Remember how I said my new year’s resolution was to read and return all the books that have been loaned to me over the years? Yeah, I didn’t make it through the first quarter before that went out the window.
The year is off to a rough start, and it seems like all the books people have loaned me are depressing. I tried to pick one up, but the very first sentence was about domestic violence, and I just couldn’t.
Instead, I picked up this one, which starts with the MC (Luc) talking about how your only options for a costume party are to overdress and feel like a dick or underdress and feel like a dick, and he was deciding which kind of dick he wanted to be. And I said, “Ahhh, this is more like it.”
Luc is an openly gay man in his 20s in London. He had an exceptionally bad breakup from a very long-term relationship about 5 years ago, and apparently he’s still not over it. He’s still dealing with deep depression, self-loathing, and trust issues. At first I found him to be pretty annoying because he would take the most innocuous statements and find ways to interpret them as personal insults. He did get better about that as the book went on because of the power of love and everything.
Luc’s parents were rock stars in the ‘80s, so Luc is semi-famous by virtue of being their kid. His mom retired shortly after he was born and has been living off the proceeds of her music while raising her son alone because Dad walked out when Luc was 3 and has had 0 contact with them. Nevertheless, Luc occasionally makes headlines just by having famous parents and the book starts when he makes headlines for tripping while leaving the aforementioned costume party and literally landing in the gutter. Someone gets a picture that makes it look like he’s passed out drunk in the gutter wearing a “kinky” outfit. (Note: the “kinky” outfit is literally a headband with bunny ears, but to homophobes, I guess it looks like something Dr. Frank-N-Furter would wear.)
Luc does fundraising for a non-profit to protect dung beetles because it was the only job he could get after his life very publicly imploded a few years ago. Because it’s not a very sexy nonprofit, it’s almost impossible for him to get fired … almost. When the gutter picture gets published, a bunch of their homophobic donors pull out, telling him they don’t approve of his “lifestyle”, so his boss tells him he needs to rehab his image and get these donors back if he wants to keep his job (she doesn’t say it like that, but that’s the gist).
What Luc needs is a boyfriend of whom his employer’s more “conservative” donors will approve. He doesn’t even have to date them for real, just be seen in public (preferably photographed) with the conservative-approved boyfriend, convince the homophobic donors he’s working on himself, then quietly end the fake relationship.
Turns out the only guy who fits the bill and is willing to do it is Oliver, an extremely uptight barrister who defends criminals and is constantly defending his job to people who think he’s putting rapists and murderers back on the street.
Luc and Oliver have a mutual friend and have actually met a couple times. Luc got smashed, propositioned Oliver (who turned him down), and then passed out. Luc hasn’t gotten over the rejection because he’s apparently incapable, even when sober, of thinking Oliver might have realized Luc wasn’t in a great position to be consenting to anything, and/or he just didn’t want it to be a one-night stand.
Things get off to a rocky start when they start fake dating, mostly because they’re both terrible at communication. It’s not an accident that both of these guys are single. They’re both great guys, but really bad at relationships. Luc is convinced Oliver is way out of his league because he’s constantly eating healthy, works out every day, refuses to eat meat or use Uber because of ethical considerations. Also, his apartment is spotless and he can cook.
Obviously, things get better between them, but it’s not easy. The book is 425 pages and Hall makes you wait until the very end for them to reunite (again). But don’t worry, it does have a happy ending.
If you’re having a rough time and need a comfort read, I highly recommend this one.