Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood
Really Loved
Narration: πΊπππππ’ π½ππππππ π΅πππππ
Published 2024 by Spotify
Book soundtrack: Beautiful Things by Benson Boone
It is no secret that I love Ali Hazelwood. She creates STEM career women, swoony men, and complex dynamics that feel real, deep, and true to the messiness of real life. I find great comfort in knowing her formula and believe it has made her successful.
Two Can Play told through the first-person perspective of Viola Bowen, details her facing an enormous career opportunity: the chance to design a game based on her most beloved book. The only problem is that Jesse Andrews, aka the-man-who-avoids-her-at-all-costs for no reason, is supposed to be the co-lead designer. Forced to go on a corporate retreat, they just need to work through their feelings to make this project work. Now, if only Jessie will speak to herβ¦
Fosterβs narration is fun, easy to follow, and delivers all the witty moments. She brings warmth to the snowy setting and nails the spice.
Lingering, and thorough,
Ali Hazlewood, Not in Love
and oddly familiar
as though this were a habit,
one time out of many and not the first
While this is a shorter audiobook (novella?), Ali Hazelwood somehow gives us a decent backstory on both main characters, fantastic source material for the video game, multiple secondary characters with their own romantic entanglements, and some detailed spice. I will admit I wasnβt sure where this was going with the first two chapters, but Ali did not lead me astray.
I love the way Ali writes desire and intimacy. Her scenes are consensual and affirming and reinforce the idea that everyone deserves to feel cherished. There is never shame; rather, her characters feel empowered to ask for what they want (and when their partner is agreeable) worshiped for expressing those desires! In all her books, consent is frequently fluid and then reconfirmed, an important detail I think all persons need to see.
