Exceeded Expectations: Enemies to Lovers
Oct. 7th, 2021 09:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ermingardenHere's yesterday's answer:
6. A book where you were dubious about the premise but loved the work
Enemies to Lovers by Aster Glenn Gray
Honestly, I expected Enemies to Lovers to be unbearably corny. The summary begins like this: "Handcuffed together. Only one bed. Which will win: Megan and Sarah's sizzling sexual attraction, or their compulsion to correct each other’s atrocious fandom opinions?" Books about fandom are often pretty bad (think Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl), so I read Enemies to Lovers out of almost morbid curiosity.
Folks, it's good. Really good. It offers a nuanced and realistic picture of fandom drama, including a culture clash between journal fandom and Tumblr norms, and the characters are impressively well developed for such a short book. Gray plays with familiar tropes in a delightful way to create what is in some ways a love letter to fandom – a love letter that does us all the courtesy of taking fan culture seriously rather than making it a punchline.
(I also reviewed this book here back in August.)
The remaining questions:
7. The most imaginative book you've seen lately
8. A book that feels like it was written just for you
9. A book that reminds you of someone
10. A book that belongs to a specific time in your mind, caught in amber
11. A book that came to you at exactly the right time
12. A book that came to you at the wrong time
13. A book with a premise you'd never seen before quite like that
14. A book balanced on a knife edge
15. A snuffed candle of a book
16. A book you'd take with you while you were being ferried on dark underground rivers
17. A book that taught you something about yourself
18. A book that went after its premise like an explosion
19. A book that started a pilgrimage
20. A frigid ice bath of a book
21. A warm blanket of a book
22. A book written into your psyche
23. A book that made you bleed
24. A book that asked a question you've never had an answer to
25. A book that answered a question you never asked
26. A book you recommend but cannot love
27. A book you love but cannot recommend
28. A book you adore that people are surprised by
29. A book you detest that people are surprised by
30. A book that led you home
6. A book where you were dubious about the premise but loved the work
Enemies to Lovers by Aster Glenn Gray
Honestly, I expected Enemies to Lovers to be unbearably corny. The summary begins like this: "Handcuffed together. Only one bed. Which will win: Megan and Sarah's sizzling sexual attraction, or their compulsion to correct each other’s atrocious fandom opinions?" Books about fandom are often pretty bad (think Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl), so I read Enemies to Lovers out of almost morbid curiosity.
Folks, it's good. Really good. It offers a nuanced and realistic picture of fandom drama, including a culture clash between journal fandom and Tumblr norms, and the characters are impressively well developed for such a short book. Gray plays with familiar tropes in a delightful way to create what is in some ways a love letter to fandom – a love letter that does us all the courtesy of taking fan culture seriously rather than making it a punchline.
(I also reviewed this book here back in August.)
The remaining questions:
7. The most imaginative book you've seen lately
8. A book that feels like it was written just for you
9. A book that reminds you of someone
10. A book that belongs to a specific time in your mind, caught in amber
11. A book that came to you at exactly the right time
12. A book that came to you at the wrong time
13. A book with a premise you'd never seen before quite like that
14. A book balanced on a knife edge
15. A snuffed candle of a book
16. A book you'd take with you while you were being ferried on dark underground rivers
17. A book that taught you something about yourself
18. A book that went after its premise like an explosion
19. A book that started a pilgrimage
20. A frigid ice bath of a book
21. A warm blanket of a book
22. A book written into your psyche
23. A book that made you bleed
24. A book that asked a question you've never had an answer to
25. A book that answered a question you never asked
26. A book you recommend but cannot love
27. A book you love but cannot recommend
28. A book you adore that people are surprised by
29. A book you detest that people are surprised by
30. A book that led you home
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Date: 2021-10-08 06:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-10-09 09:43 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-10-10 01:18 am (UTC)