Parris
McQuinston does it again! This book is like grabbing a hot cup of coffee, jamming yourself into the perfect wedge in your couch, and getting ready to enjoy your favourite story.
I could go on and on about what I loved about this book. The characters who I wish were real and present in my daily life. The amazing descriptions of homes, restaurants, insane parties, yes, even crowded trains, that made me feel like I was actually there. The unique plot of a someone lost on a train, and how everyone just straight up accepts and believes it instantly.
But more than anything else, I loved that this is a story about finding your home, and how a home can be a place, a time. A person. I wish everyone on this earth, who is in need of it, could have the found family that August finds in this book.
This series should be reading material for junior/high schools here in Japan! Also for parents. The mother is a ROLE MODEL.
After one hell of a rollercoaster ride all I can say is I freaking LOVED this book. The way this book just slams the pedal to max speed at the 30% mark, and then continues to impossibly accelerate beyond that, faster and more insanely... just, wow. I was COMPLETELY sucked in from the get go and just got more and more invested into each character and the twists and turns that awaited them. The story is insane, and don't get me wrong, I think a certain, high level of commitment to that craziness is needed. But I'm just sitting here after putting the book down and just... yeah, I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while. 5 stars, full recommendation.
Yeah that's a no from me. There were some good moments in this book, but they were never to do with anything that happened between Arek and Matt. Unconvincing chemistry, forced “but he doesn't like me” misunderstandings, and 400 pages of plot that could have been skipped if the two characters actually talked honestly to each other. A bit of a let down.
All i could think about when reading this book is how much I want to reread TJ Klune's The Extraordinaries to experience Nick and Seth's fantastic relationship arc again.
A great book idea let down by shaky writing and character development points not fully explored. The book is fine, and I felt motivated to see it through to the end. But boy oh boy, if you don't like it when characters don't take the time to talk to each other about their relationships with each other, that's 70% of this book.
Not a huge fan of how Zach's character was written. Wish there was more relationship building between all four of the boys. Felt like some of the first 300 pages could have been trimmed down so the “ending” didn't get crammed into the last 15 pages. The book honestly just left me wanting more than it actually delivered.
dnf @ 15%. Don't think i'll be visiting any other books by this author, it's just really dry dialogue between characters with no stakes or anything particularly moving the story forward.
GREAT book where both leads learn about who they are as individuals first before learning how to work together in a relationship. A lot of topics covered here: family pressure, unrealistic expectations, (mild) exploration of queer labels, standing up for what you believe in. And the story was fun, definitely would recommend to those who feel more at home with a story with a clear plot path and points to be wrapped up by the finale. 4 stars!
This book should actually be called “Aristotle dives into the waters of the world with his mother and father and loving family and friends and oh sometimes Dante is there idk”
The relationship between Ari and his mother and father was the true treasure in this book. The way they continue to learn how to be with each other, understand each other, not always agree but always respect each other. It was honestly beautiful. Then, Ari slowly letting down his walls to let his sisters, his school friends, even classmates that were complete strangers in, and they overflowing love they showed him in return was really great.
Now for Dante... it didn't work for me. The pages dedicated to him or conversations between him and Ari were so miss for me. We all love banter but sometimes I would be sitting there like “How are you all talking so damn much but doing zero communication?” Some dialogue was cringey, this letter writing to Dante instead of, I don't know, talking to Dante... was getting on my nerves. And that camping scene... what actually was that lol.
I'm glad I read this, and I'm glad the book is what it was; a coming to age story with a gay boy who's trying to love himself and those around him. But in my honest opinion, this didn't work as a story about two boys who loved each other, and my rating might have been lower if that's all I wanted heading into the book.
More like a 3.75. This book did so many things right, and thought it was difficult to get through (some passages are dense, word soup) I think it was worth it in the end. The book is a slow burn. Though necessary to set up the plot and flesh out the characters and their motivations, the first 50% of the book absolutely drags, I really had to push through. Also, this whole book really is a huge metaphor for a bunch of things, ain't it? Looking forward to looking up some discussions on this book after finishing this review!
Really great until the super contrived misunderstanding thing happens, where the book really loses steam to play its final conflict/conflict resolution arc. While characters are allowed to make mistakes (we are all human), I felt all rational thought and character development progress was THROWN OUT THE WINDOW to add another 150 pages.
That being said, would absolutely read another book by this author.
Magic? Check. Character development? Check. SPICE?! Fucking check. I'm sorry but I just LOVED this book!! I was so drawn into the world of dark mansions and libraries crammed with books, ever rainy weather, formalities yet filth.
Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush... I ship Robin and Edwin so damn hard. The journey they took to truly know each other was extremely rewarding. I really do commend Marske's writing on this one; I probably highlighted about half of this book with favourite quotes, witty one liners, and absolutely heartbreaking prose. 5 stars!
Also thanks to my reading partner Drew who kept me on track by reminding me of all the important plot points. What should we read next??
To end with a quote (oh god how do I even pick):
“Robin had walked into the maze of him and solved him with no string required at all, and Edwin had been stupid enough to let that slip out of his hands.”
This book now holds a very, very special place in my heart. I can't even begin to describe the feelings I went through while reading... this book makes me want to be a better person and I am now more able to understand when people say “treasure the moment.” Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to read every single other book TJ Klune has written.
Excuse me while I check my phone screen for dents after slamming my finger on the 5 star rating button. WHAT A BOOK. Couch did everything right with this book; a perfect book does not exist but this book was perfect for me.
Where do I even start. The teenagers felt like teenagers, the dialogue was witty and reminded me of conversations I had with my own friends back in high school. I laughed out loud so much. Sky is such a lovable character, you're rooting for him within the first 50 pages, easily. Each character is fully fleshed out, and the story moves at the perfect pace that I just couldn't stop reading.
Found family? Check. Learning to love oneself? Check. AMAZING PLOT REVEALS that had me gay gasping, even if I saw some of them coming? CHECK. Tying up ALL lose ends? Check. Good people have good things happen to them? Check!!!
I will definitely be reading this again, and I feel it will become one of those comfy reads that I pull out whenever I'm needing a pick me up. Just wow. Thank you to my friend Drew for pair-reading it with me and putting up with my obnoxious overreactions as we made our way through!! Glad this was a winner for us
Heartwarming as always. I really resonated with the talk about how when boys hang around too many girls in school, they're called gay, but then when they hang around too many boys later on, they're... called gay. There is so much gendered language and gendered expectations in everyday life, and it's so important to be able to realize how careless words can really affect someone. This book/series, through the perspective of the mother, just points out these things so naturally and earnestly, it's really nice.
I can't tell if I did or didn't enjoy my time with this book. The author's writing is definitely brilliant, but I just couldn't keep up with the melancholy and sadness that seeped through each page. Some depictions of the loneliness that we all feel at some point in life, or that feeling of futility when life deals you a bad hand of cards, really resonated at times. But then I caught myself glossing over pages at a time realizing that I couldn't relate to these characters and didn't share the same views. Which is ok, and I'm glad I got to try to understand something foreign. The book is by no means bad, but maybe it's just not for me.
Though some scenes, dialogue, and the puzzles involve stretching your imagination just a teensy bit, I found the book enjoyable and sped through it. I'm hooked enough to know I'll read the sequel, but am a bit worried about the conclusion at the end of this all.
Most of my read through this book was me making a face like that emoji with the raised eyebrow and horizontal line mouth. Some chapters were fun, some chapters dragged. I'm a little upset with Mikey's character, I felt he was kind of doomed from the get go. And I guess I just didn't really feel it at the end? I mean, it was nice, but i'm not jumping up and down or teary eyed. Hm. It was okay?
It was okay. While it had some sugary sweet moments, things always seemed to work out a little too well; problems solved almost minutes after popping up. While Milo's character was more complex and showed growth throughout the story, I felt Jasper's character was fumbled. Although he had his “revelation” when seeing Milo's sketchbook, I couldn't quite buy it.
Japser's lesson to learn—not doing everything for your partner and respecting them enough to make their own decisions, even if they are not what you consider to be best—is such an important lesson to have a happy, healthy relationship. But I felt that lesson and Jasper's growth wasn't fully explored, and he would sometimes say or think very judgmental things, even in the final chapters, that proved he hadn't learned at all.
Lastly, I need to stress this: Feeling scared to come out, not wanting the whole world to know your sexuality, feeling uncomfortable showing public displays of affection... these feelings are all completely valid. You should not come out because you want to make your partner happy; you need to do it for yourself. Of course, the topic of being out while in a relationship is something you need to discuss with your partner early on when the relationship starts. Being on the same page is important. But I really hope younger readers don't unanimously take Jasper's being proud of Milo “pushing beyond his comfort zone” as a sign that all LGBTQ+ relationships need to progress like this.
A little at a loss for words. A beautiful book, an important book. I was on a journey with each of these characters, and felt each time they struggled with their own brutal histories and challenges afterwards. As many others have said in their reviews, this book should be mandatory reading for all Canadians. Michelle Good, thank you.
What a great sequel! Definitely a lot more serious, tonally, than the first book, but so much growth from all the characters and little bursts of fun between the heavier scenes. I love the the main four so, so much. I think this book covers a lot of different topics, and while I didn't feel every topic was covered as deeply as others, this book will resonate with many different people. I am extremely thankful for the representation, done carefully and tastefully, throughout the book, and really wish it was a standard for all books. Can't wait for the third and final book, ESPECIALLY with a last page like that. Total goosebumps.
The book is honestly a little bit of a mess. I enjoyed most of it, though again, it had some problems just as the second book did. Was looking for a smidge more of an ending considering it's the finale of a trilogy. Either way, it was a pleasant, acceptable ride.
I think I liked this book but i was lost maybe 40% of the time reading it. This is a kind of story that is ambitious in its goals, but i'm not sure if the author really pulled it off; I wanted a bit more explanation in some scenes and more development between characters than just barely interacting to keep pulling the plot forward. I also personally wanted more romance but it was not really a main story point.
I don't know if I'd recommend this book. The first half was really hard to get through and I thought about dnf-ing multiple times. If you like stories with things like parallel worlds you might like it.
Yeah that's a 5-star if I've ever read one. Maybe it's because i'm not a huge science fiction reader, but this was so unlike anything I've ever read before. No matter how much things started getting more and more fantastical each chapter, I never once had the chance to think “yeah this would never happen” but found myself instead thinking “why couldn't this happen? I want this to be possible!!”
Incredible read. Really really enjoyed this one.