A review by joanav
The Love Study by Kris Ripper

3.0

Review originally published at Romancing Romances.

I received an eARC at no cost from the publisher, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.

2.75*


Although this is a 2.75* stars review, I feel like I should make a few distinctions, and mention a few things. First of all, I’m not queer/part of the LGBTQIA+ community. I do, however, have very good friends who are. Second, I feel like the story of the book and the meaning of the book almost deserve different ratings (intellectual chemistry anyone?).

For me, the best part of the book was closer to the end, when and after Declan, our main character, does this huge thing that changes his life immensely, as well as the life of Sidney, the person he was dating. And why? Because I think that’s when we had more emotion, when we actually saw who Declan was, and what he was dealing with.

The plot itself didn’t really clicked for me, I loved the chemistry between our characters, but I always felt like it was all a bit fake… Maybe that was the point? Because the end leads to that, to the question of what we want for us, for our lives, and the most important one of who we really are. No masks, no “doing what society thinks it’s right”, etc. This is the part I actually liked. So, for the questions it raised, I would probably give it a 4*. But for the enjoyment of the book… It just didn’t work for me. Maybe 2*?

I really liked the YouTube stuff, how they planned the love study, the dates, etc. It was interesting to see a project like that come to life. And it was fun to see Declan and Sidney connect. But that was about it.

I’m sure it’s a great book for many people, for me it just was a bit boring story wise, but great in pointing out the problems with society and with what society makes us feel.