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A review by haloblues
Hostile Takeover by Lucy Lennox
4.0
It's been around a month since I read this, so this won't be as in-depth as my usual reviews aim for, but here we go.
Negatives out of the way:
- Mocking the concept of being publicly/openly gay and affectionate really rubbed me the wrong way, and really highlighted the fact that the author is not a gay man and can't understand how vitally important that can be to a lot of us (and, yes, how much bravery it takes), but Ellison did acknowledge that his thoughts on it were coming from a place of ignorance, so I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt and assume we weren't supposed to take his word on it. Still, if so, it would have been nice for it to have been made clear that that was the case, for any other non-LGBT people who may be reading it and not looking beyond the surface of that part.
- I hate obligatory misunderstandings/break-ups almost at the end of the book. It's so tired and predictable, especially in this genre, so when I realised I was reading the same miscommunication trope again I had to knock a half-star off.
More positively:
- First of all, the female characters in this book were so fun and interesting. I loved Nessa, Cate, Jenny, and Gigi - Cate had me grinning to myself a few times during the tennis match with the boys and Jake, and even Marianne was likeable, which was super refreshing.
- I agree with Grey; Ellison is "charming and engaging"!
- The first time Grey called Ellison "Ells" without thinking was incredibly cute.
- Ells and his mother both having the "pfft" habit was so endearing and realistic; I loved that.
- I really loved these two and their relationship. It was very well-developed and interesting, and I was genuinely invested in how they'd get to their happy ending and seeing them attain it.
Details: Alternating POVs, first-person, past tense
Favourite character: Ellison
Happy ending?: Yes
Favourite quotes:
Negatives out of the way:
- Mocking the concept of being publicly/openly gay and affectionate really rubbed me the wrong way, and really highlighted the fact that the author is not a gay man and can't understand how vitally important that can be to a lot of us (and, yes, how much bravery it takes), but Ellison did acknowledge that his thoughts on it were coming from a place of ignorance, so I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt and assume we weren't supposed to take his word on it. Still, if so, it would have been nice for it to have been made clear that that was the case, for any other non-LGBT people who may be reading it and not looking beyond the surface of that part.
- I hate obligatory misunderstandings/break-ups almost at the end of the book. It's so tired and predictable, especially in this genre, so when I realised I was reading the same miscommunication trope again I had to knock a half-star off.
More positively:
- First of all, the female characters in this book were so fun and interesting. I loved Nessa, Cate, Jenny, and Gigi - Cate had me grinning to myself a few times during the tennis match with the boys and Jake, and even Marianne was likeable, which was super refreshing.
- I agree with Grey; Ellison is "charming and engaging"!
- The first time Grey called Ellison "Ells" without thinking was incredibly cute.
- Ells and his mother both having the "pfft" habit was so endearing and realistic; I loved that.
- I really loved these two and their relationship. It was very well-developed and interesting, and I was genuinely invested in how they'd get to their happy ending and seeing them attain it.
Details: Alternating POVs, first-person, past tense
Favourite character: Ellison
Happy ending?: Yes
Favourite quotes:
"Yeah, dude, but supposedly he's hella smart," Kirby said. "Better him than me. I'd rather earn my money the old-fashioned way, you know?"
A chorus of voices sang, "Inheriting it," before breaking into laughter again.
Grey Blackwood was willing to give up a twenty-million-dollar property in exchange for two weeks of my company, but the joke was on him because I would have gone home with him for free.
Grey: I need you to pick up my new suit from Brooks Brothers on 6th. Jenny had something come up.
Me: New phone, who dis?
Grey: Do you get beat up a lot?
"Somehow I feel like that was your intent in this fake boyfriend scheme all along. Leave me looking like an ass."
He eventually grinned at me. "If the Gucci brogue fits..."
I looked down at my dress shoes. "They're Tom Ford, actually."
"Your father will be at the house party?"
"He wasn't planning on going, but as soon as he finds out you and I will be there together, he'll change his plans. I have no doubt."
The party would be excruciating with Warren York there. "And you don't trust him enough with the truth."
Ellison nodded. "No way. He would tell me it wasn't worth it. He'd rather lose the company, lose everything, than imagine the two of us happily together, even if it's fake. Appearances are everything to him."
I ground my teeth together again. "He hates me that much?"
Ellison brushed past me to set his bottle next to mine by the sink. On his way out of the kitchen, he looked back over his shoulder. "No. He hates me that much."
And then he disappeared down the hall.
I wasn't used to people looking out for my feelings, but when one of Ian's friends - who I vaguely knew through a friend at Goldman Sachs - had begun pressing me aggressively about acquiring Heath and Kelty earlier this year, Ellison had butted his nose into the conversation and defended me like a rabid Yorkie.
"Did you know the net asset value of Heath and Kelty has gone up nineteen percent since the date of acquisition?" Ellison had asked, leaning around me to make a nuisance of himself. "And because of the transition, Stitch Trend reversed course and gave Heath and Kelty a healthy ownership stake after turning Bob Kelty down only three months earlier."
He was like my own little public relations firm.
After we stood up, I pulled him into a hug and squeezed him tightly.
"What are you doing?" I could hear the reluctant smile in his voice.
"Being brave enough to show affection in public," I said with a dramatic sigh. "Not all superheroes wear capes, Grey."
"The Blackwood Scholarship fund was established over ten years ago, Mr. Blackwood. It was my brother's project and one of the reasons we started this school in the first place. Half of our students are here on a Blackwood Scholarship."
The sound of Marcel's sigh faded as the room around me wobbled and dipped.
I sat back down in a graceless heap.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Sexual content