Jake's List

CW: Homophobia, Misogyny

Jake's List is technically the first book I've read from Tagenar, thanks to some excerpts posted on other sites, yet it's the last one I've finished by the author. In this coming-out story, we follow Jake, a very straight, very muscled, and very homophobic Rottweiler who unknowingly ends up hooking up with a male fox. However, once he finds out that he's been tricked, things take a turn that neither the reader nor the characters themselves could have predicted. A simple premise, but as is the case with most contemporary coming-of-age/coming-out stories, the focus is not the plot itself but rather the characters.

From the get-go, Jake starts off as quite an unlikely character. The way he talks, the way he acts, and the way he thinks can be offensive at times (intentionally so, not surprisingly) and I could see some people dropping the book with just that first impression of our protagonist. However, even as soon as the second chapter, we start to see him improve in all of those aspects as he comes to grips with his own sexuality. As for other characters, I feel that both of the two main romance leads are likable and interesting by themselves, but they especially work well as foils for the main character, accentuating both who he was and who he might be turning into.

As for the book itself, even though it's the first published work by the author, I feel that it is the best-structured one out of the ones I've read. There is a good deal of character development for our main trio and just the right amount needed for the secondary characters, a good amount of build-up for the sex scenes (even if they happened every chapter), proper use of flashbacks especially given the context and title of the book, and a cohesive plot and conflict all through.

Unfortunately, I still had some issues with it. Aside from what's included in the warnings at the beginning of this review, some of the events felt at times too wish fulfillment-y, especially given the characters that we're supposedly dealing with. There was also a distinct lack of consequences given what happens in quite a few of the chapters, and the plot started to drag a little towards the end. Because of this, as much as I liked the book, I still feel that it comes behind Don't Call Me Coach (which makes sense, as it's a later work by the author).

Overall, whether you're here for the smut or for the characters, I heavily recommend this book, just remember to take the CWs into consideration.