A review by wardenred
Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

So you made out with my brother because you were sexually frustrated about Parker’s mom?

Well. I expected to have mixed feelings about this book, and here I am now, with all the mixed feelings. :D

Good stuff first: I enjoyed how easily the story flowed and the overall fanfic feel of it (I know the book used to be a fanfic before the serial numbers got filed off, and honestly, it still reads like one, which I'm not complaining of, not even in the slightest). There were multiple really heartwarming and wholesome moments with family and friends taking care of each other. There were a few lines of dialogue here and there that had me laughing in earnest. Also, I appreciated that while there were no prominent trans or nonbinary characters here, somehow the story managed to feel extremely trans-inclusive, with all the characters explicitly acting like people like me very much exist, like they're aware of our existence and welcome it. This was really heartwarming.

Now, for the stuff that is not so good: I'll be honest, the romance eeked me out a bit. I'm not against age gaps on principle and I do think that there might be ways to handle a "parent / their child's best friend" pairing in a way that is not so disturbing. The way this book handles it definitely isn't one of them. I did like the initial one-night stand part where Cassie and Erin didn't yet know how they're connected through Parker. There was no weirdness about the power dynamic there, Cassie was very much in control in the situation, and it was clear both women were making their own choices. But everything that followed made me cringe harder and harder with each chapter, for both of them. The narrative tries sometimes to present Cassie as someone mature, but the truth is, she's really not. She leads exactly the same life that Parker, Erin's daughter, does, despite being a few years older, she has the same circle of friends, goes to the same parties, struggles with very similar challenges, and generally has a lot more in common with Parker than Erin. Honestly, the only reason I remembered she was actually older than Parker was because Parker often randomly acted like she was 15-16 at most. How do you look at someone who's in many ways just like your kid you're struggling to reconnect with and go, "Ooh, let's have sex?" As for Cassie, she was really really bad at hearing "no" and maintaining any of the borders Erin occasionally did try to draw, and that was making me rather uncomfortable, too. 

Also, this thing between them was dishonest and awful toward Parker, whom they both are supposed to care for very much, and like, why did either of them decide what they shared was worth it? For a very long time, neither of them displayed any actual feelings for each other, only an intense sexual attraction. Is this truly how allosexuals feel? "Let me put an important friendship/my entire relationship with my kid I'm desperately trying to reconnect with on the line for the sake of getting off together, because that first time one-night stand was so hot?" Come on, it's not like you're each other's only chance at having good sex.

On a semi-related note, that entire part where the big reveal was met with Parker already knowing, having known for a while and having successfully coped with it all on her own? That really felt like a cop-out. That also made me feel a lot more interested in that "hidden storyline" than in what I got. I think I would rather have read a book about Parker and her dealing with college, her parents' divorce, and one of her best friends getting it on with her mom in secret.
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