dnf @ 43%

honestly this is on me for even trying to read this after i hated and dnfed rw&rb so! i don’t think this was bad whatsoever and i would 100% recommend to anyone who finds the blurb interesting. mcquiston’s writing just isn’t for me and i feel like her stories are just too long n drawn out for me.

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What a thrill to get an ARC of The Pairing before its August release. Kit & Theo spent much of their lives intertwined before a terrible breakup put an ocean between them. Four years later, they wind up on the same European trip they originally planned to take as a couple.

Smutty? 100%. Makes you want to book a bus tour with Fabrizio, indulge in all the fine wine, art, culture, and cuisine from the countries Kit & Theo visit. Certainly a little over the top, but ultimately with the same heart that always brings me to tears when reading CMQ books. 3.5 stars. Hope to see Kit & Theo on the big screen soon.

Big thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Casey for the early access!

There were parts of this novel that I completely loved and parts I didn’t connect with quite as much. McQuiston’s forte is definitely her ability to make lovable characters and up until halfway through I was in love with Theo. I got lost sometimes in the food and wine talk but being the setting of the story, it was fine. Once it switched to Kit’s perspective, I lost all connection to Theo. I understand that they both were meant to have a completely flawed understanding of one another but it was as if they became different characters completely. I no longer believed what was being said. I do still love the writing style and will continue to read her books as the pockets of perfect characterization are often times just that good but overall, this fell a little flat for me.

Each time I read a novel by Casey McQuiston I am blown away by their ability to create well rounded characters that I both love and cherish and want to throttle sometimes because of their choices.

This novel is more sex forward than the previous novels, and not in a bad way. The discussions on sex and gender were very normalized, there was no shame from purity culture as neither MC came from that, and it was a nice departure to read LGBTQ romance without any need for shame or conflict in their coming out stories. I had an inkling through part of the book that was confirmed later and then when the “a-ha” moment came and the pro-nouns changed (as it was by perspective) it was very satisfying. I did grow up in purity culture so I’ve never had friends and acquaintances who talked or had as much sex as was in this book, but maybe that’s who I hung out with. It works in story though!

I also have to speak to Casey’s prose. One minute they’re eloquently describing the European countryside with lovely floridly and the next sentence is short expletives. I absolutely adore it. Beautiful writing does not have to be in absence of characters who use the f word.

The theme of the novel of pairing was so wonderfully saturated throughout. There were so many details about this “pairing” that were so lovely and ultimately so unique from other romance novels. I don’t often read romances where both main characters are bi and fairly androgynous. It was fresh and enjoyable and speaks back to the sex and gender themes that Casey has so tastefully explored.

The Pairing is a second chance romance about Theo and Kit, a couple of exes who accidentally use the vouchers they bought for a European food tour at the same time, who then go on to try to become friends by betting that they could get a bigger body count on their trip, which is really just an excuse for them to fight their feelings for each other, which never went away after the breakup. WHEW.
The relationship itself was nice but McQuiston gave both main characters interesting backstories. Kit is a pastry chef, forever working at a job he doesn’t love, too afraid to take a leap and become his own boss. Theo loves wine and could be a sommelier but they have a nepo baby complex and self sabotage at every turn. Both of these character flaws lead to unreliable narration (the book is written in first POV with Theo’s in the first half and Kit in the second), misunderstandings, and body count inflation.
The side characters are fun, whether it’s two handsome best friends both named Calum, a flirtatious tour guide, an older sister who is also a movie star, or a beautiful shop girl nicknamed Fruit Wife.
While I did really enjoy the book. I found myself reading the same page over and over again and not realizing it. I found the book a little boring at times and there were several points where I felt the main characters weren’t together out of sheer stubbornness.
The best part of the book were the dialogue and the relationships between all the characters. I’ve also never read a queer relationship like this one with a bisexual cis male and a bisexual nonbinary person (who presented female during the first part of their relationship). There are several good sex scenes, particularly one involving anal fingering.
Overall, The Pairing is worth a read. Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Casey McQuiston is an auto-buy author for me. This book feels a bit different from their other books, multi POV, for one. But it was still utterly enjoyable to read.

This was such a fun story and I was really glad for the opportunity to read it! I enjoyed the banter and the chemistry between the characters and how they found their way back to each other and how they rediscovered themselves and their relationship throughout the course of their travels. It was such an honor to get to read this lovely story.

Honestly, my new favorite CMQ book. I could not put this story down. Who doesn't love a childhood friends-to-lovers-to-strangers second chance romance? And I really could read more about the side characters we meet in this. My only gripe is that if felt wordy when poetically waxing about food/wine/art. Otherwise this book was definitely worth the 2 nights of sleep deprivation I put myself through.

3.5 Stars

This starts off quite slow and insufferable. It was hard to be in Theo's head, and for the first third of the book, I thought I was going to hate the book completely. Theo is more of a queer quip machine than a person, and with the weird nepo baby chip on their shoulder, it was all a bit much, and I couldn't find it in me to care about the story. I just wasn’t invested in Theo that much as a person, and didn’t care for them.

I found Kit’s inner voice to be more enjoyable, but both Theo & Kit’s problems - outside of their relationship - felt flat and underdeveloped. They were resolved too quickly, and often came from out of nowhere, with no build up or context, and they sometimes didn’t make much sense at all.

Most of the secondary characters have little to no depth or personality, and we see such little development. So many of them were almost compelling but we don’t get the chance to really know for sure.

The story itself is horny and sumptuous, and kind of a vibe, but I didn't start caring much until (Again), like a third of the way into the book. By the time we make it to Kit's section, the book levels out a bit more, and is a bit more bearable. The reflections on gender and art, and the section in Florence were BEAUTIFUl, and really redeemed the book for me.

However, the pacing wasn’t great, and the book felt a bit too long. This was fun and horny and romantic and delectable, but also poorly paced, and over reliant on zingy one-liners, with weak character development. It felt like Casey went on a food tour that maybe changed their life, and I love that for them, and felt transported there, so that was definitely a plus.

Ultimately not the best, nor my fave McQuiston, but it's a fun addition to the queer, bacchanalia cannon.

Sweet, bittersweet, deliciously layered and multifaceted much like a fine wine. 🍷 Made me want to book a month long tour of Europe and just go eat and experience and enjoy life. Reading Theo and Kit experience the trip and all they saw and tasted is a close consolation prize.

I loved that the pov switches half way through the book and we get to experience the story from both Theo and Kit’s point of views. Thought that added a special richness to it.

Taking off half a star because literally everyone was super hot. 😂

This would make a great movie!

The Pairing’s premise intrigued me. Two bisexual exes on a European adventure competing in a hook-up contest? Sign me up. I was expecting big laughs, mutual pining, and travel fomo. I got some of that but I just felt like this was lacking. The food and beverage descriptions at first were great but after a while it felt like filler. Theo got on my nerves and while I loved Kit’s POV I wish we would have gotten that much earlier in the book. I never felt like the two had much chemistry between them. We also didn’t get details of the break-up until way too late. I will still recommend this book but it was a solid 3 stars for me.

I wanted to enjoy the book, but it was extremely spicy. The best part was at 84% in the book. Sold 2-3 star rating.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read the digital ARC of The Pairing in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and St Marten's Press for access of an advanced reader copy of this book.

Kit and Theo are childhood best friends turned partners. As they embark on a three week European food and wine tour, the couple experiences an epic break up. Apparently, they both got vouchers to move the tour to another date, and, inadvertently, book the same tour four years ago. Neither has seen or talked to the other. As they begin to reconnect, Theo proposes they begin to wager who can have the most hookups on their three week adventure. Drama ensues.

What I loved!
I adored the food sounds, smells and sense of place. This book was expertly researched. You could feel the sun and taste the honey and wine.

What was lacking for me.

Ultimately, the two mains were a bit whiny and immature for my taste. Their personalities were pretty surface. More so, the seconary hookup characters were nothing but European caricatures.

I have really enjoyed other Casey McQuiston books. This one, ultimately, just wasn't for me.

The Pairing is truly an exquisitely crafted, unputdownable story. Casey McQuiston delivers beautiful descriptions of the European tour and of Theo and Kit themselves. Perfect read if you love childhood friends to lovers and second chance romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of The Pairing in exchange for my honest review.

Sadly this wasn’t for me. I love the premise but the actual plot was non existent and therefore this story dragged on. I also did not care for the mcs and at the end of the day.

🥹 immensely grateful for the ARC

As a reader who is quick to recommend Red, White, and Royal Blue to any and all within earshot; I absolutely loved this novel. Oh my goodness. 5/5 stars is the easiest feedback here. It’s definitely spicier than McQuiston’s other work, but it’s also infinitely more poetic. Theo’s POV the first half is fun and witty and reels you in. Kit’s POV the second half is (the best kind of) devastating and romantic and *insert swooning emoji here. Then? Then!! You have to account for the actual settings and food/drink theme that literally had me googling flights on one screen and downloading local concept restaurant menus on another? Oh but wait there’s more to love and appreciate, because McQuiston also captures Theo’s identity and Kit’s sexuality in the most respectful, understandable, and seamless of ways.

I love this book. I love it a lot. I love it and would love to pair it with all of my friends the moment it’s published.

I’ve also added this review to my Goodreads

Casey McQuiston once described The Pairing as being their horniest book yet. And I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. There were multiple moments where I had to set the book down and walk away from it, just to get a reset from the intense horniness sitting on these pages. But this book played with that emotion, played with the queerness of it all, and that is what made it an entertaining read.

I truly felt like I was embarking on a European summer vacation, which is a testament to McQuiston’s writing style. They provided just enough detail to draw up the setting imagery. I felt completely immersed in these locations I’d never been to before (and it made me excited to take my own Europe trip in the future!). But where I was truly in awe relates to the sheer amount of intricate details McQuiston provided about the food and drink. They took that pairing theme and ran with it—in a way that often had my jaw on the floor. The deftness with which they drew those details out was a marvel (despite me not understanding half of the food and drink terms).

In the vein of McQuiston’s writing style, I did notice they tended to rely on summary narrative quite often. There were pages of Theo and Kit’s internal monologues, and many scenes in which the characters summarized conversations they had with others. In most cases, the conversations that were summarized were ones I wanted to read about. That reliance on summary narration was a stylistic choice, but one that did keep us readers at arm’s length from Theo and Kit’s friendship development with the minor characters.

Theo and Kit! Of course, we must talk about the queer leads of this novel. From the first page, it was clear that these two were built for each other and that no other romantic situation would prove fruitful. And that tension made reading about their hook-up competition wild to read about.

I can still remember reaching the halfway point and asking myself “Where is Kit’s perspective on all of this?” I turned the page, and there was our boy, Kit, finally chiming in on the story. It was a risk to not have the perspectives interchanging, but it worked incredibly well for this story. We were with Theo long enough to see their developmental arc almost complete, just to move over to Kit to watch his arc take root. Between the two perspectives, I preferred Kit’s over Theo’s. I do believe that preference is due to Kit’s romantic thinking whereas Theo had a greater habit of complaining and self-destruction. Which is fine! That dynamic is what made their coupling work so well.

Would I say this is my favorite book from McQuiston? No, but I will admit it’s difficult to shake my pure adoration for Red, White & Royal Blue. I did find this book had its fair number of strengths and weaknesses, but McQuiston’s writing shone the entire way through. I am walking away from this novel thinking about the follies of human nature and how often we get in our own way; but, sometimes, those follies still create the most epic of love stories.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

This book got a lot more tolerable after (1) it switched to Kit's POV, (2) I gave myself permission to skim past the sex scenes, and (3) I read a bunch of one- and two-star reviews and realized I wasn't the only one who thought it was an interminable train wreck. Even so, that maaaaaaybe pulled it up to 2.5-star territory? Maybe.

So...

I was excited about this book! I don't adore RWRB the way a lot of people do, but I thought it was cute, so why wouldn't this be similar? Reader, it was not similar.

I'm cis, so my opinion about the nonbinary representation is absolutely suspect. What do I know, after all? But Theo read very, very female to me throughout, and not in a good way.

The sex, omg so much sex. Please make it stop. Everyone on the planet (or at least everyone in western Europe) wants to have sex with all the others, in great and gory detail? Nooo. Also: So! Much! Drinking!

Overall, this book felt like an excuse to write off a long and expensive food-and-wine tour. With, did I mention, way too many descriptions of sex?

There were a few lovely moments buried amidst the dreck—I'm pretty sure I laughed out loud a couple of times, early on—but I can't remember them at this point, and I'm simply glad to be done with this.

My thanks (... sort of) to the publisher/NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

I am feeling very conflicted after reading this book, it was a lot of love hate. I like second chance romances but am not a huge fan of the miscommunication trope which is how they broke up in the first place. Overall the book made me feel some feelings which is why I am bumping it to 4 stars, but for the most part the main feeling was frustration. I feel like it’s my own personal taste that I did not like that the sex with strangers was constant, and that they never got rejected by anyone. It was “can I buy you a drink” to the first person they saw and then 5 minutes later they were leaving and going to have sex and it was always out of spite or hate or jealousy. If this happened once or even twice it might not have bothered me, but it was very intentionally every chapter (city) of Theo’s POV. I understand it was supposed to show how open they were with sex and that their reunion was messy and angry, but it got to a point where it took away from the whimsy of the story/trip. And then after having sex with a bunch of strangers they made rules that they couldn’t have sex with each other, it just felt silly.

It wasn't horrible but it wasn't amazing either. I would not read it again but it was nice while it lasted.