Trans athlete x best friends dad
Man, I'm really split about this volume (and no, that's not a pun about the title xD). I loved the trans representation, especially in combination with the sport (and it being someone who has had bottom surgery/ metoidioplasty). There were some great messages (also in the afterword), and I really enjoyed that part of the story. But I just couldn't bring myself to care about gymnastics, and the relationship lacked depth for me. The story follows Niles, a trans athlete, on his way to the national gymnastics team and the Olympics. By his side; his best friend Weston, who is also competing, and Weston's dad, Wyatt, who Niles is in love with. So, it's a best friends dad story (ages 20/37). I've only read one of those before, which wasn't good, but I had higher hopes for this one, and while it wasn't bad, it had the same problem. The dad had known Niles since he was 5 (and is/was also their coach), and while there was no grooming or anything like that, the sudden attraction felt weird. Also because of how the book starts: Wyatt picks Niles up from a bad date and on the car ride home, Niles just casually confesses his love, and then starts flirting with him for the next months, until something happens, which btw took forever. With a beginning like that, we don't learn how the characters acted before, which is a weird time to introduce them. Also, since Wyatt is somewhere on the asexual spectrum, probably demi, but we only hear a bit about past experiences since with Niles, he's always super horny. That is another problem I had with their relationship. I love smut, and this also had some really good scenes (prosthetic rep and verse couple), but almost EVERY interaction when they were alone ended in sex. It was like they couldn't have a normal conversation without escalating things in the end (even when there was drama or they were sad). Ironically, there was also a sentence like "but the talking was the best part." Well then, show me the talking! Saying they talked and them actually having a conversation on the page are different things 😭 It was almost all they did after they began the relationship. Before that, it was just one gymnastics competition after the next, and the description of everything just bored me, tbh 🤷🏻♂️ So, yeah, I had some big critiques, but all in all, it was still a decent read, and I loved the representation. I wished there were more books with trans characters like Niles... and better dad's best friend books 😂 I like taboo topics, but they need to be well made. I want one where the dad hasn't known the other person since they were little 😅
