i might eventually get back to this but my GOD its soooooo boring, and at 30% in something should have gotten my interest, right???

it was cute! i like it when books with gay characters dont solely focus on the fact that theyre gay and instead its just a part of who the characters are and not ONLY who they are, yknow?

these books were always fun to read c:

with this being the final book in the series, it does but also doesnt feel like an ending which is bittersweet and fitting, i feel like. it was nice bc it doesnt feel like i really had to say goodbye to any of the characters, but its sad bc i will miss them. overall though, its a good ending for the books (or maybe not ending, if the off duty is any indication of things to come), even if i do have my issues with the books overall.

theyre definitely enjoyable to read and experience, and it does take you on a journey, but there are some aspects that...arent my favourite things. like, hazards panic attacks that seem to miraculously stop after he starts therapy (literally not how things work) how his physical therapy is only something in the first series (not that he'll always need to undergo it, but its almost like he was never doing it. its never mentioned again) and how some of the relationship issues seemed to resolve, become problems again, resolve, become problems again...you know? it got a bit tedious, though i do understand some relationships are like that

another thing i wasnt a Super Big Fan of was a lot of the characters being absent...again =_= i missed them in this book!!! i really did!!! and i get why the focus shifted to hazard, somers, and colt bc colt really was just making problems for everyone and their dynamic as a family Needed to be written, but it almost felt like everything else got shoved to the wayside these last couple of books, and this book only furthered that. which isnt necessarily bad, just...it made the book feel a little bit lonely, i guess. like i NEED to know whats going on with dulac bc that man is def going through something and i adore nico. give me more of that more of that man or so help me GOD im going to go crazy

i do also appreciate how this book in particular brought back how somers is <i>still</i> grappling with the guilt of the way he treated hazard in high school. it brought everything around in a nice little circle which is something ive always liked!

but, in the end, this is a good series and this ending it on par with the rest of the books, for the most part! itll be interesting to see if these two come back at some point bc i think theres a lot to them and their family that would be fun to read about as now theyve adopted colt! it would be nice to see how their family changes

this book would be much better if ash was a likeable character. sympathetic, yes, but likeable? not at all!

hes a little misogynistic sometimes, like excuse me?

also the writing is...not very good. the pacing is all over the place, the adults are horrible people in ways that are exaggerated and almost nonsensical, and the events that happen just seem...strange. also the ending was so bad why was it all rushed together in like 5 pages 😭

how can a book about an international art heist be so boring. how can it have almost no stakes. how can you hit almost nothing right

have i ever read a book where i hated more characters? no!!! what a feat

wow...those fathers sure are complex

this book was fine tho...still confused about whats going on w/colt and ashley but at this point it feels like a running joke. like 'ooooh maybe they like each other...but maybe they dont </3' and really i just want some resolution abt them, honestly. give me SOMETHING

also i am once again asking where did all the characters who made this series feel so rounded go...i miss them :((( i mean shaw and north are a riot, sure, but nico and noah & rebeca and gray & darnell...where are they!!! give them back to me!!! i miss gray being an annoying little shit and noah & rebeca were good friends to hazard & somers and nico...what can i say. i love that guy!!! i hope they come back for the final book because if they dont i might riot. might just throw an absolute FIT

oh double also but some part of me thinks hazard is autistic...he might not be but i get that feeling from him and like wow <3 just like me <<<333 would be nice! id love that if he was

i wont lie...i feel as though this book lost the plot a little bit 😔 it just felt a little bit, idk...disjointed? i get that somers isnt as involved in cases now bc hes the chief or w/e and that hazard is doing his own thing being a private investigator but like this book felt like there wasnt much happening even though there was so much happening all the time bc of colt and what was going on with ashley and just...dulac as a whole turning into a mess but ahhhhhh!!! lots was happening but not much was pertaining to the plot, i guess? even though it was but...this doesnt make sense. this book was plot revolved, but not. this book was slow, but also so fast all the time. im confused

also i missed so many of the characters in this book. like dulac was barely there, as was nico and noah & rebeca and like the book just felt kinda empty. those characters make the books so much more fun and more well-rounded 😔 give me back my support side characters. give them to me!!!

i do like though that they talked abt john as his addictive tendencies like that was really good. i liked that aspect a lot <3

oh also the end chapter at formal??? i cried a few happy tears okay. hazard...hazard my big man.....

colt really tried my patience this book. every last stitch of it!!! and i get why he was being such a horrible kid now, i get it, but oh my god...the amount of stress he gave me every time he opened his mouth and was rude to john..... i about started ripping my hair out!!!

also i hope danny is gone forever and ever and never comes back please for the love of god 🙏

i do appreciate emery and john tho...their communication is getting better!!! love to see that!!! so nice to see grown men acting like grown men. what a change