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The Imperfections of James and Kate
In dark basement poetry clubs, James self-destructs a little every night for beer and pizza money. His writing helps make sense of the overwhelming weight of insecurities on his back by pushing everything good away from him. That is, until the day he meets Kate – a struggling New York dancer, hopped up on the passion of love songs, with eyes full of wanderlust. Together, they form an unlikely bond, fumbling their way into an unintentional romance. James fights against his demons of childhood neglect and disdain for an uncaring society, while Kate is desperate to find the secret to the question, “How do we make love last?” Along the way, they lose each other, find each other, and manage to ruin everything they have ever truly desired.
- GenresRomance
243 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
1 person is currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Gutiérrez
21 books54 followersIn the same fashion Do-It-Yourself punk bands have built their fan base for the past 30 years, Chicago author Christopher Gutiérrez has carved his own niche into the literary world relying on that same aesthetic. In the span of three short years, Gutiérrez has gone from sporadic zine publisher and part-time blogger to full-time writer and public speaker, self-releasing 3 books, a spoken word CD, a live DVD, several mini-books and fanzines all under the umbrella of The Deadxstop Publishing Company.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 2, 2023
Filled with destructive thoughts and hesitation to hope for the future, THE IMPERFECTIONS OF JAMES AND KATE exposes all of our worst tendencies (with ourselves and others) and our fears about life and love. Chris Gutierrez’s writing really cuts to the bone and Keltie Colleen’s felt a little too relatable at times. It was unlike any romance I ever read before, but I’m glad I was able to pick this one up.
May 7, 2018
I'll keep this short and sweet - this was a love story. It had it all: love at first site, jealousy, misunderstandings, violence (not towards the woman), and a reunion brought about by an accident.
This book is told from the viewpoints of James and Kate, switching off between chapters and changing cities depending on where the characters were at the time. It really came down to the fact that both of these characters just wanted to feel love. They wanted someone in their life that loved them and only them.
I loved everything about this book - including the overused good girl falling for the bad boy who changes because of the love of said good girl.
This book is told from the viewpoints of James and Kate, switching off between chapters and changing cities depending on where the characters were at the time. It really came down to the fact that both of these characters just wanted to feel love. They wanted someone in their life that loved them and only them.
I loved everything about this book - including the overused good girl falling for the bad boy who changes because of the love of said good girl.
December 23, 2015
I went into this book thinking it would change my perspective on relationships and hopelessness and people as a whole, because that's what happens every other time I get my hands on something written by Chris. And while this book teaches some life lessons, I wound up closing it with a fraction of disappointment.
The biggest problem I faced was that these characters are their authors. James is a successful writer living in a slummy Chicago apartment. Keltie -oops I mean Kate- is a dancer living in New York who believes in love more than anything else. Writing from personal experiences isn't always a bad thing, but these characters are so blatantly knock-offs of their authors that I could only imagine Chris and Keltie experiencing the ups and downs of this relationship, which was weird in itself. However, once that was ingrained in my head, I noticed some of their characteristics were vastly different than the authors'. For instance, James relies heavily on alcohol while Chris has been straight edge his entire life. James uses ridiculously cheesy pet names on a girl while I can't envision Chris being remotely cliche. It was almost as if the authors shoved the idea of themselves as characters down your throat, and then said, "Well no, it's not exactly like that, because there are these really minute characteristics that make them completely different from us!" Frankly, I wasn't feeling it.
That aside, I devoured this book. I actually messaged one of my friends saying it was ruining my life. Because I think we've all been in the shoes of both James and Kate before. We all carry a piece of us that's a hopeless romantic; some of us have found and remained in desperate relationships to fill that void. This book is raw and painful and perfect in all the right ways.
The biggest problem I faced was that these characters are their authors. James is a successful writer living in a slummy Chicago apartment. Keltie -oops I mean Kate- is a dancer living in New York who believes in love more than anything else. Writing from personal experiences isn't always a bad thing, but these characters are so blatantly knock-offs of their authors that I could only imagine Chris and Keltie experiencing the ups and downs of this relationship, which was weird in itself. However, once that was ingrained in my head, I noticed some of their characteristics were vastly different than the authors'. For instance, James relies heavily on alcohol while Chris has been straight edge his entire life. James uses ridiculously cheesy pet names on a girl while I can't envision Chris being remotely cliche. It was almost as if the authors shoved the idea of themselves as characters down your throat, and then said, "Well no, it's not exactly like that, because there are these really minute characteristics that make them completely different from us!" Frankly, I wasn't feeling it.
That aside, I devoured this book. I actually messaged one of my friends saying it was ruining my life. Because I think we've all been in the shoes of both James and Kate before. We all carry a piece of us that's a hopeless romantic; some of us have found and remained in desperate relationships to fill that void. This book is raw and painful and perfect in all the right ways.
April 18, 2014
I have been following both Chris and Keltie for several years now, so perhaps my opinion on a collaboration by them (a dream come true, let me tell you) will be slightly biased, but despite that, it's rather difficult to deny the awe felt upon witnessing the pure talent in this book. This book teaches more than it tells, and it's not just your traditional 'boy meets girl' love story: this book teaches its readers to love without fear, regardless of everything that came before; to pursue your dreams without worrying about the consequences, but only if the alternative would be to completely bleed yourself dry - and not in the good way, either.
Look to the future, and rage forward with everything you've got.
Look to the future, and rage forward with everything you've got.
June 11, 2014
Although this book had its flaws (I won't spoil anything), there's no denying it is a beautifully written story with very human characters going through very human struggles. I love Keltie Colleen, so I may be a bit biased, but this is definitely an underrated little indie gem. Read it if you love stories about life, love, humanity, and the general messiness and uncertainty that comes with being alive.
May 10, 2014
This book made me laugh. It made me cry. And it made me laugh again. Christopher Gutierrez gets better every single time. This is one of my favorite books. The ending wasn't my favorite but the story more than makes up for that.
December 29, 2014
This book exceeded every expectation I had for it. It filled me with hope and the desire to try harder and do more. Thank you Chris and Keltie.
April 27, 2014
At first I was a bit hesitant about this collaboration since I wasn't familiar with Christopher Gutierrez's writing, but I fell in love after the first chapter and couldn't put it down!
March 22, 2015
Goddamnit, Chris. I hate you and I love you.
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February 23, 2016
This book is something amazing. It made me feel so many different things about James and about Kate, all while I even learned things about myself.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews