The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

I loved this book, and even put it on my top reads of 2024, but I’m about to criticize it and make it seem like I absolutely hated it. Here’s the deal: this is a fun, goofy book. The plot isn’t serious and honestly makes no sense. The characters barely act like real people. But enjoying this book is about expectation. If you expect a deeply unserious second-chance-romance romcom, like I did, then you’ll enjoy it. If you expect anything else, or even a semi-accurate representation of European culture, then you’ll be disappointed.

The major issue, to me, was how the characters act. The book entirely relies on a miscommunication trope that will have you screaming at the pages because it makes no sense how they’re interpreting this the way that they are. It lasts until about halfway through the book (and for four years prior) because this just isn’t a miscommunication that can exist in real life – it can only exist in exposition and flashback.

Similarly, the reason why the characters broke up in the first place makes no sense. Theo never double-checked the last text that they ever sent to Kit? Before writing off that life-long friendship forever? Are you serious? It’s also carefully constructed to make no one the ‘bad guy’… and I wish someone was the bad guy. It’s a second-chance-romance! That necessitates a break up, and most enjoyers of the genre will expect someone to have done wrong to lead to a break up. But, in The Pairing, it’s somehow made that neither of them really did anything too bad and are both easily forgivable. 

The major impact of this book on my life was the desire it instilled in me to go on a food and wine tour in Europe, so if you see me posting from Italy this summer (not that I can afford it) then this would be why.

“Sometimes I think the only way to keep something forever is to lose it and let it haunt you.”