Review: The Prospects

 


I am OBSESSED give me all of the trans romance and joy. Thank you so much to Katy Nishimoto from Dial Press for the advance copy of this beautiful book. I really loved so many different aspects of this book, so it’s going to be a bit tricky to parse through them all, but I shall try.

First, and this is probably one of the things that has stuck most in my head about it, it was really amazing to see such a sex-positive trans romance. I do think this trend is changing, in the last couple of years in particular, but so often it seems like the reality of sex as a trans person gets completely glossed over. By that I don’t mean that sex is some kind of horrible ordeal, or that all trans people are uncomfortable with it; in fact, anyone who has read this book will know that’s not how it’s treated here at all. It’s more that a lot of authors – cis authors in particular – have seemed deeply uncomfortable committing to the reality of their trans characters’ bodies, whatever that may be. So having a book where the main character enjoys sex in a way that is intimately connected to his transness was really refreshing.

Gene and Luis were both also just wonderful characters. They had great chemistry, they were fun to read about, and they had strong, genuine personalities that existed outside their interactions with one another. There was also a really solid ensemble cast, which I consider a must for a five star romance – I loved the dynamics within the team.

This was also, in fact, a sports romance. Which has been a really popular genre in the last couple of years, but a lot of them have bothered me with their detachment from the sport they’re ostensibly about. Like, the sport is set dressing, not an actual part of the story. Personally, if I’m reading about characters who love a sport, I want to at the very least understand what it is that makes them love that sport, even if it isn’t my thing. Now, I am not a huge baseball fan, but this book made me want to understand and appreciate baseball, which is saying something. It was deeply woven into the story, the characters, and the way they understand the world, which to my mind makes this a success as a sports story, not just a romance.

There’s probably more I could discuss here – the mental health discussions; the way Gene’s trans identity is always present but never treated as an educational device or something that needs to be explained; the adorable support dog; but honestly, everyone should stop reading this review and go read the book, so I’ll stop here.



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