Cross the Line Review

The whole possessive brother trope is tired

I enjoyed Cross the Line by Simone Soltani, but it was cringe AF. The writing style was really cringe as well, but I have nothing specific to point to as “evidence.” It’s just vibes. I have no context for the Formula 1 aspect of the story. I have never watched any F1 but maybe I should — it seems exciting and fun. I only read this on a recommendation.

Willow has a hypermobility disorder (like me!) and I felt very seen in those parts where it shows up in the story, but I did feel that Oakely and Dev fell into the infantilization tropes at times, which was never addressed. Get a Life, Chloe Brown does a much better job of showing a healthy romance with hypermobility representation. I resented that Willow felt Dev’s infantilization so much that she asked his friend to keep the extent of her chronic pain and fatigue from him. This same friend at another point in the narrative told her she was a distraction to Dev’s career by being on his PR team which is spectacularly out of line — she joined his PR team to further her career and to help Dev when he was struggling. So disrespectful.

Willow has previously dated one of the friend group who they all admit is a raging misogynist, but still blame Willow for “tearing apart the group” after their breakup due to his bad treatment of her. I want the sequel to be just about Dev getting better friends because the true conflict of Cross the Line is “Dev has terrible friends,” including Oakely, Willow’s brother. The whole possessive brother trope is tired. It’s resolved by the end, and not the way I was expecting, but the pall it casts over the entire romance arc really irritated me.

This story is if “You Belong With Me” by Taylor Swift were a book. Both of which I enjoyed but it’s cringe as hell (affectionate).