AimeeKim

Yeah, this is going to be super short because I really really want to start book #4 like right now.
But gosh, I absolutely loved every second of this! From the crisp writing and the slow burn romance to the complex but so riveting relationships among all of the brothers. I was afraid this would follow the typical bad-boy meets good girl cliched storyline, and it does essentially follow that, but both Gabriel and Layne are such well-drawn characters that it all just works . Layne is my new favorite heroine in such a long time. Yeah, she's shy and nerdy, but I love that she is never afraid to call out Gabriel when he's acting like an ass. And how he doesn't fail to see through her excuses either. Her relationship with her family, her dad particularly, I could relate to a lot.

They just both fit together so well, and I enjoyed seeing them grow closer together, and grow up together.

I read a lot of MM now, so I'm used to reading male POVs, but I think this is one of the very few times where it truly felt so authentic and just more real, somehow.

I also loved the supernatural element, seeing Gabriel's affinity with fire, and the compulsive desires that he always struggles to control. I also loved his relationship with his twin Nick and his burgeoning friendship with fellow misfit Hunter. Though I loved the romance, the family relationships are what stood out to me the most, and what I got most invested in. Really excited to continue the series and getting to know each of these boys more.

Judging from the reviews, I think this is a book that many other readers will like better than I did. But for me, this was a disappointing and frustrating read. The writing was indeed good. I was –very- intrigued and excited to read this, especially once I read the excerpt. It promised to be an exciting and erotic read; I didn't particularly find it to be either. :/

This should be an okay read even for those who aren’t heavily into sci-fi and dystopian genres, since those aspects are thin. For me, I really like these genres, so the fact that I found the world-building very much lacking and ended up with a lot of questions was one of the issues I had.

I almost think I read a different book than some reviewers did, because I did not find the characters to have much depth to them. Sure, in the first chapter, Rhys seemed to be a very sympathetic and brave MC, willing to sacrifice his life to save his family. That’s pretty much all the action you will get from him. After that, he became insipid and whiny for the rest of the book, wrapped up in constant angst over having to have sex in order to live, followed by even more angst over discovering he enjoyed the sex. At times I found him ungrateful and just rash. And even though he was partly rescued in order to become a potential new soldier recruit, he never seemed to contribute or train much. I couldn't see anything special about him. But of course, the soldiers all slowly start to become protective over him and his small, skinny stature. He was almost Mary-Sueish.

I found Darius to be even more one-dimensional. We don’t even get any info on his background until 70% into the story, and even then, it’s just a few sentences. He was just there to play the big Dommy leader (except, he never even came off as a competent leader; Xolani seemed to be making most of the decisions) becoming possessive over the skinny new boy. And for the sex scenes: If I could count the number of times ‘boy’ was used in this book!! All the ‘dirty talk’ did not work for me. It’s a matter of personal taste. The first scene at the Church was hot but then they just became numerous and repetitive, so much so that I had to skim through them in order to finish. If you like the dynamic of an older Dom bossing around a much younger lover and calling him ‘boy’ in and out of bed, you will love this. For me, I ended up struggling, bored and not emotionally invested to care enough whether these characters lived or died in this harsh new world.

The main antagonist, Jacob, was just too plain annoying to come off as a real villain, but his actions at the end did give me the shivers.

In the end, 2 stars because it was an OK read, and I give kudos to the very interesting premise, even if it didn't live up to it. I enjoy the author's series with Heidi Belleau, so I'll still check out her books.

copy kindly received from publisher on netgalley in exchange for honest review

Very short, smexy, and just a tiny bit creepy (paintings scare me). A nice treat if you loved The Magpie Lord and her writing like I did too. I'm starting to get a feel for her character dynamics. I can't in good conscious give this more than 3 stars because the price was definitely steep for just 17 pages, but I splurged a little. :) Satisfied.

This was not a thriller, to me. This was just a mess of -disturbing- issues jam packed into one story and filled with absolute melodrama that made it more nauseating. It didn't feel particularly well written either. Stupid me, I still skimmed through the rest of the book, caught in a state between horror and disgust, then just numbness. It just left me feeling queasy, wanting to scrub my insides, wish-I-never-ever-picked-it-up.

I don't recommend this at all.

Yep. 

Obvious post is obvious. But if one person has an 'eureka' moment it's worth it.

<

This book kept me smiling, and that's something I can always use nowadays. The story, the writing, and the characters are sweet and airy. It dips into some deeper issues with Tony's family and Paul's friendship with Joni, but they don't overwhelm the story. These aren't the most developed characters, no, but they remain likeable, especially the narrator Paul. I was wrapped up with them in their little bubble of a town, this gay utopia of acceptance (where no one bats an eye at the head quarterback, a drag queen named Infinite Darlene) that yes, is not realistic, but does it really hurt to dream? It's a very idealistic picture of a future where I personally would love to live in one day. Or at least imagine it is not so incredibly far-fetched of a dream as it was 10 years ago when this first was published. I appreciated the author's words at the end of the book, especially: "Because, really, there's no reason this town can't exist. In fact, the people who live in this  town exist-millions of them. They just don't happen to all live in the same time."

A light, hopeful read, one I enjoyed from start to finish and left me walking on air. Something to save for when you don't mind a little less realism and a lot more sweet.

There are quite a few tutorials on how to change the layout of your BookLikes blog. I figured it's good to have them all in one post, and I'd like to thank all who put a lot of work into making them so others can enjoy BookLikes. 

Let's start with the customization blogs posted by BookLikes: 

• Edit Your Design Theme With HTML on BookLikes 
• Your Blog on BookLikes - Custom-Made

Tutorials made by BookLikers for BookLikers: 

• Litchick's Easy Tips for Customization
• Litchick's How to Change Your Followers/Following to Something Fun
• AnHeC's How to Move/change your Followers/Following conters
• Jane's How to Customize your BookLikes Blog using CSS
• Jane's Customizing your BookLikes Blog Pt.2
• ThreeRs' Blog about Fonts
• AnHeC's How to change font colour (text, link, comment section)
• AnHeC's Background for Search Bar
• AnHeC's How to add the Reading Challenge Widget to your sidebar and customize it
• Little Knitter's How to avoid losing the original source of a post you want to reblog

Note: All links open in a new window and take you to the original posts and their creators. Leave comments, likes and reblog the hell out of them so others can see it too :) 

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