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Retro Romance
After a chance encounter at an auction house, Indrid and Modi embark of a journey towards their joint dream - a retro style arcade. In the process they face the troubles of starting a business, with the growing passions of their relationship. Its smut ladies and gentlemen.
125 pages, Paperback
Published April 7, 2024
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 26, 2025
I just finished “Retro Romance” by Casey Hayes, and I’ve got some thoughts! This book had me at “arcade games” - I mean, who doesn’t love the idea of two gaming nerds falling in love while chasing their dream of opening their own arcade? Totally my jam!
But guys, this book is like that arcade cabinet that looks awesome from the outside but turns out to have some serious joystick issues. The whole vintage arcade nostalgia vibe is super cool, and there are moments where you can feel the fuzzy warmth of 80s gaming culture, but the game keeps glitching, you know?
Indrid and Modi (our main characters) should be adorkable, but they often come across as gaming stereotypes instead of real people. Their conversations made me cringe sometimes - like badly written NPC dialogue rather than how actual humans talk. And the plot? Pretty much on rails. I kept waiting for some unexpected power-ups or bonus levels, but the story follows the most predictable path possible. Spice is (phew!) strong but took a lot of space for a novel this short.
The worst part has to be the editing - or should I say lack of editing! Seriously, this book has more errors than my first attempt at Battletoads. Typos, weird sentences, grammar fails, repeated PARAGRAPHS - it’s like nobody proofread this thing before publishing. For example, one of the character names was changed just in a few pages. Super distracting!
That first chapter at the auction had so much potential - eccentric collectors, rare arcade cabinets, penguin figurines (random but cute!) - but the story never really levels up from there.
It’s such a bummer because I WANTED to love this! The whole premise is right up my alley, and there are flashes of charm that make you root for Indrid’s arcade dreams. But between the shallow characters, okayish storyline, and the serious bad editing it feels totally shoehorned in (seriously, who needs that when we’re here for the GAMES?), it just doesn’t deliver the high score it promised.
I’m giving it 2 stars out of 5- one for the awesome concept, one for those nostalgic arcade vibes, and also for the potential this book has! With some serious patching and updates, this could have been a cult classic, but as it stands? Not something I would pick up again.
But guys, this book is like that arcade cabinet that looks awesome from the outside but turns out to have some serious joystick issues. The whole vintage arcade nostalgia vibe is super cool, and there are moments where you can feel the fuzzy warmth of 80s gaming culture, but the game keeps glitching, you know?
Indrid and Modi (our main characters) should be adorkable, but they often come across as gaming stereotypes instead of real people. Their conversations made me cringe sometimes - like badly written NPC dialogue rather than how actual humans talk. And the plot? Pretty much on rails. I kept waiting for some unexpected power-ups or bonus levels, but the story follows the most predictable path possible. Spice is (phew!) strong but took a lot of space for a novel this short.
The worst part has to be the editing - or should I say lack of editing! Seriously, this book has more errors than my first attempt at Battletoads. Typos, weird sentences, grammar fails, repeated PARAGRAPHS - it’s like nobody proofread this thing before publishing. For example, one of the character names was changed just in a few pages. Super distracting!
That first chapter at the auction had so much potential - eccentric collectors, rare arcade cabinets, penguin figurines (random but cute!) - but the story never really levels up from there.
It’s such a bummer because I WANTED to love this! The whole premise is right up my alley, and there are flashes of charm that make you root for Indrid’s arcade dreams. But between the shallow characters, okayish storyline, and the serious bad editing it feels totally shoehorned in (seriously, who needs that when we’re here for the GAMES?), it just doesn’t deliver the high score it promised.
I’m giving it 2 stars out of 5- one for the awesome concept, one for those nostalgic arcade vibes, and also for the potential this book has! With some serious patching and updates, this could have been a cult classic, but as it stands? Not something I would pick up again.
Displaying 1 of 1 review