"The Girl Who Couldn't Come" - Book Review

Joey Comeau is the writer of A Softer World, which is how I found out about his book The Girl who Couldn't Come. He asked for bloggers who would be willing to write reviews, so I sent a message and he was kind enough to send me a digital copy of his book. You can find this and more of his books at his site.

I started, of course, with the title story, the girl who couldn't come. I loved this, I really did. It just pinpoints that awkward moment of sharing something so secret, so terrifying and so seemingly-shameful with someone - sharing a kink with the person you are sleeping with, especially something that might hurt them, is really hard. Admitting that you can't orgasm, even on occasion, not just all the time - that moment was captured in these few words. I also love the last paragraph - it's sexy, and sweet. 

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight is one of those stories that you start out a little confused, but slowly fall into the beat of it. I count a lot - peas on my plate, taps on the table, kisses, and it's in eights all the time. I felt the counts in this - the real rhythm of it - and it goes to numbers of degrees in my head pretty fast when I reread. It's just simply hot, but it's a thoughty kind of hot. It sticks in your head. It'll be eights for me in bed for a while, I know it.

ghosts, the steps, and christmas tree pornography were all tough reads for me - ghosts especially. Joey's vivid writing made it hard for me to get through the things that squick me, the things that made me curl inside myself. I don't know if he intended ghosts to feel like a horror film, but for me it did, but I can bet there are plenty of people who would love it. The stories were good - just not my thing. 

I think and then came the werewolf was actually kind of funny, and I felt a little guilty for that, but it makes me think of in the horror movies how the ones who have sex are always the first to get killed by a serial killer, and it's a little dirty (hah, literally) girl/girl too, so I definitely enjoyed it. 

I admit to not really getting patricia. Joey's work is seriously thoughty, and I often can't keep up.

checkmate, though, I loved. It is from the perspective of a dominant woman, which is fantastic to read.

this is math is subtly sexy in a lot of ways, and I have to say, I'd probably hate math a lot less if I had the opportunity to learn in this way. I should mention that to my husband.

I liked the green belt, even though it left me feeling a little sad. 

edith is a breathtaking story of longing. I just can't describe it in any other way. Even though the story is so much about sex, it seems to be even more about this deep need for another person, even a person you've never seen.

surprise was sweet and startling, as it should be, and it made me think of spontaneity and how so many people want it, but never have it.

the meteor shower has a trigger warning, so I was not sure what to expect when I started reading. The first part of it did bug me, but I'm not sure if that was the part that should have! After the protagonist meets Clay (his partner) and from that point forward, I was engrossed and happy and loved the rest of the story. 

calculator is dirty and exhibitionist and made me think again that maybe Joey likes math a lot. It was sexy, though, and sexy is good. 

I absolutely love on page 85 that there is a dirty word count. 61 mentions of "fingers", and 10 of "cunt", and many more. 

All in all, there were stories here that I'd read again for the sweetness, and there are stories I'd read again for the sex. It's definitely worth taking some time to read through, and I personally would recommend the title story - the girl who couldn't come, and then came the werewolf, and edith.

Thanks again to Joey for sharing a copy with me. I loved it!