The Companion
Ratings7
Average rating3.4
15
Ratings7
Average rating3.4
New York, 1948 After years of trying to break into New York City's literary scene, Madeline Slaughter is emotionally and physically exhausted. When a friend offers her a safe haven as the live-in companion to reclusive, bestselling novelist Victor Hallowell she jumps at the chance to escape the city. Madeline expects to find rest and quiet in the forests of Upstate New York. Instead, she finds Victor, handsome and intensely passionate, and Audrey Coffin, Victor's mysterious and beautiful neighbor. When Victor offers her a kiss and the promise of more Madeline allows herself to become entangled even as Audrey is also claiming her heart. The only problem is that Audrey and Victor are ex-lovers with plenty of baggage between them. As Madeline finds herself opening up and falling in love with both she starts to wonder, can there be a future for all three?
Reviews with the most likes.
picked this up because it was an available audiobook on scribd and was very pleasantly surprised to see that it's a polyamorous romance featuring two trans women and one trans man! hell yes!!
i think the only reason i was unable to give this five stars was the sort of lack of plot. sure, two of the main characters are writers and writing a novel is the goal of one of them, but outside of the smut and (really good) conversations surrounding identity, vulnerability, and being perceived, i felt myself wanting for more.
that being said, those conversations were handled quite well. i'm a cis-woman, so keep that in mind when i say this, but i really loved conversations about the body after intimacy, as well as what you can and can't control about your public perception as a transgender person. and of course i loved that the characters were able to be wholly themselves with each other, and the relationship was spicy and enjoyable
3.5
I enjoyed the portrayal of the relationship between Madeline, Audrey and Victor. I really liked how their sexual organs were not explicitly named, which re-affirms the idea that gender is not defined by this but it is discovered (as it should be). The writing and descriptions were excellent, but I felt like a little more background and of the characters and pacing could've helped this book a lot. Also, I would've liked a scene where all three of them were participating (just a personal pref.) Overall, this was a really good read!
DNFed at 30%
I don't feel like it is accurate for the time it is supposed to be in. The story feels forced just to out in some smut.
The language used in it feels weird, could have used more editing.
