went in with low expectations but this was super fun! definitely my favorite non shane/ilya of the series. in fact, it might be almost up the3.5 stars
went in with low expectations but this was super fun! definitely my favorite non shane/ilya of the series. in fact, it might be almost up there with heated rivalry. i've had some issues with pacing with most of the other books in the series but this one felt just right in that department: really nice slow build-up, lots of pining, conflict that lingers. the ending was A BIT rushed perhaps, but by that point i was satisfied enough to not mind it. i just generally enjoyed their dynamic a lot + the sex was GREAT (eric getting the treatment i wish shane had gotten in his books was both a win and a huge loss for me personally. control freaks who need to be told they're allowed to let go a little, both of them). it was nice to have a main conflict that didn't revolve around the whole coming out thing for a change, too. i don't think i'm gonna read the one book i have left in the series (sorry, ryan) so it was definitely a good one to wrap it up with <3...more
hm. it was the pacing, really. slow down a little. why are you running. the chemistry was very much there but i personally find it very hard2.25 stars
hm. it was the pacing, really. slow down a little. why are you running. the chemistry was very much there but i personally find it very hard to feel genuinely invested in a romance when there is so little relationship development prior to them getting together. and, because they do get together incredibly quickly, the conflict gets tired quite fast too, since they sort of start replaying the same sequence of events over and over for the remainder of the book. which is a very, very big chunk of it. because, as previously stated, there was a severe + tragic lack of build-up. two stars because i didn't hate it (and i wasn't expecting that much anyway), just found it kind of generally frustrating, and then a quarter because of the ilya rozanov cameos. they'll never be you baby.
absolute 180° from the first (ilya/shane) book, tone-wise, and i loved that. it had most of what i felt was missing in heated rivalry for it to be memabsolute 180° from the first (ilya/shane) book, tone-wise, and i loved that. it had most of what i felt was missing in heated rivalry for it to be memorable past the good time: the stakes are higher, the characters more fleshed out, the feelings more muddy and complex. the romance remains front and center but in this one they exist past it, too. the angst is fucking delicious, the sex is still great. there are, however, certain things that get resolved a bit too quickly and neatly for my liking and conversations that i think deserved to get a little messier. the happy ending was of course non-negotionable, they deserve nothing else, but i kept hoping for a little more ugly honesty on the way there; i feel like their relationship both needed it and could afford it. (hall of fame: that one time ilya is like "he was exhausted, and miserable, and his boyfriend was breaking his fucking heart". i was sallivating there. i wish that whole thing had lasted longer; they would've been fine). also, as much as i adore ilya, i would have loved to be in shane's head a little more often. tell me more about all your little rituals and compulsions and self-imposed rules, beautiful undiagnosed boy. either way, i had the time of my life + i love them greatly. troy barrett i AM coming for you next. that's a threat....more
"Porque hay cosas que no se pueden decir. Porque se pueden decir las desgracias, y se puede decir la pena, se pueden decir los remordimientos y la
"Porque hay cosas que no se pueden decir. Porque se pueden decir las desgracias, y se puede decir la pena, se pueden decir los remordimientos y la culpa, y se puede decir la muerte, y el dolor y las cosas que hacen los hombres. Las buenas y las malas. Pero no se puede decir cómo se hace una niña. No hay palabras para explicar cómo la hiciste, porque la hiciste como la tierra hace los árboles y los árboles hacen las ramas y las ramas hacen los frutos y los frutos hacen las semillas. A oscuras. Desde un sitio tan adentro que no sabías que sabías hacerlo."
qué sé yo, eso. precioso. en toda su gloria oscura y grotesca y fea, bello....more
i spent 100 entire pages of this (which i read without stopping one night after 4 months of not being able to read more than 10 pages of an ebook a3.5
i spent 100 entire pages of this (which i read without stopping one night after 4 months of not being able to read more than 10 pages of an ebook at once) not entirely convinced i knew what a marrow was and not bothered enough to look it up and i feel like that pretty much sums up my experience with this one. very goofy very cute. will forget tomorrow. i love you silly awful mcs with pretty much no redeeming qualities you amuse me greatly (very real brand of awfulness too, tam's, even when it was a bit too on the nose. i genuinely didn't think he was that bad. he could've been worse. should've been, even, maybe. although that would make for a different book). nicolau, tam and i agree you NEED to get bitchier. you're not surviving your demon husband in these conditions...more
