You know that feeling when you empathize too much with someone when they're stressed and it inadvertently throws you off? That happened a few times in this book. A cute story following Paris's endeavors on a baking competition show, the reader follows his POV throughout...every. single. anxiety. riddled. moment. I enjoy Alexis Hall's style and it is really fun, but I almost wish their books switched between POV's to add more depth. Tariq would have been a fun character to follow as well! I will never hesitate to read something by Alexis Hall.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

So, so good. I loved it.

What's both brilliant and challenging about this novel is that the protagonist has an undiagnosed -- and then eventually diagnosed -- anxiety disorder, and we're in his head the whole time, and that's a hard place to be. Alexis Hall captures so well what it's like to have your brain turning against you. So if, like me, you too have challenges with anxiety, this will all feel very familiar and real and hard. I was having an anxious week when I read this novel, which hit very close to home, such that I actually cried <u>a lot</i> while reading it. (Your mileage may vary, obviously.) BUT -- as Paris discovers, and I can confirm -- medication and therapy really do work well to treat anxiety. So this is ultimately quite an optimistic novel; it just takes a while to get to the happier place. (None of this is a spoiler if you've read the "Content Guidance" at the start of the book.)

Also, unlike the previous novel in the series, this isn't what I would call a romance novel. Yes, there's romance in it, but the romance isn't the main thing by a long shot. (It was lovely to hear that Rosaline and Harry are still dating. And I enjoyed seeing Alain again, to confirm that he is still a wanker.)

Tariq was lovely, an utter delight, and I so appreciate Hall's decision to write a religiously observant Muslim gay character. And the regular cast and crew of <i>Bake Expectations</i> continue to make me laugh; I look forward to the next book in the series.

This is definitely one of those books that I'll be buying a copy of to reread!

I love Alexis Hall the way I love family, and I will never stop reading his books. He is a delight. That said! This was sort of middling for me; I wasn't terribly invested in the romance, and I found myself frustrated by Paris and the depiction of his anxiety. It's an important story, I think, but my god it was drawn OUT, and I got a little bored waiting for Paris to realize how poorly he was treating Tariq and how seriously his anxiety was affecting his life. I think I wanted more emotional development with Paris's parents plot too (it did get me in the end when he texted Sophie, I did a wee tear).

I also think the reality show format in books may be wearing on me - I didn't find myself interested in what was going to happen week after week, which is kind of the whole gimmick of the series. But as always, Alexis Hall writes lovely characters and lovely banter, and there's a lot to enjoy here! Just not perfect for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for the arc!

First thing: I have and will read anything Alexis Hall writes. And I loved Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake.
Second: I’ve watched every season of GBBO and love it, but I think I love incisive facsimiles of it even more. And this is certainly one. Even more than Rosaline Palmer, you really get a sense of the show producers and judges and hosts here. It’s Series Two after all.
Three: writing an accurate depiction of anxiety is extremely hard. Too many writers treat it as a punchline or give a couple examples of someone worrying about something excessively to make their point. . But untreated Generalized Anxiety Disorder is all-consuming.
Four: which is why what Alexis Hall did here is so impressive. He shows—really shows—the reader the depths of Paris’s anxiety. You really get the sense of how exhausting it must be to be Paris AND to be around him. But Hall doesn’t just carefully depict a character with anxiety; he makes him the main character in a romance. And Paris doesn’t even know he’s anxious for much of the book, so it’s even more full-on. And this romance about someone debilitated by anxiety is not only excellent, it’s frequently hilarious. But also full of all the feelings: I cried nonstop through the last 30% of the book. What Hall did is the authorial equivalent of balancing on a razor blade, and not only does no one get knicked but you find yourself at the end wanting more of the danger.

This is definitely a book I’ll reread soon to catch the parts I missed (and to spend more time with Tariq, who is lovely and imperfect). But I still feel safe giving this five stars. Alexis Hall does it again. Thank heavens.

I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. But I’ll totally still buy a copy to support the author as well.