How does one quantify this reading experience.
Two coworkers and I discovered this romance novella based on the infamous Folgers commercial in the middle of a more-stressful-than-usual Saturday workday, and I have to say it really turned the entire day around. It was like we’d drunk from the Joker-poisoned water supply in Batman (1989). There was raucous shrieking. There was an educational viewing of the commercial for one colleague who had not seen it before, throughout which we were whisper-screaming the lines like it was Rocky Horror. When I downloaded the novella and started reading it out loud, the opening paragraph completely took us out at the knees. I will copy it here in full:
“My Present This Year was written for the Twelve Naughty Days anthology, an anthology raising funds for The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTIA+ youth.
You can read more about The Trevor Project or make a donation by visiting TheTrevorProject.org.
If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline ‘1-800-273-TALK (8255)’ or text TALK to 741741 at the Crisis Text Line.”
You may be thinking, how can it possibly go up from here? How can you top this opener? Fortunately, this novella dares to ask the question why top that opener when you can top your stepbrother? Onward we go!
This two-chapter tale features alternating points of view from stepbrother and stepsister Nick and Nora (which made me yell NICK AND NORA’S INFINITE PLAYLIST??????? and Tierney, at presumably normal volume, ask Like from the Thin Man?), reuniting after Nick’s three-year tenure with the Peace Corps. Most of the novella is spent reassuring the reader that this really isn’t As Weird as it Seems - Nick and Nora were both in college when their parents got married, so they’ve never lived together before, Nick’s mom and Nora’s dad bought a new house after getting married, so no shenanigans are happening in anyone’s childhood home, and Nick and Nora really only spoke one or two times before he left for the Peace Corps. Nick gets home and makes a cup of coffee, a plot device to get the parents out of the state is executed, and then Nora drops some hints that Nick is Basically A New Person To Her and they’re Practically Two Strangers Meeting For The First Time. And then they fuck nasty on the couch. The end!
Some choice tidbits:
- Nick uses the word ‘whom’ instead of ‘who’ during his horny internal monologue, which is very posh of him especially when it comes right before a sentence like “But first, coffee and jizz.”
- “I’ve never let anyone know—not even people I’ve dated—that I want anything other than gentle vanilla sex.”
- “When she sits with her thighs spread, I can see the shadow of panty-covered pussy peeking out from around the crotch of her shorts.”
Another priceless element of this reading experience was added in because this novella was a free download for anyone who signed up for Sierra Simone’s newsletter via email. So every four pages or so, there’d be a receipt right at the end of a paragraph that said “Book made for meganlastname@myemail.com,” which was rather like watching a porno and having the actors turn to the camera every few seconds to say “This is for you, Megan [Lastname].” Perfection.
For my final review, I’ll break it down like this:
Rapturous joy brought to myself and my coworkers: Five stars, no notes
Execution in terms of writing quality: Two stars, quite a bit of room for improvement in my opinion
How well my expectations were met: Two stars, the VC Andrews namedrop in the promo summary really had me expecting some gothic weirdo nonsense and this was a lot more Life With Derek than Flowers in the Attic. But like, I get it lol
We’ll round that out at 3 stars. Merry Christmas!