this was soo gahsjsksbdjosnsbdj

I could not connect with any of the characters for the first 25% of the story.

Alexis Hall i am begging you to write a likeable main character

I had a hard time getting into this one.

genuinely considering faking amnesia to solve all my problems rn

“so you like me, then you don’t like me, now you care about me.” jonathan leans his head against the door, looking, if i’m honest, a bit despairing. “and leave gollum out of this.”

“he’s a cat. he’s not an emotionally damaged teenager whose parents are in the middle of a messy divorce.”

just as sam becker’s dickish boss, jonathan forest, is about to fire him, sam trips and hits his head. what’s the best way to keep your job whilst saving the band of misfits you work with? fake amnesia, obviously. what’s the worst that could happen? developing feelings for your boss as he (begrudgingly) takes charge of your recuperation even though its built on a lie? yeah, right.

my love for alexis hall surprises no one. i’ve put up residence in the halls of his words ever since glitterland and rereading boyfriend material has become an annual tradition. naturally there comes a point where i wonder whether anything can top that. is it even possible to find a new favorite?

as it turns out, yes it is. you do so with this novel.

for absolutely no good reason apart from my own illiteracy, it took me a hot minute to fully grasp what 10 things is about. i knew it had an amnesia plot, but it was only when someone said “but make it fake” that i thought, “there he is. there’s the alexis i know and love”.

because this was so fucking funny. it is absurdity meets chaos and a hoot and a half. ridiculousness in a way that only works with alexis at the helm.

then: a switch. you’re laughing until you’re not, until there comes a reveal that leaves you in pieces. until you finally understand what it’s like to fight through all the bad to feel a sliver of something good, and why that good still hurts. because its so fucking overwhelming.

using humour to cover up grief and an aching loneliness hits extremely close to home. there was such a sadness to this, an emptiness woven through the wit and snark, but also such unimaginable joy. sometimes all you can do is ride that wave. but that’s just life, isn’t it?