Book safety, content warnings, and tropes & tags down below.

He bites his lip and fuck is he hot… in a Mr. Rogers kind of way. I mean, he doesn’t wear the cardigans, but he does in spirit.

Okay, first of all: Emery is adorable. He deserves all the good things, and I would do awful things to keep him happy and safe. His character is heavily influenced by his ADHD, but thankfully he’s got a well developed personality outside of the neurospicy parts as well. His character didn’t really line up with what I expected after the glimpses we got of him in Sem, so I was a bit surprised by the golden retriever vibes. I was expecting dark, broken/broody and self destruction. I still loved him, though. Just had to shift my expectations a little.

“Well, you’re impulsive, chaotic, and unpredictable. To name a few.” Well, that was incredibly blunt and unnecessary. Not to mention, entirely accurate.

I admittedly took a long break in about the middle of the book, so I don’t remember all of the details of whatever happened before 60%. I’m left with questions about why August was so afraid of disappointing his mom. I’m sure it was mentioned, but I’m too lazy to look it up, lol. August isn’t a cruel person, but there’s definitely a couple of instances where he isn’t very nice to Emery. Emery is very obsessed with August though, and would forgive him for anything, probably.

Apparently, I have obsessive tendencies too. Like adding a deranged cherry to top off the shit sundae that is my life.

I did get a little bored with this book, hence the long-ass break. I don’t know exactly why that is, as it’s a good book. I just didn’t love it *as* much as I did Whit and Sem (is it too soon to reread Whit, btw?) Anyway. Cora Rose always makes me cry so I for sure connect with the characters atleast a little bit, but I wasn’t awfully invested in these guys. By the time I picked this back up again I had honestly forgotten about the whole ‘rescued from a snowstorm’ thing as well. Not great.

I understand now why Edward was so obsessed with Bella. I’d absolutely hover creepily over August’s bed, watching him sleep, because he smells like a snack.

Still a lovely book, just not my favorite.

Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Abandonment issues
Golden retriever MC
Neurodivergent
ADHD
Forced proximity
Stepbrothers
Roommates
Past trauma
Facials (not the skincare kind, arguably)
A concerning lack of prep