Quaint, yet slightly cringy. Paris is too in his head and takes far too long to seek help. You can't help but feel the way the tweeters in the book do. Every week, every episode, Paris spirals further and further, making you feel for him, but wishing he would get out of his own way. His relationship with his parents is heartbreaking, but he has found family in his roommate, and fellow Bake Expectations contestant, Tariq. I was more excited to read this book than I was the first, but I think I enjoyed the first more. I do look forward to book 3.

This is a dnf for me. I just couldn’t get into it nor did I like the characters, even though I tried. I got that Paris has anxiety and I could relate but to the amount he apologises for things was excessive and annoying to me. I know lots of people have loved this so it’s definitely a me thing.

This book wasn’t quite what I expected but I LOVED it anyway!! It was sweet and heartbreaking and I saw myself in our MC in ways that hit hard and also helped me. If you are in the mood for fluffy, this is not the book but if you want a bit more than fluff! Definitely pick this book up!

You know those books that almost feel too real that it's hard to look at them? That was my experience with Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble. From the get go, I adored the baking puns and reality television aspect. I enjoyed Rosaline Parker Takes the Cake and so it was an easy choice to listen to this sequel. And there were some thoughts and moments that felt so close to home I had to take a break. So much of Paris's perspective and reactions to his anxiety - including his narration - feels so raw, so vulnerable, and so similar to thoughts I have had, and I'm sure others have too.

if you hated the main character in Boyfriend Material, skip this one. if you found the main character in Boyfriend Material almost too unlikeable, this might not be for you. if, on the other hand, you related to the main character of Boyfriend Material maybe more than you’ve related to anyone ever, “Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble” (also by Alexis Hall) may be for you. (I did not read Husband Material so no need to concern yourself with that.)

Paris… etc.etc. is about a deeply anxious young man who goes on a baking show and falls for Tariq, a delightful, very not anxious young man. Please do check the author’s website for content warnings/information!!!

As someone who deals with severe anxiety,,, boy did I love this book. Yeah, I can see how being in Paris’s head would be annoying for those who haven’t lived like this, and that’s fine!!! Really!! You can just not read it!! But it is so beautiful to see all the parts of you that you can barely stand to look at put on a page and then treated with love and sympathy. Paris starts out as a deeply self-loathing character, which causes him to focus on only himself and hurt everyone around him. Simultaneously, the people around him want to be able to just fix him themselves without really acknowledging that this isn’t a solely willpower problem and he needs professional help.

There’s also a baking show.

I know this isn’t the most coherent review, but the value of this book to me truly is in Paris having the chance to receive treatment and grow and still be worthy of love the entire fucking time. I didn’t even get annoyed that the baking show was happening, despite the fact that I hate reality TV show themed books. The side characters were fun as well!

If you’ve ever struggled with *severe* (like. please understand. very severe) anxiety/OCD, I think you may find this relatable and cathartic. If not, please think twice before hate-reading and then leaving a review talking about what a horrible person Paris is to spend time with—real people live like this,,,,,, hi i’m one of them. also yes he actually does struggle to understand people to that level!!!!! it’s not just him being annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ugh anyways loved this one.

(Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!)

Thank you forever and netgalley for my gifted copy of this book. Unfortunately this is one that I will not be finishing. I tried several times to get into this book but struggled with the writing and the characters. This is purely a me thing and would still recommend it to other readers it just wasn't for me.

Such a cute and fun book. I loved Paris and Tariq and how good they were together. I loved the baking show aspect. I loved the mental health and religion discussions.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me access to the free advanced digital copy of this book.

I think this was gonna be a cute kind of GBBO book, but the anxiety in this book was just too much for me.

I do think by the end it was cute but the whole entire book I was waiting for it to end cause I couldn’t stand Paris anymore.

It just wasn’t for me.

I really loved Alexis Hall’s last novel and was more than excited to get the chance to read this one but I just couldn’t get through more than the first two chapters.

The main character wasn’t very likable and the dialogue did little to help that.

It just wasn’t my thing but I’m sure plenty of other people will love it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I love Alexis Hall! They write the best romances out there. The books are always so funny and well written. This one was no exception and I really enjoyed it!

This was such a fun read! The characters were so endearing and realistically written, I was OBSESSED with them! This was a very creative and lovely book.

Unfortunately this book was really triggering for me. There is SO MUCH anxiety rep in here. And while I appreciate that it is being represented, there was so much, and it was overwhelming so I couldn't really get into the story or understand the characters. Definitely a me thing though.

So I think this may be it for me with books that focus in so heavily on a character's mental illness. Not to knock Hall's writing - I think he does a great job portraying generalized anxiety disorder, and he really gets into the weeds of it - but for me it got to be a touch too draining. But for those who want to feel seen, or for those who maybe aren't dealing with something similar 24/7 themselves, I think this would be a good read. Because the set-up is fun, and Hall's writing is, as ever, very bubbly and enjoyable. But it has to be said that as a romance it does feel like this book missed the mark.

I liked both Paris and Tariq, but I just could never get invested in their relationship. Hall tries to walk us around this at the end, but ultimately, with the way Paris' anxiety disorder is so front-loaded, and the fact that there is A LOT of other stuff going on, it just felt like the timing was wrong for them to be together. Maybe if they'd started as friends and then progressed at the end to romance it would've been different (or I'm just saying that because the scenes where they are just friends seemed the most genuine to me). The problem too was that there was a lot of other stuff that felt way more compelling to me - the social media reactions to the show, why the hell Paris's parents won't get in touch with him! - and so to be dragged back to their dates, which were basically just scenes of Paris hand-wringing made the book feel long. (Which it is, because we really didn't need all those blow by blows of the episodes being filmed.) It is, again, a testament to Hall's sentence level skill that this doesn't become a full on slog.

Ultimately, I am glad I read this because I enjoyed the baking competition setting and it was actually pretty fun waiting to see who won, but it wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped it would be.

As a book, I would say that Paris Daillencourt is fine, but as a genre romance it was somewhat disappointing, especially since I’ve genuinely enjoyed a lot of other books by Alexis Hall. The romance feels secondary and more like a short 20s relationship instead of something you can believe has a long-lasting HEA. There were parts of the book that I enjoyed, especially the variety of characters that are introduced, but they ultimately felt overshadowed by 300+ pages of the main character not growing or developing meaningfully and about 70 pages of like the bare minimum growth and an HEA that I no longer cared about. This might be some people’s cup of tea, but I’m not really sure that it was mine.

For me, I would say that the best part was all the different characters. Paris is surrounded by so many genuinely interesting people, and it made the baking show aspects of the book pretty interesting to read about. I thought that most of the secondary characters got a decent amount of development for the book and storyline happening. The biggest character problem for me (outside of any gripes with Paris) is that Tariq felt more like a secondary character than a love interest for a significant chunk of the book. Not in a not-the-man-i-thought-i’d-fall-for way but in a, this is Paris’ story and Tariq is kind of plot dressing when necessary.

Paris himself was fairly interesting, if aggravating. I think there’s a worthy conversation happening in this book about anxiety and very real mental illness. But there is also a main character who we see no growth or development from for so much of the book that it gets hard to care anymore. Yes, some of that is a level of realism, but it’s one of the reasons that this fails to feel like a romance for me because it’s ultimately about Paris’ journey as a person and not about his relationship with Tariq as a sub-sub plot. Genuinely if this weren’t marketed as a romance by a romance publisher I think it would have a higher rating.

Also as a side note, while I’m certainly not qualified to discuss gay British Muslim representation, I do think that the multiple moments of Paris basically ignorantly commenting on Tariq personal beliefs incessantly didn’t really serve the story and began to get a little bit uncomfortable. Like yes we get it Paris is incredibly anxious and thus says stupid things, but I don’t know why that only comes up with Tariq seemingly.

This book isn’t bad, but it was certainly a disappointment. I really wanted to like it more than I did. The baking show aspects were probably some of the best I’ve read in romance, but I wish that there was any level of investment in the romance itself. Alright as a character study, meh as a genre romance.

This book started out slow for me. I had to stop and restart a few times before I could get really into it. I felt bad for Paris most of the time. I think Paris’s anxiety was exacerbating my own anxiety. It picked up towards the middle though. I enjoyed the character development and reading about Paris’s progress towards healing. I love when a book does mental health rep the right way. The comments from the public while the baking show was airing made me laugh. I thought the ups and downs of Paris and Tariq’s relationship seemed realistic based on what they were both going through. All in all I would recommend this book.

From the moment I started reading this book, I was immediately drawn into Paris charming and relatable journey. The author skillfully weaves together themes of self-discovery, love, and the power of pursuing one's passion in this sweet and scrumptious romantic comedy.

Paris, with his endearing mix of insecurities and dreams, is a character that will resonate with many readers. His struggles with self-doubt and fear of failure are portrayed with authenticity and empathy, making him someone you can't help but root for. As he navigates the challenges of the Bake Expectations competition and finds unexpected romance with fellow contestant Tariq Hassan, Paris's transformation is heartwarming to witness.

This was a cute book! The characters were likable and the romance felt sweet and believable. I liked the baking aspect of the book; it definitely added something to the story for me. The writing was okay. Overall, this was a quick, cute read!

DNF. This book just wasn’t for me. Thank you for the early copy. Alexis Hall is very funny and her writing is good. I just find her couple a little exhausting

Thank you Netgalley and Forever for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I'm so incredibly dumbfounded as my enjoyment of Alexis Hall novels are truly a toss-up.
A quick overview of my ratings thus far:

Boyfriend Material: 5-star, all-time favorite, love to reread via the audiobook
Husband Material: 2-star
A Lady for a Duke: DNF/1-star
Paris Daillencourt: DNF/1-star

According to my Goodreads, I've attempted to read this book multiple times before (because I had an ARC) and after its publication (via audiobook). Nothing has successfully helped to finish this novel.

As much as I love the cover, I could genuinely care less about the storyline that isn't centered as a romance. This book comes with a heavy spotlight on Paris Daillencourt's life with a sort of subplot in the romantic part of Paris's life. Paris is a good character but at times can be incredibly irritating.

I don't like to compare novels, but I think it's an interesting note between Hall's works. Lucien is a hot mess of a character, but he grows to be likeable. Prior to DNFing this novel, that switch to being a likeable character never happened for me with Paris. I genuinely stopped caring about Paris' development and growth arc with the mix-in of the romantic subplot.

I know I still have other works by Alexis Hall to read, so I'm still holding out hope that there's another gem of a 5-star read among them.