Bookishrealm's Reviews > The Love Con

This is one of those books that I wanted to adore so badly; however, I just couldn't get into it the way that everyone else does. I loved the nerdy cosplay and pop culture aspects, but I didn't really connect with the romance.

The Love Con focuses on Kenya who is in the final round of a cosplay competition. When the last task ends up being a couple's challenge, Kenya enlists her best friend as fake boyfriend to be her partner. The two then work together in hopes of turning Kenya's dream into her career. The very first issue that I ran across with this title is that we don't get to see anything related to the competition before this final round. While that may not necessarily bother many people, I felt as though we lose some context of the tension that is felt between some participants, judges, and Kenya. While Glass does provide an explanation, I think that it would have been great to see some of this actual behavior as it was taking place.

Additionally, I struggled with the relationship between Kenya and Cameron. It's clear that the two have had feelings for each other for a while and I don't necessarily do well with that trope because it is, in fact, a miscommunication. If you know anything about me and the romance that I read, then you'll know that I absolutely loathe the miscommunication trope. It's clear that the two characters have had an extensive relationship before the start of the book, but once again we don't have the privilege of seeing that relationship. The feelings were already there so it wasn't like anything was being developed during the "fake dating." As a result, I wasn't invested and it honestly never pulled me in.

I did enjoy all of the pop culture references and seeing a Black woman into cosplay, comics, and more. That representation is particularly important to me as a reader; however, the rest of the story wasn't executed well enough for me to completely enjoy the story as a whole.