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“No!” I squeaked, and cleared my throat, feeling all the blood rush to my cheeks. The ones on my face, specifically, though maybe my ass was blushing too. I wouldn’t blame it, the way he’d been staring at it.
i had a whole other quote chosen to start this review, but then i reached this one and... sold. this book actually is kinda peak humour out of this series, despite the fact that... bully romance and humilliation are usually truly not my cup of tea, i honestly felt pretty uncomfortable at the start of the book and i had to really do the suspension of disbelief to read this one, because if i were to truly think on consent and power dynamics in this, i wouldn't have a good time at all and honestly my reading habits lean toward fast food comsumption and not literary analysis.
i will concede that blake actually had the best inner-voice/narration out of all the books. no outta nowhere pop-culture references, for once.
hm, i think it should be warned that there's iffy consent in this since blake is coerced into a sexual relationship, which left a bad taste in my mouth throughout the entire book and i wish declan had been made to grovel more to get his forgiveness. if something like that could even be really forgiven in real life. anyway. that was fucked up. guess i had to say it anyway. i kept waiting for blake to, idk, get depressed or for things to take a turn for the darker or to more complex to address some of the shit blake had gone through, but this book is also a creature of its genre, so no further depths were reached.
that said! i still am very sad to have at last finished this series, i had a really good time and will miss kicking my feet and groaning at my kindle and shaking my hands towards the heavens while reading.
i had a whole other quote chosen to start this review, but then i reached this one and... sold. this book actually is kinda peak humour out of this series, despite the fact that... bully romance and humilliation are usually truly not my cup of tea, i honestly felt pretty uncomfortable at the start of the book and i had to really do the suspension of disbelief to read this one, because if i were to truly think on consent and power dynamics in this, i wouldn't have a good time at all and honestly my reading habits lean toward fast food comsumption and not literary analysis.
i will concede that blake actually had the best inner-voice/narration out of all the books. no outta nowhere pop-culture references, for once.
hm, i think it should be warned that there's iffy consent in this since blake is coerced into a sexual relationship, which left a bad taste in my mouth throughout the entire book and i wish declan had been made to grovel more to get his forgiveness. if something like that could even be really forgiven in real life. anyway. that was fucked up. guess i had to say it anyway. i kept waiting for blake to, idk, get depressed or for things to take a turn for the darker or to more complex to address some of the shit blake had gone through, but this book is also a creature of its genre, so no further depths were reached.
that said! i still am very sad to have at last finished this series, i had a really good time and will miss kicking my feet and groaning at my kindle and shaking my hands towards the heavens while reading.
a minute of silence for this book’s crappy cover.
and now, onto a mandatory quote:
The Navigator takes the exit for route 68 west out of the suburbs, the momentum of the turn pressing me into the door. My stomach contents slosh to the side as though I’m suspended in time like a butterfly specimen pinned to the leather. The tag on one of the identifications needles would read, ‘Here is where the heart should be’.
i’ve actually highlighted so many parts of this book i was torn about which passage i should actually pick, so i think that paints a good picture of how much a enjoyed the writing in this. the reason i picked this one above instead of all the other more emotionally gripping ones i highlighted it’s because it illustrates how much were privy to the characters inner feelings, which IS a given with first person povs, but it was well done in both books in this series.
i understand some criticism about too many things happening and some of them resolved so easily and then forgotten that it makes us wonder why it was there at all.
i get that.
but damn, i still very much appreciate the writing. this was a delightful read, and it had me shaking my kindle and rooting for the characters and like, that doesn’t happen all that often for me, so i gotta appreciate the finer things in life, ya know?
age gaps are not usually my cup of tea, and this is a big one, the characters are 22 years apart, it surprised that at daniel’s 27 to eric’s 49 i wasn’t uncomfortable either the big gap, and instead appreciated how eric was more mature and stable and patient about the two of them being at different moments in their emotional maturity. yeah, daniel was a mess, but i know people older than him that are also still very much messes, so it was easy to buy.
anyway, good, worthy read that makes me hope for a new installment in the series and want to check out more stuff by the author.
and now, onto a mandatory quote:
The Navigator takes the exit for route 68 west out of the suburbs, the momentum of the turn pressing me into the door. My stomach contents slosh to the side as though I’m suspended in time like a butterfly specimen pinned to the leather. The tag on one of the identifications needles would read, ‘Here is where the heart should be’.
i’ve actually highlighted so many parts of this book i was torn about which passage i should actually pick, so i think that paints a good picture of how much a enjoyed the writing in this. the reason i picked this one above instead of all the other more emotionally gripping ones i highlighted it’s because it illustrates how much were privy to the characters inner feelings, which IS a given with first person povs, but it was well done in both books in this series.
i understand some criticism about too many things happening and some of them resolved so easily and then forgotten that it makes us wonder why it was there at all.
i get that.
but damn, i still very much appreciate the writing. this was a delightful read, and it had me shaking my kindle and rooting for the characters and like, that doesn’t happen all that often for me, so i gotta appreciate the finer things in life, ya know?
age gaps are not usually my cup of tea, and this is a big one, the characters are 22 years apart, it surprised that at daniel’s 27 to eric’s 49 i wasn’t uncomfortable either the big gap, and instead appreciated how eric was more mature and stable and patient about the two of them being at different moments in their emotional maturity. yeah, daniel was a mess, but i know people older than him that are also still very much messes, so it was easy to buy.
anyway, good, worthy read that makes me hope for a new installment in the series and want to check out more stuff by the author.
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“What? You think it doesn’t bother me that I will have a solitary life? There’s no wife for me, no partner, no one to grow old with me.”
this was... a bit fast paced and didn't really do anything out of the ordinary, so i guess a reasonable meal. like it's not the best but it's also not bad, not very nutritional either? like, you eat it if you're hungry but you wouldn't opt for it again if there were better options, i guess.
next books in the series might be more interesting but idk if i'll go into them. always interesting to read different book settings, even though i just wanted a good ole "save a horse, ride a cowboy".
this was... a bit fast paced and didn't really do anything out of the ordinary, so i guess a reasonable meal. like it's not the best but it's also not bad, not very nutritional either? like, you eat it if you're hungry but you wouldn't opt for it again if there were better options, i guess.
next books in the series might be more interesting but idk if i'll go into them. always interesting to read different book settings, even though i just wanted a good ole "save a horse, ride a cowboy".
”I wanted to return to him whole, even though I knew he would have taken me in pieces.
uhm, this was way funnier and sweeter than i expected??
riley was way funnier and cooler than i expected, and harper was very wounded bird learns to fly again and that was cool. i wasn’t expecting something so well-written and entertaining, i was smiling throughout almost the entire book. good times.
uhm, this was way funnier and sweeter than i expected??
riley was way funnier and cooler than i expected, and harper was very wounded bird learns to fly again and that was cool. i wasn’t expecting something so well-written and entertaining, i was smiling throughout almost the entire book. good times.
