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nemaria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Bullying, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Pregnancy
ratqueen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Racism
teakanimo's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
cute story idea and main characters but it just didn't land.
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Stalking
the body shaming/mild fatphobia throughout and the repetitive mention of racial slurs did not add much to the story.valeriabee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
You see, Melody Joo (not Melanie, not Joon) recently started as a junior producer at Seventeen Studios, a gaming company. She has very little experience in gaming, but a lot in marketing and project management. Her boss is nothing short of misogynistic and in a playful banter between herself and another woman at the company, Melody comes up with a ridiculous game that flips the sexist script of most games in production. Instead of the hypersexed women, we have beefy men following the lead of strong female characters. The complete joke of a game idea is overheard by the boss, who pitches it to the board. In a lame attempt to be superficially feminist (whilst making constantly sexist jabs), they greenlight the project.
This on top of the fact that the boss's nephew, Nolan, gets hired as an intern and is now working on Melody's project. Of course, she immediately hates him because he gets to walk into a job with all of the privileges that she has to work triple time to earn because she is a junior level Korean-American woman in the gaming industry. She has to jump hurdles, whilst his track is clear of obstacles. And of course he is running the inclusivity initiative at the company: the white guy who got the job due to nepotism. Classic. I would hate him too. But it is so hard to hate him because he is just so cute, and smart, and maybe kind sometimes.
And Melody is now the maid-of-honor for one of her close friends' wedding! Talk about a full plate.
I love everything this book has to say about the gaming industry: it's sexist, it's racist, it doesn't leave room for success for anyone that isn't a cis-het white man.
I think the book would fair better if the blurb and the marketing didn't push the enemies-to-lovers romance aspect as hard as they do. At the end of the day, the romance feels so small compared to the personal issues Melody is facing. Nolan genuinely feels like an afterthought throughout the majority of the novel, much less of a major player than is implied by the cover and blurb.
The writing style is fun, the characters are complex, and the story is very healthy mix of character and plot (I prefer when I can barely tell which is doing the heavy lifting).
So, yeah, while it doesnt have much of that butterflies in the tummy, sweat inducing tension that I appreciate and looked forward to -- the story is good for what it is. A story about a woman beating the odds in an industry that doesn't want her to win.
I definitely think some of the appeal of this book is just how real and natural it is. It doesn't play up the romance, and it doesn't play down the misogyny or the stress of working in gaming. Not everyone lives a whirlwind romance, sometimes we just get a romance. Can't that be good enough? Especially when the main character is so strong willed and inspiring, you question whether she should bother with romance.
The book doesn't live up to what it claims to be, but it is good nonetheless.
I would like to add, upon further reflection, that the title is kind of clever if you think of it both from the romantic point of view, but also from the point of view that the industry Melody works in loathed her at first sight and wasn't willing to give her a chance.
I will add that there is plenty of problematic and irritating content (the parents and the whole of the gaming industry), and it is definitely hard to read at times. However, that is the point. Melody does not condone her parents' behaviors, she is ashamed of it. She has to constantly remind herself that her mom is wrong about the things she says to Melody -- about her weight and her beauty. Shit, I have to do that with my own parents all the time. They're not just mean, sometimes they're plainly hateful. The book does not condone it, it purposely sets the parents up to sound ridiculous, because that's what they are. The same goes for the sexism and the misogyny and the racism Melody faces. You get mad because it's all so real, it's shit you've heard before, it is shit you have been dealing with for so long. It's annoying. That's why Melody has to overcome all of it, rise above the hateful vitriol. Continue to love herself despite the world telling her not to. Know her own worth and make everyone else know her worth.
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
alexsanch25's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny and Racial slurs
Moderate: Stalking
rrovezzi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Stalking, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Medical trauma
puddleshoes's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, and Racial slurs
megfang315's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
- i didn't like melody; major red flag when you don't like the main character, wooohooo.
while i was sympathetic to her plight, i was speechless when she stayed at her extremely toxic company, claimed it was so much better all because she got a raise, was anointed the "diversity lead" despite how problematic that can be, and automatically was thrilled when a Black woman was named ceo of a sinking ship. there is so much wrong with the epilogue i can't deal. - i absolutely could not connect with melody's friends (even she kept referencing how much she didn't connect with or agree with jane)
- i couldn't understand why melody and nolan would be a couple beyond attraction and professional respect (plus it didn't feel like a romance novel, it felt like women's fiction, so my expectation did not meet the reality of the plot)
- melody's parents were one-noted, and the relationship never changed. while i could relate to some of the problems she had with them, i didn't understand what purpose or value they added to the story. on reading other reviews, i think they're supposed to be funny, but i got 0% of that.
- there was a lot of good intent, but it ultimately felt like the author didn't know enough or didn't research enough to be writing about the topics she was writing about. she literally label-dropped "LGBTQ" as is multiple times (rather than saying "LGBTQ community" or "LGBTQ people"), mentioned social justice warriors multiple times and had melody shy away from that label demurely as if saying she wasn't being political, and (examples in the spoiler above) had problematic solutions to the workplace.
- i didn't expect the level of harassment and toxicity in this novel, and most of it does not get resolved satisfactorily (the HEA feels fake af to me). this is not the cute, fluffy office romance you think it is from the cover.
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism