Member Reviews
I knew I was going to love The Pairing as soon as I learned Casey McQuiston was writing it as I thoroughly adored all three of their works that came before it but I truly had no idea just how much. This book is McQuiston at their best yet. The Pairing is decadent, lush, and so very delicious, a sensuous tour of succulent experiences, both queer and European, between two of the sluttiest and lovable bisexuals I’ve ever read. The settings are marvelous, the food and drink enviable, and the characters full of blistering heart.
I’ve yet to read another book as celebratory as this when it comes to queer desire and the many shades that a story like this can contain. Both Theo and Kit are real and messy and slutty and sexy, as are their feelings not only for each other but towards themselves, towards the food and wine they devour, toward the art they consume. Every page of this book was indulgent while remaining purposeful to their journey and their characterizations. The sex scenes are skillfully crafted, as important to their growth as characters as any other interaction, providing further depths to Theo and Kit, while displaying moments of queer experiences we need more of in traditional publishing.
I loved the dual POVs, presenting Theo’s feelings of displacement in the first half, leading to Kit’s side to fill in the many, many gaps before they finally melded back together in the end. As a bisexual full of many of my own doubts and yearnings, I saw a lot of myself reflected in both sides, making me love the wholes of Theo and Kit even more. Theo was so funny and Kit so romantic, and both of them so very bisexual. Their banter is lovable, the growth they attain while rediscovering their love delightful. I devoured the story of Theo and Kit so quickly, that as greedy as I am, all I could think at the end was: more, more, more.
Casey McQuiston surely put their entire heart into this one, and it shows in bright, glimmering colors. I adored this book wholeheartedly, and I can’t wait to reread it again (and again and again) come August when I have a hardcopy in my hands. Theo and Kit are the rekindling love everyone needs to read under this year’s late summer sun.
Thank you so much to St Martin’s Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.