Title: The Pairing*
Author: Casey McQuiston
Rating: 4 stars / 5 stars
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Favorite Quote: “Love took root in me before I learned its name, and I’ve sat in its shade for so long now without eating its fruit. This feels as if I’ve finally taken a piece into my hands and split it open.” McQuiston, Casey. The Pairing. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2024, pg. 369.
Review: Full disclosure, I absolutely love Casey McQuiston. Even the book of theirs that I don’t particularly care for, I still cherish. And so The Pairing had big shoes to fill - and it blew me away. While no book may reach the heights of RWRB, The Pairing got close.
Essentially, The Pairing follows two characters, Theo and Kit, childhood best friends turned lovers turned estranged not-quite-enemies, who were meant to go on a European food tour before their relationship exploded. They both had the opportunity to use their ticket within a certain period of time, and they both end up choosing the last-minute opportunity to do so. When they can finally be cordial, they decide to have a hook-up competition and in doing so, they start to uncover the feelings for each other that they are desperately trying to ignore. And - perhaps most important of all - this all occurs with the backdrop of the best food and drink Europe has to offer.
So, what’s working with this book? Almost everything. The writing is evocative, the characters are well developed, and it handles explorations of sex and gender delicately but also in a way that normalizes Theo’s identity. When Kit discovers Theo uses they/them pronouns, he immediately slips into using them. Take that MAGA sycophants.
This book also has quite a bit of spice without it detracting from the plot. I will never be able to look at a peach pit the same way again 👀
The descriptions of food and drink, in particular, are SO WELL done. By the end, I was ready to drop everything just to go on a food tour. The pastries? The wine? The full course meals? Sign. Me. Up.
So, what isn’t working? I think the only reason this was a 4 star read (other than McQuiston really ruined me by starting with RWRB), is that Kit’s all-or-nothing approach to their relationship, the approach that led to it falling apart the first time, is jarring and unrealistic. His tempering it at the end, but his needing to consciously temper it, resolved the issue mostly, but it just didn’t feel like it was in line with the rest of his character development.
About that Quote: Goodness gracious, McQuiston really does know how to romanticize love. They don’t present love as easy or as the thing that will heal all ills, but they do write it as a core part of the character’s identity. Think of RWRB’s loving him on purpose. Love is a choice. Love is an action. And McQuiston captures that perfectly in their writing.
Have you read The Pairing? Share your thoughts below!
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