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A review by thatotheramber
Best Men by Sidney Karger
Did not finish book. Stopped at 42%.
I don't normally leave any sort of review for books I DNF, but I feel like this one needs an explanation because this book should've been a home run for me. Keep in mind that, like all reviews, this is my personal opinion which means that even though I did NOT enjoy this experience, you very well may, and if that's the case more power to you. (To be fair, I should have taken the fact that the blurb/quote on the front cover promoting the book was from Amy Schumer as a warning, but alas, I still went in thinking I might enjoy the story.)
THE DNF POINT: I gave up on this book around the half-way mark. I made it to page 149 our of 340, chapter sixteen of thirty-one chapters. Maybe the book rebounds in the second half, but I will likely never know. There are just too many other books on my TBR for me to continue suffering through this one anymore.
Basically this book gave me the vibes that it was written by someone who was always told by their non-reader friends that they should write a book. So they did, and they had enough connections to get it out in the world without much friction. This is that book. The idea is good. The execution is not. And I know this author has writing experience as a screenwriter, but, if this book is anything to go by, good screenwriting experience does not necessarily equal book writing experience.
Suffice it to say I did not enjoy the writing style at all. There were long paragraphs (some literally taking up entire pages) that were essentially whiney stories of past events or unnecessary info dumps that really didn't forward the story. It was very stream-of-consciousness type rambling with a negative twist. Seriously, the main character was so negative all the time, to the point where I think he did more complaining than actually enjoying anything. He was miserable and I was miserable reading it.
None of the other characters did a single thing to redeem the story either. I hated them all. The "comic relief" BFF was annoying and over the top and I cringed every time she called the MC her GBF or Gay Bestie or any reiteration of that. (Did I accidentally fall into a horrible 90's RomCom?) I didn't even like the love interest, if you can even consider him that. At nearly halfway through the book, the two hadn't shown even a hint of chemistry beyond one random hookup that barely even counted as a hookup. I'd read more of the MC's interactions with his coworkers than with the love interest by this midway point, which isn't really what I want in a romance book. (Which, by the way, I didn't really need pages upon pages of info about the people he fired Just tell me he fired people and was sad about it. I don't need to know that Chloe's dad invented the pool noodle or that Melinda wore her ID card everywhere.) Maybe the moment everything clicks was right around the corner, but dear God, I was tired of waiting. This wasn't a slow-burn or an angsty unrequited love or even an enemies to lovers. It was literally nothing but two people who happened to both be gay standing near each other on multiple occasions.
Basically, there was nothing about this book I liked beyond the premise, which makes me sad.
THE DNF POINT: I gave up on this book around the half-way mark. I made it to page 149 our of 340, chapter sixteen of thirty-one chapters. Maybe the book rebounds in the second half, but I will likely never know. There are just too many other books on my TBR for me to continue suffering through this one anymore.
Basically this book gave me the vibes that it was written by someone who was always told by their non-reader friends that they should write a book. So they did, and they had enough connections to get it out in the world without much friction. This is that book. The idea is good. The execution is not. And I know this author has writing experience as a screenwriter, but, if this book is anything to go by, good screenwriting experience does not necessarily equal book writing experience.
Suffice it to say I did not enjoy the writing style at all. There were long paragraphs (some literally taking up entire pages) that were essentially whiney stories of past events or unnecessary info dumps that really didn't forward the story. It was very stream-of-consciousness type rambling with a negative twist. Seriously, the main character was so negative all the time, to the point where I think he did more complaining than actually enjoying anything. He was miserable and I was miserable reading it.
None of the other characters did a single thing to redeem the story either. I hated them all. The "comic relief" BFF was annoying and over the top and I cringed every time she called the MC her GBF or Gay Bestie or any reiteration of that. (Did I accidentally fall into a horrible 90's RomCom?) I didn't even like the love interest, if you can even consider him that. At nearly halfway through the book, the two hadn't shown even a hint of chemistry beyond one random hookup that barely even counted as a hookup. I'd read more of the MC's interactions with his coworkers than with the love interest by this midway point, which isn't really what I want in a romance book. (Which, by the way, I didn't really need pages upon pages of info about the people he fired Just tell me he fired people and was sad about it. I don't need to know that Chloe's dad invented the pool noodle or that Melinda wore her ID card everywhere.) Maybe the moment everything clicks was right around the corner, but dear God, I was tired of waiting. This wasn't a slow-burn or an angsty unrequited love or even an enemies to lovers. It was literally nothing but two people who happened to both be gay standing near each other on multiple occasions.
Basically, there was nothing about this book I liked beyond the premise, which makes me sad.