5 Perfect Pairing Stars!!!

EXCUUUUSEEE MEEEEE??? Casey McQuiston writing a genderfluid person as the MC????? AND I DIDN’T EVEN REALIZE IT UNTIL LATER???

I THOUGHT IT WAS M/M AND REALIZING THAT THE MC IS GENDERFLUID JUST PLACED THIS AS ONE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVES!!!!

The book is an experience that you really need to have for yourself. The main characters both have their own struggles and motivations and regardless of how things are going, you really do want them to end up together. I usually hate the miscommunication trope, but honestly?? With their personalities and the circumstances?? It was the only possible conflict between two people that are so meant for each other!

Casey McQuiston, I am so eager for this book to hit the shelves because you best believe I’m recommending it to everyone and their moms, dads, and friends… literally everyone haha!

Misunderstandings and miscommunications lead Theo and Kit to break up on the eve of their dram European food and wine tour. Four years later, as the tour vouchers are about to expire, they individually decide to go on the excursion only to crash into each other again. Decadent food and perfectly paired drinks, beautiful vistas, and second chances for a pair of bisexual exs who definitely still love each other make this romantic comedy a winner.

Let me first start out by saying, this book will not be for everyone. I, (un)fortunately, will read everything Casey McQuiston writes, probably, because their first book grabbed me by the neck and never let me go. This book is extremely queer, extremely horny, and extremely smutty. If any of those things are not up your alley, look away!!! While the first half of the book is a little too brash and explicit for moi, what I loved about this book was the characters traveling through Europe on a food tour. It transported me to a very European summer, the likes of which I have not felt since Chelsea Fagan’s A Perfect Vintage.

Listen - CMQ is an incredible writer, and I will forever read and rave about anything they decide to write for us. The Pairing is no exception - the imagery is beautiful (that one metaphor early on <spoiler>about diving underwater and past memories flooding in was literally perfect</spoiler>), the pacing keeps me turning the page, and the fully-fleshed out background characters make the novel's world feel so much more real and complex and alive.

But, gorgeous writing and world-building aside, I really struggled to connect with Kit and Theo. They aren't the kind of characters I would really ever want to get to know or care about, and so this book wasn't for me. I probably would have DNF'd this early on, but I trust Casey, and I thought I would like them more as I got to know them better, so I stuck it out. Instead, I found that the more I learned about their backstory, the more annoying I found them. Still, the ending was satisfying, and some of the sex scenes were fun, and I still think The Pairing is would make a great pool-side summer read. Even if you disliked Kit and Theo the way I did, the European food tour you get on the side is actually pretty fun. I'll most likely purchase a physical copy just so I can figure out how to recreate some of the dishes described.

Thank you to NetGalley and SMP for the advanced copy!

When I received the galley for this book, I screamed. I love CMQ and everything they've published. The Pairing was the perfect summer read. The descriptions of the food, the tangibility of the countries, the art ... chef's kiss! It did feel a little long in the tooth, especially at the end, but it was an amazing reading experience. Definitely recommend checking this one out!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I eagerly anticipated this novel given how much I enjoyed the author’s previous work, but it pains me to admit I didn’t care for this. What drew me in with the author’s previous work were the characters, found family, and unapologetic queerness. The unapologetic queerness was here, but it was more about boning than giving meaningful representation. Characters were all quite one-dimensional. As a result, the found family was also absent because none of the side characters were fleshed-out. Everything I loved about Casey McQuiston’s previous writing was sadly missing. Characters, setting, dialogue, plot, vision, and representation were all painfully underdeveloped. Overall, The Pairing felt superficial to a cloying degree.

Both of the main characters were generally unlikable, especially Theo, which is unfortunate because they would have been the appropriate choice to ground us representation-wise. Theo is a nepo baby and waxes poetic incessantly about food, wine, art, and their hard life not wanting to take their family’s money. It was a lost opportunity that Theo’s nonbinary identity was revealed halfway through after the chapters they narrated. There was a lot that could have been examined with their identity through Theo’s own voice, but instead we get all the nonbinary exposition through Kit. Why is the cis man telling us about Theo’s nonbinary identity? No matter how much Kit loves Theo, it created a degree of separation between the reader and Theo that was unnecessary. As a character, Kit is more likeable, but honestly he’s just a bisexual Timothée Chalamet sex god and I didn’t feel his character was particularly developed either. Worse, they are unlikable and have zero chemistry other than sexual desire for each other.

The plot loosely centers around lost love rekindled between Theo and Kit. This is cheapened by the two acting like American Pie-esque teenagers via a sex competition. It’s hard to build the relationship dynamic between the two when they’re distracted bedding side characters for half the book. These side flings weren’t particularly interesting either. The thing with one-night stands is most people feel a bit dirty and cheap after them and filling a book with them gets redundant as they didn’t significantly advance the plot or character development. Perhaps the sex competition idea would have been better executed if the one-night stands were written with a comedic touch juxtaposed against the real intimacy between Theo and Kit, but that isn’t how they were written. Again, a lost opportunity.

Let’s dive into the sex scenes. I’m all for a good queer sex scene that would make some in a straight audience clutch their pearls. However, some of the sex scenes in this made me cringe simply because they were inherently odd choices (the peach scene, the boat scene, the exes moaning across the alley as they engaged with separate partners, the final sex scene between Kit and Theo). It felt like they were there for shock value or being unconventional for that sake alone. They often accomplished nothing else, making them as one-dimensional as the characters. Worse, when the two main characters were together, I didn’t like the characters nor feel compelled that their feelings for each other were authentic. Thus, when they actually rekindled their love, it felt like the sex scenes just walloped you. It was as if the sex scenes were written first and the rest of the plot was written poorly around them, which felt rather odd. The final sex scene is Theo (nonbinary, bisexual) finger blasting Kit (male, bi) and calling him a slut. I mean, go off queen, I guess. But for characters I didn’t particularly like, it was a bit jarring and didn’t fit with the way the characters were written either. It was like they were written at times to try to show their depth or sweetness, but then BAM they’re back to just being the sex gremlins they were the rest of the book. If you’re going to write very sexual characters, you need to make their personalities fit their actions. Also, if this was about queer sexual liberation, SAY THAT. That can be an empowering theme, but you have to devote even minimal page time to dive into it, otherwise it’s just comes across as meaningless sex.

When trying to lump this into the lighter romcom or spicier smutty romance genres, it fails to execute either and not in a unique genre-blending way. It occupies this awkward pubescent phase between the two—not light, funny, or charming enough to be a romcom, and not passionate enough to be a smutty romance. This is highlighted starkly by the fact that McQuiston knew how to go between both genre’s seamlessly in RW&RB and One Last Stop.

What turned me off most was the incessant reliance on food, art, and pop culture references in internal and external dialogue. This pretentious voice felt forced and was off-putting. Authors who over-rely on references to other’s art/words often do so because they lack the originality to convey the feeling needed in a scene with their own voice.

That leads me to my last critique, the one that made me go from feeling aloof to actually disliking this. McQuiston borrows significantly from Call Me By Your Name and cheaply pokes fun at it. That came across as unprofessional and even gross. Call Me By Your Name was the first piece of queer literary fiction I read and I identified with it very much despite its flaws. The author is also still alive so it’s not like McQuiston poking fun at, say, Shakespeare or Fitzgerald. This is their modern peer. I would love to hear André Aciman’s take on this novel. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had some choice words, but I cannot speak for him.

Look, Challengers and Call Me By Your Name are movies I love, so a bisexual steamy romance isn’t a particularly hard sell for me. I also went into this wanting to love it because of the author’s other novels. Frankly, if you can’t sell it to me, you’re going to struggle to find an audience for this. This was a resounding flop for me and not a book I would recommend picking up. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Casey McQuiston is an auto-read for me. I don't care what the book is about, I am getting it. This book did not disappoint. Following Kit and Theo on a star-crossed lover's adventure through Europe was an absolute delight. What starts as tension and stress blossoms and grows into a lovely story about redemption, lost love, and closure. The writing itself creates a kind of sensory overload in the reader with the descriptions of food, wine, places, and people. There is quite a lot of language in native tongues so I will be listening to the audiobook. A true 5-star read.

🦇 The Pairing Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

❓ #QOTD If you could travel anywhere for the summer, where would you go? ❓

🦇 Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, in love, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on the transatlantic flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other's lives once and for all. All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened, good for 48 months after its original date and about to expire. It's not until they board the tour bus that they discover they've both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they're trapped with each other for three weeks of stunning views, luscious flavors, and the most romantic cities of France, Spain, and Italy. Will it be too much, or a reminder that a small taste can make you crave what you can't have?

💜 Pairs well with: healing hearts long bottled up but aged well, a decadent glass of light-bodied wine with hints of cherry (memories of sweet syrup spilling down warm wrists on a hot summer's day), and a lover's kiss (their taste stained against your lips). I don't know what I was thinking, reading I Kissed Shara Wheeler, Red, White, & Royal Blue, then The Pairing all back to back in a rushed, heart-aching CMQ marathon for Pride Month, but WOAH does my heart hurt. The Pairing is the perfect rom-com summer read. This story will whisk you away on a tour of Europe, inviting you to feast on local cuisine until adjectives tantalize and taunt your tastebuds, soothing you like a rich glass of red (smooth and velvety, bursting with flavors of ripe plum, black cherry, and toasted cedar, sparking unfamiliar memories). If you adored Red, White, and Royal Blue (namely, the queer references and quotes pulled from history), the exploration of Europe's never-ending artistry and ageless anecdotes will no doubt tug at your heartstrings. Nevermind the detailed descriptors, the pristine explorations of pastries, pasta, wine, and wonder. Let's talk about Kit and Theo.

💜 CMQ does an outstanding job at Show, Don't Tell throughout the entire novel. Too often, there's a moment in second-chance romances, a piece of the past that broke a meant-to-be couple apart, that SO many novels reveal all too quickly. CMQ doesn't hinge the entire story on that reveal, nor is it unveiled too soon. Instead, we're given the chance to understand Theo and Kit's points of view, not about that ONE defining moment, but about everything; how they came to be, what their lives were becoming, the lost possibility. These two characters feel SO much, but those emotions are never defined with clear-cut words, forcing readers to accept those feelings. Emotions aren't so cut and dry, nor singular; they're a tangle, a messy knot of hurt and longing, love and betrayal. Instead, we experience them through glimpses of the past and present. We heal alongside them. I'm grateful the story focused on Theo's POV first, THEN switched to Kit's during a pivotal moment of their present. We experience Theo's still raw pain and self-doubt before delving into Theo's everlasting love and regret.

💜 I just, I CAN'T. I didn't last a single chapter without making a mess of annotations. I've lived a friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-back-to-lovers, second-chance romance. I know that feeling of one person being your everything, regardless of time and distance. CMQ captures it fully.

💙 My only hang-up: this story relies on the miscommunication trope to survive, not only in the present, but the past that broke Theo and Kit apart in the first place. The execution is flawless, though, giving it realistic reasoning instead of simply using it as a plot piece. I'd also like to point out that the description you read online, regarding the hookup competition, is hardly the story's real focus. It's like the garnish for an already sublime cocktail. You can do without.

🦇 Recommended for fans of Jandy Nelson, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and all things CMQ.

✨ The Vibes ✨
🍷 Bi4Bi
🥐 Queer Romance
🍷 Europe Tour
🥐 Second Chance Romance
🍷 Friends to Lovers to Enemies to Lovers
🥐 Dual POV
🍷 Food, Wine, History, Art, Culture

🦇 Major thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #ThePairing

XM
Bi rep
Miscommunication
Food/drink descriptions for days
Second chance romance

Rating: 3.5/5 - I enjoyed this book but it probably isn't one I will reread
🌶️: 3.5/5 - there were a handful of explicit intimate scenes and they were steamy

TLDR: The food descriptions and humor make the miscommunication worth it.

This book was long! Do I think it needed to be this long? No. Was it a slog to get through? Also no. I noticed the length but didn't really object. The book kept the pacing fairly well but I think you should be prepared. There is a fun style choice made by the author that I don't want to spoil but really enjoyed. This book is full of food and drink descriptions. I am finding that I love this in a book. I enjoyed this book despite the miscommunication. I normally can't stand a miscommunication troupe but I was prepared for it based on the description of the book and didn't fight it. You as the reader definitely saw where the MCs were going to end up long before the characters did but it was still a nice ride. Casey McQuiston has a wonderful voice that I really enjoy reading. The author's turn of phrase had me smiling throughout the book.

OK, so. CMQ hit it out of the park on this one. It's bright and delicious. It's giving bisexual Europe yearning. Two ex's, both guilty of bad breakup communication, end up on a European food and wine tour together. It's got a long arc: friends to lovers to enemies to friends to competitors to lovers. There are multiple narrators. The reader is dragged right into that yearning and self-discovery, alongside each sweaty encounter. The passages about food and wine will devour you, and the sexy moments will too. You're going to want to read this book with good snacks nearby because it is going to leave you hungry.

Thanks to the publisher for a free advance copy of this book. My opinions are entirely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Theo and Kit were best friends. Than they were together. On their way to a European tour, they broke up. Four years later, they're both going on the tour they never got to do, not expecting that the other is planning to do the same thing.

Friends to lovers to enemies to friends to lovers, and what a ride. McQuiston captured so much personality in these characters, and so many food and drink descriptions (seriously, they have me questioning why I've yet to visit Italy and France). I didn't totally love their journey, but the side characters added a lot to the story, and I loved how normalized it was to have a multitude of queer characters. Here for it!

CW: mentions death of a parent, sexual content

This was a second chance romance that I actually liked.

Theo and Kit were childhood friends turned into a couple. They broke up on the way to a food/wine tour.

A few years later they both go on the tour not realizing they’ll each be there. They must grapple with their feelings for each other.

I really enjoyed seeing how Theo and Kit decide to compete with each other. And seeing how they interacted with other people throughout the tour.

This book made me so incredibly hungry and made me want to book a food/wine tour through Europe.

I would definitely recommend. .

oh my GOD I loved this book. Theo and Kit were childhood best friends until they discovered they both wanted to be more. Then, 4 years ago, on the way to a European food and wine tour, they broke up. Now they realize they've both joined the same tour again. The only solution? To have a who-can-have-sex-with-the-most-people competition. Definitely not because of all the sexual tension between them, nope. This book was a delight. The visual descriptions and the food descriptions were lush and the pining was gloriously intense. Like Red, White & Royal Blue, this book is an ideal, optimistic world, but this book is more mature at the same time. Incredible.

This was a difficult storyline for me to get through… I considered giving up several times but I stuck with it hoping it would get better (spoiler alert… it never did). I’m sad about this because I’ve been a fan of most of McQuiston’s previous releases, though I struggled with One Last Stop also, though nothing like this. RW&RB is one of my faves ever, but they let me down this time… and I was so looking forward to this new release!

Theo (Theodora) and Kit were bffs in grade school, eventually leading to being in a relationship. They’re both bi, but being together just fit. After graduation they took a big trip to Europe together, but a big fight about their future on the plane ended it and Theo flew home while Kit took a train to Paris (he had been born there and his family was there), to begin his future. Four years later, they both decided to use the tour voucher they received from the company before it expired and wound up together on the same trip.

They end up having a contest to beat each other with how many people each can sleep with as they travel through Europe - kind of disgusting, when they both clearly still have unresolved feelings for each other, and the storyline is clearly heading to a resolution of their relationship. Theo also has something major she needs to tell Kit so the reader is guessing about this the whole way.

If this wasn’t an ARC, I would have DNF around 50%. I barely struggled through to the end, and it was mostly skimming the last half. The storyline was truly not good. It was just bad. I’m sorry for those that enjoy it - they are normally a great author! I see there are plenty of other reviewers of the same opinion…

I received an advance copy from NetGalley, St. Martin's Press (St. Martin's Griffin), and this is my honest opinion and feedback.

The Pairing is delicious, intoxicating, and sexy, a beautiful read from start to finish that you'll never want to put down. Hands down CMQs best book yet!

I loved the first half of this book, I was engaged, I enjoyed Theo's POV, the chaos, the yearning, the way they interacted with other people, the way they talked about wine and the dynamic they had within their family, among other things, I just loved Theo.

But then we switch to Kits POV halfway through the book and it was so jarring. First I was confused bc I thought Theo was nonbianry, so why is Kit using the wrong pronouns? Then we find out why, okay, weird way to tell us, why not make it dual POV from the start?

It felt like halfway through the book we were thrown into a different storyline and for me the book never truly recovered. I felt like Kits whole personality was telling us that he would blow up his life for Theo, Theo is ruining him in the best way, he would die for Theo, oh and he hates his job. Other wise Kit doesn't have much of a personality.


I usually love Casey McQuinstons books, but this one is just meh. Dual POV throughout may have saved it, but idk. Anyway thank you for the ARC!

Casey McQuiston has never written a book that I haven’t loved. This book made me ache in the most beautiful way. The way that the main characters truly loved each other but were so afraid of that love - it was perfection. I will say, overall, I preferred the second half of the book to the first. Kit’s point of view just resonated a little more with me. But I loved the love story. I was also very much drawn in by all the descriptions of food and wine. It made me want to go on my own European adventure!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book is, as so many people note, extremely horny. In a world where the “doors” in trad published romance feel like they are trending more and more toward closed, this is a good thing. Add on the rise in book banning in America and the fact that this is a traditionally published queer romance about two people who unapologetically like sex? It’s more than a good thing. It’s an important thing. If you are uncomfortable with it, I think it says more about you than the book, so maybe sit with your discomfort for a min.

If you are a traditional romance reader, this book breaks a romance rule, but I think McQuinston does it well and that it makes sense for the characters. The dialogue is sparkling, as it always is in a Casey McQuinston novel, they have truly top notch banter skills. The yearning is also next level. However, while I was glad to have gotten the dual POV, the shift from all Theo to all Kit didn’t work as well for me. I think McQuinston was separating the POVs to provide for a greater unveiling of the miscommunication between the two characters, but I think the unveiling still could have occurred by degrees and the desperate yearning still could’ve been there, or even better mixed in had the POVs been more regularly alternating.

If this book doesn’t make you lust after good food, wine, and travel, you must already have those things, but for me it’s as close as I’m getting to a European vacation this year, so I’ll take it. I will however be perpetually jealous of the trip I imagine Casey McQuinston took in the name of research. Good for them, get that tax write off.

I will be withholding my review of this book in solidarity with the St. Martin's Press boycott.

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin

I began this book but could not get through it. It was sad, because I usually like this author’s books, but I felt like this one was a stretch for her.