Laura and I have both had our share of heartache navigating the minefield of finding true love.
Despite that, Laura seems determined to find her perfect match. I understand how hard it is to keep leaping into first dates hoping this one will stick. Heck, the hardships of finding someone new when you don’t fit the factory default settings of being cishet and allosexual are half the reason I’ve been with Noelle for years. No matter how toxic our off and on relationship has become.
What starts out as bonding with my cousin’s new friend over a string of terrible dates and broken promises becomes the closest adult friendship I’ve ever had. We share the ups and downs of dating other people. Laura is the one who gives me the confidence to walk away from Noelle’s verbal abuse. Hers is the shoulder I cry on afterward. And she’s the one person I want to share everything with. From cozy nights at home to the view from a mountaintop. If only I could trust myself to be worthy of her.
Dump Stat is the fifth book in the Table Topped contemporary romance series. It is an F/F best friends to lovers slow burn romance between Alice, a sapphic intersex pharmacy technician with an awful ex and self-esteem issues, and Laura, a panromantic asexual artist who loves love.
CW: Alice has a verbally and emotionally abusive on and off ex partner and as a child/infant she was subjected to nonconsensual surgeries and treatments related to being intersex, as well as having her medical information withheld from her.
*4.5* Table Topped has been a brilliant series of representation for the LGBTQIA+ community. Alex Silver has written interesting plots with heartfelt relationship arcs and lovable characters. I'm so happy that we get Laura and Alice's story after meeting them in the first book and getting a sense of chemistry between them as the series has progressed. What I enjoyed here is that we go back to when they first meet, Alice is still with her on/off girlfriend, Noelle, and Laura is looking for her person. Time lapses allow for the story to move along at a good pace but still keep up with what's going on with them. They develop a friendship that both women are in need of, providing support and understanding when it's not necessarily available from others. This is quite the slow burn romance as Alice first has to dump that sorry excuse for a girlfriend and then learn to love and trust herself before doing that to someone else. There are some emotional moments as each woman looks at/talks about her own history and sexuality. For personal reasons it's a favourite as Laura is asexual and it's quite rare to read someone on the spectrum. They are so sweet and caring when together, even just as friends which is what they spend their time building, setting the foundation for anything that may come in the future. A fabulous addition to the Table Topped series and a definite must read for me. I received an ARC and am happily giving a review.
This was really enjoyable and, more importantly, a believable and organic romance between someone who is ace and an intersex person, with a dash of emotional abuse from a past partner thrown in. I appreciate the realistic representation of how emotional abuse can wear down your confidence and ability to trust in a partner and what a realistic relationship with a sex-negative asexual person can look like with a partner who respects their boundaries.
I dropped into this one in the middle of the series but that was fine after a bit. The friend group is lovely, the relationship cozy and sweet, and overall this is just lovely.
I read this book for the ace representation, I haven't read others in the series. It was clearly part of a series with a lot of characters and call backs! But even stand alone, I enjoyed it. I liked the romantic ace rep, it felt accurate to me.
Laura seems determined to find her perfect match even though she is a panromantic asexual artist who loves love. Alice is a cousin of a friend who is a sapphic intersex pharmacy technician with an awful girlfriend called Noelle who verbally abuses her and is probably unfaithful too. Together Laura and Alice become friends and spend cosy nights together. If only Alice can convince herself she is worthy of love and Laura.
This was a good read although I did get a bit frustrated with Alice's acceptance of Noelle's abuse. I thought it was a miracle that they were able to be together given their challenges. Easy to read, feel and understand. This was an FF story with mature content.
I wanted to like this more than I did. I love that we have ace and intersex representation - ace is pretty rare and I've never read a romance with a character who was intersexed (I'm not actually sure I am saying that right). So that was amazing! But I was a little bored while reading it and I really didn't like that both characters were in relationships with other people for so much of the book.
A lovely well written story that tell you about the differences people experience understanding love. Our own understanding of how we feel about ourselves creates all sorts of barriers to love but this book shows that with love those barriers can be removed. It's a heart warming book, thank you for writing it.
The books in this series just make you feel good. They give you the sense that, whatever's going on, it's going to work out. They remind you that somewhere out there, there will be friends who care about you just the way you are. When you need comfort and a cuddle, curl up with this book.
Kudos, this book opened my eyes to relationship difficulties and prejudices facing some of those in the LGBTQ+ community. The storyline was well developed and the characters engaging. I highly recommend this to book.
I did not expect to like a book so much. The terminology used had me researching each one. Thank you for teaching me things. The journey of both mc had me wanting to grab the popcorn and gather the warm and fuzzy feels they both gave me. Loved the book.