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A review by danisadler
XOXO by Christina Lee
3.0
I loved the idea behind this story, I don't think I've read anything else like this that I can recall.
What bugged me though was the pacing. For so long it was this really slow, gradual build up of a friendship and then more, but the last part of the book kind of went a bit off the rails and then it was just done. I enjoyed the slow burn and the build up but then nothing really happened, which was just disappointing.
I'm not a fan of books where we don't get to see the couple actually be a couple after the climax of the story. We don't get to see Henry and Lark together openly until the epilogue, and that wasn't really enough for me. I wanted to see the reaction to their relationship, not be told what happened in a recap.
The whole way through the tension is building because Henry is afraid of the consequences from everyone finding out that he's gay and in a relationship, and that he survived cancer as a child. But when it's all revealed, the book just ends? Even if it's easy acceptance of the relationship and everything is sunshine and rainbows I still want to see that, not be told it happened!
My best way to sum it up is that reading this book was like watching a balloon being inflated to the point you think it's going to pop, but then it just deflates and zips away with a little whine.
What bugged me though was the pacing. For so long it was this really slow, gradual build up of a friendship and then more, but the last part of the book kind of went a bit off the rails and then it was just done. I enjoyed the slow burn and the build up but then nothing really happened, which was just disappointing.
I'm not a fan of books where we don't get to see the couple actually be a couple after the climax of the story. We don't get to see Henry and Lark together openly until the epilogue, and that wasn't really enough for me. I wanted to see the reaction to their relationship, not be told what happened in a recap.
The whole way through the tension is building because Henry is afraid of the consequences from everyone finding out that he's gay and in a relationship, and that he survived cancer as a child. But when it's all revealed, the book just ends? Even if it's easy acceptance of the relationship and everything is sunshine and rainbows I still want to see that, not be told it happened!
My best way to sum it up is that reading this book was like watching a balloon being inflated to the point you think it's going to pop, but then it just deflates and zips away with a little whine.