This book was sitting high on my TBR list. A will-they-won’t-they romance set in the book world? I was all in!
There was a lot more to this novel than just the potential romance between the two main characters. The first half of the book really gets into the book industry. Parker Navarro is an author with his sophomoric novel set to release in the next few months. Selina Chan reads and writes critiques of novels for a magazine in New York City. Selina is an honest reviewer. She loves books, the written word, and takes her job seriously. She doesn’t, however, enjoy every book that she has to review, and Parker’s first novel just did not work for Selina. Not all books are for every reader, though. When Selina writes a review of Parker’s upcoming release and feels just as strongly about it as she did his first novel, well, Parker is sure that she is just out to ruin his career. If you hate an author’s writing so much, why would you read another novel by them? This sparks a lot of opinions online and even leads to an unfortunate hostile encounter between author and critic which, of course, gets caught on video.
I enjoyed the overall concept of the book. Where is the line drawn between the artist and the critic? Selina and Parker were interesting, complicated characters. They each had their own issues that they were dealing with aside from their professional lives. I loved getting to know them and felt that the second half of the book really started to make me feel as though I was getting that opportunity.
If you adore slow-burning romances, you will love this novel. You have to be very patient, though. The author sets the stage beautifully for these characters, but with their relationship and history, it takes time. The build-up was slow, but well worth the wait. The characters had great banter, chemistry, a mutual love of books, and a strong connection.
Bad Words was a good read. It took a little time to get into, but once I did, I was definitely all in.
*4 Stars
