Luis and Tucker are high school friends who haven't seen each other since Luis' family moved him across the country when they were both kids. There's Luis and Tucker are high school friends who haven't seen each other since Luis' family moved him across the country when they were both kids. There's a bit of bitterness between them, on Luis' side because Tucker didn't keep his promise to join him after high school ended, and on Tucker's side because Luis put down an ultimatum for him to do so.
This is where we begin our novel. The two haven't seen each other for decades and only see each other because Luis' work leads him to be stationed with Tucker.
Something I really loved about this novel was the way that both points of view on this past event in their lives was really well fleshed out, with neither on of them seeming more unreasonable than the other. Or unreasonable at all, really. And once they come into contact with each other again, after the initial piece of awkwardness, they are both dedicated to moving forward instead of holding to the past.
The family dynamic in this novel reminded me so much more of Trade Deadline than Annabeth's previous novel from the 'Out of Uniform' series At Attention, though that was far from a bad thing.
Tucker's demisexuality was explored with respect as is the way that Annabeth always deftly manages when she introduces a character on the asexual spectrum.
The resolution at the end made the whole journey through their past, to their present and then hopes for the future really worthwhile and satisfying.
Merged review:
Luis and Tucker are high school friends who haven't seen each other since Luis' family moved him across the country when they were both kids. There's a bit of bitterness between them, on Luis' side because Tucker didn't keep his promise to join him after high school ended, and on Tucker's side because Luis put down an ultimatum for him to do so.
This is where we begin our novel. The two haven't seen each other for decades and only see each other because Luis' work leads him to be stationed with Tucker.
Something I really loved about this novel was the way that both points of view on this past event in their lives was really well fleshed out, with neither on of them seeming more unreasonable than the other. Or unreasonable at all, really. And once they come into contact with each other again, after the initial piece of awkwardness, they are both dedicated to moving forward instead of holding to the past.
The family dynamic in this novel reminded me so much more of Trade Deadline than Annabeth's previous novel from the 'Out of Uniform' series At Attention, though that was far from a bad thing.
Tucker's demisexuality was explored with respect as is the way that Annabeth always deftly manages when she introduces a character on the asexual spectrum.
The resolution at the end made the whole journey through their past, to their present and then hopes for the future really worthwhile and satisfying....more
There is no way this novel can't be compared to The True Love Experiment, where the main difference is that we have a gay couple in this novel as oppThere is no way this novel can't be compared to The True Love Experiment, where the main difference is that we have a gay couple in this novel as opposed to a straight one.
That said, there were so many laugh out loud moments and I especially loved the various mental health representations that were given between these two characters as well as the ways in which they could support each other when it was needed. We need that from gay men, we need it from straight men, we just need men supporting men without toxicity.
Dev has been a producer of the show Ever After for the past 6 years and still believes in the romances his show makes happen. However, their latest 'Prince' may be the most difficult one they've had in yet.
Charlie is an anxious knot of OCD and, well, anxiety so much so that he was voted out of his own company through a no confidence vote and his ex business partner was very successful in making sure Charlie would find it difficult to find work in the same industry once rumours began to circulate.
As much as he and his publicist see it, the best way of getting him out there and rewrite the narrative on him is to put him on a reality TV that has been after him for a while now.
So Charlie and Dev meet. Dev is introduced as his handler when it turns out Charlie needs more than the handler previously assigned to him can actually give. Dev, however, gets at least a little bit of what sets Charlie off.
There is just so much good in this book, mostly in the sweet and small interactions between these two characters. Although there are a host of others at most times surrounding them, the strength of these two characters really does pull the whole thing off.
About the only thing I would say is a weakness for this novel is that it wasn't always completely a clear divide between whose PoV scene it was as both of them had similar mental processes. ...more
I find this author's books a bit hit and miss but this one was actually pretty cute.
Following the trend of writing fictionalised versions of reality I find this author's books a bit hit and miss but this one was actually pretty cute.
Following the trend of writing fictionalised versions of reality TV shows into books, we have Fizzy Chen, a romance novelist who is currently suffering writer's block when she's approached to star in a new reality TV show being produced by Connor Prince.
But she does not like him to begin with. Basically thinks he's hot but a terrible human being that she doesn't want to work with. There's... not actually a lot of reason behind this other than first impressions and thankfully they are debunked quickly. So quickly I wouldn't even say this novel fulfills the enemies to lovers trope.
Instead, the two of them begin to arrange the contract under which she will appear as the star in this TV show. That means spending time together. Also, his daughter and her niece are friends in school and that pushes them together as well, up to and including a trip to a concert that both girls like.
The problem with proximity, of course, is that the two of them begin to feel attracted to each other. Connor is basically the dictionary definition of demisexual, although the word is never used on page. But he doesn't really like to indulge in any kind of sex if there aren't feelings behind it. Fizzy's instinct is to kinda push through that in her excitement as writing isn't the only dry spell she's been suffering through lately and Connor's mere presence is making her perk up.
Added to that, they're about to start a show on which Fizzy is actually meant to find her true love. So nothing can really happen between Connor and Fizzy without the two of them breaching their various contracts. Connor's boss is a bit of an asshole about it, even more so after another of his TV shows ends up in a scandal partially involving a producer and individual in the show having sex.
This book hits all the right emotional notes and, if the plot felt like it was a bit slow to start, it certainly made up for it before the end.
I'm always on the lookout for demisexual reads and I absolutely fell in love with both of these characters. The book overall had the fairly normal amoI'm always on the lookout for demisexual reads and I absolutely fell in love with both of these characters. The book overall had the fairly normal amount of miscommunication that books like this have and I think it may actually be my favourite marriage of convenience novel. The only one I've read that's similar so far is Marriage of Unconvenience.
Mariana and Santiago have been friends for almost a decade on the internet. They have a pretty cute meet cute through a favourite TV show they both have strong opinions about, but don't actually meet in person until Santiago goes for a teaching job in the States, mostly to be able to earn more money that he is able to send back home. I'm not sure that his home country is listed, but he does speak Spanish.
When Santiago gets the news that the number of work visas allocated for the year have already been allocated to others, he thinks that his plans for starting a new life and new possibilities of care for his mum back home is all over.
Then Mariana makes a suggestion. A relative recently left her $200,000, but she can only claim it once she marries. And there aren't an allocated amount of green cards that can or can't be handed out. They would just have to fool immigration into thinking that they didn't marry for his green card (and her money).
One thing I found particularly interesting about this novel was how it tackled the fact that Mariana doesn't feel like she's a real adult. She has a bunch of debts across from being a student, buying a car, and a couple of other things. She knows that she doesn't have a large number of things she can cook. If she was a 'real' adult, though, these things wouldn't be the case.
This is... such a relevant thing in the culture of young adults right now, and it was so so good to see it on the page. Further to these things, she doesn't think that she has any place beginning a relationship with anyone until she has her life sorted out properly.
Santiago is absolutely adorable and doesn't have any of those particular hang ups. He realises pretty quickly that he is in love with Mariana. It's just on him to try to figure out how on earth he's going to be able to bring that up with Mariana and try to turn this green card relationship into a marriage that lasts, despite the complete lack of support from Mariana's parents. ...more
I will admit, I was a bit surprised to see this novel was set in a world with a rock star and a normal person making a life together, because if I've I will admit, I was a bit surprised to see this novel was set in a world with a rock star and a normal person making a life together, because if I've learned anything from Roan Parrish books it's that they are lyrical and whimsical in a way that makes them different from a whole lot of the genre.
And, as expected, this book didn't really conform to the trope that it appeared to play into at the start.
Huey is an ex-addict who also happens to work at the bar that his sponsor gave to him before he died. It's working well for him--unexpectedly--as are all of the patterns and rules that he's put into his life to make sure that it maintains its controlled reliability.
What isn't controlled or reliable is when Felix comes crashing into it on one of the karaoke nights that are run from the bar. Huey just happens to be on the phone to one of the members of the band Riven at the time and, long story short, Felix ends up being invited for an unofficial audition.
After a bit of bait and switch that occurs there, Huey and Felix go on their first date, which is depicted as just as awkward as a first date usually is (which I loved!!) and they talk about their feelings and why they are each so awkward (which I also loved!!)
I will admit that it was a bit strange that we also had the love story of Coco and Sofia alongside the main romance, but I didn't hate it. It just felt crammed in there when it could easily have been its own novel (I wish it had been its own novel, because those two seemed majorly cute).
Towards the end, it really felt as though it was slowly devolving into its own sequel, with still almost a quarter of the book to go. The feel and direction of the book kinda shifted. Again, not terrible, just didn't appear like a cohesive whole anymore.
What a stunning conclusion to an exceptionally enjoyable series of book by Talia Hibbert. I think this was the first full series of hers that I read aWhat a stunning conclusion to an exceptionally enjoyable series of book by Talia Hibbert. I think this was the first full series of hers that I read and loved and I cannot even say how happy was that this one had a demisexual male protagonists as one of its characters.
I remember saying after I finished reading Untouchable that I wanted to read Rae and Zach's story, and here we are!
Just like the characters in the previous books set in Ravenswood, neither Rae nor Zach quite fit into the rest of the town. For Zach, it's because of his reputation for sleeping around with many of the eligible women. For Rae, it's because she's an out of towner, but also because she's a divorcee.
Rae lives with this through largely ignoring anyone who is dismissive or unkind to her. She's used to not getting along with the majority of people who come by her life. And she's quite happy with the small friendship group she's made since moving to Ravenswood.
For Zach, his aversion to sex, and acceptance of his own demisexuality came after his mother became ill, he lost a lot of his friends and he decided to stop pretending to be an allosexual male.
These two make the best of friends, not just because they are the only two singles in the same friendship group. However, the particular note that I liked in this book was that, if this was framed as a May/December romance, it's Rae, the woman, who is the older person between the two of them.
This book also has the trope of pretending to be in a relationship that turns very real as soon as the two of them are in forced close proximity. Honestly, it's all great and people should get on this immediately. ...more
I really loved this instalment, although I probably could have done without Seong-Jae being quite so emotSeong-Jae is officially demisexual on page!!
I really loved this instalment, although I probably could have done without Seong-Jae being quite so emotionally constipated and determined not to say anything of use for the first 50% of the book.
Malcolm is cleared to go back to work and comes into a scene that is pretty reminiscent of the queer person killer in the first book. It hits Malcolm pretty hard and although I didn't like seeing that, it set a good stage for Malcolm and Seong-Jae to be there for each other and actually, finally, open up.
As much as I didn't like the part where we have to wait still longer to see any kind of hopeful resolution between these two characters, I did like how Malcolm's care for his ex-wife was shown.
Oh! And we finally found out what it was that happened between him and Elizabeth that precipitated their divorce. It's a really sad story, and not an uncommon one, and I really liked the gentleness with which it was handled. I also like seeing the friendship, both past and present, fleshed out between Elizabeth and Anjulie.
Sade was back in this book, and we get little bits from them at both the beginning and end of the book. We see them choose to walk away from the suspicious character on the force, Jason Huang, and how torn up they both were over that.
A LOT happened in this book. The series is really ramping up now....more
This is such a terrific short read and honestly all I can say is that it’s a shame it wasn’t longer.
I’ve read another story from this author before sThis is such a terrific short read and honestly all I can say is that it’s a shame it wasn’t longer.
I’ve read another story from this author before so I was aware of the lyrical writing style. There were just a couple of places in this one where I thought it was a little too abrupt.
This short story is a sweet twist on the selkie myth, while keeping them entrenched in their Irish mythology. But they are in modern day America and Niamh’s best friend and “it’s complicated” asexual partner is Feliz. The interactions between the two families make up the bulk of this story.
I’d happily read anything else set in this world. ...more
I'd heard Megan was a great writer and that this was a good demisexual read. And, look, the novel wasn't bad. It didn't have plot lines that were justI'd heard Megan was a great writer and that this was a good demisexual read. And, look, the novel wasn't bad. It didn't have plot lines that were just dropped, nor did it have unlikeable main characters.
The problem, for me at least, was that this wasn't really a standout novel in any particular way, and a lack of problematic content isn't enough to make a stellar story.
Levi is just off a reality TV show, at the end of which he found out his sister was deceased. The two of them had planned to do the Appalachian Trail together, and now he has decided to do it by himself to attempt to gain some closure or at least peace from having lost his sister and best friend.
The whole novel is told in Levi's point of view, which I found a little bit odd (probably because this series so much reminded me of Annabeth Albert's Out of Uniform series, and those are written from dual points of view). The only information we have about cool, stoic and mostly mono-syllabic Thad is that he likes staring at the moon, doesn't sleep a great deal and gets these strange text messages at the end of each chapter from someone with the initial M.
I did like the emotional aspects of this that had to do with Levi's sister and Thad's work. I even liked the small bits towards the end that we got between Thad's best friend and Levi. ...more
This is the story of a Middle Eastern anxious pansexual MC and a black extroverted demisexual LI. Both the prologue and the epilogue are written from This is the story of a Middle Eastern anxious pansexual MC and a black extroverted demisexual LI. Both the prologue and the epilogue are written from Selena's point of view. All the rest is from June. And I loved June. She has anxiety, and yet reading the story from her was so damn comforting. The rep was honestly that good. Cathartic.
The romance between them develops quickly, with both of them having had long standing crushes on the other at the start of the story. What I liked, though, was that they didn't jump into having sex. Although we didn't get a lot of Selena's identity thoughts as a demisexual person, I appreciated that sex wasn't just on the table as they got closer.
Somehow, despite the fact that they start dating fairly early on, this is a bit of a slow burn. I think it's because the majority of the story is them getting to know each other while dating, rather than dancing around each other as would happen in the usual kind of slow burn story.
I loved the way June thought about her body, and Selena's. I loved how much body positivity and celebration was in here. I loved that both women were professionally powerful in their own rights. And I loved the Instagram fanbase that we saw bits and pieces of every so often.
Honestly, this story is everything that its title promises. ...more
Every book I read after this is going to seem both shorter, and more laborious, I feel. Such was the quality of writing in this book, the narration anEvery book I read after this is going to seem both shorter, and more laborious, I feel. Such was the quality of writing in this book, the narration and descriptive prose was an artform of its own.
As Cole himself says in the afterward, this isn't an 'issues' book. This is a book more to do with love coming together after a long wait. It is also a May/December romance, and after this I think I'm going to struggle to find any other that do the trope justice.
Flat out, I think this is my favourite m/m romance since I read For Real.
I've read Cole's books before, so I went in expecting some pretty decent story telling and characters. If the character voices of Luca and Imre weren't quite so different as I would have wanted to clearly take in which one was the PoV character of each chapter, the rest of the writing more than made up for it.
There've been reviews I've seen that call this book light on plot, especially when considering how long it is, but I don't know that that is true. The level of detail given to seasonal farming was the right amount, I think, and it gave a plot that was separate and also complementing of the romance arc.
The moments of sweet tenderness between these characters, even when they weren't communicating well (which is usually a pet peeve of mine!) somehow managed to draw tears to my eyes on multiple occasions.
I jumped into this book because I heard it was a rockstar story with demisexual representation, and boy was I not disappointed. My main worry about reI jumped into this book because I heard it was a rockstar story with demisexual representation, and boy was I not disappointed. My main worry about reading it right now was that it would blend too much with Anna Zabo's Syncopation, which I read recently.
But, no. This band is at a completely different phase of their career. Although their band manager doesn't always get them, he's not a dick. And Zane has just kicked off what might be the beginning of the end of the ten years that License to Game have had together.
At the same time, Teague is trying to figure out what a sudden burst of actual sexual attraction towards Christian means, and more importantly what to do about it. Christian, meanwhile, is long suffering in his fruitless crush on Teague. Teague, of course, is this gorgeous, over six foot tall monster of a man, described similarly to the lead in Alexis Daria's Take the Lead, while Christian is thin, white and twinky.
It's terrifically angsty, as it should be, but the characterisation and experience of Teague was definitely what got to me, given how he's a demisexual character. I loved him just completely being flawed by sudden interest in attraction to having sex, and not knowing how to get anything else done at the same time. MATE, I HAVE BEEN THERE.
Also, the very real parts of how they try to navigate creative and financial interests, given that they each hold very different values, is quite interesting. The story was basically exactly the right length for what it was....more
No book I have ever read has reminded me so much of Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice in all the best ways of a child being out of their depth in thNo book I have ever read has reminded me so much of Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice in all the best ways of a child being out of their depth in the middle of a royal court and needing to figure out their place in it, on their own terms as well as in accordance to what is being handed to them.
This novel actually had a duel PoV, between the princess Felicity, and the stable boy Horse-friend. Although, by the end of the novel, I understood why we had the dual PoV, I definitely preferred those chapters that were written from Felicity's PoV.
She is a headstrong child, being remembered by an adult woman at the time of this writing. I found it so comfortable having the old events of childhood being interrupted occasionally by anecdotes of Felicity's own decisions as an adult and a parent herself. The comments about her and Horse-friend's married life, long before they even began a romantic relationship, make me crave the rest of the books in this series, even though this novel has only just come out.
I do indeed have some waiting for me.
The things that I struggled most with were the repetition of events that had already been told in one or the other PoV, and were rehashed exactly in the other. Most apparently was this done where it came to Felicity's illness and the Lady's wisps. The pacing really slowed around the middle of this book, and Felicity's staunch statements that she was not unwell at any time really came across as undermining that part of the plot entirely in a way that was not quite resolved to my satisfaction....more
The Baker Thief was a surprisingly standout read for me. I say surprising because I wasn't sure how I was going to take this one. I'd accepted it as aThe Baker Thief was a surprisingly standout read for me. I say surprising because I wasn't sure how I was going to take this one. I'd accepted it as an ARC, but all I knew about it was the name of the author, the fact that there was an aromantic protagonist and what I had gathered from the title itself.
What I hadn't heard was the gorgeous world building and word craft that Claudie Arseneault had under their belt. I was shocked to find how easily I fell into this world, how completely immersed I was, and how much I was rooting for all of the characters.
Well, all of the main characters. There are some people in this novel who are villains, but let it be clear that that is neither the thief or the policewoman who hunts her.
The characters themselves were full of various representations that don't often find themselves on the page, but most favourite of all for me was the fact that people in this world habitually introduce themselves with names and pronouns at once. It's wonderful and so seamlessly established that it makes you wonder why people make it so awkward here.
This is a world I want to live in, exocores and all. ...more
It's a given that I'll enjoy any of Annabeth Albert's novels, but I've been waiting on that utterly special one in this series to give that elusive 5 It's a given that I'll enjoy any of Annabeth Albert's novels, but I've been waiting on that utterly special one in this series to give that elusive 5 stars to.
And behold, I have found it.
When Mark and Isaiah first meet, it's due to their siblings getting married. But, right from first sight, Isaiah feels that spark of attraction towards Mark, and he's honestly not alone in that. Fast forward six years, and a horrible accident involving the late married couple, and Mark and Isaiah are thrust into close contact again while they try to figure out what to do with the three children left behind.
Honestly, I loved the presence of children in At Attention, and it was an utter delight to see Dylan and Apollo again in this book. Ben and Maddox, from On Point, also make an appearance, and I'm going to really struggle not to go back and reread both of those books now that I've finished this one.
But what I really, really adored, around the nostalgic presences of characters I'd loved before, was how these characters interacted. Particularly Mark, who is completely baffled by his own attraction because he's acespec. Demisexual and grey ace are both labels that get used with equal measure in this book, and Mark's experience was so close to mine that I couldn't dislike him despite his tendency to leave Important Information Out every so often.
Both characters were really well fleshed out, the age difference, although not extreme, was present and well handled. I just can't think of a bad thing to say about this one.
I will just say one more thing: I am already hopeful and excited to see if Bacon gets his own story next, cause he was an absolute darling in this one. ...more
This is an important book for demisexuality, and I'm super glad it exists. I'm just not sure it's a well-written book.
Javier is our sole point of vieThis is an important book for demisexuality, and I'm super glad it exists. I'm just not sure it's a well-written book.
Javier is our sole point of view character in this short novel. It opens with him realising that he's in love. That he's in love with Jimmy. The two of them live in a small town and are more or less accepted as being best friends who have dinner in each others' houses every night. Javier considers multiple times throughout the book that he and Jimmy are dating in all but name.
And, from the hints we get from Jimmy throughout, he feels the same.
The problem is that there is a lot of conjecture. These are two characters who do not talk. I get that. Jimmy is scared and has trust issues. Javier doesn't want to scare him off and lose the closeness they have. But... so much of this story's plot wouldn't have held together if these two characters had one in depth conversation with each other before the end of the book.
While I saw what the book was doing--getting and staying in the head of a demisexual character, having him be unashamed of it, having him coming out to various people in his life and community, staying true to who he was--I just can't give the book a higher rating based on that alone. ...more
There is no character that Ashton reminded me so much of as a queer version of play boy rock star Mal Ericson, in Kylie Scott's Play. My take [image]
There is no character that Ashton reminded me so much of as a queer version of play boy rock star Mal Ericson, in Kylie Scott's Play. My take out from this is that all my favourite characters should be turned queer.
Ashton is a rich former model socialite who now has a following of far too many people on Instagram. His life consists of being paid to go to parties and other events as well as product placement on his blog. People can't seem to get enough of him. And yet, that life is steadily losing its appeal for him. I don't think I would have loved him so much had it not been for that.
Valdrin is actually the person whom we start the story with, and that was probably a good idea as it took more for me to get to love him than it took for me to love Ashton. Valdrin is the son of Ashton's nanny. Growing up together had a lot of ups and downs but the end result is that Valdrin took money from Ashton's father to look out for him, something he was already doing anyway. The reason he was willing to be paid for it was for his mother's medical bills before she died.
Why oh why oh why he never actually came out to Ashton and admitted this is beyond me. Oh, right, without this we wouldn't have had a plot. And the lack of communication between Valdrin and Ashton did lose a couple of stars for me. But what brought it back up again was the brilliance of the character writing of both of these characters, and how they moved me to tears more than once. Any book that can do that for me deserves a higher than average rating.
Another part of that I was surprised to love was a part towards the end that used the trope where the-lover-overhears-a-conversation-that-wasn't-meant-for-them-and-everything-works-out. It was a ham-handed and overdone couple of paragraphs but, for some reason, it really charmed me. Perhaps because Valdrin was usually such a soft spoken and laconic character.
Finally, I came across this book largely for the demisexual representation, and that was solid. Okay, like I said, I really took a longer time to warm up to Valdrin, but yeah by the end I pretty much loved everything about his character. ...more
I had this one suggested to me as lesbian YA but, honestly, it was so much more than that. It was about friendship, and family, and chosen family. It I had this one suggested to me as lesbian YA but, honestly, it was so much more than that. It was about friendship, and family, and chosen family. It was about abusive situations, and people who care about those in those situations. It was about escapism, and the internet, and unwanted fame. It was about a handful of school aged kids who formed ties, often despite themselves.
It was about Frances, a young woman and head girl for her school who has planned her entire life to go to Cambridge and study English Lit. On the side, she loves drawing fan art for her favourite podcast: Radio Silence, only to then receive a private message from the Creator asking whether she would like to do the artwork for the podcast.
Right from the start, it is very clear that there are two very different sides of Frances's personality; the side where she is at school, and the side where she gets to be herself outside of all the school obligations and study.
One night, at a bar she attends with friends, she comes across Aled. He's drunk at the time and lets slip one very important secret: He is in fact the Creator of Radio Silence.
Then he passes out over at her house.
There's sort of another narrative coming along at the same time, wherein Frances once was friends with Aled's twin sister Carys, though that only really comes into being hugely relevant towards the end of the novel.
Also amazing characters who feature to greater or lesser extents, and certainly give a lot to the punch at the end of the novel are: Raine, one of the friends from Frances's school who is the second person Frances shows her non-school persona to. Raine isn't brainy like Frances, but she doesn't seem fussed by that. She very much marches to the beat of her own drum. It's definitely something I love about this character.
And Daniel, head boy to Frances's head girl, and someone who is all but a nemesis for fairly unknown reasons. Daniel has his own issues to deal with though, parents who want him to go into work in the family business rather than getting accepted into Cambridge which is his own dream. Daniel also, secretly, is seeing Aled who has been his very best friend in the world since almost they were born.
Aled and Frances's friendship disrupts a lot of things, including that relationship, but also make clear to Frances a lot of things that she hadn't allowed herself to be aware of about her own life and choices until that point. It's a very queer friendly story, overall, with a lot of characters who offer each other strength to be themselves over the course of the story. ...more
I absolutely loved this book. I mean, I'm completely biased towards Notting Hill style romances where the main character is famous and the othe[image]
I absolutely loved this book. I mean, I'm completely biased towards Notting Hill style romances where the main character is famous and the other main is a regular normal person, and this one did not disappoint.
Michelin Moses is a country singer with a secret: He's gay. He's also closeted as fuck, so it's a big deal that he's in a gay club with the musicians he's mentoring when he first meets Lucky.
Lucky is a go-go dancer who basically bucks all the stereotypes of what a dancer in a gay bar who is Argentinian should be. I kinda love that. He's no nonsense and speaks his mind. We have a bunch of reasons for that given in the previous relationship Lucky had before this, but they aren't belaboured. Just fully fleshed. It was a good amount of exposition.
I actually just really loved the characterisation of both these characters. Of the two of them, Michelin is the more shy, when he doesn't have a microphone and a light on him anyway. But what I loved more than anything was the representation of his being demisexual. The author doesn't go into a lot of exposition of what that is, and Lucky is actually the one who basically tells Michelin that's probably what he is first up, but then as the story goes on it gets explored and I just loved the unfurling of their relationship explicitly through that lens. This is the first demi story I've read, so it'll stick in my mind.
About the only thing that kept this from being a perfect read for me was Michelin's internalised misogyny regarding the way he views sex "like a woman" and so on. There was a bit of that that was kinda hard to take and still like the character in the middle section of this novel. Didn't leave too bad a taste in my mouth though. ...more
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