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mspilesofpaper's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc.
Theo and Kit used be to best friends, crushes and lovers. Now, they are just estranged exes after a fight on a flight to Paris to start their European food and wine tour. The fight was several years ago and they have finally to make use of the voucher or the money will be forever gone. When Theo boarded the tour bus as one of the last participants, they didn't realise that Kit would be there as well. Three weeks through Europe, visiting three countries that are deeply connected with delicious food and wine, but also with love, passion and romance: France, Spain and Italy. Of course, they are fine with having to do the tour together - they are over each other. They are so over each other that they have a competition to see who can hook up with more locals.
My experience with McQuiston books is a mixed one: 5 ⭐ for Red, White and Royal Blue, 4 ⭐ for I kissed Shara Wheeler (despite unlikeable characters), and 2.5⭐ for One Last Stop. So, on average: 3.8 ⭐ for her books. I did not expect another 5-star read but the book's summary made me think "ah, yes I think I will like it". Fun fact: by ~20%, I realised how much I dislike the book and I wish it would have become better instead of worse. By ~50%, I just resigned to my fate of forcing myself through it to finish the eARC.
The Pairing is an extreme case of "expectations vs. reality". I did expect a second-chance romance where two male lovers realise, while touring through France, Spain and Italy, that they still love each other. The reality is that it is an over-sexualised book with copy-paste parts from food and travel blogs, and with two bisexuals (1 non-binary and 1 cis but both are white) main characters as lovers. The entire book gives me #EuroSummer vibes because it is an over-romanticised view of Europe. As a European who knows some stops from the tour: yes, they can be beautiful but every description of a town/city sounded as if McQuiston was never there and just read three travel blogs (that tend to glamourise their trips to France/Spain/Italy) before copy-pasting those descriptions into the book. Right now, I'm a very tired European. Europe is not a theme park, guys!
As for the over-sexualisation: every character is portrayed as bisexual/pansexual and is down to fuck after meeting Kit/Theo for a second. Every character is either young and beautiful or older and attractive (e.g., Émile as a salt & pepper billionaire who is a bisexual yacht owner who wants a threesome). Everything is so beautiful that it makes characters horny/makes them think of sex. Likely, I am by far too asexual to understand it but why do allosexuals look at food and think "oh yes, I want to fuck now"? The fact that everyone wants constantly sex (to the point that a foursome/orgy is going on with 4 - 5 side characters) makes the entire book so vapid and pointless. I hated it. My best friend received several voice messages of me ranting about the book and how much I hate it. Please, do not get me started on the fucking peach scene ... it will haunt me forever.
Concerning Theo and Kit: I hate them. Theo (actually Theodora) is a non-binary (playing with the concept of being trans) bisexual who is a nepo baby and the definition of "woe me" who acts like the victim despite being the one who is responsible for the bullshit. Their part is the first part of the book and I hated every second of it. When they are not horny and try to fuck someone/Kit, they describe alcoholic beverages in extensive terms that mean nothing to someone who doesn't drink but they all sound like they come from a pretentious food blog. Their struggle with being a nepo baby (as their parents and siblings are famous) is basically "I act like I am poor because I cannot accept the help of my family to start a business". I can understand it that they don't want to accept money from their parents but their sister offered it multiple times, no strings attached, as a loan or an investment into Theo's business idea but they keep saying no because "I do not want to rely on my connections". If I would be able to meet Theo in real life, I would be like "Theo, fuck you. Your family loves and cares about you. Stop acting as if you have no options and need to be poor/do everything on your own when your family would help you to start your business. Not everyone has such a good support net!" because they are insufferable as fuck. Kit is also a nepo baby and his part of the book, the second part, is slightly more acceptable than the first part but I might think like this because it was easy to skip due to extensive scenes of: sex, sex, sex, architecture/art described in food terms, Kit being whiny about how much he loves Theo, sex. Both of them are vapid and their main characteristic is "being horny". They are so horny for each other and other people, it does not even occur to them that someone wants to spend an evening with them as a friend.
As for the side characters: they are not developed. If they were removed from the book, the book wouldn't be any different. With each chapter, the tour group becomes smaller or there are suddenly side characters that have never been introduced. Fabrizio feels like a caricature of a tour guide/an Italian.
As for the romance: I do like second chance romances when they are well done in terms of emotional development and growing to realise "Ohh, it's always been you". Unfortunately, The Pairing is a horrible case of second chance romance as the emotional development of falling in love again (or realising the "Ohh, it's always been you") happens mostly off-page as McQuiston considered never-ending sex scenes as more important. All I know about their romance is that they function well when it comes to sex but have zero ability to actually communicate with each other. Their fight on the plane that led to the break-up? Happens because of bad communication and a lack of communication afterwards. The only positive scene in the entire novel that concerns their relationship is Theo's coming out as non-binary to Kit and Kit easily accepting it because "you are bigger than one gender", and from there onwards, Kit uses they/them for Theo. (Previously, it is she/her and other characters consider Theo as female as well.)
Spice level: 3 🌶️
TW: alcohol consumption, graphic sex scenes, death of parent, difficult parent-child relationship, toxic relationship (bullying of each other, it is a kink for them)
Tl;dr: A romance book with two vapid, two-dimensional main characters who want to fuck everyone but especially each other, who are extremely entitled nepo babies who do not realise their privileges while they fuck their way through an over-romanticised portrayal of France, Spain and Italy where everyone and everything is down to fuck with them. The research that went into the book feels just as vapid and as if the author read 3 - 5 travel blogs and food blogs. Harmful portrayal of bisexuals who want to fuck everyone (plays into "they see prey, not people" stereotype) to top everything off.
Theo and Kit used be to best friends, crushes and lovers. Now, they are just estranged exes after a fight on a flight to Paris to start their European food and wine tour. The fight was several years ago and they have finally to make use of the voucher or the money will be forever gone. When Theo boarded the tour bus as one of the last participants, they didn't realise that Kit would be there as well. Three weeks through Europe, visiting three countries that are deeply connected with delicious food and wine, but also with love, passion and romance: France, Spain and Italy. Of course, they are fine with having to do the tour together - they are over each other. They are so over each other that they have a competition to see who can hook up with more locals.
My experience with McQuiston books is a mixed one: 5 ⭐ for Red, White and Royal Blue, 4 ⭐ for I kissed Shara Wheeler (despite unlikeable characters), and 2.5⭐ for One Last Stop. So, on average: 3.8 ⭐ for her books. I did not expect another 5-star read but the book's summary made me think "ah, yes I think I will like it". Fun fact: by ~20%, I realised how much I dislike the book and I wish it would have become better instead of worse. By ~50%, I just resigned to my fate of forcing myself through it to finish the eARC.
The Pairing is an extreme case of "expectations vs. reality". I did expect a second-chance romance where two male lovers realise, while touring through France, Spain and Italy, that they still love each other. The reality is that it is an over-sexualised book with copy-paste parts from food and travel blogs, and with two bisexuals (1 non-binary and 1 cis but both are white) main characters as lovers. The entire book gives me #EuroSummer vibes because it is an over-romanticised view of Europe. As a European who knows some stops from the tour: yes, they can be beautiful but every description of a town/city sounded as if McQuiston was never there and just read three travel blogs (that tend to glamourise their trips to France/Spain/Italy) before copy-pasting those descriptions into the book. Right now, I'm a very tired European. Europe is not a theme park, guys!
As for the over-sexualisation: every character is portrayed as bisexual/pansexual and is down to fuck after meeting Kit/Theo for a second. Every character is either young and beautiful or older and attractive (e.g., Émile as a salt & pepper billionaire who is a bisexual yacht owner who wants a threesome). Everything is so beautiful that it makes characters horny/makes them think of sex. Likely, I am by far too asexual to understand it but why do allosexuals look at food and think "oh yes, I want to fuck now"? The fact that everyone wants constantly sex (to the point that a foursome/orgy is going on with 4 - 5 side characters) makes the entire book so vapid and pointless. I hated it. My best friend received several voice messages of me ranting about the book and how much I hate it. Please, do not get me started on the fucking peach scene ... it will haunt me forever.
Concerning Theo and Kit: I hate them. Theo (actually Theodora) is a non-binary (playing with the concept of being trans) bisexual who is a nepo baby and the definition of "woe me" who acts like the victim despite being the one who is responsible for the bullshit. Their part is the first part of the book and I hated every second of it. When they are not horny and try to fuck someone/Kit, they describe alcoholic beverages in extensive terms that mean nothing to someone who doesn't drink but they all sound like they come from a pretentious food blog. Their struggle with being a nepo baby (as their parents and siblings are famous) is basically "I act like I am poor because I cannot accept the help of my family to start a business". I can understand it that they don't want to accept money from their parents but their sister offered it multiple times, no strings attached, as a loan or an investment into Theo's business idea but they keep saying no because "I do not want to rely on my connections". If I would be able to meet Theo in real life, I would be like "Theo, fuck you. Your family loves and cares about you. Stop acting as if you have no options and need to be poor/do everything on your own when your family would help you to start your business. Not everyone has such a good support net!" because they are insufferable as fuck. Kit is also a nepo baby and his part of the book, the second part, is slightly more acceptable than the first part but I might think like this because it was easy to skip due to extensive scenes of: sex, sex, sex, architecture/art described in food terms, Kit being whiny about how much he loves Theo, sex. Both of them are vapid and their main characteristic is "being horny". They are so horny for each other and other people, it does not even occur to them that someone wants to spend an evening with them as a friend.
As for the side characters: they are not developed. If they were removed from the book, the book wouldn't be any different. With each chapter, the tour group becomes smaller or there are suddenly side characters that have never been introduced. Fabrizio feels like a caricature of a tour guide/an Italian.
As for the romance: I do like second chance romances when they are well done in terms of emotional development and growing to realise "Ohh, it's always been you". Unfortunately, The Pairing is a horrible case of second chance romance as the emotional development of falling in love again (or realising the "Ohh, it's always been you") happens mostly off-page as McQuiston considered never-ending sex scenes as more important. All I know about their romance is that they function well when it comes to sex but have zero ability to actually communicate with each other. Their fight on the plane that led to the break-up? Happens because of bad communication and a lack of communication afterwards. The only positive scene in the entire novel that concerns their relationship is Theo's coming out as non-binary to Kit and Kit easily accepting it because "you are bigger than one gender", and from there onwards, Kit uses they/them for Theo. (Previously, it is she/her and other characters consider Theo as female as well.)
Spice level: 3 🌶️
TW: alcohol consumption, graphic sex scenes, death of parent, difficult parent-child relationship, toxic relationship (bullying of each other, it is a kink for them)
Tl;dr: A romance book with two vapid, two-dimensional main characters who want to fuck everyone but especially each other, who are extremely entitled nepo babies who do not realise their privileges while they fuck their way through an over-romanticised portrayal of France, Spain and Italy where everyone and everything is down to fuck with them. The research that went into the book feels just as vapid and as if the author read 3 - 5 travel blogs and food blogs. Harmful portrayal of bisexuals who want to fuck everyone (plays into "they see prey, not people" stereotype) to top everything off.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Bullying and Toxic relationship
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