to go nuts at the mere mention of two male characters getting all hot and steamy.
Honestly, I felt like the idea could have been pushed even further- can you imagine two heterosexual men trying to navigate (faux) dating when the object of their affection, at least in the public eye, is another man?
Unfortunately, the interesting plot was buried under an avalanche of words and I think a few ruthless beta readers would have whipped this book into shape. It reads more like fanfiction.
Just to clarify- I LOVE fanfiction. Not only was it my gateway to MM stories, but I also ended up writing my master's thesis on the topic.
The problem is that readers expect much more from publish books and I think this one is in need of more editing and a critical eye.
It was the little things like not knowing who "he" referred to in a sentence or the repetition of words which grated. All I can say is let's not be afraid of synonyms.
What is more, the book has pacing and story developement issues. By 30% I still wasn't sure who I was rooting for. I was afraid I'd misunderstood and the hot lurve will happen between Aiden and his gay BFF Oliver, who seems to feature much more prominently than Noah.
Again, an eagle-eyed beta would spot such problems and, what is more, point out that there's no need to rehash the same ideas when a good paragraph or two would suffice. MM readers are more than fine with a 100-page book if each sentence is well crafted, meaningful and pushes the plot forward.
All in all, this is an interesting debut and I look forward to watching Mark Summers grow as an author. The ideas are certainly there and after ironing out issues I think we can expect interesting things from him in the future.
Copy kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.