Starting reviews is so hard.
I enjoyed this and was happy the first book wasn’t a fluke for me. But the ending was a bit of a let down. I can see why people wouldn’t like this one. There’s basically no steam either. Joe Jameson is a spectacular narrator. He may be one of the bests. And I now want to seek out other books he’s narrated.
A lot of this has repeated issues from the first book. If you don’t like an HEA story, I would recommend reading this one. It isn’t just pointless conflict, but I can see people being annoyed.
I would’ve preferred more Oliver-perhaps a second POV. But I almost always think a romance would be better with the second perspective. Luc can be a difficult person, but I like him. He’s fairly self-aware. I probably wouldn’t love Luc in real life, but as a book character he works.
There were some interesting conversations here. Some surrounding Oliver’s family made me sad, but were very real. There’s a lot of discussion of what is gayness and how to express that. I’m not a member of the alphabet mafia, but I’ve thought about this, too. And I’m glad Alexis Hall didn’t avoid these conversations.
But that ending.
First of all, it was so drawn out. Then it was an abrupt end and I’m aware that sounds like a contradiction, but it isn’t. I can’t fully explain why it bothered me. And while I enjoyed this overall, I’m not sure I want to keep reading. I’m kind of concerned the next book will revisit the same conflicts and have the same “shock” ending.
Thanks for reading!
Holly
