Not Quite Out
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Not Quite Out 〰️
I truly wanted to fully love this book because I will never stop advocating for more LGBT+ representation in literature. (Or any form of media, really). And I did like this book, to some extent. I will admit there are things I liked, so I will list them off first before I get into what I didn't like.
First, we love ourselves some good LGBT+ rep. That will never be a negative in my books. Second, I really liked a lot of the secondary characters, especially Lilley (although we don't see her, or much of anyone for that matter, much). Although I will say her suddenly dating Cas at the end did seem to come out of nowhere. Love that it happened, but it felt out of place. I also liked Dan's recovery story. He seemed to be the only one with some character growth, and I did find him likeable.
Unfortunately, I had some issues with the rest of the story, mainly the MC and narrator, Will.
When Will first met Dan, he became very stalker-like, very fast. And then he was just plain obsessive with Dan literally the entire book, so much so that even other characters had to keep pointing out how obsessive he was. I didn't like Will very much, which is sad since he is the MC we are stuck with. He's way too obsessed with Dan from the beginning and can't seem to function unless Dan is literally touching him. Even then, he just bawls at literally everything. Nothing wrong with men showing emotion. In fact, it's terrific. But I feel like Will is just crying and upset at everything and everyone.
Also, I don't think his relationship with Dan is very healthy. Dan was going through some tough times and all Will can think about is how much he wants to be with him. Like I get it, he cared for his friend, but the way he handled every situation just rubbed me the wrong way.
Not Quite Out by Louise Willingham
Not to mention Will was so obsessed with Dan that he ignored his friends and even classwork. For someone who wanted to be a doctor, he wasn't putting in the work. Nor do I think he's in the right mindset to become a doctor.
As for the writing, especially for over half the book, they say "thank you" and "you're welcome" (and "I'm sorry" like fifty bazillion times. I get they are polite and all but there had to be better ways to write that. Especially because they'd be thanking each other multiple times per paragraph. It's almost drinking game level. (But don't, because you might die).
I also didn't like that so much time was spent with them going to sleep and waking up. I get the author was trying to make some cute scenes between Will and Dan, but it wasn't doing it for me. I also didn't see any chemistry between them until waaaaay later. Like, near the end later. For most of the book, as I mentioned, it was just Will obsessing over Dan while he was recovering.
The book itself was still a good read. Not the best book I've ever read, but certainly not the worst. I think it could have been excellent with some more revisions. Or have Dan be the MC instead of Will. I really didn't like Will.
