"Warm and welcoming, Moriarty’s debut has the effortless informality of a friend confessing his reluctant foray into an open relationship"
A coming-of-age story about a reluctant foray into an open relationship, Sounds Like Fun reads like the gentler gay younger brother of Kate Davies’ In At The Deep End (or indeed my own sillier bisexual middle sibling Double Booked!) If you enjoyed those, then this book should indeed sound like fun!
My favourite moments were when there were playfully specific details about past romances: “‘Do you think your break-up inspired any poems?’ James shook his head. ‘He’s been working on a verse novel about Epping Forest [...] Epping Forest is the protagonist, and all the trees speak together like a Greek Chorus.’”
I’m a protective sap, so I loved the moments where Eoin got to start his happy flirting with a new love interest (no spoilers!) It’s no secret that the reader doubts the relationship with Rich from the start, and an optimistic part of me would have liked to see at least a phase where their open relationship actually worked really well for both of them, but Moriarty is a natural at creating nameless tension in their interactions. And we enjoy the voyeurism of his different sexual adventures: “It was fun and familiar and playful. It was safe and it was exciting. It was in the kitchen, for God’s sake, on tiles and against the sink and by the fridge. We knocked over Colin’s copy of How to Cook and I banged my head on the recycling bin. It was great.”
| Genres: |
Modern and Contemporary romance Narrative theme: Coming of age |
