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A review by malayapapaya
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
loved returning to the humor, ensemble, escapism, and beautiful queerness of a casey mcquiston book.
was so lovely to read two characters who know each other so well getting to fall back in love. especially lovely to see kit fall in love with a theo who has discovered they are trans and read that from kit's perspective. so affirming and validating and a little magical.
the descriptions of the setting, the food, the wine were so lush and beautiful. it made me want to be a little more indulgent in my day to day life and take my time to enjoy my surroundings (the whole "light the good candles, living is a special occasion" mindset). also, kit is beautiful and reading/resonating with his point of view was so affirming, even though our specific taste isn't the same. between henry and kit, cmq knows how to write a taurus.
something about a genderqueer romance between two very genderful people, seeing the beauty in each other, and getting to face their flaws in a new light after much growth was so beautiful. also, as someone who is not a big reader and is still earlyish in unlearning a lot of internalized toxic and heteropatriarchal narratives around sex, i really enjoyed that many of the scenes were about enjoying it and being in your body instead of giving stage time to the power dynamics that seem to often come with the territory.
i did a bunch of journaling throughout this book, whether that was "what is it about kit that resonates? what aspects do i see and want to honor in myself and esp my gender presentation?", "what do i dream of that i don't let myself have?", "where am i too self-righteous?", "how do i honor these parts of me that are imperfect but that these characters have such love for anyway?" and more.
was so lovely to read two characters who know each other so well getting to fall back in love. especially lovely to see kit fall in love with a theo who has discovered they are trans and read that from kit's perspective. so affirming and validating and a little magical.
the descriptions of the setting, the food, the wine were so lush and beautiful. it made me want to be a little more indulgent in my day to day life and take my time to enjoy my surroundings (the whole "light the good candles, living is a special occasion" mindset). also, kit is beautiful and reading/resonating with his point of view was so affirming, even though our specific taste isn't the same. between henry and kit, cmq knows how to write a taurus.
something about a genderqueer romance between two very genderful people, seeing the beauty in each other, and getting to face their flaws in a new light after much growth was so beautiful. also, as someone who is not a big reader and is still earlyish in unlearning a lot of internalized toxic and heteropatriarchal narratives around sex, i really enjoyed that many of the scenes were about enjoying it and being in your body instead of giving stage time to the power dynamics that seem to often come with the territory.
i did a bunch of journaling throughout this book, whether that was "what is it about kit that resonates? what aspects do i see and want to honor in myself and esp my gender presentation?", "what do i dream of that i don't let myself have?", "where am i too self-righteous?", "how do i honor these parts of me that are imperfect but that these characters have such love for anyway?" and more.