Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson

 

Summary (from the publisher): This rivalry is setting the literary world on fire – but who will survive the flames? When Selina Chan, New York’s fiercest literary critic, slams Parker Navarro’s latest novel, he is pushed to his breaking point.

Once was painful enough. But this time, it’s personal.

What begins as a private feud quickly erupts into a viral online spectacle, captivating a bookish audience who are eager to fan the flames.

But it's what's left unsaid that could ruin them both…

Review: Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an ARC of this book, out on October 6th!

If literary fiction and romance had a baby, it would be this book. Sharply written and filled with so many beautiful literary and writing references, this book follows an author and a book critic who clash over the poor review she gives his latest novel. This feud became a viral sensation among the online bookish world. 

I love a true rivals to lovers story but so often in fiction the rivalry feels contrived and is truly just thinly veiled attraction. Not true for this book. Parker is so personally offended by Selina's scathing review and Selina has such scorn for both his writing and who she assumes him to be that for much of the early part of this book. there seemed to be no way that these two would ever see each other in any other light. Likewise, the conflict near the end of this book felt so searing, so immense, that it was difficult to see a way past it. In other words, this book really took me through all the emotions right along with the characters in a way that felt visceral and raw. 

The author has an interesting way of describing the characters' emotions in very physical terms:

 "I felt like something had broken open in my chest and what it spilled was molten, searing through me vessel by vessel" 

"I had this feeling as though I'd held out my hand and a bird had landed there in my palm."

"Something seemed to be accelerating in me, vibrating, as though I were pressed back against a seat on a high-speed train."

I loved all the references to reading and writing throughout this book. Fun fact, the book that Selina asks to borrow from Parker is Near to the Wild Heart, a Brazilian classic by Clarice Lispector that I read earlier this year (although I found it difficult to believe that their library had a long waitlist for this title ha). I really liked all the discourse on book reviews and criticisms and whether or not authors should read them, if they should be written at all, and the impact of reviews (both positive and negative) on book sales and consumption overall. I also loved this is at heart a book about two intellectuals with faltering social skills (especially Selina). She challenges him to live up to his potential, they bond over books, they feel drawn to each other more and more. 

No real negatives with this one other than the pacing felt slightly off; I felt like I waited an eternity for things to turn a corner between them. Also, I did think Selina was smarter than Parker (sorry, Parker), but I loved how much he admired her intellect and honesty. I did wonder how they could truly move on from the ways they wrong one another. But I liked that much of the conflict feels performative, where their connection feels deeply personal and private. 

Overall, a stunning adult debut with such smooth and brilliant writing that I was struck silent over and over reading this. 

Favorite quotes: 

"Because I knew, I just knew, that this was it for me: Either I would have her for the rest of my life, or I would think about her for the rest of my life."

"Maybe we were unreliable sources now; maybe that was what it meant to be in love."

"I wanted to look at him for a long time, the lapels of his wool coat, the corner of his jaw."

"My imagination was so full of her it felt halfway to inspiration."

"It occured to me how beautiful he looked, this rumpled, private version of him."

"The idea of never learning more about him frustrated me."

"A book without humor was like a full day without a smile."

"The way he'd spoken about fiction not as a calling, not as an art, but as a place that your body enters and exists, a fertile, private place."

"Whenever I come to your work, I know I'm going somewhere that nothing else can reach me."

"Part of me had accepted that what I was looking for didn't exist: a man who was a reader, who wasn't put off by my career or my opinions, who read and loved women authors. A man who loved what he did, whether that was ornithology or programming or getting under the hood of beater cars. Someone who didn't mind disagreement, who actually seemed to have fun engaging with my thoughts. Someone who would ask questions about small things in my life as though they mattered. Someone who seemed to like me."

"Sometimes a book forms such a foundational part of you that to meet somebody else who loves it, who really cares about it, feels like stumbling on a stranger in another country who comes from your hometown."

"I didn't need to know he smelled like this, heady, faintly edible."

"I'd said something nice. She'd said something honest."

Review: 4.5