Slippery Creatures

I loved this so much! The plot, characters, pacing, writing, humor, I enjoyed all of it immensely. No complaints at all; if you enjoy queer, specifically M/M romances to any degree, then please give this a shot!Okay, now on to the actual review:The plot kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time. Even when I thought I knew where the story was going or found the plot predictable, a twist would happen that I never saw coming but made perfect sense given the very subtle foreshadowing that was laid out. They were those “oh shit” moments you have when you encounter really well-executed plot twists.[a:K.J. Charles 7123498 K.J. Charles https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1418032373p2/7123498.jpg]'s humor worked really well for me. The humor in this story was presented using the characters' dialogue and their internal monologues in response to really shitty situations, to put it frankly. It not only added to the characters' personalities, but the humor never felt contrived either.But what I loved most of all were the characters; the chemistry between Kim and Will was simply magnificent. Aside from being really well-written characters themselves, Will and Kim together really made me believe that there could be a potential romance between them. It didn't feel like I had to make myself believe that these two characters would end up together by virtue of being in a romance novel, instead, it felt like they were simply made for each other (as dramatic and cliche as that sounds). They both complimented each other so well in the way that they worked together and were able to have conversations so full of wit, building off of each other's remarks effortlessly.Will is a very stubborn, resilient, and extremely funny person, but not in an overt way. It's his reactions to situations where he knows he's so completely and utterly screwed that really gets you. I loved how resilient, stubborn, and confrontational he was; not only did these traits make him endearing and have a lot of agency, but they also often acted as a double-edged sword that made you see his flaws, and root for him despite them. Also, to me, one of the features of really good character work is when there is a defining hobby, event, experience, etc. that actively plays a role in the way that a character thinks and behaves in their day to lives, because it adds so much nuance and makes characters feel real. For Will, this was seen through his experiences as a soldier. The way he naturally has a tendency to process events relating back to his time in the trenches, or how habits he developed from that time comes back to play a role in significant ways, it was all executed so brilliantly and made his characterization very strong.Moving on to Kim, he was a character that made my emotions go all over the place. I can't elaborate on this due to spoilers, but I mean the aforementioned statement in the best possible way. While reading the very last chapter of the book, I all of a sudden realized how Kim reminded me somewhat of Laurent from the [b: Captive Prince 17158532 Kings Rising (Captive Prince, #3) C.S. Pacat https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1454160767l/17158532.SY75.jpg 23581990] Trilogy. Kim tends to think quite logically, and does what he thinks needs to be done and dealt with. He knows how to be cunning to get his way, and thinks things through 10 steps ahead before he does something, deliberately making an effort to not act on his impulses. He's good at keeping a practiced poker face and doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve. However, when you finally realize that this deliberate wall he presents himself inside has broken because of Will's presence, it's so gosh darn exciting.Kim looked completely nonplussed, for once. It was rather satisfying.I completely agree with Will, it was very satisfying indeed.Enough gushing, it's time for me to move on to the second book this series, [b:The Sugared Game 52237997 The Sugared Game (The Will Darling Adventures, #2) K.J. Charles https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1595250042l/52237997.SY75.jpg 77319499] soon, because I desperately need more Will x Kim in my life