A review by chirson
Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall
2.0
At times laugh-out-loud funny, adorably romantic and silly, with two really adorable protagonists. Alas, I did have some problems with Arabella, and the amount of time the narrative tortures the POV character, Valentine.
If Bonny had had to admit that he'd had his own part in making a mess of things - in not speaking to his sister in a way that would make things clearer to her, in encouraging Valentine's pursuit when it was heightening tension and scaring Arabella, in pushing Valentine too far and too fast - the relationship would have felt more balanced to me. Sure, Valentine has the material advantage, but Bonny seems to have the upper hand in all other ways, and yet all the responsibility for their miscommunications, misunderstandings and conflicts seems to be laid at Valentine's inexperienced, demiromantic feet. Ehh.
Spoiler
That's largely the screwball comedy aspect at play, of course, and he does have his faults, too (albeit I'd argue his faults don't quite rise to the same level as, well, attempted murder) but I just do not like it when one of the romantic partners has to do all the changing and the other one is basically fine the way he is - and the fact that Valentine's biases seem to tie into his aspec identity makes it all the more unpleasant. It's unfair to have Bonny have none of his age's biases. He's given too much of a narrative advantage.If Bonny had had to admit that he'd had his own part in making a mess of things - in not speaking to his sister in a way that would make things clearer to her, in encouraging Valentine's pursuit when it was heightening tension and scaring Arabella, in pushing Valentine too far and too fast - the relationship would have felt more balanced to me. Sure, Valentine has the material advantage, but Bonny seems to have the upper hand in all other ways, and yet all the responsibility for their miscommunications, misunderstandings and conflicts seems to be laid at Valentine's inexperienced, demiromantic feet. Ehh.