Interesting characters: Oh, lord, yes. Meg is obsessed with letters and it infuses every one of her interactions with the world. This is exactly what I wanted from Lillian Bowman in It Happened One Autumn. I'm not an artist, but for a hot minute I thought I should walk around my town looking for hand drawn signs with the letters of my name. I thought I should look into calligraphy lessons. Meg's personality quirks, how she hides things, is perfectly understandable based on her backstory. Everything about the character of Meg was utterly perfect.
Reid is old-fashioned, buttoned up, and stuffy. It's possible he's not neurotypical, but the author never comes right out and says it, just mentions that he was impossibly bright and advanced as a child and didn't get along well with other kids at school and was bullied. What is so spot on in this book is that Meg loves him because of all this and his problems don't miraculously go away when he gets together with Meg (my biggest gripe with Devil in Winter, but maybe I should stop picking on Lisa Kleypas). Meg fell in love with Reid and his old-fashioned style of speech and his perfectly groomed suits and she continues to love that about him.
And the cast of secondary characters, including Meg's friends and Reid's family? Just utter perfection. There weren't so many that you were completely overwhelmed, but each was developed just enough for you to enjoy their presence. I imagine our next book will be the story of one of Meg's friends, but even if we never see these characters again and this is a standalone book, I will be forever grateful to have met them.
Believable conflict: Absolutely. The biggest thing holding these two apart is their divergent views of New York City. Meg loves the city, loves the neighborhoods, loves the people, loves how it gives her a place to be a working artist. Reid hates the city, hates his job, and is planning on moving on soon. This reads as real to me. We've all had a relationship with an end date on it and this limitation prevents both characters from being completely honest with each other and themselves.
Emotional tension: This was a sloooooow burn. If you are looking for electric sex scenes on page twenty, this isn't for you. But it's glorious to see each of these characters slowly begin to understand one another and learn to communicate while falling in love. And it's great to see a book that tackles consent and intimacy issues in a clear, no-nonsense manner. By the time the characters get to physical intimacy, you are 100% invested in them as a couple.
Happily ever after: A happily every after that doesn't immediately involve marriage, pregnancy, or children? Amazing. The best part about the "some time later" scene is that it shows that Meg and Reid are STILL Meg and Reid. Reid hasn't suddenly started wearing sloppy clothing and speaking in slang. Meg hasn't suddenly figured out how to dress for the weather and stop looking at signs so much that she misses what's actually going on around her. But they're both still in love and hot for one another. It was such a pleasure to read an ending like this.
The Goodreads reviews have this at a 3.8/5 stars and I don't understand that rating. As far as I can tell, this book was a book written specifically for me. Kate Clayborn, you are my new favorite person and author.
Notable lines:
1) He is definitely not going to dignify small talk with response. I might as well have asked him which sexually transmitted diseases he's been tested for. (page 54)
2) I think I quit reading at the word stochastic, which actually sort of reminded me of Reid, if what it means is a combination of stoic and sarcastic. But I'm pretty sure it has to do with calculus. (page 56)
This line made me think of grad school somewhat nostalgically. It's been quite some time since I was regularly in conversations in which stochastic and heterogeneity and the assumptions of the regression model were just things is was assumed you knew. And don't get me started on the b hat jokes.
3) ...it's possible we've released some kind of awkward nerve gas into the air. Everyone within a half-mile radius probably pauses where they stand and winces. (page 62)
4)...shows me a piece of paper that she "totally promises" is not legally binding but that also contains scary words like practitioner (which I think means me) and termination (which I don't think means murder, but who knows). (page 75)
I audibly guffawed as this.
5) ...and I worry I'm going to start developing some kind of Masterpiece Theatre library of sexual fantasies. Alas, alas, alas. I'm thinking about the word cravats... (page 109)
I think this line resonates with me because my husband is a buttoned-up, proper gentleman. His sartorial sense means I will always be the sloppy-looking one in photos. I loved Reid because he's so similar to my husband, but different, too.
6) So far as I can tell, there's about ten million people in that Biergarten, and every man I can see is wearing some version of the same outfit: boat shoes, no socks, cropped-styled khakis or slim-cut shorts, pastel-colored shirts. I almost check my phone to see if I've teleported out of Brooklyn inot some college town's rush week. (page 153)
Right? Why do men all dress like this when they go to bars?
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