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A review by e11e_reads
The Companion by E.E. Ottoman
2.0
I’d like to start off on a positive note. I really appreciated the representation for trans people as well as people in polyamorous relationships. I was looking for some variety and it was definitely found here.
In all honesty, I want to like this book. The writing is beautiful and truly transports you to the upstate New York farm life. The descriptions are well-written and gorgeous which I absolutely loved.
It’s a short historical romance and I was looking forward to exploring this genre. However, I found this book to be far too much of a slow-burn for my personal taste. In these 167 pages, I found that the real progress in the polyamory really only happened at the very end (definitely past page 120).
I’m not well versed in historical facts so I can’t speak much on that front. The clothes and food definitely seemed more old fashioned and so did some of the going-ons. I must say, these descriptions took up a lot of space in the book.
Now, this is a bit of a spicy book. I did, again, appreciate the way it was written. It seems everyone enjoyed themselves in a consensual manner and it was kept rather vanilla.
My only note here is that in the prologue it is mentioned that these three are all trans in a time where the words for this didn’t exist. While reading the book, I found that although knowing they were trans by reading it in the prologue, I was confused. In 2022, we have gender affirming surgical procedures available but in this book it is rather unclear as to if all of this exists. Insecurities are skimmed over and I’m not sure how accurate this was. All the scenes are kept rather vague so it’s unclear if they’ve taken hormones or made any surgical changes. Other than clothing and Madeline’s makeup, it’s never actually talked about and is simply put as an understanding between the main characters. Had I skipped the prologue, I think I would’ve missed the representation altogether.
*I can understand that writing it this way can be comforting for some. I do think it needed to be worked on a little more. Again, this is just my personal opinion.
On an unrelated note, the illness which Madeline suffers from is random and seems to not have been thought through very well and looks like perhaps an excuse for the mention of drugs.
The overall plot/storyline was rather linear without any big problems occurring. The potential for problems was there. Whether from the past relationship, Madeline’s back and forth between Victor and Audrey, or the problematic townsfolk who are mentioned more than once. I found this to be lacking in the story.
Lastly, I would’ve rated this book higher if it hadn’t been for the typos. Over 15 of them can be spotted throughout the book and it really takes away from the experience.
I wanted to enjoy this. I wanted to learn from it. Instead, I was left confused and dissatisfied. This book has potential. It really does. It might be worth a read for the representation and beautiful prose but, personally, I won’t be recommending this.
In all honesty, I want to like this book. The writing is beautiful and truly transports you to the upstate New York farm life. The descriptions are well-written and gorgeous which I absolutely loved.
It’s a short historical romance and I was looking forward to exploring this genre. However, I found this book to be far too much of a slow-burn for my personal taste. In these 167 pages, I found that the real progress in the polyamory really only happened at the very end (definitely past page 120).
I’m not well versed in historical facts so I can’t speak much on that front. The clothes and food definitely seemed more old fashioned and so did some of the going-ons. I must say, these descriptions took up a lot of space in the book.
Now, this is a bit of a spicy book. I did, again, appreciate the way it was written. It seems everyone enjoyed themselves in a consensual manner and it was kept rather vanilla.
My only note here is that in the prologue it is mentioned that these three are all trans in a time where the words for this didn’t exist. While reading the book, I found that although knowing they were trans by reading it in the prologue, I was confused. In 2022, we have gender affirming surgical procedures available but in this book it is rather unclear as to if all of this exists. Insecurities are skimmed over and I’m not sure how accurate this was. All the scenes are kept rather vague so it’s unclear if they’ve taken hormones or made any surgical changes. Other than clothing and Madeline’s makeup, it’s never actually talked about and is simply put as an understanding between the main characters. Had I skipped the prologue, I think I would’ve missed the representation altogether.
*I can understand that writing it this way can be comforting for some. I do think it needed to be worked on a little more. Again, this is just my personal opinion.
On an unrelated note, the illness which Madeline suffers from is random and seems to not have been thought through very well and looks like perhaps an excuse for the mention of drugs.
The overall plot/storyline was rather linear without any big problems occurring. The potential for problems was there. Whether from the past relationship, Madeline’s back and forth between Victor and Audrey, or the problematic townsfolk who are mentioned more than once. I found this to be lacking in the story.
Lastly, I would’ve rated this book higher if it hadn’t been for the typos. Over 15 of them can be spotted throughout the book and it really takes away from the experience.
I wanted to enjoy this. I wanted to learn from it. Instead, I was left confused and dissatisfied. This book has potential. It really does. It might be worth a read for the representation and beautiful prose but, personally, I won’t be recommending this.