Roommating

Workable Romcom With Slightly Too Much Bigotry. Ok, so I worded that title to get perhaps more eyeballs than a less confrontational title would have gotten. Here's the situation, and it is absolutely one that some will love and others will despise, so just be aware of it up front and make your own decision - but don't be mad at Schorr or me if you read the book and don't like it because of what I'm about to tell you, because if you read through the end of this review, YOU. HAVE. BEEN. WARNED.

The situation is this: There is an elderly character who reveals herself as bi and dates both men and women. Some will like this, some will stop reading right there and decide the book isn't for them. As I said, do what you will there.

My own issue, and the reason for the star deduction, is that this character has a more socially conservative son who is actively described as nothing but effectively pure evil. This particular character, always little more than a strawman as he never actually makes an appearance "on screen", is the closest thing to an antagonist the book has, and "strawman" really is the best term to use to describe him, as he is actively described as a bad person *specifically because of his conservative beliefs*, without ever allowing him on-screen to show a more fleshed out character. Now, my own standard for bigotry is both clear and consistent, as I've maintained it for my entire time as a book reviewer: Invert the demographics. If there is a problem, there is a problem in the original as well. Simple. Clear. Consistent. Here, if we made the LGBT character the evil one, off screen, with zero redemptive qualities and never giving that character a chance to be onscreen and defend itself... yeah, that book would have to be self published in today's market, and would still get the author cancelled. Thus, because there is a problem when we invert the demographics, there is a problem here - and thus, the star deduction.

But there again, there are many readers who will *love* that this character is portrayed in this manner - hell, there are some who will buy this book *specifically because* this character is portrayed in this manner. Again, dear reader of my review, you do you. My job is to discuss my own experience with the book and any issues I noted therein so that you can make the best decision for you, and I've done that here.

To be clear, other than the unnecessary inclusion of the character above, I thought this book worked reasonably well overall. Fans of romance novels/ romcoms, particularly of a Gilmore Girls type, will likely love this book. Those who think heavy pop culture references don't belong in pop culture items... likely won't like it as much. Readers looking for ghost pepper level spice/ a touch of drama with their sex scenes type of tales may not like this one as much, as the spice is closer to habanero or so, but also those who can't really tolerate much more than a warm glass of milk may also not like the spice that *is* present. Again, for my own personal tastes, the only two things that surprised me were the inclusion of the elderly bi character and the bigotry towards the socially conservative son - it is an interesting dynamic in that usually the child is the LGBT character and the parent is the socially conservative one. I thought the elderly character was done well, not forced at all, and played well in the story as presented. I simply wished the son were able to do the same.

One somewhat surprising thing about this book given my conversations on social media with Schorr after acquiring my Advance Review Copy of the book from NetGalley but before actually reading it is that Schorr was worried the book could be seen as "too Jewish". In reality, there is roughly a single scene or so where the actual Jewishness of some of the characters comes onscreen, and it worked well with the story told to that point. Again, some will have problems that there are Jewish characters here at all, despite no references to literally any country other than the United States (as this takes place in New York City with some scenes in Philadelphia, but even there, other than the bigotry noted above, even American politics isn't really discussed in the text here). Others will love that there are Jewish characters simply existing in New York. Again, you do you and make the right decision for you.

Just please don't 1 star this book over something I've already warned you about here. Do review the book though, and write about your own thoughts on the book. Maybe you think I'm an idiot. Feel free to call me out in your review. Maybe you think Schorr is an idiot. Don't be mean to her, but be honest about what you thought *without being mean*. (I don't care if you're mean to me, but authors are generally sensitive people. :D) Or maybe you think Schorr is awesome. Absolutely sing her praises if you think that. Authors love to see that. :) Me personally, I was disappointed in the presence of the one character, but overall I really do think Schorr is a talented writer, and I really do look forward to her future works. I just hope she can avoid repeating that one mistake. :)

Very much recommended.