My thoughts on this book were a bit of a whirlwind from beginning to end so let’s discuss.
First off, thanks so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for proving me with an advanced reader’s copy of Attached at the Hip. This book comes out on May 21st, 2024.
To preface this I am a longtime fan of Christine and try to support her by reading her books. But I do still accurately review and critique them.
This is Christine’s third book and when I first heard this one was a romance on a Survivor like show I wasn’t thrilled. I don’t normally read contemporaries it’s just not my cup of tea and I’ve never seen Survivor. But I like to support Christine so I gave it a shot.
The beginning of the book felt a little slow for me. Early on I felt like the book was going to go in a boring direction that wasn’t really my cup of tea with a boring love interest. That very much changed as I read on.
Before I go into the good though, here’s the bad(ish?).
I found Orie early on to be a very relatable main character. It did bother me though that she was a huge reader of the same types of books as Shane from Again, But Better. It made it more difficult to differentiate the characters. Also the many pop culture references at the beginning bothered me. I was okay when Shane did it but I wasn’t a fan of it at the beginning of Attached at the Hip. I grew to not mind it much as the book went on but it was a huge “irk” at the beginning.
I think a reason I struggle reading Christine’s books so much is because of her online presence. I know so much more about her than I would any other author. I can’t help but imagine Christine herself writing this and it takes me out of the story.
Orie likes to read books, Christine likes and knows those books. Orie does yoga with her sister, Christine likes and know how to do yoga. Orie is kinda an influencer, Christine knows all about that. Orie loves movies and would like to work on them and write screenplays, Christine went to film school. There was even a reference to a Mean Girls line in the book that Christine has referenced in the same context in one of her videos.
Now this isn’t a bad thing. All authors do this. The difference is that the reader know so much more about Christine than your typical author that you draw these connections. It makes me wonder if it would be easier to immerse myself in the story if I hadn’t seen Christine’s videos. This is a common criticism of Christine’s works and I think it’s unfair. Everybody does this. Christine just had a platform that get people to know her much better. I find the criticism tends to stem from people upset she got a book deal for being a popular YouTuber. But I don’t see any harm in that, anyone in her place would use her connections to get their book published.
As this book went on I started to get intrigued on where the plot was going. I wasn’t sure if it was heading in the direction I wanted it too but I was crossing my fingers hoping and Christine delivered. It’s exactly the type of thing that makes me love a book. When I go into it expecting one thing and silently having a hope for something I don’t think will happen. Then being pleasantly surprised that it goes in a better route. I know this is oddly specific but this has happened to me before lol.
I really loved the themes of the book and the way the Survivor show was used to incorporate them. I’ve never seen Survivor so I have no prior knowledge on how this show goes. But you don’t have to have seen it to enjoy this book.
I enjoyed the cameos from Christine’s past books. They didn’t feel forced and over done. At one point I thought “hey wasn’t Leo the name of Shane’s cousin in Again, But Better?”. But I didn’t actually piece together it was the same Leo until Shane’s cameo. That was a dull moment for me.
I do think some of the supporting characters could’ve been developed a little more but I’m not sure how necessary it was. I wanted to spend more time with Leo and Pyria and learn more about them. But that didn’t happen and I think it’s okay, it wasn’t vital to the story.
I loved Orie’s character arc and the conversation she had with her sister at the end nearly brought me to tears.
But after that point I was ready for the book to end so I will say the ending dragged a bit for me. But nonetheless I really enjoyed this story.
I want to say this is Christine’s best novel. But Again, But Better holds a special place for me just because of Christine’s motivation behind writing it and how it’s supposed to be a book for all the young girls who watched Christine’s videos who she saw herself in.
Attached at the Hip is her most well executed book. I was expecting to feel very mid about the novel as a whole, but I was pleasantly surprised and I’m excited to get a physical copy next year.

This is maybe the worst book I have read in the last few years. The writing is bad, the main characters are completely empty, and for a book that is supposedly based off of Survivor, it feels like the author doesn't actually care about the show at all. In fact, this feels like some kind of magnum opus about why no one should ever watch Survivor if this is what she has been getting out of the show. This is not a book I would recommend, even to my worst enemies.

I would like to start off by saying thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read AATH in advance in exchange for an honest review.

Attached at the Hip follows the story of Orie, a social media influencer alongside her older sister, Lark, with which they do AcroYoga. She’s even a college graduate with a bachelor’s in English.

After a falling out with her sister led her to rethinking her life, her relationships, and her career path, she comes across a post online looking for contestants for Survivor, a show that Orie has been obsessed with since she was a little girl.

Or so she thought…

—

I have had such a great time reading books by Christine and this one was no exception! As someone who doesn’t watch things like Survivor (no reason in particular, just didn’t know anybody who did) I had no problem understanding the rules of the game, being on the edge of my seat every single challenge, gasping when the tables turned, and fangirling to the highest of degrees.

I clicked with Orie right off the bat, I absolutely adored her as a main character as I connect personally with having codependent “tendencies” and how that can drive you to make spontaneous decisions when others speak negatively about you in such a way that her sister did.

It was amazing to see her work through the obstacles, build up friendships/relationships with people in such a short amount of time, to even having to make tough decisions for the sake of the game.

Christine never ceases to impress me with her storytelling, getting me to laugh with her bubbly personality, something that is very prominent in her books, and I truly can’t wait until the next story.

**I would like to add, as someone who has read all 3 of Christine’s books, read them in order of publication. Though the books are standalone, character reoccurrence is something you will find and honestly just makes the reading experience more enjoyable.

<b>it was the circle / survivor/ the ultimatum / the bachelor. </b>basically a fluffier hunger games but more focus on the part where peeta and katniss 'fake' a relationship for votes. the love interest in this book was like a person version of the bread offered to katniss. yes it makes sense, lets move on

MISS CHRISTINE IF U ARE READING THIS (which u shouldn't bc authors shouldn't read reviews) UVE DONE IT IM SO PROUD OF U this is THE book. the book ill think of when someone mentions ur name

actually miss christine was the name of my piano tutor so lets not go there. im pretty sure my brother and i terrorized that poor woman.

anywayyyyyy 4.5 i rounded up like every good teacher should

i got this from netgalley i literally requested it today bc saw that tiktok of her telling her younger self about the book and was like I NEED TO READ THIS then i did that thing we all do which is look when its coming out and internally cry. i did not think my request would be approved so soon im so spoiled ty

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced electronic copy in exchange for a honest review.

ATTACHED AT THE HIP is Christine Riccio’s third book. I absolutely loved her first novel, AGAIN, BUT BETTER, and her second novel, BETTER TOGETHER, almost went on my DNF list. I have followed Christine’s on YouTube for over a decade now, but I knew that her third book was likely going to determine if I picked up her subsequent publications. This novel fell somewhere between her first two novels for me, but I ultimately did enjoy it.

**BRIEF SUMMARY**

Orie, is the irritatingly, loveable, and quirky younger sister of the @LennoxSisters AcroYoga influencer duo. She is a recent college graduate, living at home with her parents while she figures out what she what career path she wants to take. Orie is reliant on her family and boyfriend, Wes, for literally everything. This story really kicks off when Orie’s sister, Lark, confronts her about her codependency, causing Orie to make the impulsive decision to audition for her favorite reality television show SURVIVOR. Only, she soon realizes that she’s actually been cast in a SURVIVOR spin-off series/dating experiment called ATTACHED AT THE HIP. Orie tries to not spiral while she navigates reuniting with her former flame, establishing new connections, surviving in the wilderness, all while her life at home seems to be crumbling.

**SURVIVOR LORE**

Perhaps my favorite aspect of this novel is how perfectly the SURVIVOR-esque themes are executed and how these themes contribute to Orie’s character development. The show host’s narrations were so Jeff Probst’s coded that I read them in his voice. There were also so many nods to SURVIVOR lore that my fangirl heart was screaming. Most of all, despite being marketed as a rom-com, this novel truly immerses readers in the mind games and power plays of the game of SURVIVOR.

**Without crossing into the land of spoilers, I think it’s important for me to say to trust your instincts when reading this novel. Don’t be impatient.** If something doesn’t feel right, consider if this is the author’s intention before tossing in the towel on this one. At its core, this novel is about Orie learning to trust her own instincts and not rely on others.

**FAMILY**

The interpersonal and intrapersonal dynamics of this novel are perhaps the most cohesive aspects of this story. Despite Orie’s family not being central characters for a majority of the book, it felt like they were with Orie throughout her journey. Christine did an excellent job of displaying how we are each comprised of bits and pieces of our loved ones.

**CHOPPY WATERS**

This novel is marketed as a SURVIVOR meets THE BACHELOR adult romance. However, this story felt more like SURVIVOR meets LOVE IS BLIND young adult romance. The “romance” was very young adult despite the characters ages ranging from 19-24.

I have enjoyed many YA romance novels, but I wasn’t expecting this to be one of them. There is one point in the story, where Orie and another character bond over their shared love for DIVERGENT as teens. While I feel like the author intended for this moment to not only spark a connection between the characters, but also highlight the importance of the YA genre, this moment just made me cringe… It also may have made me feel a bit old. (Note: I wouldn’t have cringed quite as hard if it had been a THE HUNGER GAMES reference, but I digress.) Ultimately, the pop culture references and dialogue between characters made me feel like the characters were much younger than they were supposed to be. This was offsetting for a story that has been marketed as an adult romance.

My final issue with this book was Orie’s codependency at the beginning of the novel. (Girly couldn’t pick out her own clothes.) For me, Orie’s codependency was excessive, and it furthered my feelings that this should have been a YA novel.

**FINAL THOUGHTS**

Without a doubt, this novel had the potential to be a five star sensation. Instead, it lost the final immunity challenge and was voted off the island in 3rd place. I still really really really enjoyed this novel and even had a hard time putting this book down! However, I’m afraid that the way that this novel is being marketed is going to lead to many disappointed readers.

If you’re a SURVIVOR fan, this book is 100% for you! If you like psychological thrillers, you will probably love this book. If you are someone who loves YA romance, or knows someone who does, there is a very good chance you will like this book. However, if you strictly read adult spicy romance, this book is not for you.

In many ways, ATTACHED AT THE HIP exposes Riccio’s weak points as a writer as well as her strengths. I feel her strengths in writing about complicated relationship dynamics and mind games would effortlessly translate into the mystery/thriller genre. With this in mind, I’m going to cross my fingers that she explores the YA mystery/thriller genre in the future!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for accepting my request for an ARC of this book!
5/5
“I am on a beach in Fiji about to be voluntarily marooned on an island to prove a point.”
I have to say Riccio’s personality really shines in her books and her newest one is no exception. I laughed so much while reading this book. I enjoyed every second of it. I think that say’s something for I’m not a reality tv person. The characters were done well and the show I was impressed with. I mean, creating a story is one thing but then creating a tv show inside of a story? Hands down was the highlight of my year in reading.

This romance was just what I wanted. The setting would be perfect for summer time. I enjoyed the romance very much. I would highly recommend this book!

Throw Survivor and any dating show together and you get Attached at the Hip. I don’t think I have read a book in so long that has had me smiling and actually laughing out loud in a while. I really enjoyed the story that Christine Riccio put together when it came to the novel. This is a ROMCOM without any spice.
Orie is our FMC and she is 23 years old. She has graduated college with a bachelors in English and is still living at home with her parents. She is a Social Media Influencer with her sister and they do AcroYoga. They have a large following and she is dating a guy who she’s been in a relationship since she was in high school. All that changes when her sister tells her that she is codependent and cant do anything by herself. Basically also calling her lazy as she has everyone do everything for her. This sparks Orie into applying for Survivor…. She has been obsessed with the show since she was 8 (if I recall correctly). She did not thin she would actually be chosen!!

In this we see great character growth and Orie learning how to tackle puzzles, obstacles and becoming more independent day by day, even thoug she i attached at the hip with her partner for that round. Now I don’t normally read romance books without any spice…but I found myself not missing it at all. I really liked the interactions Orie had with the other contestants on the show and the friendships that grew from those interactions.
I do see that this author does have two other novels out right now and I am definitely going to be checking them out. If they are written anything like this one I will be captured immediately into the world that Christine Riccio spins together and will easy read it in one sitting like I did this one!

Man I had a really great time reading this book! I watched Christine Riccio's Trials and Tribulations of Writing a Novel videos, and it was really great to read the book that was written and edited in those videos! The fire scene! Also, there's just the tiniest of cameos with Shane from Again, But Better, and I absolutely loved it!

Orie was such a fun character to read about. She's easily relatable, from her fear of spiders, to when her narration would include capital letters. Not to mention her dependence on others that her sister brings up. She was just so entertaining to read about, and to be a contestant on this show!

I was reading this at work while on break and I had to tell someone a bit about it because I just couldn't help but laughing! I mean, she's on an Survivor-like show, but with relationships, espcailly dating, and she's literally attached at the hip with these people, including her high school crush-and the idea of having to poop while he's that close? I couldn't help but laugh!

It was really entertaining to watch Orie compete, from the relationships that she builds, to the way she does on the challenges. She was a strong competitor, and the game and the competitors really gave her an adventure! I loved how it all played out!

This was such a great, funny and entertaining read and I can't wait to read more by Christine Riccio!

Survivor meets The Bachelor? I was so excited for this. I watched Christine Riccio’s BookTube channel for years and rooted for her through each publication, even though I didn’t love Again, But Better and didn’t even pick up Better Together after seeing the lackluster reviews. I had hope that she had grown in the time since writing that last novel and was enchanted by the premise of Attached at the Hip.

However, I did not end up enjoying this book.


THIS IS NOT A ROMCOM

The marketing for Attached at the Hip would have you believe this is a romcom. From the romantic hues of the cover and the tagline at the top that includes the phrase, “find love,” all the way to the synopsis:

Survivor meets The Bachelor in Attached at the Hip, an irresistible, romantic adventure

Color me shocked (and a bit vexed) that this never makes good on that promise.

When Orie removes her blindfold in Fiji, she finds herself literally attached at the hip to her high school crush, Remy. The next three days that follow show them connecting romantically. Orie remarks several times that she feels like she’s in a romcom.

Then this book takes a puzzling turn that I did not anticipate: The rules of the reality show Orie is thrust into require that she switch partners every three days. She can reunite with Remy, but cannot be with the same partner in back-to-back cycles. After competing in the next challenge with nine other contestants, Orie is chosen by Kennedi. After Kennedi, Orie is chosen by Osprey.

At this point in the novel, we are nearly at the halfway mark. We are on day nine in the competition by the end of Orie’s cycle with Osprey, and we haven’t seen Orie and Remy interact since they were separated on day three of the competition, which was 25% of the novel ago. This is a glaringly large percentage of one’s romance novel to go without developing the actual romantic connection between the two leads.

Add to this that Riccio throws us a curveball shortly after the fourth cycle—Remy has been lying to Orie. His beloved little sister Jerri, the person he is competing to win the money for, doesn’t exist, leading Orie to question everything else he’s told her. This twist certainly paves the way for Orie’s connection to Osprey to grow, but it still lacks in the focus of the narrative.

Instead, what takes up the brunt of the plot is the Survivor-esque dating show these characters are on. Orie is focused on competing, on building platonic connections on top of her romantic ones, and now that Remy is outed as a manipulative liar, she's focused on confirming her suspicions, not romancing another contestant.

The fact of the matter is that the marketing failed this book. There are side-plot romances, but ultimately, this is not a romcom. It’s Survivor fanfiction…which leads me to my next point:


THIS IS A PUBLISHED FANFICTION

The synopsis leads you to believe that Attached at the Hip is Survivor meets The Bachelor. And it is. However, what it doesn’t tell you is that Attached at the Hip (the reality show within the novel) is literally a Survivor spinoff show. Survivor is mentioned a whopping ninety-four times in this book. It’s the main character’s favorite show. It’s the flagship show that Attached at the Hip is based off of. All of the scheming and machinations of each of the characters stem from what other Survivor contestants have done before them.


THE WRITING

Another glaring issue with the novel is the writing. The style Riccio uses is very juvenile (don’t even get me started on Picadilly—IYKYK) and, often times, the syntax and formatting don’t translate to very realistic dialogue.

LET’S START WITH THE CAPS LOCK OF IT ALL. DOES IT FEEL LIKE I’M SHOUTING? YES? Okay, I’ll stop. I’d like to appeal to Riccio, her editor, and all of Wednesday Books to stop as well. Caps lock is often used in this novel where italics should be. Some of Orie’s thoughts are in caps lock. Many characters communicate in caps lock. Which brings me to my next question: WHY IS EVERYONE SHOUTING?

I know Riccio from her YouTube channel, polandbananasBOOKS. She's a loud talker. You might be wondering why I’m bringing this up. There is an interaction when Orie is first tied to Remy and she is shouting in caps lock. She literally says to Remy, “STOP YELLING,” Remy calmly tells her that she’s the one yelling, and she replies in another yell. It’s written to be comedic, however, it drove home pretty early on in this novel that, once again, Riccio has written a self-insert character.

Normally, I would say that it’s important for authors to write what they know. Informing their novels with their own experiences makes various types of representation feel all the more enriching and authentic. However, here, Riccio has given Orie her penchant for shouting, in addition to her personality, her appearance, her popular older sister, her internet fame, and her obsession with books and films. It’s a lot. Like I said, I’m all for writing what you know. However, when I start to picture Orie and her sister, and instead I see Christine and Olivia, that’s a problem.

Another issue with the writing is something that will hopefully be resolved by publication. There are a ton of grammatical errors with syntax. I’ll give you an example: “Everything comes back to being a spelling-bee nerd with you, doesn’t it.” See the lack of question mark at the end of a sentence that is clearly structured as a question? This happens constantly throughout the novel.

Here’s another: “It’s nice, isn’t it!” This is another question that isn’t punctuated correctly. She uses an exclamation point here instead, the sheer number of which is another glaring problem in her writing. She uses them excessively.

There is a rule of thumb I heard once, that an author should only employ a question mark three times in a manuscript. Another says one every twenty-five thousand words. Either way you slice it, they should be used sparingly. An exclamation point is there to provide emphasis to a piece of dialogue or a sentence. Using them so often, especially when this is done inside a character’s mind, diminishes the power of the exclamation point. I’ll leave you with the passage that is most emblematic of this issue within this novel:

But I am RAW JOY. I’m the phone call that school is canceled! That first bite into your favorite dessert! Reading the last sentence of a novel that really brings it home!

Another issue with the writing is the chapter titles. They are unnecessary and ended up spoiling the book for me when I looked ahead to see how many pages were left in my chapter, and another time, when I ended up on the table of contents. Here is a list of the specific chapter titles that spoiled where the book was going:

1. Chapter 19: Partner #2 – This spoiled the reveal that Orie would be switching partners.
2. Chapter 33: All By Myself – This spoiled that Orie would be going to exile.
3. Chapter 43: Sisters – This spoiled that Lark would be showing up during the game.
4. Chapter 66: Paperback (Party) – This was arguably the most spoilery of them all. Chapter 66 is near the end of the novel. Knowing that Osprey and Orie’s alliance name is the Paperback Party, and seeing that there is a chapter with that title at the end of the novel, told me pretty clearly that Osprey and Orie were endgame.

My final frustration with the writing was the silly metaphors used ad nauseam to represent sexual attraction. Here are a few examples:

An influx of gold dust rolls through me.

Anticipatory glitter spills over me.

My blood has been spiked with shimmering gold confetti.

Gold dust? Glitter? Gold confetti? What does any of this mean? I get that purple prose is a thing and it’s difficult to really put into words what attraction feels like, however, using nonsensical metaphors isn't the way to go. Instead of being transported into Orie’s experience, I was thoroughly pulled out of the moment, puzzled by what any of that could mean. This kind of nonsensical language was used often during moments of acute physical attraction, and it detracted from those scenes.


THE WTF ENDING

Attached at the Hip has a lot going on. It’s juggling two romantic subplots and the game of human chess that is Survivor strategy. Throw in a plot-twist wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing that gets revealed over halfway through the novel, sprinkle in some family drama, and it’s already a lot. Once we reached the finale of the show within the novel, everything seemed to begin wrapping up.

However, it's then that Orie is offered two internships—one on a Hollywood film set, and another on season two of Attached at the Hip.

And then Osprey is acting weird and he’s suddenly afraid of long distance. He doesn’t want to do it.

And then, when Orie convinces him it will be okay, she’s now considering her internships which require her to move to California. This will mean she'll be even further away from Osprey.

It’s a lot of extremely random conflicts to introduce when you’re coming down from the climax of the novel and trying to wrap things up (as opposed to opening a whole other Pandora’s box of problems). And I have a bone to pick with these problems.

1. The internships. Orie is a contestant on a reality TV Survivor-slash-dating show. She demonstrates absolutely no prowess or skill in the professional directing/film world, aside from just a passion for movies. There's nothing about her that explains why an Oscar-nominated writer/filmmaker would go out of his way to offer her a position working on his next project. Jamie, the host of Attached at the Hip also offers Orie an internship/PA job on season two of the reality show. Again, what qualifies her for this? What about her performance on this reality TV show speaks to her ability to work as a PA or an intern for either of these people?

2. Osprey’s cold feet. We are in the eleventh hour of the book. A whole new romantic conflict like this is completely unnecessary. Not to mention, the way it was resolved completely ruined the book for me. All of a sudden, they’re running off to California together. They did assert that they would be living separately, but this is still a lot for two people that barely know each other. Add to this that Osprey says, “I don’t know what page of the rom-com script we’re on,” and the two characters speculate that it could be five, nine, or maybe seventeen. That’s so early. And not only is it early, further driving home that even this novel admits that it's NOT a romcom, but they're that early on in their “relationship” and still want to run away together? It totally took me out of the story.

Here’s what should have happened: Cut the internship offers, cut Osprey's cold feet, and have Osprey and Orie reconnect at the after party. Move onto the epilogue, which should take place during the reunion that was alluded to. Show Osprey and Orie together and going strong, surrounded by their friends in the cast. Maybe Remy decides not to show his face for the reunion, so we don’t have to deal with more unnecessary conflict in the epilogue. Boom, the end.

By not keeping the ending focused and structured, we wind up with an ending like this: unbelievable and out of left field. It felt like I picked up a completely different book. Arguably the most important part of a book is the ending because it’s the reader’s last impression of the novel, which is also a lasting impression. Because of that massive WTF ending, I was tempted to drop my rating to one star.


THE SOCIOPATH IN THE ROOM

I have a couple issues with certain ways Riccio represented various identities and mental-health-related subjects in this book, everywhere from sociopathy, to anxiety, to asexuality. Let’s start with the way she misrepresented sociopathy.

Once Remy is revealed to be a liar, Orie immediately starts calling him a sociopath. Sociopath is mentioned nine times in this novel, eight of which are in regard to Remy.

Not to defend anything he did, but the man was on a Survivor spinoff show. The synopsis even calls it a human chess game. People are going to lie. Even Orie’s best friend in the game, Kennedi, lied about her background and how she knew Osprey. Orie didn’t hold it against her. Sure, that wasn’t nearly as bad as Remy’s lies. However, this does not negate that lying does not equal sociopathy. Yet, Orie continues to assert vehemently and angrily that Remy is a sociopath, effectively demonizing sociopathy in the process.

This is a term related to mental health that should not be thrown around for the sake of raising the stakes in your story, especially when you are not going to do any research on it, and even more especially when you let your main character make these assumptions without ever being challenged on it.


THE UNREALISTIC REPRESENTATION OF ANXIOUS SPEECH

Let’s also take a pause to talk about the way anxious speech was represented in this book. Orie often misspeaks when she’s in moments of high anxiety. Here are two examples I want to address:

”I goor; I’m gro. I’m goot. Goot. Gort.” I shake my head. “I’m gort! I’m GOOT.” I shake out my arms. “God, good!”

”I cab believe you’re here! CAN’T. <i>I can’t believe you’re here, not cab!

The first example drags on way too long. She keeps misspeaking the word “good” by saying words that don’t exist. It keeps going…and it keeps going…and it keeps going. Kennedi asks her if she’s having a stroke. I don’t blame her; I was wondering the same thing. As someone with social anxiety who has trouble with her speech when anxious, this is not how that manifests.

Please, if someone who experiences Orie's exact speech issues is out there, correct me if I’m wrong. But none of this feels realistic. Usually, when you misspeak during anxious moments, it's to slur your words, stutter, jumble your words in a sentence, stumble over your words so they are distorted and don’t sound exactly right. You don’t just say a different word (second example) or a word that doesn’t exist over and over again in different variations (first example).

If you do say a different word, you usually don’t blank on a very common verb in conversation like “can’t”; it’s usually a word that’s less commonly used, and the word you mix it up with usually sounds similar or has a similar meaning or context. For instance, I was speaking on a call at work and was reading off CHF, but didn’t want to use the abbreviation. So, instead of saying congestive heart failure, which is what CHF stands for, I said chronic heart failure. Both chronic and congestive exist in the medical context I was working from and start with the same sound, but ultimately do not mean the same thing.

To accurately represent the anxious speech pattern where you mix up words, a lot more thought needed to go into how Orie mixed up her words, which words were the ones she mixed up, and why her brain might have mixed them up. What exists now, in this ARC, does not feel realistic and comes across as rather flippantly written.


THE ASEXUAL REPRESENTATION…OR NOT?

The last bit of representation I want to address is something close to my heart, as I identify as a person on the asexual spectrum. Orie herself expresses near the start of the novel that she’s “never had [a kiss] where [she] wasn’t simultaneously doing an in-depth analysis of the mechanics between [their] mouths.” This statement, and the descriptions of what it's like kissing Wes, her boyfriend at the start of the novel, all completely drive home that Orie isn’t sexually attracted to Wes.

I had so much hope after this point that this book was going to join the ranks of the small, but increasingly mighty, number of novels that represent asexuality. Even Kennedi tells Orie:

"You’re not a dead battery…sexuality is fluid…Maybe you’re on the ace spectrum. Maybe you need a strong emotional bond to feel those feelings.”

Reading Kennedi’s input raised my hopes even higher. However, my hopes were immediately shot down. Orie “take[s] a second processing all that.” And that is the extent to which she interacts with any of what Kennedi said. Asexuality is completely dropped and never mentioned again in the book. Orie doesn’t think about it or decide, “No, that label doesn’t fit me because I’m attracted to Remy.”

Therein lies my problem. By not engaging in any meaningful way with the the question of whether Orie could be ace, Riccio leaves it open-ended. Is this representation? Is it not? Ultimately, it’s ace-baiting. Because asexuality is such an invisible identity, ace-baiting is especially unkind to those of us who so rarely see ourselves represented in media.

Another problem with this is that, because Riccio leaves it so open-ended, an uninformed reader might take this as authentic asexual representation, which it is not. As you read on in the novel, it becomes abundantly clear that Orie is not ace; she almost instantly experiences sexual attraction toward both Remy and Osprey. But again, since Riccio left the question of whether Orie is ace so open-ended, an uninformed reader might not understand that she is not ace, and will assume that Orie’s experiences are accurate to how ace people feel, thus undermining and further spreading misinformation about the ace identity.


OVERALL THOUGHTS

While I have a lot of things I took issue with, I want to take a moment and pass along what I loved. Fanfiction aside, the Survivor element of this book was a ton of fun. I devoured this book in my free time, wanting to read on to find out who would be Orie’s next partner, how they would interact, and who would win. The plot twist that Remy was lying all along also raised the stakes and made me even more glued to this book. I didn’t see it coming and I loved how it shook up the game.

In the end, though, the good did not outweigh the issues. This could have used more editing and, while it’s too late in the game to do a complete rewrite of this book, I do have a wish list of things I hope get fixed before publication (in order from most important to least):

1. Fix the ace-baiting. Orie should interact meaningfully with Kennedi’s conversation and, if no steps are going to be taken to alter Orie’s relatively immediate sexual attraction toward Osprey and Remy, she should clearly and explicitly state that she doesn’t identify as ace at some point during that conversation. If she doesn’t know that for certain yet, then more paragraphs need to be added throughout the novel as she tries to figure it out, and there should be a definitive and explicit conclusion.

2. Fix the demonization of sociopathy. Sure, demonize Remy all you want. But stop throwing around the word sociopath. It’s irresponsible to do and I feel that we are past assigning people with mental illnesses just because we don’t like them or they are mean to us.

3. Fix the unrealistic anxious speech patterns.

4. Remove all of the titles. Some of them are spoilery, and the rest are juvenile and unnecessary. They might have been helpful for Riccio during the drafting process, but they are obsolete now and should be removed.

5. Rename Survivor so this can stand on its own without being such an obvious fanfiction. <i>The Charm Offensive</i> did this so well; Everlasting was the name of the Bachelor-inspired show in that book. There is no reason Riccio can’t rename Survivor to something else so that it can stand on its own. It would be as easy as doing a Find and Replace.

6. I know that this is too big of an ask at this stage in the publication process, but the marketing should be changed. Since this isn’t a romcom, I have a feeling it’s not going to be received well given that it’s miss-marketed as one. Incorrect marketing means this is going to fall into the hands of readers that want one thing and are going to get another. Put this into the hands of readers that actually are excited about picking up a Survivor reality TV show book.

7. This is also too big of an ask because it entails changing the entire ending. However, this is a wish list, and I’m wishing for it. I wish the entire ending was not the way it is. Like I said, the ending is the lasting impression you leave your reader with. This one was so off-the-wall, so far beyond what the actual rest of the book was about, that it would benefit strongly from a complete overhaul.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review!

I want to open this review by saying that I was sincerely excited to read Christine’s third novel, and I was intrigued by the concept. I’ve never seen Survivor—nor do I have an interest in watching it—but I am a sucker for a trope-filled book based on reality television. I always find these books have a spark to them and provide extra tension or conflict in their plots. However, this book struggled a bit when it came to the execution of that concept. And I do believe its marketing is suffering from the story’s lack of genre identity.

What’s Good

Before I jump into my critiques, I want to start off with what I enjoyed about this novel. I did find the concept to be fun, new, and exciting! I haven’t come across many novels set in a survival reality television show setting, so that alone made it stand apart from other contemporary novels.

There were a few places where I found the story really stood on solid ground. Those places being: Chapter One, and the chapters falling between the 70-85% mark. Those chapters absolutely had me hooked, had the adrenaline pumping, and I found it difficult to tear myself away from the screen. It was probably Christine’s most compelling writing to date.

In addition to those chapters, any moments involving Osprey immediately had my attention and had me wanting more. Did I necessarily feel the romance during the moments between Orie and Osprey? Not necessarily. But in my heart of hearts, I knew I wanted to—no, had to ship them. So that drive honestly placed most of the romantic weight behind his character. (Plus, who doesn’t love a parkour king and bookworm cinnamon roll?)

The Genre(s)

Unfortunately, I found this book didn’t know what genre it falls into. In this case, I’m truly questioning whether this is Adult or Young Adult. (In all likelihood, it falls somewhere in the middle under the New Adult umbrella, which, unfortunately, is a genre that will likely never exist in official capacity.)

There are moments where this novel feels adult: the plotting/general concept, the themes, and the cover. But the writing and lack of clearly defined character arc make it feel more like Young Adult. Even our characters span the ages of late teens to mid-twenties, which begs the question: Does that make this Adult? Traditionally, Young Adult cuts off around the age of seventeen to eighteen. I would argue that from those details alone, this book is an Adult novel.

There is a larger question I wish to posit as well: Is this novel fanfiction? This is something I wondered from the very first time Survivor was mentioned directly. That title and franchise is not something that falls under Creative Commons (I checked), which means it’s a copyrighted entity. Typically, when reading reality-television based stories, authors create fake names but borrow the concepts of real-life shows. To list a few: The Bachelor franchise was spoofed by The Charm Offensive, If the Shoe Fits, and Not Here to Stay Friends. There are even books that are clearly based off The Great British Bake-Off. But the key is that those books all created new names for the reality show they draw inspiration from. Why that wasn’t done here is a little baffling if I’m being honest.

The Writing

I want to begin this section with a minor note. I hope the chapter names are removed before this book prints. Not only were they distracting, but they often spoiled the plot coming up in the chapter. I found myself skimming over them once I realized how badly they were spoiling the plot.

As far as Christine’s writing goes, it was okay. About eighty percent of the time, I had a good idea of what the setting looked like and could sink into the sensory details she provided. The key there, however, is being when the details were provided. They were a bit inconsistent throughout the book. There were some chapters where I could imagine everything perfectly, and there were others where I felt like I was staring at a blank wall. (Specifically, the latter experience happened during Orie’s exile chapters.)

However, where the writing truly faltered relates to the character voice. Despite this novel being written in first person perspective, it lacked the emotionality to make a reader connect fully with Orie. Do we have a sense of her inner monologue? Absolutely. But I never had a true sense of what Orie was feeling in each moment. I wanted to truly lose myself to Orie’s narration, but her emotions were lost in the shuffle. Were there attempts to draw those emotions out? Absolutely. Christine had some gorgeous descriptions towards the end, especially during the Finale sequence when she kept referring to herself as feeling like sand. I just wish those emotions were drawn out more and drawn out consistently throughout the entire novel.

The Idea vs. Execution

Christine is one of those writers who has fun, innovative ideas, but always seems to falter when it comes to the execution of them. As someone with no Survivor knowledge, she did a great job of grounding the reader into that setting and explaining it—even if it did feel info-dumpy at times. But with this novel being heralded as a rom-com, I found that subplot to be lacking. And that’s not for lack of trying! I could feel Christine having fun with drawing the characters into romantic situations, but the limitations of Attached at the Hip’s concept made it difficult to buy into the romance/love-triangle situation that was set up.

I struggled with how self-inserty the novel felt. This is a consistent issue Christine has had across all three of her novels, and it was disappointing to still see it happening here. I could see elements of herself and her sister (I’m a long-time viewer of her YouTube channel) in the characters of Orie and Lark. Now, I am a believer that every character holds a piece of the author inside them. But when a character completely feels like the author put themselves in the story? That’s when it gets to be too much. And that was the case for this novel.

Another folly of the story execution falls to the second camp of Christine’s writing issues: the pop culture references. There are simply too many pop culture references in the novel. Every single time I came across one, I was immediately taken out of the story. One or two is fine, as those details help establish the time period of a story, but the dozens that we had? It was distracting and overdone.

And as a long-time viewer of her channel and of her writing series, I know that Christine doesn’t use writing craft books. This is me beginning, pleading, and hoping that someone on her editing team (or even her agent!) encourages her to pick one up. Not every craft book works for every writer—I know that; personally, I’ve read at least half a dozen at this point—but I do think any craft book would be beneficial for Christine, especially when it comes to strengthening her story execution.

The Asexual Representation

Disclaimer: While I don’t believe Christine was intentionally trying to misrepresent asexuality—I do believe it was an accident—I do want to address it here. It is not my intention to start anything, but I do feel it’s my responsibility to mention this as a woman who identifies as ace. As always, please be kind to authors, especially when on the internet. Thank you.

I want to take a moment to address asexuality in this novel, and the idea of intent vs. impact.
I’ll be honest: I was excited at the prospect of Orie being asexual. In the first few chapters, she spoke frequently about not being attracted to her boyfriend, Wes, and having no interest in kissing or being intimate with him. I thought for sure Christine was writing in an asexual main character and I was excited to see that! Asexuality has been growing in fiction and I love seeing that representation on the page.

And imagine how thrilled I was to see Kennedi mention and explain the asexual spectrum to Orie. Honestly, I did find the explanation to be okay; it could’ve gone more in-depth, considering asexuality is a spectrum and there are many nuances to it.

But where my issue lies is with Orie and her characterization.

Specifically, all Orie provides are throwaway comments about asexuality. Orie is surprised that Kennedi knows so much about asexuality; Orie mentions never being talked to about asexuality; and, Orie speaks to never thinking about Googling aceness. And that’s it. That is the last time asexuality is mentioned in this novel—in Chapter Twenty. Orie never takes time to contemplate it, and her characterization makes it clear that she isn’t ace, despite the perfect set-up Christine had to explore that sexual identity for her character.

As an ace reader, I can say there are two things happening here. The intention was to add in representation of a lesser-known sexuality, and of one that is often referred to as the “invisible sexuality.” However, the impact of this asexuality conversation (and Orie’s characterization) furthered asexual invisibility and erasure from fiction.

There is an easy solution to all of this. Orie needs to have a characterization sub-arc where she contemplates what Kennedi told her. It could be reflected in her interactions with Remy and Osprey. She could be reflecting on her reactions—physical and emotional—about her romantic interests. Even if she decides she isn’t asexual—which I don’t believe she is—the reader needs to actually see Orie come to her own conclusions about her sexuality instead of brush it off.

Obviously, I don’t know Christine’s intention here; I’m not the author of this story, nor do I know her reasoning behind bringing asexuality into the pages of this book. Do I think Christine set out to further asexual invisibility? No. Do I think this is something that needs to be addressed and fixed prior to publication? Absolutely.

In writing this, I hope this novel gets in front of a few more ace readers—perhaps even sensitivity readers—who will work with Wednesday Books and Christine to better handle asexuality in the story. Again, I would absolutely love to see it stay in here. We need more asexual representation in fiction—especially in Young Adult (Adult?) fiction. But as a member of the ace community, I do stand by needing the conversation and mention of asexuality to be handled correctly.

Conclusion

As someone who has read all of Christine’s books, I am always hoping for her writing and story execution to improve and grow. So far, I’ve been disappointed by her sophomore release and now this book as well. I still stand by her debut novel being her strongest book to date; but, I’m not sure if I will continue with reading her books in the future.

However, will that stop me from continuing to enjoy her “Trials and Tribulations of Writing a Book?” I gotta be honest and say no. I am a fan of her content, even if I struggle with her writing.

TW: addiction (father, gambling, off page), manipulation/mind games

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I could not have loved this book more. It was everything I needed in a romance novel. And y'all, Y'ALL, it had an overlay with a Survivor-esque reality TV show! Seriously, it was EVERYTHING. Orie is selected for a reality TV show that she initially thinks is Survivor. Turns out, it's a relationship-based show where contestants are literally attached to one another. One of the other contestants is her former high school crush, Remy. As happens with a show like this, there are also other relationships and gameplay in motion. What I loved about this was that it was about love, but it was also about a reality TV show (one that I became very engaged in and wished was real), AND it was about Orie just trying to figure out life and relationships. I'll just gush again and tell you this is incredible and such an outstanding experience! Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this May 2024 release. Until it's out, I'll be taking time to tell everyone they NEED to read this!

I absolutely adored this book! I am obsessed with Survivor so I knew I had to check this out based on the description and it DELIVERED. It was a fun read that I really did not want to put down.

The main character was quirky (sometimes over the top) but there were some great laughs because of it. Would highly recommend this for anyone looking for a light hearted romance read.

Orie is casted for a reality where she would be stranded on an island to play a game of human chess for a million dollars. She sees her high school crush, Remy there... Will she and Remy falls in love again?

Love reality shows books... This is a good one especially. Love the attraction between the characters. The banter is good. Great chemistry.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.