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Conventionally Yours

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Conventionally Yours (2020) Annabeth Albert (True Colors)

Conventionally YoursI tend to really like Annabeth Albert’s writing, but I generally dislike enemies to lovers tropes, so I wasn’t sure this was for me. until someone mentioned that not only was there no hate-boinking in this story, there was no explicit on-the-page sex.

Conrad Stewart and Alden Roth have been regular players on the Gamer Grandpa vlog for the past several years, and have bickered through the entirety of it.

But when their group is given tickets to Massive Odyssey Con West–and the opportunity for a seat on the pro tour–Conrad and Alden will have to put up with each other for a road trip across the country, for a shot at the win they both need.

I really enjoyed this story (though I do think it may have suffered a little bit, for being read immediately after Boyfriend Material, which I adore) even if the main characters were a bit younger than I tend to prefer in my stories (college aged) but the story wouldn’t have worked with older characters, and it wasn’t a bad thing.

This was a dual narrative, which worked well with the story set-up. Alden comes off as a jerk, but once you’re in his head, you realize that he’s actually a bit of a mess, and he isn’t rude, as much as he doesn’t know how to deal with people.

That was the thing about anxiety— worries over whether to take the medication and when could be worse than the primary symptoms sometimes.

And Conrad pretends to be a party boy, to hide the fact he is all but homeless.

First, Conrad’s parents are awful. And the fact they would keep his younger sisters from any contact with him makes them even MORE horrible. Interestingly, contrasting Conrad’s parents with Alden’s moms was very well done, since it helped emphasize the point that everyone has their own troubles, and the fact that things could always be worse doesn’t invalidate someone’s struggle.

Publisher : Sourcebooks Casablanca
Rating: 8/10

 

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