Exes and former childhood best friends Kit and Theo accidentally book the same European food tour four years after their breakup. Try as they might to stay away from each other, they can’t help but fall back in love all over again. But maybe this time, they’ll get it right.
It’s hard to find either character particularly likable. They’re both rather obnoxious, immature, and absolute messes. Many of their problems stem from miscommunication or no communication at all. Both firmly believe they know what the other is thinking instead of asking each other what they think or feel.
What the book does well is capture the feeling of a “travel family.” It’s that camaraderie that builds quickly among a group of strangers experiencing these new places together. While there seems to be a parade of side characters that come and go, it never feels overwhelming to keep up with who the core people are in their group.
That being said, Kit and Theo’s sexcapades competition felt unnecessary. It brought in so many people who barely made a blip on the radar and were only there for the characters to keep avoiding talking about their feelings for each other.
The novel’s structure is strange. It starts entirely from Theo’s point of view but abruptly switches to Kit’s halfway through. It felt like the story would have benefitted from a more traditional dual point-of-view format, switching back and forth between their voices.
But the language McQuiston uses to create each character’s voice does make them distinct. Overall, the descriptions are always lush and sensual, which is what keeps you reading the story. In Theo’s part, the language focuses primarily on taste and smell, which makes sense as they are trained as a sommelier. Kit, while also in the food world as a pastry chef, tends to lean more into the visual and physical to showcase how he experiences the world. It truly is a beautiful book to read.
In terms of queerness, McQuiston takes an interesting approach. It seems as though every person Kit and Theo encounter throughout their travels is fluid in sexuality. I couldn’t help but laugh and think, “Is everyone in Europe bisexual?” There are never any encounters with homophobia. Theo does experience anxiety and tension regarding their nonbinary gender identity, but it primarily comes from them internally, not externally.
From the beginning, McQuiston codes Theo as nonbinary or gender nonconforming in some way, even though she goes by she/her throughout most of the novel. But when Theo tells Kit that they are nonbinary and prefer to use they/them pronouns, although still okay with she/her for simplicity, Kit doesn’t miss a beat. He looks back on his history with Theo and realizes that it was always there, and it feels so obvious now.
Although often in danger of becoming overly pretentious, McQuiston always brings back the levity with dirty jokes and middle school levels of humor. While the characters left something to be desired, the plot as a whole was entertaining enough.
You can also check out Danika’s five star review of The Pairing.
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