I bought this book a while ago because the synopsis had me hooked, and I finally made time to read it during Trans Rights Readathon this week! This book was so beautiful - the ache of our main characters navigating the traumas of their life while trying to stay clean, the tension between them with the love, attraction, and acceptance they feel for each other, and the nuanced writing about art, tradition, religion, and making your own way - I had a lot of feelings while reading this! Wyatt and Ely reminded me so much of the people I love, and, often, myself, and I immediately rooted for them both from page one. This is not a fluffy romance, but a deep one (while still having many fun moments of flirtation). I recommend!

 

This book is more fiction with a side of romance than totally romance-focused, but I really enjoyed the story! 

Very powerful romance that does far more than a traditional book in this genre might. I loved the character growth and development from both main characters, as well as the complex/intersectional representation from each of them. The third act breakup was my least favorite part of this book, which unfortunately left me a little unsatisfied with the ending. That being said, this was still a very solid read and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in a love story with some heavier themes.

This book took me awhile to get through not because of its quality, but its content.  I greatly urge anyone who is interested in reading this book to please check the CWs.

We're first introduced to Ely Cohen who you learn off-the-bat is an addict in recovery. You also learnt that she is returning to her home area of NYC for the first time in nearly a decade, which on its own is pretty tough, but with the added layer of being from a Chabad Orthodox neighborhood (Crown Heights) adds more tension and insecurity to her character. That's a lot, and Ely's struggles with addiction, religion, and her art are captivating, but at times (understandably) overwhelming. Ely then meets Wyatt who is (unknowingly) her knew professor at her new art program. I do wish that we got a bit more of Wyatt's POV. With the little that we were given I almost wish that it had been single POV, not because I didn't like Wyatt because I did, but I just felt that Ely had so much more given to her and Wyatt didn't get the meat of his POV until 2/3s of the way through the story.

Ely as a character could have very easily fallen into the "annoying" bucket of female POVs that people are so willing and able to toss characters into. "Annoying" a lot of the times usually means they're immature or outspoken or confident or somewhere in-between. Ely is very confident - she knows who she is, what she wants, but that doesn't mean that she's faultless. And that's what I appreciate about her. We're able to see her cracks and her deepest thoughts and who she really sees herself as. I want the best for Ely, and I'm sad that the epilogue was only a month in the future because we as the reader don't really get to know what she's doing post-Parker.

Also...there is a trope that I really don't like in romance and it's insta-love. This isn't insta-love in the base sense of the trope, it's insta-lust which is valid. However, at the end of the book (this is not a spoiler it's a romance), their relationship has escalated very fast and there's 'I love you's and it's like...it hasn't been that long. It's not the most egregious example I've seen, but it took me out of it a little bit. And the third act breakup was unnecessary. I had literally just thought how nice it was that there wasn't one and then immediately ate my words on the next page. RIP.

Wyatt's trans-ness I think was also handled very well. The author didn't shy away from explicit sex while still having moments of explicit communication between the two. He also discusses his thoughts on being trans but it isn't all he is or the whole point of his character. There is the relationship with his dad being dysfunctional, but he's just seen as Wyatt the Master Artist for the majority of the book which is great. I do just wish we got to see more of Wyatt making art since we got to see so much of Ely doing so. 

Don't do drugs, kids. 

This book is characterized as a romance at my library and from what I’ve seen online this is a romance. However, I feel like it fits within the broader bucket of contemporary fiction. There are romance elements but I wouldn’t consider this to be solely a romance novel. The novel features multiple viewpoints and has some flashbacks to the past. One thing I enjoyed about this novel is the trans representation and the discussions around addiction. However, I felt there was too much teenage angst from the main characters considering they were in the late 20s/early 30s. 

Thanks to Random House for the free copy of this book.

 - A SHOT IN THE DARK is a book that blends a romcom premise with the heavy internal exploration of a literary fiction novel.
- I don't always enjoy a novel as plotless as this one, but I found Ely and Wyatt to be such magnetic characters and I flew right through it.
- This book is so queer and so messy. It's also loving and thoughtful, and hopeful without promising that everything will work out perfectly.