Any Way the Wind Blows

Guys, this series makes me smile just thinking about it. Ugh.

Anyway, I'm giving this book 5 stars based solely on enjoyment. Do I think there were some drawbacks? Sure. And I'll discuss them here. But I was gushing and laughing and smiling the whole time I listened to this, and for that I give it 5 stars.

First, let's get the critcisms out of the way. The second book was hardly referenced in this book. Like, a ton of shit went down in the second book and there were no repercussions, or even really any discussion. You could almost skip the second book and go straight to this one, but you wouldn't know who Shepard is. While this can be frustrating for some people, I really didn't enjoy the second book as much, so it didn't upset me. Also, I really didn't think Agatha's chapters were necessary. While I think they were cute, they were a little more boring and didn't really add to the story as a whole. Then again, I never really liked her character, so that may just be a personal preference. Finally, I think the ending left a lot of questions unanswered and felt kind of lackluster. Like, I was loving everything and then it ended and I thought, “That's it?”

Ok, now to the positives. The rest of the book. The end.

In all seriousness, the biggest positive for me in this book, and in the whole series, is how incredible Rowell writes banter. The conversations between these characters is so heartfelt and funny and relatable that I smiled through it all. Simon's struggles throughout the book with his and Baz's relationship honestly felt so relatable and realistic. Fumbling through it is kind of what we all do in a new relationship, and love can feel very overwhelming at times. Basically, any time Baz and Simon are together, I had a huge smile on my face. I thought that Penny and Shepard were adorable and funny as well. The plot was interesting, but this is definitely a character-driven story. The plot was there to serve as a backdrop for the characters to interact on.

I love this series. It's so light and heartfelt and adorable.

TW: ableism (magical), childbirth (animal), blood, demons, homophobia, violence