Painted Faces

3.00 Disappointed Stars***This may be a case where this wasn't for me, as in it's target audience is probably a younger demographic, one with less romance reading under their peepers, however I don't think so. The cover, blurb, and prologue promised a far different story than what the author ultimately delivers. It's like she lost her nerve or just plain deceived us. The prologue is told from Nicholas' POV. A pretty, sweet, and precocious 14 y.o. New Zealand boy telling us about how, after the death of his mother, he's taken to dressing in her gowns and singing, and how his childhood was ultimately ruined. I was ALL in for what promised to be a different story. Sadly that wasn't to be. When the book proper starts we lose Nicholas's POV, and the narration is taken up from Freda's POV. She's one of those girls who are written as “quirky & different”, signaled by the fact that, according to her, she's curvy, bakes cupcakes, says whatever comes to mind, and prefers to be called Fred. In reality she's a character that could be plucked from the most traditional & square romance ever, dressed up flash. She meets Nicholas when he becomes her new flat neighbor, one she shares with her best friend Nora. Fred's relationships with women is one of the worst parts of this story. She slut-shames, has jealous fits, and generally trash talks every woman around her, including her so-called BFF. These girls would absolutely fail the Bechdel test. As for her saving grace, which is accepting Nicholas' drag persona, is it really so laudable? Shouldn't we implicitly every part of those we claim to love? And isn't it convenient, that besides performing in drag, Nicholas is your garden variety, super hot, super fit, cisgender, straight man. He isn't even bi!!! Even so, when it comes to Nicholas, Freda/Fred acts like every girl in every romance you ever read. I could, on a good day, live with that, but the absolutely callous handling of Nicholas' back story, dispensing with it in three la-di-da paragraphs, Freda's reaction to it, and the author's GOOD WOMAN solution to a harrowing ordeal is unconvincing, at the very least, when not downright irresponsible or even fantastical. As for the technical aspect, I did the audio, by [a:Ali Coffey 3173623 Ali Coffey https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. She seems to be perpetually laughing, and the whole book is narrated in chatty, fast paced way, which does the book no favors. In any case YMMV. This may work for someone with far less romance milage or less cranky. Cheers!