Ann Whynot

As a seventy-year-old avid female gamer, I was really happy to see that Smartypants Romance was publishing a book about the gaming world. Almost 50% of gamers are female and there's a lot of romances taking place IRL because a couple games together and fall in love.
Unfortunately, this is not the book I was hoping for. My biggest problem was the stereotyping of the couple in the little bit of romance they had. They were constantly bumping teeth or foreheads, snorting, or other geek tropes. While I'd agree most real-life romances are more like this than portrayed in romance books, I wanted a gamer couple to get the same consideration that Sandra and Alex get in Love Hacked.
There was a missed opportunity to show female games other than Max; IMHO the book seemed as if she was the only one. And yes, the environment can be toxic, especially in certain games, but in World of Warcraft (the game the fictional Magecraft seems to be based on), over 35% of the players are female. The author could have used interaction with more gaming females to better portray the gaming world as it is with strong female players. Toxic masculinity doesn't exist just in gaming (see #MeToo).
Probably the best part of the book was the portrayal of Jonathan's bi-polar disorder. The author threw far too many obstacles for Max and Jonathan including: an agoraphobic mother, another mother addicted to pills, a reclusive Max due to an attack by a motorcycle gang guy, toxic masculinity, confused sexuality, and Jonathan's disease that all made a mess of the story. When Jonathan has a manic episode near the ending of the book is when I thought the story made the most sense. It was well-written and pretty accurate as far as I know and made a convoluted plot more comprehensive and crisp. I almost gave up on this book, but that bit of writing made me glad I finished it.… (altro)