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A review by nottkaro
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
1.0
This book should’ve been titled “Two dumb Americans on their big European Bacchanalia.” I would give it zero stars if I could. Alas…
Look. I wanted to like this book, I wanted to LOVE this book; it was one of my most anticipated releases in 2024 and… I’ve never been more disappointed. This is the iron flame of queer romance. It’s just… it’s bad.
Let’s start with the things I liked about this book:
*cricket noises*
*more cricket noises*
Yeah? Alright.
Now, about the things I didn’t like… buckle up, buttercups. There’s quite a few of those.
My biggest issue with The Pairing are the characters, (especially Theo), who are as one-dimensional as they come. We were supposed to just believe that the relationship they used to have was this amazing, mind blowing, soulmate-esque kind of bond, but it was not backed up by ANY evidence. I had more chemistry with a brick than these two supposedly have. They lack any depth, any personality whatsoever, and being in their heads for 300?400? pages is a MISERY. It’s like reading a wattpad fic written by horny teenagers.
Speaking of Theo, though. They are the most insufferable, selfish, and immature main character I’ve read in a WHILE. They’re a nepo baby with rich parents and even richer sisters but they’re not like other people!!! They don’t want their family’s money!!! They’re paying for their stupid hobbies and passion projects themselves!!! Until they’re not lmao. The fact that Theo is somehow trying to cosplay a poor person despite all the privilege they have is really yucking my yum. Either make them a nepo baby or don’t??? But money aside, Theo’s personality has really nothing else to offer either. It’s either whinging about his family, sex, or food (the last two are often intertwined in very, very cringe ways). Theo is selfish and acts like a big baby and after finishing this book I still have no idea what Kit even sees in them!!! These two don’t belong together and the author is trying to gaslight you that they do.
Kit is slightly less annoying than Theo, but the fact that 90% of his POV is poetic waxing about Theo anyway… well, it really is just a waste of pages. Instead of learning more about him, we’re getting countless paragraphs about Theo and how amazing they are and how beautiful and hot they are YADA YADA YADA. You would think he’s some kind of a god, not a big child with rich parents complex. I also didn’t necessarily like the fact that we’re getting the scene of Theo’s coming out from Kit’s pov; it was beautifully written (probably one of the good scenes in this book), but you’d think it would have made sense to read it from Theo’s pov, to learn how they feel about it… well, no.
Other than that, Kit is pretentious as fuck and everyone is supposed to like and want him because of what, exactly? His personality of a toaster? Also, he’s called “The sex god of whatever” like seven million times.
Ugh. WE GET IT. They fuck a lot. We really get it.
These two don’t belong together. Despite his flaws, Kit deserves BETTER. He deserves someone who will respect and appreciate him, which is definitely not Theo. And look, a lot of my rage might come from the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of second-chance romance but dear god did this book test all my limits when it comes to this trope. The whole premise of this book circles around the fact that Theo and Kit broke up after some colossal fight and Kit walking away… which turns out to be one big misunderstanding. Miscommunication trope at its finest. So good it makes me want to break my kindle. Because the whole conflict and breakup could’ve been avoided with ONE simple conversation; but no, instead Theo comes back home and Kit moves to France and they never talk to each other for 4 years despite being besties for like 15 years and a couple for over a year. And their families supposedly are still in touch with them? So no one cares that they’re going through a devastating and painful breakup blah blah blah? Great families, yall. L O L.
We also get to know relatively early that they’re still in love with each other, which sets the stakes in the book so low it makes you indifferent to everything they’re doing. Of course, they decide that the only way to deal with their mutual pining is to make a sex bet instead of, I don’t know, talking to each other. And to see who can sleep with more people during their food tour. Because that’s exactly how almost 30 year old people deal with everything, right?
Which brings me to the next part…. sex. Spice. Lemons. Whatever you want to call it. I usually love (good) spicy scenes in books but this has completely missed the mark. Not only was it cringe and sometimes creepy, there was simply too much of it. Every other page was either sex or food description. Or both. Bleugh.
But that wouldn’t be the issue, not really. The problem was how objectified every single “side character” was by the main characters. There wasn’t a single person who had any personality, and both Theo and Kit treated everyone like vessels to have sex with them (they even call their your guide a “human appetiser” or something like that). We were supposed to like some of the people who were on tour with them but then they started talking about their sex lives and theorising about it too and like? Why do you even care these are STRANGERS.
Oh, and apparently, every single person in Europe is hot, queer, and open to bang (semi-drunk) strangers. Duh??? Have y’all never been to Europe guys??? That’s exactly what happens. Everyone in Barcelona wants to shag dumb Americans
Look. I wanted to like this book, I wanted to LOVE this book; it was one of my most anticipated releases in 2024 and… I’ve never been more disappointed. This is the iron flame of queer romance. It’s just… it’s bad.
Let’s start with the things I liked about this book:
*cricket noises*
*more cricket noises*
Yeah? Alright.
Now, about the things I didn’t like… buckle up, buttercups. There’s quite a few of those.
My biggest issue with The Pairing are the characters, (especially Theo), who are as one-dimensional as they come. We were supposed to just believe that the relationship they used to have was this amazing, mind blowing, soulmate-esque kind of bond, but it was not backed up by ANY evidence. I had more chemistry with a brick than these two supposedly have. They lack any depth, any personality whatsoever, and being in their heads for 300?400? pages is a MISERY. It’s like reading a wattpad fic written by horny teenagers.
Speaking of Theo, though. They are the most insufferable, selfish, and immature main character I’ve read in a WHILE. They’re a nepo baby with rich parents and even richer sisters but they’re not like other people!!! They don’t want their family’s money!!! They’re paying for their stupid hobbies and passion projects themselves!!! Until they’re not lmao. The fact that Theo is somehow trying to cosplay a poor person despite all the privilege they have is really yucking my yum. Either make them a nepo baby or don’t??? But money aside, Theo’s personality has really nothing else to offer either. It’s either whinging about his family, sex, or food (the last two are often intertwined in very, very cringe ways). Theo is selfish and acts like a big baby and after finishing this book I still have no idea what Kit even sees in them!!! These two don’t belong together and the author is trying to gaslight you that they do.
Kit is slightly less annoying than Theo, but the fact that 90% of his POV is poetic waxing about Theo anyway… well, it really is just a waste of pages. Instead of learning more about him, we’re getting countless paragraphs about Theo and how amazing they are and how beautiful and hot they are YADA YADA YADA. You would think he’s some kind of a god, not a big child with rich parents complex. I also didn’t necessarily like the fact that we’re getting the scene of Theo’s coming out from Kit’s pov; it was beautifully written (probably one of the good scenes in this book), but you’d think it would have made sense to read it from Theo’s pov, to learn how they feel about it… well, no.
Other than that, Kit is pretentious as fuck and everyone is supposed to like and want him because of what, exactly? His personality of a toaster? Also, he’s called “The sex god of whatever” like seven million times.
Ugh. WE GET IT. They fuck a lot. We really get it.
These two don’t belong together. Despite his flaws, Kit deserves BETTER. He deserves someone who will respect and appreciate him, which is definitely not Theo. And look, a lot of my rage might come from the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of second-chance romance but dear god did this book test all my limits when it comes to this trope. The whole premise of this book circles around the fact that Theo and Kit broke up after some colossal fight and Kit walking away… which turns out to be one big misunderstanding. Miscommunication trope at its finest. So good it makes me want to break my kindle. Because the whole conflict and breakup could’ve been avoided with ONE simple conversation; but no, instead Theo comes back home and Kit moves to France and they never talk to each other for 4 years despite being besties for like 15 years and a couple for over a year. And their families supposedly are still in touch with them? So no one cares that they’re going through a devastating and painful breakup blah blah blah? Great families, yall. L O L.
We also get to know relatively early that they’re still in love with each other, which sets the stakes in the book so low it makes you indifferent to everything they’re doing. Of course, they decide that the only way to deal with their mutual pining is to make a sex bet instead of, I don’t know, talking to each other. And to see who can sleep with more people during their food tour. Because that’s exactly how almost 30 year old people deal with everything, right?
Which brings me to the next part…. sex. Spice. Lemons. Whatever you want to call it. I usually love (good) spicy scenes in books but this has completely missed the mark. Not only was it cringe and sometimes creepy, there was simply too much of it. Every other page was either sex or food description. Or both. Bleugh.
But that wouldn’t be the issue, not really. The problem was how objectified every single “side character” was by the main characters. There wasn’t a single person who had any personality, and both Theo and Kit treated everyone like vessels to have sex with them (they even call their your guide a “human appetiser” or something like that). We were supposed to like some of the people who were on tour with them but then they started talking about their sex lives and theorising about it too and like? Why do you even care these are STRANGERS.
Oh, and apparently, every single person in Europe is hot, queer, and open to bang (semi-drunk) strangers. Duh??? Have y’all never been to Europe guys??? That’s exactly what happens. Everyone in Barcelona wants to shag dumb Americans