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A review by katiedermody
Fake Out by Eden Finley
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. One one hand, if was your basic easy read MM sports-adjacent romance with a bi awakening but there was also something about little lines thrown in here and there that bugged me. One character says "for me the options are straight, bi, or gay" while talking to the dude who is questioning his sexuality. There are also a lot of homophobic "jokes" between friends that are explained by "oh no you're one of us if they're joking with you like that" or "that's just how she is". But in the same storyline where one MC deals with a former best friend who turned out to be homophobic but probably also not totally straight (which made him worse bigotry wise) it made me feel iffy about it all. There were also lots of good moments discussing acceptance, outing, etc. I also tried to find more about the author online to see if they're queer because I feel like writing these things because it's real and happens in the world and you've experienced it as part of the community is different than writing about it just for entertainment and to sell books, and I couldn't find anything on who they are so I'm guessing it's a pen name. But at the same time, nobody owes anyone their sexuality and other authors have felt forcibly outed because of people hounding them or accusing them of things so I don't want to do that. Overall, I think I could have enjoyed more of the series after meeting characters who also have books, but all this mental turmoil about it means I'm not going to. There are so many other books out there that I can find queer romances that don't make me feel this way.