G.T. Dípè

There's a great deal to like about this book - the romance pairing have some real and significant issues to work through, which makes the misunderstanding and miscommunication plot lines less frustrating than I often find those tropes to be, and said issues are not magically solved by falling in love, rather love supports and inspires the work that leads to healing, which makes the love story all the sweeter. The extended cast of family and friends around them are also vivid, and grounding. show more I liked the relatively uncommon UK setting in the North East, and loved the food, and the friendship. But overall, I think I am not the audience for this: it's so embedded in a very specific set of pop culture references that aren't my own (not just playlists and references, but whole chunks of the plot are carried by fandom mini-essays) that it felt somewhat alienating, and the combination of some pretty gritty real-world issues with the romance-fantasy level of wealth also jarred for me. I probably wouldn't have finished this if I hadn't been reading for Early Reviewers, but overall I think I'm glad I persisted. show less

In sharing my thoughts on this book. It sounds like while there were elements that I appreciated—the diverse characters and academic setting—the narrative structure presented significant challenges for me. I tried to push through, but ultimately DNF’d the eBook.

Having too many characters introduced quickly can definitely make it difficult to stay engaged with a story. When the dialogue becomes hard to follow alongside character confusion, it can create a frustrating reading experience show more that breaks immersion.

I appreciate that the author's thoughtfulness in providing trigger warnings at the beginning. That's becoming an important practice that helps readers make informed choices.

Even though this particular book wasn't a good fit for me, I wholeheartedly wish this author literary success. show less

Content Note: stalking, (critical treamtent of) homomisia

Plot:
Teniade just arrived in England with his sister Jola. While Jola has a job at University secured, Ade's decision to leave Nigeria wasn't a plan as much as a flight. Now he has to decide whether he wants to study at Jola's University. The decision is almost made for him when he realizes that Stefan also goes there. They bumped into each other at the airport and the chemistry was immediate and intense. But Stefan has his own dark show more reasons for having left Sweden behind. All of those things threaten to catch up with them and get in the way of their new-found connection.

I am always looking for queer romances, and if they have some racial diversity (or disability rep), it's even better, so I was looking forward to reading this. Unfortunately, we were off to a rocky start with the epigraph already, and things only got worse from there. It just did not work for me at all.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2025/02/04/runnin-no-more-g-t-dipe/ show less