Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble: by the author of Boyfriend Material (Winner Bakes All Book 2)

Product Information

The thing is, Paris is not good with people. He’s extremely awkward, strange and unknown places freak him out. So maybe being on TV in a stressful situation, baking unknown dishes surrounded by strangers in a time limit isn’t the best idea?! Two talented chess players challenge each other on and off the board in bestselling author Hazelwood’s YA debut.

Tariq, on the other hand, is like a ray of sunshine - easy going and friendly and loving Paris. He is a gay Muslim Indian, middle class, really quite underprivileged and vulnerable in the eyes of society but atthe some time he is moving through life with self-confidence and poise. I liked this book, and I look forward to re-reading on audio when it’s released. Paris evoked such empathy from me, and I loved getting to see him work through his crumbling and get to the other side. This book subverts norms, of the genre and heteronormativity in general, and does it with such care for the characters and readers. I recommend it for readers who are willing to experience what this book has to offer, without trying to force it to follow cookie cutter conventions.I will try to review it properly closer to release but for now I can say this is my favourite romance by Alexis Hall.

This is another thing I’ve harped on about (and a thing that feels weird to complain about) but I’m still trying to come to terms with the fact that Alexis Hall has moved quite a long way away from the things I loved about his early books, and into a decidedly more mainstream direction. Which, cool for him, it’s just very much not what I’m looking for and I’m taking a long time to internalise the fact that he’s not an auto-buy for me anymore. Even some of the things that I used to find genuinely charming in earlier books, like his tendency to make up quirky words, is making me roll my eyes a lot in books like this one where it’s just gone way over the top. Some of the most ridic examples: “unencattenated” (not occupied by a cat), “Paris gavehimed” (in response to Tariq saying “gimme”), “embikening” (getting on a bike). My dude. These are ludicrous. Just use normal words. They try a relationship but it couldn't really happen until Paris got the medical help he needed. Tariq also had a lot to learn about himself and what being in a relationship meant. It was a process of growth for both of them and loved seeing it. .

This item contains adult content

My take on this book: holy crap, it’s good. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, although a certain character dragged it down from being a perfect read for me. In comparison, PDIATC succeeds because it focuses less on the impact of secondary characters on the protagonist and more on the protagonist. Paris Daillencourt, as previously alluded to, is a mess. Dude has serious problems. I totally understand why some people would dislike this book: Paris is a lot. But the great thing about the book is that he grows. He learns from his mistakes, he gets help, and he becomes a better, stronger person. It’s resolved romance at the end which was nice but I read to finish, not thinking he should be forgiven or given a second chance, but it’s a romance happily so I knew it would have a good ending. Hall’s sprightly irony and clever humor significantly lighten the angst. At one moment, Tariq gets impatient with Paris, as people are wont to do with him as he works his way up to an apology. “Look . . . we’ve been here before,” Tariq says. “I know how long your apologies take. I’ve got a religious obligation. I’ll come find you later.” Okay. It was really good. Despite it being the second in the Winner Bakes All series it felt completely different to Rosaline. Like, it had the same Bake Expectations characters, and similar structure, but also not. There was a lot more post-show than what was in Rosaline, and I really enjoyed that. I don’t think the book would have worked if it had followed exactly the same structure. These comments divide up the sections of the book. Please reply to the relevant section to talk with people who have read to the same part of the novel. (New top-level comments will be removed.) You don't have to mark spoilers within those threads. Just reply to the relevant section to avoid spoiling people!