Review: Big Gray by Ina Carter

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I had a complicated relationship with this book. I thought the premise of the book was very promising and interesting. If it had been explored correctly, I think I might have enjoyed this book more. 

The story centers on college quarterback, Grayson Walters. After having his body be the talk of campus and gaining a player rep, he gets this idea to create a secret group called Parties Anonymous. It is a meeting where individuals can hang out without their true identities known in a pitch-dark room. During one of those meetings, Grayson meets someone who he refers to as Red and they spend countless nights there talking and developing a friendship. The only problem is that Grayson fears Red’s reaction when she learns about his true identity. 

This book is marketed as a romantic comedy. And that is where I think my complicated feelings arise from. There were several times during Big Gray that I felt the comedy was overbearing. Nothing could just happen. Everything had to have an “OMG moment” mixed together with ridiculous comedic antics. 

For example, there is a small side plot where Grayson’s mother believes that his father is cheating on her. The dramatics, the logistics, and the reasoning from this alone was eye roll worthy. Again, this was a very small portion of the book and it took me out of the book. There was no reason for this, other than to make this book feel like a ridiculous comedy. 

I don’t think there was this perfect balance. Before I had finished the book, I got tired of the overly comedic aspect. I understand the idea that this is supposed to be a romantic comedy. However, the romance was severely underdeveloped and the comedy was severely overly played. It felt like the author was constantly reminding the readers that this was a comedy. A comedy full of things that don’t work on a technical standpoint and are very big coincidences.