A cast of colorful characters

I really enjoyed listening to this story. An interesting cast of characters who were well developed combined with a plot that took unexpected turns made for a great story. Combine that with a love story and you have this book.

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Disappointment

This story couldn't end soon enough. I loved Tristan's narration but the story was just not engaging. The story was boring. I won't listen to any more of the books.

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1 person found this helpful

This book was all kinds of wrong!

I like some books by this author, but this book was confusing, boring, off-putting and seemed unnecessarily wordy, and almost overly emotional. There was so much “witty“ banter that was not witty at all. I also didn’t like the narration. I couldn’t put my finger on it at first, but around chapter 11 I finally figured it out. The narrators voice, for most of the characters (except the supposed non-gay male characters) seem to be all the same And their voices all seem to be higher in pitch, like voices of the female characters.

The narrator also made Marla and all other drag queens’ voices exceptionally high like all drag queens need to sound like females. That rub me the wrong way. I understood why they did it. I don’t really think it was necessary.

Jonah was supposed to be an elite ex armed forces, now, GBI agent with PTSD. However, he is portrayed as weak with absolutely no actual skill and no sense of awareness. Except for that one confrontation with the killer. what kind of agent is he?! It’s clear someone is after him, he’s in bed, hears a loud thud and instead of investigating it, he just assumes it’s his roommate and goes back to sleep ??? Who does that? It’s like the author is trying VERY hard to make him seem “normal” or sensitive. Which in this instance comes across in the writing as weak. Maybe today I’m overthinking and over analyzing, but in this book, other than the non-gay boss, and the “uncle“ boss, all non-drag gay men came across as less than, almost pathetic, even the victim. However, all drag queens (in their female drag persona, even the victim) and in their apparently all day every day drag persona, were portrayed as super strong “women“ instead of super strong, gay men who happen to dress and perform in drag.

I was very confused, as I almost felt as if the author couldn’t differentiate between a cross-dresser, gender fluid, transgender or a drag queen. why was Marla in drag everyday? Maybe that should have been explained. Why was the restauranteur dressed in full drag while being the wait staff and cook in her own restaurant? were they trying to paint a drag-centric world? Almost like they (the author) thinks that a gay man who prefers “feminine” attire or a female persona can only be a drag queen. Marla came across more like a gender fluid gay man who prefers Marla as her identity of choice and her drag performance wear as her dress of choice.

I was not surprised by who the actual killer was I almost immediately guessed it, so there was no intrigue in this novel. I also found the romance and the banter offputting somehow and so I didn’t see this growing romance. All I saw was lust. There was nothing romantic. There was nothing endearing, just raw lust and over the top flirting.

When it comes to Marla, I was confused and I didn’t understand why the author included the rough patch between Jonah and her in the beginning of their friendship. I am less likely to form a deep friendship with someone when they disrespect me from the get go and come across as judgy and presumptuous. Don’t judge a book by its cover, but in the same instance that is EXACTLY what Marla did when they first met with her speech about. ‘Don’t call me by my male name unless I’m dressed as a man and don’t call me my female name, unless I’m dressed in drag, i demand respect and you’re going to give it’ with just assumptions on her part based on nothing other than what the Jonah looked like. All without him doing anything disrespectful to her, so it seemed almost unnecessary like the author was trying to send some message, but all I got was gay men in drag are B**chy and demand respect without giving any, which I seriously doubt was the message she was trying to portray here.

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