Melody, our MC, joins a new gaming company. In an attempt to joke about the sexist/toxic workplace culture, she suggests a parody feminist game featuring male strippers as the main characters. When this joke of a game idea is selected to become a reality, Melody is thrown headfirst into a project she's unprepared and underfunded for. Will she make her game a success?

(Note I made no mention of a love interest or romance--weird, huh? THAT'S BECAUSE THIS ISN'T A ROMANCE. More on this later.)

I really debated what to say and how to rate this book. I rarely do pro/con list for book reviews, but I think that grouping the positives and negatives may help you (is anyone reading this?) understand why I struggled so much with this book.

Positives:
Representation! Suzanne Park wrote an #OwnVoices novel with Asian-American and female representation. Shows the difficulties of women in the gaming industry, the reality and danger of doxxing (which women, unfortunately, face too often). Definitely had some pretty funny moments. I actually, for the most part, really liked Melody, our MC. She didn't take sh*t from people, even her boss, and was highly competent. The premise was creative and original, and didn't rely on overused tropes to accomplish the story.

Negatives:
THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE. IT IS NOT ENEMIES TO LOVERS. THE TITLE MAKES NO SENSE. We spend THE ENTIRE BOOK unsure of who the love interest is. That's not a romance! That's not enemies to lovers! Melody's eventual love interest is of such inconsequence to the plot, he's not even worth mentioning. He's also only her enemy for, oh, maybe .5 seconds--definitely not enemies-to-lovers. And if this book isn't enemies-to-lovers WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS TITLE??? It makes no sense. It's a total bait and switch. If this book were given a new title and classified as fiction/women's fiction/chicklit instead of romance, it would be 50% better. I do not like being lied to.

This book is... a little racist. And a little sexist. Which is weird, because it seems like it's trying to combat those things. Melody's parents are basically walking stereotypes/caricatures, only acceptable because they are written by an author also of Korean descent. If I saw these characters on television, I wouldn't laugh, I would cringe at their level of inappropriateness. Additionally, her parents make a comment about a black Lyft driver, and we aren't told the exact comment, but the fact that his race was mentioned leaves a really bad taste in the mouth--it seems to allude to her parents saying something racist and resulting in a bad Lyft rating. If the parents are supposed to be racist, at least acknowledge it. Don't gloss over it, chalk it up to cultural differences, or ignore it. There's two other points in the book where the Chinese interns' lack of English skills are mentioned and there's a comment to the effect that many Chinese people have the same name. This made me incredibly uncomfortable. I can't understand how these comments made it through editing.

This has so many problematic elements it hits parody. While a realistic example of something like doxxing is helpful and informative, the level of sexism Melody experienced in the workplace is completely improbable. The diversity training from hell? Women's Appreciation Day featuring cooking and sewing stations? Would never happen. Every single character seemed like a stereotype or hyperbole. It was hard for me to buy into the book, because it just wasn't realistic. I think people would appreciate the struggles women face in male-dominated workplaces much more if this book actually presented a realistic portrayal.

These are only some examples of a booking with so many problematic elements it became difficult to read. While the beginning had potential and humor, the lack of love interest made me frustrated, and the rampant problematic behavior made me uncomfortable. The book also includes very strong language, which is used to make a point, but is also unnecessary. I don't think I can recommend this book, even for its positives.