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onceandfuturebooknerd's reviews
933 reviews
The (Fake) Dating Game by Timothy Janovsky
4.5
Oh my GOSH this was another Timothy Janovsky win!! I will need to think long and hard now about which of his books is my favourite, cause this one was basically perfection!
In The (Fake) Dating Game we follow Holden who is holding his life together by threads - his boyfriend just broke up with him, he has a hard time processing his grief over a mother he lost a few years ago, and he is just generally unhappy with his career and where he is in life. Solution? Applying for a grocery game show Madcap Market (a show he used to watch religiously with his mom) with his friend and winning a grand prize. But when the so-called friend bows out due to loyalty to his ex, Holden comes up with a scheme - he will fake a relationship with a concierge Leo (who just lost his job and would love a financial injection as well) and win the show this way. But fake plans turn to real feelings soon enough and Holden is faced with the harsh reality of his life, of how escapism is good for a while, but your hurt will catch up eventually.
While The (Fake) Dating Game is a romance novel full of joy and fluff and spice, the whole book is also permeated by Holden's deep grief over losing his mom which hits deep. You can feel his unending love for her in every chapter, every line. Holden is stuck in this grief spiral and I loved how his solution in the end was not moving on, but accepting that the grief will always be there and learning to live beside it. I am teary-eyed just writing this, but Holden's story really struck a chord; the readers are really made to feel his emotions, his pain and love.
The other important actor in Holden's arc is of course Leo, the unexpected new guy who due to some similar experiences in the romance department, understands and stands with Holden from the get-go. Be it by distracting him when the memories of his past relationship snotty Buckley become to much, or by fake dating for a popular reality TV show, Leo was a ripped golden retriever boyfriend from the start and my heart was so there for it.
I could go on and on about why I adore this book so much, but I will condense it into some of my favourite tropes present in this book:
- Fake dating (high stakes!!)
- Sunshine x midnight rain (it works SO WELL okay)
- reality TV show
- SO MANY Taylor Swift references. Timothy, I love you, okay!
All in all, a MUST read for all queer romance lovers! Also, I dare say that this is Janovsky's spiciest book to date, for all of you who like to add that to your reviews hehe.
In The (Fake) Dating Game we follow Holden who is holding his life together by threads - his boyfriend just broke up with him, he has a hard time processing his grief over a mother he lost a few years ago, and he is just generally unhappy with his career and where he is in life. Solution? Applying for a grocery game show Madcap Market (a show he used to watch religiously with his mom) with his friend and winning a grand prize. But when the so-called friend bows out due to loyalty to his ex, Holden comes up with a scheme - he will fake a relationship with a concierge Leo (who just lost his job and would love a financial injection as well) and win the show this way. But fake plans turn to real feelings soon enough and Holden is faced with the harsh reality of his life, of how escapism is good for a while, but your hurt will catch up eventually.
While The (Fake) Dating Game is a romance novel full of joy and fluff and spice, the whole book is also permeated by Holden's deep grief over losing his mom which hits deep. You can feel his unending love for her in every chapter, every line. Holden is stuck in this grief spiral and I loved how his solution in the end was not moving on, but accepting that the grief will always be there and learning to live beside it. I am teary-eyed just writing this, but Holden's story really struck a chord; the readers are really made to feel his emotions, his pain and love.
The other important actor in Holden's arc is of course Leo, the unexpected new guy who due to some similar experiences in the romance department, understands and stands with Holden from the get-go. Be it by distracting him when the memories of his past relationship snotty Buckley become to much, or by fake dating for a popular reality TV show, Leo was a ripped golden retriever boyfriend from the start and my heart was so there for it.
I could go on and on about why I adore this book so much, but I will condense it into some of my favourite tropes present in this book:
- Fake dating (high stakes!!)
- Sunshine x midnight rain (it works SO WELL okay)
- reality TV show
- SO MANY Taylor Swift references. Timothy, I love you, okay!
All in all, a MUST read for all queer romance lovers! Also, I dare say that this is Janovsky's spiciest book to date, for all of you who like to add that to your reviews hehe.
The Raven King by Nora Sakavic
5.0
November 2023: We got The Sunshine Court news so now I am rereading cause what ELSE are you supposed to do?!