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The Humble Lover
From National Book Award-honored author Edmund White, a wildly hilarious and irreverent novel about a rich older man who falls in love with a young ballerino.
Aldwych West, an eighty-year-old modern-day aristocrat living alone in his Manhattan townhouse, is used to having what he wants. And when he sets eyes on August Dupond, a strong, stunningly beautiful soloist in the New York City Ballet, he decides he must have him. Soon they strike up a closeness that falls between the blurry lines of friendship, sponsorship, and love, and August moves in with Aldwych. But eventually August starts bringing home other men, and a formidable woman in Aldwych's circle named Ernestine also takes a deep interest in the young, enchanting star. Messy entanglements and fierce rivalries ensue, and the result is an unforgettable, outrageous tragicomedy that explores the many layers of love and sexual desire as only Edmund White can.
Aldwych West, an eighty-year-old modern-day aristocrat living alone in his Manhattan townhouse, is used to having what he wants. And when he sets eyes on August Dupond, a strong, stunningly beautiful soloist in the New York City Ballet, he decides he must have him. Soon they strike up a closeness that falls between the blurry lines of friendship, sponsorship, and love, and August moves in with Aldwych. But eventually August starts bringing home other men, and a formidable woman in Aldwych's circle named Ernestine also takes a deep interest in the young, enchanting star. Messy entanglements and fierce rivalries ensue, and the result is an unforgettable, outrageous tragicomedy that explores the many layers of love and sexual desire as only Edmund White can.
260 pages, Hardcover
First published May 2, 2023
40 people are currently reading
7458 people want to read
About the author
Edmund White
139 books907 followersEdmund Valentine White III was an American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer, and essayist. He was the recipient of Lambda Literary's Visionary Award, the National Book Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction. France made him Chevalier (and later Officier) de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1993.
White was known as a groundbreaking writer of gay literature and a major influence on gay American literature and has been called "the first major queer novelist to champion a new generation of writers."
White was known as a groundbreaking writer of gay literature and a major influence on gay American literature and has been called "the first major queer novelist to champion a new generation of writers."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
June 11, 2023
Pride Month 2022 Read #4: .275 star, and that’s being generous.
A complete waste of my time. A few passages that speak to what can be the bleaker truths of some American gay males’ experience, but mostly just narcissistic and pointless. Might be right for some folks, I wouldn't immediately tell someone NOT to read it, but I would also share with them that I myself intensely disliked the book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
A complete waste of my time. A few passages that speak to what can be the bleaker truths of some American gay males’ experience, but mostly just narcissistic and pointless. Might be right for some folks, I wouldn't immediately tell someone NOT to read it, but I would also share with them that I myself intensely disliked the book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
October 1, 2023
So, now I've read the book. I didn’t like the story, I didn’t like the characters, and the denouement seemed forced. So why the four stars? Partly for the writing. He’s a master of purple prose. Just like his hero Genet, he knows how to describe the messiest situations with the lightest touch. But Genet wasn’t a Princeton man, so the parallel stops there.
The other reason is his age. He’s 83 and still writing. This isn't fawning. This is admiration. So, he's peaked. We all peak. But he hasn’t given up or produced some sad nostalgic tale about the good old days when he was young. Even from his ivory tower, he writes about his life today, or maybe a fictionalized version (or maybe not).
Then there’s his kick in the ass to current mores. As another reviewer points out, he has a kind of nebulous view of racism, ageism, and homophobia. Me too, I’m not sure how much he enjoys using the 'bad words’ or if he’s just toying with us. I think it’s the latter. At his age and with his status he can afford to offend. One phrase even offended me! Something for everyone.
The other thing to wonder is if he wrote the book with one hand (wink, wink). If so, bravo to him! After a certain age, I’m told, the imagination is one’s best erotic tool.
The other reason is his age. He’s 83 and still writing. This isn't fawning. This is admiration. So, he's peaked. We all peak. But he hasn’t given up or produced some sad nostalgic tale about the good old days when he was young. Even from his ivory tower, he writes about his life today, or maybe a fictionalized version (or maybe not).
Then there’s his kick in the ass to current mores. As another reviewer points out, he has a kind of nebulous view of racism, ageism, and homophobia. Me too, I’m not sure how much he enjoys using the 'bad words’ or if he’s just toying with us. I think it’s the latter. At his age and with his status he can afford to offend. One phrase even offended me! Something for everyone.
The other thing to wonder is if he wrote the book with one hand (wink, wink). If so, bravo to him! After a certain age, I’m told, the imagination is one’s best erotic tool.
May 27, 2023
I love when Edmund White publishes a new novel - he holds such a distinct place in gay literature, and I know when I dive in to one of his books that it will say things you don’t read many other places.
That is especially true in The Humble Lover, which reads like the plot of one of the ballets danced by young August, who is the object of older Aldwych’s affection. As Aldwych attempts to keep August for himself, his plans are thwarted by a lover named Pablo and a witch character named Ernestine. Just when you think you’re settling into a rather predictable tale, White takes a sharp and shocking turn that I did *not* see coming. I don’t usually think of his books as page-turners (that’s not a bad thing - you often settle in comfortably to his delicious prose) but this had me speeding to the gasp-worthy final page.
White is from a particular generation of people and gay men where racism, sexism, fatphobia, and ageism are par for the course. I’m unsure if these elements of his work are presented ignorantly or as a critique, but I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He has written for too long that which many were afraid to, and every one of us owes him for that.
That is especially true in The Humble Lover, which reads like the plot of one of the ballets danced by young August, who is the object of older Aldwych’s affection. As Aldwych attempts to keep August for himself, his plans are thwarted by a lover named Pablo and a witch character named Ernestine. Just when you think you’re settling into a rather predictable tale, White takes a sharp and shocking turn that I did *not* see coming. I don’t usually think of his books as page-turners (that’s not a bad thing - you often settle in comfortably to his delicious prose) but this had me speeding to the gasp-worthy final page.
White is from a particular generation of people and gay men where racism, sexism, fatphobia, and ageism are par for the course. I’m unsure if these elements of his work are presented ignorantly or as a critique, but I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He has written for too long that which many were afraid to, and every one of us owes him for that.
Read
March 5, 2023I have no idea how to put how I feel about this novel into words. It's the first I've read by Edmund White and I was mostly drawn in by the title and cover. I typically like books about ballet so I figured there was a good chance of enjoying it. I enjoyed the middle section the most. The beginning dragged and the ending became a bit much for me. The pace of the story is quick but reading it felt dragged down. There was so much going on and I didn't really find anyone enjoyable or interesting. Everything was on the table and at some points it just felt like the extremes were chosen just for the sake of choosing them. I think this book will really hit the spot for some people. but it didn't for me.
April 20, 2023
Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for the ARC of the Humble Lover in exchange for an honest review.
I sat with the Humble Lover for a few days after finishing it. This novel felt like a piece of art, like a vulnerable pound of flesh carved out of someone’s mind. It was at different times melancholy, erotic, and bizarre. It felt very human, a portrayal of sex and love and power that left room for the messy, less dreamy realities. The descriptions of dancing were beautiful and it kept me interested but finishing it felt like somewhat of a relief. The important thing about art is that it has some lasting impression on you, and this novel has stayed with me, continuing to loop in my mind.
The Humble Lover tells the story of Aldwych West, a gay bachelor living in Manhattan. A connoisseur of art, he frequents the ballet and soon falls to his attraction for the young dancer August Dupond. Though Aldwych loves August and would do anything for him, he is limited by his age and own perceptions of himself. After finding out August enjoys sleeping next to someone at night, Aldwych offers him his friendship and his bed, which begins a strange game of obsession, compassion and intimacy. While the two share physical closeness, they do not have sex, and Aldwych strives to cement himself deeper in August’s life, wanting to be needed. August is happy to have Aldwych, but his true desires are rarely known until the final third of the novel.
Edmund White creates a world of opulence, kink, and repressed desire. He does not shy away from anything, be it the brutalities of dancing or mess of sexual gratification. It is all laid before the audience, like a cat dragging in a dead mouse from the yard as some sort of offering. I still don’t know whether I enjoyed reading this novel; it is at times uncomfortable, ugly, and sad. At the same time, I felt connected to Aldwych’s loneliness and August’s desire to conform. It felt in some ways like being seen, with or without my consent. In the end, I’m better for meeting these characters, for knowing them fully, if only to serve as a cautionary tale in my own life. Like August's time on stage as a ballet dancer at his peak, life is fleeting and gone before you know it. Don’t waste it. The uncomfortable, ugly and sad is better than nothing. If we’re lucky, we’ll find a moment of contentment, of rest.
I sat with the Humble Lover for a few days after finishing it. This novel felt like a piece of art, like a vulnerable pound of flesh carved out of someone’s mind. It was at different times melancholy, erotic, and bizarre. It felt very human, a portrayal of sex and love and power that left room for the messy, less dreamy realities. The descriptions of dancing were beautiful and it kept me interested but finishing it felt like somewhat of a relief. The important thing about art is that it has some lasting impression on you, and this novel has stayed with me, continuing to loop in my mind.
The Humble Lover tells the story of Aldwych West, a gay bachelor living in Manhattan. A connoisseur of art, he frequents the ballet and soon falls to his attraction for the young dancer August Dupond. Though Aldwych loves August and would do anything for him, he is limited by his age and own perceptions of himself. After finding out August enjoys sleeping next to someone at night, Aldwych offers him his friendship and his bed, which begins a strange game of obsession, compassion and intimacy. While the two share physical closeness, they do not have sex, and Aldwych strives to cement himself deeper in August’s life, wanting to be needed. August is happy to have Aldwych, but his true desires are rarely known until the final third of the novel.
Edmund White creates a world of opulence, kink, and repressed desire. He does not shy away from anything, be it the brutalities of dancing or mess of sexual gratification. It is all laid before the audience, like a cat dragging in a dead mouse from the yard as some sort of offering. I still don’t know whether I enjoyed reading this novel; it is at times uncomfortable, ugly, and sad. At the same time, I felt connected to Aldwych’s loneliness and August’s desire to conform. It felt in some ways like being seen, with or without my consent. In the end, I’m better for meeting these characters, for knowing them fully, if only to serve as a cautionary tale in my own life. Like August's time on stage as a ballet dancer at his peak, life is fleeting and gone before you know it. Don’t waste it. The uncomfortable, ugly and sad is better than nothing. If we’re lucky, we’ll find a moment of contentment, of rest.
October 3, 2024
Curiosity is a dangerous thing, isn't it? It's a mixed blessed for sure.
I was curious to see if this novel was as horrible as some of the reviews declare. The short answer is yes it is quite horrible, but maybe not quite completely horrible.
What a ringing endorsement!
I wondered reading this if White was trolling his readers, laughing to himself, spewing out disturbing garbage to see what his readers might endure or overlook.
A reviewer here mentioned the "protagonist" and I had to ask myself, who is the protagonist here? (I still don't know). Who is the humble lover? — there are a few possible candidates.
The youthful ballet dancer, August Dupond, has to be one of the most mixed-up confused characters I have ever encountered. On page 2 he asks "What language are you guys speaking?" The language is French — this is remarkable since August is French Canadian, had lived in Montreal, and his literal mother tongue is French. This is only one example of that character being inconsistent, unbelievable, and, well, baffling.
I found myself thinking about Mishima's Forbidden Colors, because there is some overlap in themes, and I wondered if perhaps White had written an updated patiche transplanted from Tokyo into New York. Forbidden Colors also deals with a wealthy older man and a wealthy older woman competing for a beautiful young man, and using his beauty and desirability as a weapon to hurt others.
I did finish The Humble Lover, although the last 100 pages are nasty, brutish, and long. It did have its moments, especially in the first half, but by the end I wished I hadn't bothered to read it. Curiosity didn't kill this cat, but did leave me with the feeling of needing a good thorough cleansing.
I was curious to see if this novel was as horrible as some of the reviews declare. The short answer is yes it is quite horrible, but maybe not quite completely horrible.
What a ringing endorsement!
I wondered reading this if White was trolling his readers, laughing to himself, spewing out disturbing garbage to see what his readers might endure or overlook.
A reviewer here mentioned the "protagonist" and I had to ask myself, who is the protagonist here? (I still don't know). Who is the humble lover? — there are a few possible candidates.
The youthful ballet dancer, August Dupond, has to be one of the most mixed-up confused characters I have ever encountered. On page 2 he asks "What language are you guys speaking?" The language is French — this is remarkable since August is French Canadian, had lived in Montreal, and his literal mother tongue is French. This is only one example of that character being inconsistent, unbelievable, and, well, baffling.
I found myself thinking about Mishima's Forbidden Colors, because there is some overlap in themes, and I wondered if perhaps White had written an updated patiche transplanted from Tokyo into New York. Forbidden Colors also deals with a wealthy older man and a wealthy older woman competing for a beautiful young man, and using his beauty and desirability as a weapon to hurt others.
I did finish The Humble Lover, although the last 100 pages are nasty, brutish, and long. It did have its moments, especially in the first half, but by the end I wished I hadn't bothered to read it. Curiosity didn't kill this cat, but did leave me with the feeling of needing a good thorough cleansing.
June 2, 2023
A dreadfully disappointing book from one of America's most important gay writers. White's early successes, such as A Boy's Own Story and The Beautiful Room Is Empty, practically established The Important Gay Novel.
This story, by contrast, is replete with self-loathing people with few, if any redeeming traits. Aldwych is elderly, rich, but we are constantly reminded that he is a gross, old troll. August is a magnificent rising star at City Ballet, as stupid as a stone and about as interesting. Ernestine, the rich gorgon, has neutered her husband Bryce, who is Aldwych's nephew.
Everyone is sexually obsessed, especially with the grossest possible variations: bondage, defecation, cuckoldry, and humiliation. This is not a book for the faint of heart, or delicate of stomach.
There are occasionally beautiful passages, where White's formidable skills as a human observer rise from the muck. These only emphasize how low the rest of the mud lies.
Sigh.
This story, by contrast, is replete with self-loathing people with few, if any redeeming traits. Aldwych is elderly, rich, but we are constantly reminded that he is a gross, old troll. August is a magnificent rising star at City Ballet, as stupid as a stone and about as interesting. Ernestine, the rich gorgon, has neutered her husband Bryce, who is Aldwych's nephew.
Everyone is sexually obsessed, especially with the grossest possible variations: bondage, defecation, cuckoldry, and humiliation. This is not a book for the faint of heart, or delicate of stomach.
There are occasionally beautiful passages, where White's formidable skills as a human observer rise from the muck. These only emphasize how low the rest of the mud lies.
Sigh.
May 17, 2023
It starts off promisingly...it was on its way to 3 to 4 stars...a little story about sadness, melancholy, loneliness & ambition. But it transforms into something I found filthy, repulsive, brutal...and concludes with a banal, matter-of-fact act of nihilism. It went from being an interesting artsy novel into something of a BDSM nightmare...and it left me completely stunned.
July 11, 2023
What the actual hell did I just read?
July 17, 2023
Atrocious, vulgar, silly, and unnecessary -- and I couldn't stop reading it. Clearly a satire of something, but of what I'm not sure even Edmund White knows -- or cares.
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March 29, 2023I think this book could be a winner for some people but sadly it was not the book for me. The writing was fast-paced and I enjoyed the narrative voice; however, the overall story left me feeling put off. There were several parts that were intentionally disgusting or repugnant (the foot fetish, the main character’s masochistic descriptions of his body, and the whole porn play-by-play) but offered no payoff. Similarly, the ending felt like extremity just for the sake of extremity. Maybe if these passages had been paired with more captivating characters I would have felt challenged and invested. Instead, I only felt disinclined to continue.
June 14, 2023
Yes yes yes yes yes, a thousand times YES!!
This is my kind of gay literary fiction. Edmund White says more about what it is to be gay today than any of the new and much more popular queer authors these days do. He tells it like it is, he doesn’t dance around things, he doesn’t try and portray the gay world as anything other than what it is. Honesty is what I admire so much about him.
It’s in your face, it’s sexy, it’s obscene, perverted, it’s everything I want when I’m reading queer fiction. It seems a lot of modern day readers don’t connect with his style, but I love it. I only want more from him.
4.5 stars
This is my kind of gay literary fiction. Edmund White says more about what it is to be gay today than any of the new and much more popular queer authors these days do. He tells it like it is, he doesn’t dance around things, he doesn’t try and portray the gay world as anything other than what it is. Honesty is what I admire so much about him.
It’s in your face, it’s sexy, it’s obscene, perverted, it’s everything I want when I’m reading queer fiction. It seems a lot of modern day readers don’t connect with his style, but I love it. I only want more from him.
4.5 stars
June 21, 2023
This was honestly so interesting and well written, and so uniquely derived. White does an expert job of critiquing everything about gay culture and straight culture, the rich and the privileged, and so many parts of our self-obsessed society without ever being preachy, and always through his own characters’ flaws. His sentences are simple but grand. His humor is on point (ballet pun intended, thank you). For me, the crudeness was overwhelming in the third act and things fell apart in the end, but if it weren’t for that I think I would have really loved this one.
March 17, 2025
Rating: 4/5 stars
Whoa. What a book.
This is a novel about yearning, unrequited love, and an exploration of sexual desire that is unrestrained and... well, barbaric. It's giving me a little bit of American Psycho and Turkish Delight
We follow an 80-year-old aristocrat living in Manhattan, who one day attends a ballet performance, where he helplessly falls for a 20-year-old ballet dancer.
It takes an acquired taste to enjoy this book (thus I am not shocked to find so many lower ratings - perhaps, it's something that is unusual coming from this author). This book has BDSM, S&M, masochism, sadism, homophobia, ageism, etc. It's filthy and vulgar and outright nasty, yall.
There were times where I shuddered because I was so repulsed by the fetishism.
But this book is UNDENIABLY so well-written. I found myself highlighting some quotes and phrases. I still enjoyed it.
Whoa. What a book.
This is a novel about yearning, unrequited love, and an exploration of sexual desire that is unrestrained and... well, barbaric. It's giving me a little bit of American Psycho and Turkish Delight
We follow an 80-year-old aristocrat living in Manhattan, who one day attends a ballet performance, where he helplessly falls for a 20-year-old ballet dancer.
It takes an acquired taste to enjoy this book (thus I am not shocked to find so many lower ratings - perhaps, it's something that is unusual coming from this author). This book has BDSM, S&M, masochism, sadism, homophobia, ageism, etc. It's filthy and vulgar and outright nasty, yall.
There were times where I shuddered because I was so repulsed by the fetishism.
But this book is UNDENIABLY so well-written. I found myself highlighting some quotes and phrases. I still enjoyed it.
February 10, 2024
Not so sure about all the reviews that are like Too Scatological DNF. extreme ya, but the blurb will tell u desire is foregrounded and that we'll be steered into fetid obsessive corners. I think I'll be thinking for a long time about where to locate sympathy in this novel, and permutations of power. My first Edmund white and while it seems uber unpopular it's astonishing how tenderly and thoughtfully he renders our ugliest ugliest selves. Where do we find self-destruction and construction in sadism and masochism, meaning in hatred and craving and decrepitation. Will be reading more edmund white and will maybe come back to this harsher
December 22, 2022
I adored this book. I hadn't read anything by the writer previously but was completely taken by this funny, unique, and deeply moving novel. I love the queer storylines and the way the writer puts sex on the page. I also love the explorations of non-traditional relationship structures. The satire on class was really good, and the narrative voice kept a great balance between coy and permissive. The ending will absolutely never leave my mind; as I was getting to the end, I kept wondering if he was really going to that place, and he did, and it was amazing. Truly a 10/10 read
June 29, 2023
I had high expectations because I’d heard good things about Edmund White, but I really did not like this book. I thought the storyline was mostly boring until the ending and a lot about the story and characters was problematic in an unjustified way. Felt like this was an indulgent project for White (not in a good way), and it played into so many stereotypes in an unproductive and frustrating way.
May 14, 2023
Some parts totally unbelievable but overall an enjoyable read
July 28, 2025
The passing of Edmund White feels like the passing of an entire literary era in itself. And that fact hits even harder because it feels like only someone of that era could have the sheer balls to have written this book, which is as literate as it is bawdy and outrageous, sex-positive while also finding sex inherently ridiculous, utterly facile in its ability to shift tone from farce to tragicomedy, and completely unafraid of the notion of its characters being "unsympathetic" (or, at the very least, all somewhat delusional in their own ways).
It's P.G. Wodehouse meets Phil Andros, and it wasn't just a blast to read, but also felt like a "way in" for me to understanding Edmund White's fiction in a way I haven't really before. The Humble Lover, as opposed to a couple of other of his books that I've read but wasn't crazy about, is not nearly as self-serious or emotionally cold. It's a book that's absolutely brimming with life, lust, and humour — even though it ends in death.
Maybe the book and its author have that in common.
It's P.G. Wodehouse meets Phil Andros, and it wasn't just a blast to read, but also felt like a "way in" for me to understanding Edmund White's fiction in a way I haven't really before. The Humble Lover, as opposed to a couple of other of his books that I've read but wasn't crazy about, is not nearly as self-serious or emotionally cold. It's a book that's absolutely brimming with life, lust, and humour — even though it ends in death.
Maybe the book and its author have that in common.
August 11, 2025
Aldwych West is an elderly socialite who develops an interest in August, a twenty year old ballet dancer. Making an offer, August accepts to live with Aldwych. However, an in-law in Aldwych's family, Ernestine, also takes interest in the young dancer & a fight between the two develops into who gets to have the boy toy.
I honestly cannot describe fully if I grasped much of what this novel has to say. It definitely feels like a blurred line in a relationship between an older gentleman and a younger, impressionable guy, where both of them committed to a relationship for different motives. For Aldwych, it's that he can finally have someone for himself, after a bunch of failed connections, and for August, it's a home where he can find some form of security. However, both of them also have some form of self-loathing: Aldwych is for his body & August for his homosexuality. This "love" story kind of gets sidelined for the competition between 2 eccentric socialites. And while I did find it to be a tragicomedy, it felt like things took a different turn by the halfway point. It's easy to read, but I feel like the muddled meaning behind this is that it's pro-sex while also, confusingly, about the complications of having a gay identity.
I honestly cannot describe fully if I grasped much of what this novel has to say. It definitely feels like a blurred line in a relationship between an older gentleman and a younger, impressionable guy, where both of them committed to a relationship for different motives. For Aldwych, it's that he can finally have someone for himself, after a bunch of failed connections, and for August, it's a home where he can find some form of security. However, both of them also have some form of self-loathing: Aldwych is for his body & August for his homosexuality. This "love" story kind of gets sidelined for the competition between 2 eccentric socialites. And while I did find it to be a tragicomedy, it felt like things took a different turn by the halfway point. It's easy to read, but I feel like the muddled meaning behind this is that it's pro-sex while also, confusingly, about the complications of having a gay identity.
September 30, 2023
I tried to fall into this novel, but I just couldn't do it. Intentionally over the top, but the heightened exaggeration just didn't work for me and kept me at a distance. And some things made no sense to me - how does August, a dancer, not know that dancers wouldn't drink before performing, wouldn't eat desserts? The novel moves at a quick pace, and yet reading it didn't move that way. It was my first foray into White's work, and while this did not work at all for me, I would try another novel by him.
November 4, 2023
This is the kind of book for which the word “tawdry” was invented.
You can’t blame a writer for his thematic obsessions, but you can certainly blame him for wallowing in them for no discernible artistic purpose.
I can’t think of another writer who succeeds as well as White in writing sex scenes that are stripped equally of eroticism and of humanity or who creates more grotesquely crippled (literally or figuratively) gay characters. If a straight writer had produced this book, he’d have been cancelled instantly.
Ineptly plotted and ham-handedly brought to a thudding halt, The Humble Lover yearns to explore human vanity and existential misery but ends up trivializing both.
You can’t blame a writer for his thematic obsessions, but you can certainly blame him for wallowing in them for no discernible artistic purpose.
I can’t think of another writer who succeeds as well as White in writing sex scenes that are stripped equally of eroticism and of humanity or who creates more grotesquely crippled (literally or figuratively) gay characters. If a straight writer had produced this book, he’d have been cancelled instantly.
Ineptly plotted and ham-handedly brought to a thudding halt, The Humble Lover yearns to explore human vanity and existential misery but ends up trivializing both.
April 20, 2024
What an honest and curious bunch of characters! This is the first book by White I’ve read and I definitely did not know what I was in for. That said, there’s a simple honesty to the way he writes about each of his characters that is gorgeous and hard to come by. The ending to me was not what I expected, but feels just right, which I suppose is how I’d summarize this whole book.
June 11, 2023
Publishers Weekly said "Readers will delight in this immersion into a lurid world of passion." Instead, I found it depressing and not at all what I've come to expect from the author. I'm sorry that I purchased it, and cannot recommend it to anyone.
June 21, 2023
Getting in some Pride Month reads, better late than never.
This book started off okay, but then it went into several weird and unexpected directions that made no sense and the ending was so random and felt rushed that the three stars I gave it are very generous.
I might check out some of White's previous (and praised) novels sometimes.
This book started off okay, but then it went into several weird and unexpected directions that made no sense and the ending was so random and felt rushed that the three stars I gave it are very generous.
I might check out some of White's previous (and praised) novels sometimes.
May 24, 2023
That was rough.
The writing wasn't terrible but unfortunately everything else was.
The writing wasn't terrible but unfortunately everything else was.
July 17, 2023
Skip this one. But i did enjoy the section where the protagonist becomes a development person. Otherwise, don’t waste your time on this book.
August 16, 2023
Absolute trash. Overly sensational for the sake of shock. The cover is so disjointed from the disgusting piece of filth that this book is. Don’t waste your time
August 21, 2024
Too much about ballet just to throw it all away at the end. The relationships in the book are intriguing and should have been about that, too bad it only lasted a quarter of the book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews