The Roommate by Rosie Danan

Synopsis (via Goodreads): House Rules:

Do your own dishes

Knock before entering the bathroom

Never look up your roommate online

The Wheatons are infamous among the east coast elite for their lack of impulse control, except for their daughter Clara. She’s the consummate socialite: over-achieving, well-mannered, predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness. When Clara’s childhood crush invites her to move cross-country, the offer is too much to resist. Unfortunately, it’s also too good to be true.

After a bait-and-switch, Clara finds herself sharing a lease with a charming stranger. Josh might be a bit too perceptive—not to mention handsome—for comfort, but there’s a good chance he and Clara could have survived sharing a summer sublet if she hadn’t looked him up on the Internet...

Once she learns how Josh has made a name for himself, Clara realizes living with him might make her the Wheaton’s most scandalous story yet. His professional prowess inspires her to take tackling the stigma against female desire into her own hands. They may not agree on much, but Josh and Clara both believe women deserve better sex. What they decide to do about it will change both of their lives, and if they’re lucky, they’ll help everyone else get lucky too.

“And you seem like the kind of girl who would take notes.”

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.

The Roommate is easily one of my favorite reads ever. I love that the author tackled such a controversial issue and made it something beautiful. Sex workers, porn stars - - whatever you personally call them - - are people. Yes, they let themselves be filmed having sex (and various other things) for money, but that's nothing for them to be ashamed of. They love and are confident with their bodies, which is more than a lot of us can say about ourselves. I think the prejudice stems more from jealousy than anything else, because the discomfort people feel is based on how our society views nudity, women, and sexual acts in general. 

There is nothing wrong with liking sex or the people who choose to do it professionally, and I am ecstatic Rosie Danan used her story to highlight how sex workers are treated within the industry. What happens to Josh, Naomi and the others isn't a rare occurrence, but something that people currently struggle with today. The world has always treated porn like it was this "dirty" thing, and I'm happy to see it viewed as something other than a secret people keep beneath their mattresses. Porn can be beautiful and erotic, and loving your body that much is a level of comfort only a few people possess. 

I also like that this book focuses on women's pleasure and the difficulties we sometimes face when trying to orgasm. Every person's body is different, so different methods might need to be used to achieve the ultimate goal (an orgasm, if that wasn't obvious). Clara believes women should be shown how to help themselves, and also given advice for their partners. The concept is so simple, yet overwhelmingly neglected. Sex and porn are more often than not geared towards men and their preferences, yet women are more likely to be taken advantage of in the industry. Seriously, there were so many important topics in this book, and I'm beyond thrilled to see them being discussed openly and without shame. 

I am also ridiculously happy that the author didn't fall into old trope traps. Initially, it looked like Naomi was being set up to play the jealous ex-girlfriend, so I was pleasantly surprised when she became a friend and business partner. Her personality didn't change (she's a little rough around the edges), but she was an amazing character that I would love to read more about. Everett, Clara's long-time crush, was poised to be something she fell back on when things got hard, and I'm so glad his role was minimal and didn't really affect the story. His presence lingered in the background for awhile, but Clara didn't dwell on his abrupt departure and absence for too long (REALLY loved how the author handled that relationship). 

The conflict was totally believable, since both Clara and Josh had more faith in each other than they did in themselves. He didn't think some socialite with a big heart could ever love him because of his profession, and she didn't think her body was worth the attention of someone as experienced as Josh. He thought this, she thought that, and it took the two having a very hard conversation for things to finally fall into place. The slow buildup of their friendship was perfection (particularly the text of him asking for toilet paper while making a funny face in the attached picture), and was just so believable. They went from being strangers, to roommates, to acquaintances, to friends, then to friends with benefits, and finally to lovers. It was slow, but also incredibly sweet and well-written. (Somehow this author managed to make it slow and steamy at the same time!) I honestly thought I was going to melt a few times.

There's also a large emphasis on family, even though their families remain mostly in the background. How their families feel about and perceive them is very important, although they handle it in very different ways. However, they both like to avoid inevitable confrontations until forced to face them. I enjoyed seeing them learn and grow separately as well as a couple.

There really are so many aspects of this book to love, and it was the small details that really did it for me. The two of them watching Speed on the couch, him stealing some of her lasagna out of the oven, and her tricking him into liking vegetables. None of these things are glaringly portrayed, but subtly incorporated into the story. It made everything feel so much more real and relatable. They were both so down-to-earth and genuine, and I found myself wishing they were real so we could be friends. I absolutely loved The Roommate. I really, really did. (★★★★★)