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A review by spearly
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Ehhhhhhhh
I feel bad for not really liking this book. It has a lot of great reviews, and I think it's so, <i> so</i> important to be telling more diverse stories. I'll get into my personal grievances with the book, but first, I think it's important to highlight what I felt Hoang did well.
I loved that the book follows Michael, a Vietnamese man, and Stella, who is neuro-divergent. I loved the way Michael followed Stella's cues, never crossed her boundaries, and loved her because of, not in spite of, her peculiar idiosyncrasies. I love that we explored vietnamese culture through Michael's family and home life. I love that, in the end, Stella's parents could take a step back when she asked them to (as so many fictional parents do not).
But.
I think there might have been a total of, like, 5 chapters that our MCs spent apart. I've never read a romance that was so wholly about the romance before. Hardly any plot at all, let alone a b or c-plot. Hardly any build-up. Hardly any conflict.
My reading experience was probably coloured a bit by the inclusion of not 1, but 2 of my least favourite romance tropes.
1) Insta-love (I will concede that obviously it wasn't love right away - though it may as well have been. But within 2 chapters of the book, within 10 minutes of meeting, Michael is already thinking to himself how differently he feels about Stella vs. his other clients, how he wants to spend more time with her, how she's so endearing and cute and her naivety is such a turn on.)
and 2) FAKE DATING. Or pretend dating, whatever you want to call it. I hate this trope. I hate hate hate it.
The big drama was literally a series of misunderstandings. And again, I feel bad even critiquing that, because I think that may have been the point - Stella doesn't pick up on nuance that well, and Michael had such self-esteem issues, and the two never talk about how their feeling because neither feels good enough for the other.
I think I just don't believe that a character like Michael was missing all the signals that Stella actually had feelings for him, especially when his family picked up on it; Stella's an incredibly honest character who always speaks what's on her mind. There was really no reason for any sort of miscommunication, at least on his end. Stella's concerns about their relationship at least felt valid... but Michael's felt fabricated for drama. Why would he think Stella wouldn't want to be with him because of his dad??
Also, the prose was all very literal. I can understand, to a point, the dialogue being very succinct, since Stella speaks her mind and doesn't read social situations well, and Michael, when talking to her, would often match that (and rightly so. His language toward her was all for her benefit, so there were no surprises, no needing to read-between-the-lines). But even the descriptions, the action, and the rest of the story were literal. No metaphors. All tell, barely any show.
I digress. Lesson learned: go into hype books with low expectations, so you're either pleasantly surprised but never disappointed.
I feel bad for not really liking this book. It has a lot of great reviews, and I think it's so, <i> so</i> important to be telling more diverse stories. I'll get into my personal grievances with the book, but first, I think it's important to highlight what I felt Hoang did well.
I loved that the book follows Michael, a Vietnamese man, and Stella, who is neuro-divergent. I loved the way Michael followed Stella's cues, never crossed her boundaries, and loved her because of, not in spite of, her peculiar idiosyncrasies. I love that we explored vietnamese culture through Michael's family and home life. I love that, in the end, Stella's parents could take a step back when she asked them to (as so many fictional parents do not).
But.
I think there might have been a total of, like, 5 chapters that our MCs spent apart. I've never read a romance that was so wholly about the romance before. Hardly any plot at all, let alone a b or c-plot. Hardly any build-up. Hardly any conflict.
My reading experience was probably coloured a bit by the inclusion of not 1, but 2 of my least favourite romance tropes.
1) Insta-love (I will concede that obviously it wasn't love right away - though it may as well have been. But within 2 chapters of the book, within 10 minutes of meeting, Michael is already thinking to himself how differently he feels about Stella vs. his other clients, how he wants to spend more time with her, how she's so endearing and cute and her naivety is such a turn on.)
and 2) FAKE DATING. Or pretend dating, whatever you want to call it. I hate this trope. I hate hate hate it.
The big drama was literally a series of misunderstandings. And again, I feel bad even critiquing that, because I think that may have been the point - Stella doesn't pick up on nuance that well, and Michael had such self-esteem issues, and the two never talk about how their feeling because neither feels good enough for the other.
I think I just don't believe that a character like Michael was missing all the signals that Stella actually had feelings for him, especially when his family picked up on it; Stella's an incredibly honest character who always speaks what's on her mind. There was really no reason for any sort of miscommunication, at least on his end. Stella's concerns about their relationship at least felt valid... but Michael's felt fabricated for drama. Why would he think Stella wouldn't want to be with him because of his dad??
Also, the prose was all very literal. I can understand, to a point, the dialogue being very succinct, since Stella speaks her mind and doesn't read social situations well, and Michael, when talking to her, would often match that (and rightly so. His language toward her was all for her benefit, so there were no surprises, no needing to read-between-the-lines). But even the descriptions, the action, and the rest of the story were literal. No metaphors. All tell, barely any show.
I digress. Lesson learned: go into hype books with low expectations, so you're either pleasantly surprised but never disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Sexism and Stalking