This just didn't give me what I wanted and I don't even know what I wanted from it. I guess just a more likeable? character? It was just messy and wasn't sold to me as what it was. Not for me - probably doesn't help it's a sequel and I haven't read the first? Or even heard of it??

It’s a mixed review from me. I think I wasn’t expecting this book- I thought I was reading a gay rom com set on a bakery show but that is not what this book is, and perhaps it’s coloured my perception of the story.

In fact, it’s a book exploring the mental health of the central character, Paris, who joins the bakery competition when his flatmate enters him into the show.

I found it difficult to get past his internal monologue, which I found really frustrating. Perhaps it’s a strength of the writing that Paris can invoke such a strong reaction, but I didn’t find his character that believable. His relationship with Tariq was also frustrating- tariq was patronising at best and also prone to very intense conversations which would be enough to send most of us around the twist- the narrative just didn’t feel very real (or perhaps my relationships are all just very shallow and not deep enough!). I was left with the feeling that if life felt that hard so early in their relationship then it probably shouldn’t work!

In the end I struggled to get through it and was relieved when I finished it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely love Alexis Hall's work, but this one didn't land as well as the others.

The humour and world building in other books was a little lacking, and the romance didn't land in the way other stories have.

I will still read new work's by Hall, but this doesn't have the re-read factor that some of the previous books had.

Although this took me some time to get into, the premise was really fun and I enjoyed the characters.

This is a difficult book to rate because being in Paris' head was tricky at times, which made my reading experience different from what I was expecting.
Saying that, I can appreciate what Alexis Hall was doing and I found it incredibly insightful. There were also extremely funny moments, fantastic characters and ofcourse it's set on a baking show which is always a win.
I will 100% be continuing with the series and will avidly read anything else Alexis Hall releases!

Thank you Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you're a fan of Bake Off, this is a story I would definitely recommend you read.

Paris has been forced to enter a baking show by his housemate but the problem is he thinks he's objectively terrible at everything. He meets Tariq who he is instantly attracted to, but is he ready for a relationship?

Set like weekly episodes of Bake Off, this story incorporates baking, a cute love/friendship story and a whole lot of self growth.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Started reading this but the characters and plot within the first chapter really threw me, not for me.

This is not a cute romance in a baking show setting. As a matter of fact, I felt the romance in this novel took second place to Paris' struggles with family, self-image, anxiety and mental health. I really love how Alexis Hall can take on a serious issue and deliver a story that manages to balance a serious issue with humour. It took a while for me to realize just how serious Paris's mental health disorder really is, as the story is mainly told from his perspective, and his disorder is initially undiagnosed and his spiraling mental health is presented as self-doubt and insecurities.
For the most part, I simply wanted to give Paris a big hug. Tariq is charming and unapologetically himself - quirky clothes, a devout muslim, and with a wonderful family. The romance between these two was sweet, and they managed to overcome their challenges to arrive at a happy for now ending.

I really enjoyed this, especially continuing the baking competition theme, it’s just a favourite of mine for romcoms. As someone who suffers anxiety themselves could full empathise and relate to Paris’s anxiety disorder, it’s sensitively handled and I’m so glad it’s being included far more. However I will add if you looking for a light and easy romcom this isn’t one, this is full of humour and light moments, but it’s also dealing with very serious issues and it’s not a lighthearted read.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I just love that we're getting so many queer spins in different genres - the romcom is an obvious genre where focusing on LGBTQ characters will continue to reap dividends for some time yet. This is a really cute Bake Off-themed romance with likeable characters and a great hook.

Having absolutely adored Alexis Hall's previous books I was unfortunately disappointed with this one. While the continuation of the baking competition setting was cute and enjoyable, I struggled to get through this book primarily due to the title character. It is established early that Paris has an anxiety disorder, but the constant self-doubt was exhausting to read -- particularly as he is also constantly stated to be privileged and attractive and not self aware about this at all -- therefore not making his behaviour sympathetic and certainly not endearing. I hope that the upcoming third book in the series is a return to form.

(Many thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK for the eARC.)

This is a really honest portrayal of living with anxiety. It was kind of stressful to read, but very relatable, as Paris struggles with everything. This is a really honest portrayal of living with anxiety. It was kind of stressful to read, but very relatable, as Paris struggles with everything

This was an exhausting book, both because it's about 75 pages too long and because the main character's head is just an exhausting place to be stuck in for over 400 pages.

This is also not a romcom. There's pretty much no romance, and the comedy is frankly just limited to a few expletive-laden outbursts by side characters. And when something is marketed as a romcom and then delivers on neither the rom nor the com... It's just disappointing.

Can someone also explain to authors that there's a difference between crippling anxiety and just behaving like a dick? Thanks.

Having previously enjoyed queer romance by Alexis Hall, I went in expecting a fun, witty tale of romance, and while the book certainly featured its fair share of humour and swoony moments, the mental health struggles depicted in it made reading uncomfortable at times. In a nutshell, I came to the story for the wholesome baking and kissing, and found myself thrown into some pretty deep explorations of anxiety - not necessarily a bad thing, but also not something I'd like to do for fun, seeing as I struggle with anxiety myself.

Despite the genre it falls in, Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble is less of a romance and more of a tale starring a messy protagonist getting his life together with a strong romantic subplot.

Thank you Netgalley and Little Brown for the advanced copy of this gem.

Alexis Hall is one of my favorite author for queer romance. Their books are amazing and amusing. Also, I really love the portrait of queer moslem because it is so relatable, since I am a moslem

I got what this book was trying to do and I think it did it well but I can’t say I enjoyed it as much as book one as Paris was just so much that it made for fairly uncomfortable reading

Many thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK and Alexis Hall for the advanced copy of Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel.

Paris Daillencourt was a delight to read, although as someone diagnosed with the same mental illness that the protagonist eventually is diagnosed with, it was at times not an easy read!

This story was a great illustration of how it’s so easy to judge those we see around us and in the media, and never have any idea of what’s actually going on. Money, good looks, being good enough to be on a baking show, it doesn’t mean you’re emotionally ok…at all. And then, when you do let your emotions show, people are likely to think the worst of you in one way or another.

So, this book definitely really spoke to me on the mental health level. It was also really funny and light-hearted in-between the ‘deep’ bits, which I felt was well balanced.

Tariq’s viewpoint on the relationship was an interesting one and not something I’ve read before. It did cause the story to have a natural limitation which Hall handled really well and naturally.

I really liked that Hall included warnings, labelled as ‘content guidance, at the front of the book for contents which some readers may find upsetting and potentially triggering for their own mental health.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I found the mental health portions difficult to read, due to suffering the same problems myself, but felt they were handled well, and I enjoyed the overall story. Another well written book by Alexis Hall!

Moods: challenging, emotional, funny, hopeful, tense
Pace: medium
Character development: medium-strong
Plot or character driven: 50/50
Diversity: high
Spice: 2/5
Trigger warnings: as per the author’s content guidance submitted in the book: Main character with an undiagnosed anxiety disorder (that does get diagnosed), on-page panic attack, hospital stay due to panic attack, treatment plan for anxiety disorder discussed, emotional unavailable parents, very graphic swearing, cyberbullying, religious and racial microaggressions, Islamophobia (challenged)

Rating 4.5 (rounded up to 5)

I loved the baking aspect from the first book and was hoping this would follow, and be the cute baking romance it promises to be in the blurb, but it was just exhausting to read, for so many reasons, most of them being because of how Paris' anxiety was depicted. As someone that also has anxiety, it felt like it was deliberately overdramatised and made me quite uncomfortable. The few baking scenes that weren't ruined by unnecessary quirky moments were fun, but other than that, this book wasn't very enjoyable.

Paris Daillencourt is about to crumble by alexis hall

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to netgalley, Brown book group and alexis hall for the opportunity to read this book

I'm going to give this a 3 which is .5 less than I gave the previous book set around bake expectations. I really enjoy the way the author writes these books. Dividing them into the weeks of the show and then the days to give a good timeline and focal point for the rest of the plot to work around.

The main issue for me is that at certain points in time I found both main characters slightly irritating. Paris because he reminds me of my horrendously anxiety ridden self and tariq because it felt like he was a tiny bit condescending at times. This in turn made the romance aspect suffer for me in comparison to rosaline and harry. It pulled together in the end and I enjoyed seeing paris work on himself. I must admit this is one book where I would have been happy for the romance not to work out and Paris just to be spending some time working on himself with them just as friends.

As a book that highlights anxiety it works well at showing people it's okay to need help. The book also contains representation of LGBTQIA+ and different religions, I'd suggest looking at reviews from people within those communities to see how they felt about the job the author did (this is something I plan to do myself) but I did enjoy reading a book with a romance between two male characters that doesn't involve a lot of sex and focused more on the emotional aspect.

All in all I think the anxiety aspect of the story maybe hit a bit too close to home for me and that took me out of the enjoyment zone but it was an okay read and I'd read more in the series as I enjoy the way the books are setup.