This book follows the efforts of Pete and his lover Jon as they try to make their band Capsicum Head a success. Since their first gig was a failure, they are hesitant to try again.

And... That's pretty much all the conflict here. There's no battle of the bands type thing, no rangling owners to give them a chance just the two gigs and Pete and Jon being together. This is very much a slice of life story but a little too much; meaning it all comes off as too mundane. Jon and Pete are likable enough and obviously are hot for each other, the premise of a multi-racial gay couple is very interesting but it all came off as humdrum. I felt I was consistently waiting for something big to happen. Sadly left me unsatisfied despite the decent writing. 2.7 out of 5.

This book is a MM short story, set in the world of the Australian Punk Rock scene. The book also delves into the difficulties with new bands booking shows. It was a quick read with a good plot.

Capsicum Head is set in 1980’s Adelaide. It follows Jon and his band attempting to get their band more out there. He is gay and in a relationship with his band mate and best friend, Pete, who is Chinese. Because of the time period there’s a little discussion around homophobia, racism, and how the sodomy laws were only recently struct down in Adelaide. Most of it focusses on the band.

This book was short and I think that’s why I can’t go further than saying it was only okay. I think the relationship could’ve been developed a little better. I liked that it was an established relationship but sometimes this will lead an author to not work on chemistry much. That’s sort of what happened here. There was focus on the relationship but their dialogue was a little weird at times. I do like that the people around them were accepting of their relationship, even one of the other band members was bisexual which was awesome. The book was just a little bland and I wanted to see more with the band.

I do think the book tried a little too hard to seem Australian. Maybe it was because it was set in the eighties but it did feel a little oversaturated at times.

It was a decent novella and if this was extended into a full novel, I would read it

3.5* This is a very quick read with giving you Capsicum Head as a punk band starting out in the beginning of the punk rock movement. This book also revolves around an M/M relationship within the band which added another layer onto this book which was very hard to get a real feel for the characters. Granted everyone has different opinions and views on things so what wasn’t good for me, might be what someone else would be interested in.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for a freely given and honest review.