Dad Reviews: Knot My Type by Evie Mitchell
Shibari1, Dinosaurs, and Dirty Talk.2
Content Warnings for this Review (Items in Spoiler Text only appear in the Spoiler Section.)
– The Spoiler Section of this review contains references to the sexually explicit material in Knot My Type and may be considered #NSFW by some.
– References to Low Self Esteem / Low Self Worth
– References to Consensual Bondage
– References to Foster Care
– References to Alcoholism
– References to Cheating
– References to Toxic Exes / Gas Lighting
Medium Used: 100% ebook via Libby
Ratings out of 5
Overall Rating: 💜💜💜💜
Sweetness Level: 🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫
Steam Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
FMC Likability: 🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️
MMC Likability: 🦖🦖🦖🦖
Plot Engagement: 🪢🪚
At least 1 bad dad (pass/fail): 0️⃣
Spoiler Free Review
Knot My Type is a Contemporary Romantic Comedy set in small-town Australia. Our FMC3 is Frankie, a practicing sexologist and the host of the popular All Access Podcast where she discusses (among other accessibility topics) accessible sex. When the All Access Podcast is nominated in multiple categories for the prestigious “Poddie Awards”, Frankie and her producer decide to tackle one of their most interesting listener questions: accessible shibari.
There is a small problem with their brilliant plan to boost ratings ahead of the final award decision: despite Frankie's wealth of professional and personal experience with accessible sex (Frankie uses a wheelchair), bondage and shibari are a blind spot for her. Luckily for Frankie, our MMC3 Jay just so happens to live in the same small-town as her and teach a class on accessible shibari. Frankie gets in touch with Jay, who invites her to his upcoming class. When this professional arrangement leads to mutual attraction, they hit a bit of a snag: Frankie doesn't do friends-with-benefits. Jay doesn't do relationships. Uh-oh, they may knot be each other's types...
This book grew on me as I read it. My impression was closer to a 3/5 overall for the first third. It is by no means a slow burn4 and the plot moves from one minor conflict to the next throughout two-thirds of the book. My taste is generally for a bit more suspense in the rising action. The humor is decent, but I have read funnier. What sealed the extra 💜 is how sweet Frankie and Jay's relationship is portrayed. I am a sucker for over-the-top displays of affection, and there were a couple here that really did it for me.
Many romcoms create the aforementioned suspense through failure of communication between the MCs5, in Knot My Type most disagreements or misunderstandings between Frankie and Jay are addressed immediately, and often in a very sweet manner. It was a welcome trade-off, because I find contrived suspense to be even worse than low suspense. I also enjoyed that there was early spice and late spice, but the middle of the book really focused on the relationship and falling in love.6
What I liked about this book
- Frankie and Jay's friends get enough “screen time” that we get a sense of who they are and it furthers the characterization of Frankie and Jay. Impressive enough given the length of the book, but it goes one step further in that we see these characters enough to have them interact with the “other” protagonist too. I love a romcom with good side characters.
- Lots of Positive Masculinity.
- Some solid yearning from our MCs.
- As far as I could tell not a single character's skin color is described. FMC has pink (therefore died) hair. MMC may have been described as a brunette but overall it seemed like the book was written to allow for the reader to imagine there own diversity amongst the characters. I do not know that I have ever read a book that did this before. I am sure there is a way to attempt this poorly but I felt like it was done well here.
What I did not like about this book
- I like slice of life but this was almost too much of a slice of life story. It could be that I read it after a fairly intense dark fantasy story but it just seemed plot light.
- The first couple pages with the setting exposition felt a little...unnatural? Maybe it is cultural difference U.S.A small-town vs Australia small-town. It could also just be the circles of people I know but the premise is that a bunch of people grew up in a small-town, left for college, and then all came back. Having grown up in a small-town in America nearly nobody who goes to a decent college and actually finishes comes back. It was then made more strange to me because all of Frankie's friends had like some entrepreneurial business, something I also do not associate with people who still live in the small-town I grew up in. This is a bit nit-picky but I also think the exposition of it felt very telling and not showing which is ironic because overall this book did a FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC job of showing and not telling. I guess stories and settings can be hard to start. 🤷
Spoilers Review
Click to reveal spoilers
Let me further explain my issues with the plot / conflict in this book. There are multiple threads of what could be big plot points early on. Frankie is trying to win the Poddie. Frankie may get a T.V. offer that requires her to move to New York (i.e. halfway around the world). Jay doesn't do dating (literally the title premise)?. Jay just bought a mess of a house that is a fixer-upper. Jay's shibari skills are being used to boost Frankie's podcast. Its both too much and not enough. Then ultimately the actual conflict is Jay's trauma from his Ex which is barely mentioned until she shows up at the beginning of the third act. By the time she causes the first relationship conflict between Frankie and Jay that is not resolved in the same conversation it arises in the book has no running room left so we still only have 1 scene between problem that needs to be solved and solving the problem. Do not get me wrong I liked this book (and the grovel scene is lovely) but why couldn't there have been like a mutual thing they were tackling together? Expand on the accessible shibari thing maybe Frankie's listener needs additonal help. Have Frankie and Jay continue to renovate the house and run into challenges. Have Frankie get the t.v. midway into the book and they need to navigate that. Something! The only reason I am harping on this is because this book had everything else to earn itself five purple hearts.
On a happier note, there is a very early scene (second scene between Jay and Frankie) that is Jay teaching his shibari class with Frankie as the model. If you like sexual tension scenes that do not involve actual sex acts (Frankie is fully clothed for the demonstration) then this book is worth reading for this scene alone. It was possible the hottest scene in the entire book. Good stuff.
What I liked Spoilers
Click to reveal spoilers
- Jay realizes his bathroom is not accessible for Frankie. Frankie was too embarrassed to tell and had gone down the street to the rec center to use the restroom. He knocks down a wall in his house. This is the first time Frankie has been to his house. He knocks down a wall that day. So good.
- There are a handful of earnest quotes in this book that I find profound. One of them is about how when we are kids we play with toys and learn to have fun but when we grow up we forget how or stop prioritizing that part of ourselves. It was lovely and I had it highlighted in my app but my Libby loan had to be returned.
- Jay cries, has emotions, and is dealing with trauma.
- The yearning I talked about above, sometimes what is being yearned is giving the other MC oral 😏.
- The story was not afraid to take a time jump. They continue to date for a while and its happy. Great I don't need a chapter for every week of the first 4 months of their relationship.
What I didn't like Spoilers
Click to reveal spoilers
* It really feels like there was more that could have been done to characterizer Jay's insecurities. He grew up in foster care so it makes sense he thinks he is unwanted but that is kind of at odds with his great relationship with his foster father and foster father's family. It just kind of feels like his reaction to his Ex at the end of the story is inconsistent with the character he's been up to that point.
* The book is called Knot My Type. The not being each other's type and the Knots are kind of done in act one./s
* This is stupid but we do not get any exposition on what is going on with Jay's father.
* Both MCs are bad at cooking. It is kind of cute but why must Evie Mitchell condemn two lovely people to bad meals?
This Book Reminded Me of
- The positive masculinity in How She Likes It by Carla de Guzman
- The MC chemistry in The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon
- The Steam intensity of Headliners by Lucy Parker
Who should read this book?
People looking for a gentle and spicy feel good romcom.7
Get the book
1 Evie Mitchell's preface discusses the use of this colloquialism in the west despite the appropriate Japanese being 'Kinbaku', you learn something everyday. (read more). 2 One of the MCs in this book has a disability. (One of the reasons I read it is because July is disability pride month and it was selected by the folks over at the subreddit r/Romancebooks for the July book club). I appreciated this representation and would be glad to read more books featuring protagonists with similar disabilities. To me the representation seemed well done and thoughtful. I will not be commenting or reviewing on the quality of the representation outside of this footnote because the disability represented in this book is not something I have experience or knowledge of. 3 FMC = Female Main Character, MMC = Male Main Character. 4 A 'slow burn' is a Romance story where it takes a while for the couple to get together and is a slight preference of mine (at least as it relates to physical intimacy beyond 1st base) all else being equal. 5 Lack of communication is not the type of suspense I am looking for to be clear. 6 The timing of this cute story was perfect for me. I needed a refreshing and relaxing read after finishing the brilliant but gruesome third book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series The Drawing of the Three. 7 And anyone who wants to participate in the subreddit r/RomanceBooks July book club.
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