It's enjoyable and lovely and fills the time (I read it while on a plane after frantically downloading random books from the library that looked interesting as it was taking off *shrug*). I liked Sydney much better than Declan, but the book focuses on Declan's POV so ....

I really appreciate that this book had a genderqueer love interest. This book is somewhat trope-y overall and it follows the rom-com formula to a T (

Spoiler

with the usual almost break up at the end, this time because Declan has a panic attack, which is realistic but feels somewhat like a plot device at the same time? I just don't think the book needed that, per se

), but the (relatively, in our day and age) novelty of the main romantic pairing helped make it more enjoyable. The set-up is very forced

Spoiler

to the extent that it is abandoned about 25% of the way through the book

, with the initial interaction between Declan and Sydney being peak cringe (I feel like Kris Ripper just had to get a way to get Declan and Sydney to interact more for the plot to work or something).

I loved Sydney though, they're really great. Also, I know there has been a recent trend in GenZ rom-coms to focus on YouTubers and streamers and such, and this book fits into that mold, but I like that Ripper focused a lot on the time Sydney spent on editing. Those were some of my favorite moments, when Declan was just hanging out at their apartment. (This is probably why my ideal romantic book right now would just be reading about a happy and nice queer relationship - no rom-com tropes needed!).

I also liked the scenes that showed Declan at work because he's good at what he does and I enjoy reading about competent people, what can I say.