A Charm of Finches

3/19/19 PSA
Clearing up some confusion: this book is emphatically not a menage story in any way, shape, or form. There's nothing wrong with m/m/m or any permutation thereof, but this is NOT that story. /// also gave me a chance to edit some CRAZY in my review. eek!!! I do know the difference between your & you're face palm

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I'm so glad I listened to my GR peeps. Your gushing over this book tipped the scales (fine, I already owned the paperback) to my reading it. I purposely only looked at ratings and GIFs because, aside from what I already knew from [b:An Exaltation of Larks|29637128|An Exaltation of Larks (Venery, #1)|Suanne Laqueur|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1475940614s/29637128.jpg|49995616] and suspected, I wanted to go in blind. I didn't even read the blurb on the back of the book. Best decision ever. I. Loved. It.

After a brief, present day prologue, this book picks up a year ago, pretty much where Larks ended. Jav is heading back to The City to regroup and lick his wounds, but before leaving Guelisten and the whole Alex & Val mess he stops by Trelawney's and fate gifts him with Steffen Finch. His own personal curator. With Stef comes a whole world: hard, soft, and lived-in, a garden planted chock full of White Jasmin, Honeysuckle, Black-Eyed Susans, and Corpse Flowers too. It's just around the corner. This is what I'd been missing in the previous book. A living breathing community of people I believe exist, some of whom I'll run into at a local coffee shop. I'm sure.

Stef is an art therapist and an an artist. One of the strengths of the book, IMO, is that though the author, doesn't shy away from the horrors mental health professionals have to try and shore up everyday, she doesn't indulge in suffering for suffering's sake. The cases that Stef and his colleagues deal with are sadly and horrifically familiar to anyone aware of current events, even if just in passing. I like how [a:Suanne Laqueur|8317803|Suanne Laqueur|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1403016536p2/8317803.jpg] shows Stef doing his job with care and dedication but also being human, a pretty great human, but just human. He does his job because it's his vocation, he's a kvater, but he also protects himself, as he must, by meditating, tattoos, or the embrace of his near and dear ones. Also he loves food. Did I mention I love him? Because I do. I really, really do. heart eyes

One of Stef's cases ends up being Geno Caan, a teenage boy who goes through hell on earth and lives to tell the tale. Genos's journey from sad, but innocent, to victim of unspeakable horror, to where we leave him at the end of the book has the ring and smell of truth, optimistic perhaps, but why not? he deserves so much more. Maybe he'll have another story to tell that's less gruesome. I think it was smart to bring Geno in contact with people like Micah and Lilia. Living proof that it's possible to go on and have a life despite of or to spite the forces of evil in the universe; and isn't that why we read romance? Kicking sand in the eyes of the Sauron's of the world.

I'm sure the readers of Larks are wondering, what about Jav? He's great. Finally at 45 Javier is getting to be the person he always wanted to be, has freed himself from the shackles of his past, and good riddance to bad rubbish. He's also making strides to patch-up his fk up with Alex & Val and all of this is thanks, in no small measure, to having Stef in his life. Stef who opens up his heart and home to Jav without demands or subterfuge. He has permission to go as fast or slow as he likes in their budding relationship and that, to Jav, THE CHOICE, is a revelation and a gift. He's on no one's timetable but his own. It's a beautiful thing. Much to their surprise Stef & Jav find that despite their individual experiences with other men, with relationships, and with love in general that they've come to the right place at the right time and there isn't much to ponder. Jav, being a writer, had a whole story in his head about how his first relationship, with a man no less, would go but as it turns out:

“You're the last chapter,” Jav said. “I went from the prologue to you: I skipped everything in the middle and now I'm in love with you and I don't know what the hell I'm doing.”

He spent long moments tallying up Finch knowledge like gold coins. Stef loved The Police, U2 and R.E.M. He'd read Frank Herbert's Dune series three times. His sneezes always came in threes and fours. He got weird but tremendous satisfaction from sweeping floors. His expression turned distant and sad when he talked about his childhood cat, Ping. Mallomars were his favorite cookie. He kept a stash in the kitchen cabinet and his eyes narrowed when Jav took one. He often laughed in his sleep. He loved to be touched anywhere and everywhere, except the backs of his knees - he'd jump clear out of his skin. Jav kew things like this now.

It was the little things.Things like Jav, who had an enviable and natty wardrobe, choosing to wear Stef's clothes instead. Ignoring cashmere V-necks or merino pullovers, he spent weekdays in Stef's grubby old Skidmore hoodie, his scent lingering in the collar and cuffs. ... It was Roman trotting up to greet Stef at the door, genuinely glad to see him. Or Jav carrying shopping bags for Rory and Lilia.”

what's up with these three letter, one vowel names??? Stef, Stav, Jav???