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chibin00b's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
natalieisms's review against another edition
i don’t care enough about these characters or fictional MTG. i didn’t like the way that the enemies part of the enemies-to-lovers plot here basically boiled down to alden having anxiety and not being great in social situations and conrad being judgemental instead of trying to get to know him, which i did not like.
milo_bove's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
courtyq11's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It was very cute just had some issues concentrating on it. Also was always annoyed at how much Conrad harped on Alden being a virgin.
viibeke's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
atarnus's review against another edition
4.0
4+ stars.
Bickery rivals annoy each other until they're forced to notice some actual layers in that annoying person, and then they fall. It's a nice trope and it works well here. This is a road trip and coming of age book, a game tournament and obviously a gay love story. There's a lot packed in it which explains the length, mostly. I don't think the book needs to be trimmed much, traveling through US and falling in love takes time but I admit I was just a tad exhausted when getting to the end, so maybe a little bit from somewhere?
I could really relate to both main characters, how people tend to think everything comes easy to Conrad - no, it doesn't - and how with Alden anxiety, honesty and other people's expectations don't really mesh well. A big part of the book was about the guys finding their directions in life. And while I think it's definitely worth a shot to try to win the big game, I was somewhat amused when the leads initially were thinking about how one of them would be disappointed, when realistic approach would obviously be that most likely both of them will lose.
But I was genuinely enjoying the made up card game and tournament here. I get bored with sports but card games I can relate to. I don't actually scour cons and I've mostly played digital card games with AI opponents but I understand what's going on with the different decks and strategies, yay me! I'm very interested in reading the #gaymers series now, I'm so bored with geek characters that just throw around the most basic Star Wars references and maybe play a generic FPS.
So, this is a great book and I'll definitely read several more from the author (this was my first one). The guys here make a nice couple and I enjoyed the many piny moments. There's also some spice though it's somewhat vaguely described, maybe to make the book more suitable for younger audiences.
Bickery rivals annoy each other until they're forced to notice some actual layers in that annoying person, and then they fall. It's a nice trope and it works well here. This is a road trip and coming of age book, a game tournament and obviously a gay love story. There's a lot packed in it which explains the length, mostly. I don't think the book needs to be trimmed much, traveling through US and falling in love takes time but I admit I was just a tad exhausted when getting to the end, so maybe a little bit from somewhere?
I could really relate to both main characters, how people tend to think everything comes easy to Conrad - no, it doesn't - and how with Alden anxiety, honesty and other people's expectations don't really mesh well. A big part of the book was about the guys finding their directions in life. And while I think it's definitely worth a shot to try to win the big game, I was somewhat amused when the leads initially were thinking about how one of them would be disappointed, when realistic approach would obviously be that most likely both of them will lose.
But I was genuinely enjoying the made up card game and tournament here. I get bored with sports but card games I can relate to. I don't actually scour cons and I've mostly played digital card games with AI opponents but I understand what's going on with the different decks and strategies, yay me! I'm very interested in reading the #gaymers series now, I'm so bored with geek characters that just throw around the most basic Star Wars references and maybe play a generic FPS.
So, this is a great book and I'll definitely read several more from the author (this was my first one). The guys here make a nice couple and I enjoyed the many piny moments. There's also some spice though it's somewhat vaguely described, maybe to make the book more suitable for younger audiences.
oliviaaxelberg's review against another edition
4.0
3.5⭐️! Cutie characters. The plot was fun and enjoyable but at times could get a bit slow. I mean they were taking a road trip across country so ofc some of it was going to be slow. I absolutely love story lines that’s told in both POV’s it makes it much more interesting and builds more on both characters. The gaming aspect was also mostly interesting, but could get a bit boring as well.