Scan barcode
A review by bookph1le
The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann
3.0
This one was kind of tricky for me. On the one hand, I really appreciated the ace representation in it and the subtleties explored within the ace umbrella. Romance novels in general usually don't work for me and I don't tend to read them because I'm not fond of the sexy aspects of them, so I definitely appreciate a romance novel that takes a different tack. I would love to see more books like this and fervently hope to see more and more of them on the market each year. Some minor spoilers ahead.
However, I thought this book often did a lot more telling than it did showing, and that didn't always work for me. I didn't want or need everything spelled out for me all the time and would have preferred to see character interactions do more of the heavy lifting.
I also really disliked Malcolm, which made it hard for me to see why Joy was so into him. I thought he was controlling to a really obnoxious extent, and while the book tiptoed up to this it then dismissed it. In particular, it bothered me that he bought hiking gear for Joy and that she took this as a sign of his consideration. Was it? Or was it a sign of his deciding to steamroll her into doing something she didn't really want to do? I get if you're Type A and like to stick to a schedule, but I found it really disrespectful of him to get upset with the other three when they didn't want to go along with his plans. I was glad to see him get some pushback for this, but I still feel like the book cut him a bit too much slack.
While I mostly liked Joy, she felt a little inconsistent to me at times. Still, I very much appreciated the way the book depicted her anxiety and her tendency to self-criticize. It was nice to see a book dissect this and for Joy to learn from it and begin growing.
I look forward to seeing what this author writes next.
However, I thought this book often did a lot more telling than it did showing, and that didn't always work for me. I didn't want or need everything spelled out for me all the time and would have preferred to see character interactions do more of the heavy lifting.
I also really disliked Malcolm, which made it hard for me to see why Joy was so into him. I thought he was controlling to a really obnoxious extent, and while the book tiptoed up to this it then dismissed it. In particular, it bothered me that he bought hiking gear for Joy and that she took this as a sign of his consideration. Was it? Or was it a sign of his deciding to steamroll her into doing something she didn't really want to do? I get if you're Type A and like to stick to a schedule, but I found it really disrespectful of him to get upset with the other three when they didn't want to go along with his plans. I was glad to see him get some pushback for this, but I still feel like the book cut him a bit too much slack.
While I mostly liked Joy, she felt a little inconsistent to me at times. Still, I very much appreciated the way the book depicted her anxiety and her tendency to self-criticize. It was nice to see a book dissect this and for Joy to learn from it and begin growing.
I look forward to seeing what this author writes next.