The Fake-Up
Justin Myers
Well you know where you are with a Myers book, in super funny and safe hands and this new book from the engaging author is superb; his usually attention to detail, character and humour giving us a trademark gallop of a rom-com. Not quite as it seems on the surface, full of complicated side plots and fabulously odd twists which give the book a thunderous momentum and it feels like he’s not going to be able to bring all the crazy plot threads together again. Myers does, of course, it’s his style and with a real flourish too.
The story shows us Dylan and Flo in love. Or are they, they broke up months ago and everyone was delighted for them. Being apart gives them the opportunity to follow their dreams and opportunities present themselves which seem too good to be true. They both thrive professionally being apart, but long for each other too. At first, it’s exciting sneaking around, hiding from disapproving friends, climbing through bedroom windows to avoid family, and concocting hilarious disguises. It’s like Romeo and Juliet. With more sex and less poison.
Myers writes good filth, and his characters feel like real people, flawed, selfish, daft, shy, complex cute contradictions. In their sexual adventures and emotional disclosures, it’s messy and real and made me laugh out loud a few times. As the books progressed, and the tension rises, it soon becomes harder to separate truth from lies. Dylan and Flo are in way over their heads, and the games have only just begun. This is a lovely exploration of people struggling to have it all and realising that perhaps it’s just each other that they really want, and managing their own, and others expectations of what love can, and should be about.
Out early Spring £16:99
For more info or to pre-order the book see the publishers website here:
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