Well, this was a delightful, kinky gem. I've had this book on my radar for ages: I'm so glad I gave it a go.
"Fawned" was the perfect balance between kink and romance, light-hearted steam and angst. I managed to devour this chunky book in two days, I literally could not stop reading!
Both protagonists were wonderful, multi-layered and complex and lovable, and while I had a couple of issues with the pacing and the writing at times, I found both Gil and Barnaby so so so fabulous and relatable. It's so rare that I find myself in both characters of a romance (a kinky, new-adult, one at that!), but I found Gil and Barnaby's struggles so relatable and close to my own experience. Mental health struggles are no joke, and I so wish more authors would be brave enough to include them n their romances.

Emotional angst aside, I loved the kinky aspects of their relationship: this was my first pet play book, I believe? And while I don't think I'm too eager to look for more, I still loved how it was portrayed! I also absolutely adored how their romance developed, and I even adored the third-act break-up and all the angst it entailed. It was necessary for both MCs, and while I still wanted to kick Gil's ass for being an idiot, I adored how they managed to overcome it, how Gil let himself be in love for once (also, yep, highly relatable *imaginary high five*)

I had a few issues with the pacing (yep, the middle bit became a smidge repetitive and I started skimming a few chapters!) and the writing could have probably been more polished, but all in all I was very satisfied. The one thing that kind of bothered me the most was Seth, and the fact that his and Barnaby's (very toxic) friendship is kinda left unresolved: I spent most of the book despising Seth, and I really would have loved to see a resolution or for Gil to kick his ass for being a terrible friend. Raul, Diana, Savannah... they all had less of a chapter each, and they still managed to be so much better friends to Barnaby than Seth. UGH.

Anyway, those issues aside, I really enjoyed "Fawned". It was highly entertaining, a fun and emotional ride of a book.

TWs/CWs: suicide ideation, suicide attempts (past), self-harm (past), toxic friendship, ableism, depression, anxiety, self-loathing (because of body image) and fat-shaming (self-directed).