whitneydr's review
5.0
I liked this a lot. I was in the mood for something light and cute with a little angst, so I’m glad I picked it. Also a bonus, the main character, Jay, isn’t your typical white adonis you see in every other M/M novel. He’s overweight, insecure, and shy. I related to him a lot, which is probably why I loved this book.
Normally, I’d complain about coming into the middle of the story, but I felt that the backstory was set up well for our characters and it wasn’t necessary for me as the reader to see the story start from their very first interaction. I was also surprised at how much the short timeline didn’t really bother me at all. The whole book took place in a month, but I felt like there was still relationship and character development.
Of course this wouldn’t be your standard M/M if there weren’t detestable female characters. I don’t even care to remember their names, but they were awful. How are you going to date someone who treats your best friend like crap and has been doing so for 15 years? While I understand that Utah isn’t the bastion of gay culture, they do live in or around a major city, so I feel like it can’t be that difficult to find someone else. I wouldn’t be that desperate. Even if I was, I’d still talk to my best friend about it. With regards to Jay’s “nemesis”, I wish a woman would come into my house disrespecting me and doesn’t pay nan a bill; she’d have to be told. And quickly. In the end, I wouldn’t have forgiven her so she could date my roommate/best friend, but I’d tolerate her existence until she proved to be a decent human being, because even in the end, she didn’t deserve it.
All in all, I really loved Jay and Stephen as a couple. I liked how Stephen wasn’t bothered by Jay’s body and even accepted and loved it/him for what/who he was. He was supportive and didn’t try to change his physical appearance, just how Jay viewed himself. As someone who doesn’t have the perfect body either, it gave me hope that I could meet someone who will love my body just the way it is.
This is the last (12th) book in the Boys of the Zodiac series and I will definitely check out the others. Especially since I love the authors writing them.
5 stars.
Normally, I’d complain about coming into the middle of the story, but I felt that the backstory was set up well for our characters and it wasn’t necessary for me as the reader to see the story start from their very first interaction. I was also surprised at how much the short timeline didn’t really bother me at all. The whole book took place in a month, but I felt like there was still relationship and character development.
Of course this wouldn’t be your standard M/M if there weren’t detestable female characters. I don’t even care to remember their names, but they were awful. How are you going to date someone who treats your best friend like crap and has been doing so for 15 years? While I understand that Utah isn’t the bastion of gay culture, they do live in or around a major city, so I feel like it can’t be that difficult to find someone else. I wouldn’t be that desperate. Even if I was, I’d still talk to my best friend about it. With regards to Jay’s “nemesis”, I wish a woman would come into my house disrespecting me and doesn’t pay nan a bill; she’d have to be told. And quickly. In the end, I wouldn’t have forgiven her so she could date my roommate/best friend, but I’d tolerate her existence until she proved to be a decent human being, because even in the end, she didn’t deserve it.
All in all, I really loved Jay and Stephen as a couple. I liked how Stephen wasn’t bothered by Jay’s body and even accepted and loved it/him for what/who he was. He was supportive and didn’t try to change his physical appearance, just how Jay viewed himself. As someone who doesn’t have the perfect body either, it gave me hope that I could meet someone who will love my body just the way it is.
This is the last (12th) book in the Boys of the Zodiac series and I will definitely check out the others. Especially since I love the authors writing them.
5 stars.
lillian_francis's review
4.0
Really enjoyed this but I never quite grasped what Jay looked like. I get that he didn't see himself clearly but I was hoping that we would get Stephen's take on what Jay looked like but it never really happened.
kimberlyrose's review
4.0
3.5 stars.
I'm overjoyed that an m/m author has finally--finally!--created a gay man who is fat AND the star of the book. It's funny that "fat" is not in the "desirable" lists of struggle-worthy conflicts: blind, deaf, disabled, anything else is better. The word "fat" is gasp-worthy. And, understandably, Jay, the MC, has major self-esteem issues. But Espinoza never takes his character too deep into suicidal lows. The book remains what I would call a "light-read." Jay may be riddled with doubt and insecurities about his worth as a desirable love interest, but he has enough self-esteem to stand up in front of a class and be a likable professor and to function in the day-to-day world. His journey to healthy self-esteem only just begins as the story ends, but the story of how he's gently pushed into helping himself is beautiful.
Stephen, the love interest, is almost perfect. Dangerously, inhumanly perfect. (He has a skimmed over stress moment when he first starts his job as the director of the LGBT centre on the University campus.) There was always a distance between me as a reader and his person. Perhaps he would have been more approachable if he had more foibles. Also, Amy, Jay's best friend, was a "dumb blonde" so-to-speak. She did have redeeming qualities, but overall, she was annoying, if believable.
I wish it was longer, explored more deeply, and had a bit more struggling, but I'm glad it exists. Far too short and calm to really become memorable, Pisces is still a worthwhile read centering around an omnipresent but almost completely avoided subject.
I'm overjoyed that an m/m author has finally--finally!--created a gay man who is fat AND the star of the book. It's funny that "fat" is not in the "desirable" lists of struggle-worthy conflicts: blind, deaf, disabled, anything else is better. The word "fat" is gasp-worthy. And, understandably, Jay, the MC, has major self-esteem issues. But Espinoza never takes his character too deep into suicidal lows. The book remains what I would call a "light-read." Jay may be riddled with doubt and insecurities about his worth as a desirable love interest, but he has enough self-esteem to stand up in front of a class and be a likable professor and to function in the day-to-day world. His journey to healthy self-esteem only just begins as the story ends, but the story of how he's gently pushed into helping himself is beautiful.
Stephen, the love interest, is almost perfect. Dangerously, inhumanly perfect. (He has a skimmed over stress moment when he first starts his job as the director of the LGBT centre on the University campus.) There was always a distance between me as a reader and his person. Perhaps he would have been more approachable if he had more foibles. Also, Amy, Jay's best friend, was a "dumb blonde" so-to-speak. She did have redeeming qualities, but overall, she was annoying, if believable.
I wish it was longer, explored more deeply, and had a bit more struggling, but I'm glad it exists. Far too short and calm to really become memorable, Pisces is still a worthwhile read centering around an omnipresent but almost completely avoided subject.
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