I guess I’m filing this one off under “mixed feelings.“ There were aspects of these book that I really, really loved, but each of them ended up offset with some detail or aspect that I found questionable.

For example, the prose was really, really voicey, which I tend to consider a good thing. It was definitely fun and memorable! But also, at times it was just too… run-on and repetitive and hard to figure out what the MC was even talking about as he sunk deep in his own head. Real people most definitely talk like that, but real people aren’t characters in a book meant to convey their arcs and a whole damn plot to an outside observer!

Speaking of books, I absolutely loved the parts focused on writing and editing and sharing what you’ve written with other people. Most of it was super relatable, parts of it viscerally so. But the whole deal with publishing the book was just so… wish fulfillment, you know? I just couldn’t take it seriously when that big important editor started low-key fawning over a barebones first draft by an unagented no-name author. “It’s full of flaws, your plot holes have holes, you’ve lost the character arc in the middle, but we can tell it’s going to be big, so let’s sing a contract right now“—I’m… sure a lot of us wish it worked this way, lol. And yeah, I promise I understand suspension of disbelief is a valuable component  of consuming fiction, but with some topics, there’s only so far mine can stretch.

The romance itself surely had its moments. I love pining, I love friends to lovers, I dearly love roommates to lovers! I can even dig misunderstandings when they’re rooted in the characters’ circumstances and deep-set beliefs. But here, damn, for best friends these two sure didn’t understand each other at all. What made them friends in the first place is low-key beyond me! And also, while I liked Art, the LI, for their nerdiness and their attitude and their coming-out-as-nonbinary arc (which was handled pretty well I feel), for the majority of the book they… barely existed as a person through the MC’s eyes? Just as an object of the MC’s affections? Idk, there was that vibe that I wasn’t quite comfortable with. But I was definitely glad when Preston got called out for his tendency to make everything about him.

Overall though, there were cool moments, some Alexis Hall vibes (I love Alexis Hall), and all the relatable nerdiness and bookishness. So I might pick up more books by Kris Ripper at some point.