Patricia Wants to Cuddle

When the final four women in competition for an aloof, if somewhat sleazy, bachelor’s heart arrive on a mysterious island in the Pacific Northwest, they mentally prepare themselves for another week of extreme sleep deprivation, invasive interviews, and of course, the salacious drama that viewers nationwide tune in to eagerly devour. Each woman came on “The Catch” for her own reasons–brand sponsorships, followers, and yes, even love–and they’ve all got their eyes steadfastly trained on their respective prizes.

Enter Patricia, a temperamental, but woefully misunderstood local, living alone in the dark, verdant woods and desperate to forge a connection of her own. As the contestants perform for the cameras that surround them, Patricia watches from her place in the shadows, a queer specter haunting the bombastic display of heterosexuality before her. But when the cast and crew at last make her acquaintance atop the island’s tallest and most desolate peak, they soon realize that if they’re to have any hope of making it to the next Elimination Event, they’ll first have to survive the night.

A whirlwind romp careening toward a last-girl-standing conclusion and a scathing indictment of contemporary American media culture, Patricia Wants to Cuddle is also a love story: between star-crossed lesbians who rise above their intolerant town, a deeply ambivalent woman and her budding self-actualization, and a chosen family of misfit islanders forging community against all odds.

I am a huge fan of trashy dating shows. Ideally Netflix trashy dating shows which drop multiple episodes at a time, so that I can really binge on them. This book filled the trashy dating show hole in my life since Perfect Match ended (and while waiting for season 4 of Love is Blind).

The majority of the characters took on the classic characteristics of the classic dating show contestants. They were all hiding the real them in favour of getting more tv time. I loved that, like in most dating shows, the true ‘prize’ was no real prize and all the contestants could do better!

Patricia didn’t make an entrance until after the halfway point of the book. By this point, tension had risen and there was a lot of drama between the characters. It was the perfect time to throw in some chaos!

I loved the story of the island and the residents. I would have loved to have a had a bit more information on the star crossed lovers.

The format of this book was fantastic! Between chapters there were blog posts because every dating show has an online blog! This blog helped to fill in the gaps. There had previously been some missing hikers on the island, their disappearance was included in more blog snippets from a relative.

This book was exciting from the very beginning and I feel like I just didn’t know what direction the book was going to take. I absolutely loved the twist, I didn’t see it coming. One of my favourite things in books is to have a creepy island where chaos happens?”, this book fulfilled that brief for me and I had a great time with it.