This starts off quite slow and insufferable. It was hard to be in Theo's head, and for the first third of the book, I thought I was going to hate the book completely. Theo is more of a queer quip machine than a person, and with the weird nepo baby chip on their shoulder, it was all a bit much, and I couldn't find it in me to care about the story. I just wasn’t invested in Theo that much as a person, and didn’t care for them. 

I found Kit’s inner voice to be more enjoyable, but both Theo & Kit’s problems - outside of their relationship - felt flat and underdeveloped. They were resolved too quickly, and often came from out of nowhere, with no build up or context, and they sometimes didn’t make much sense at all. 

Most of the secondary characters have little to no depth or personality, and we see such little development. So many of them were almost compelling but we don’t get the chance to really know for sure. 

The story itself is horny and sumptuous, and kind of a vibe, but I didn't start caring much until (Again), like a third of the way into the book. By the time we make it to Kit's section, the book levels out a bit more, and is a bit more bearable. The reflections on gender and art, and the section in Florence were BEAUTIFUl, and really redeemed the book for me. 

However, the pacing wasn’t great, and the book felt a bit too long. This was fun and horny and romantic and delectable, but also poorly paced, and over reliant on zingy one-liners, with weak character development. It felt like Casey went on a food tour that maybe changed their life, and I love that for them, and felt transported there, so that was definitely a plus. 

Ultimately not the best, nor my fave McQuiston, but it's a fun addition to the queer, bacchanalia cannon.