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mclark224's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
em23jjh's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a perfect novel for a relaxing day. I think they companion novels paired together works well. It wasn't my favorite romance novel but it was pretty good. I liked that both Edwin and Marius are flawed. Their journey to find love includes finding self acceptance.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback.
roygbiv_books's review against another edition
2.0
I hate that I have more negatives to say here than positives because this had a ton of potential.
Negatives:
I was surprised to find that the story described in the summary, which drew me in to the book, was over in the first section. I was very confused when the book suddenly jumped to a different point of view and different story in general. That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy both of these POVs and aspects of overall story but the summary was definitely misleading.
I feel like I could’ve read two separate books, one about Edwin and one about Marius but instead was presented with rushed and forced versions of their stories. I understand that adult relationships can be fast paced and it can be difficult to build up realistic timelines in books but roughly 3 days for both of these men to dive in to pretty serious ‘relationships’? This seems like too much of a stretch.
Maybe it was the rushed stories, but I felt like there were a lot of unnecessary details/characters.
Overall, the writing in this book was littered with big words which felt out of place and made the prose choppy. At times this made pages difficult to get through and the general understanding of the writing hard to grasp.
Positives:
I really enjoyed the character of Edwin. He seemed sweet and it was interesting to read a story from the perspective of someone with a stutter.
The tropes of endearing loner meets perfect match (Edwin and Adam) and grumpy/sunshine (Marius and Leo) were generally interesting.
I feel like I learned a lot about Narrowboats.
Negatives:
I was surprised to find that the story described in the summary, which drew me in to the book, was over in the first section. I was very confused when the book suddenly jumped to a different point of view and different story in general. That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy both of these POVs and aspects of overall story but the summary was definitely misleading.
I feel like I could’ve read two separate books, one about Edwin and one about Marius but instead was presented with rushed and forced versions of their stories. I understand that adult relationships can be fast paced and it can be difficult to build up realistic timelines in books but roughly 3 days for both of these men to dive in to pretty serious ‘relationships’? This seems like too much of a stretch.
Maybe it was the rushed stories, but I felt like there were a lot of unnecessary details/characters.
Overall, the writing in this book was littered with big words which felt out of place and made the prose choppy. At times this made pages difficult to get through and the general understanding of the writing hard to grasp.
Positives:
I really enjoyed the character of Edwin. He seemed sweet and it was interesting to read a story from the perspective of someone with a stutter.
The tropes of endearing loner meets perfect match (Edwin and Adam) and grumpy/sunshine (Marius and Leo) were generally interesting.
I feel like I learned a lot about Narrowboats.
meigothic's review against another edition
5.0
Disclaimer: I received a review copy for free via Netgalley, and am voluntarily leaving my honest thoughts. Many thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity!
The Spires series is one that I hold dear to my heart with its themes and the writing style that Hall has here. Waiting for the Flood was one of my favorites even when it was just a novella with a theme of moving on from a relationship, and also has a quiet kind of somber tone! I'm so glad that Hall expanded upon the book here with the extra content and also included another novella about Marius. I loved and appreciated the journey that Edwin goes through in this book, and rereading it in its full length reminded me just how much I loved him and Adam together.
The Spires series is one that I hold dear to my heart with its themes and the writing style that Hall has here. Waiting for the Flood was one of my favorites even when it was just a novella with a theme of moving on from a relationship, and also has a quiet kind of somber tone! I'm so glad that Hall expanded upon the book here with the extra content and also included another novella about Marius. I loved and appreciated the journey that Edwin goes through in this book, and rereading it in its full length reminded me just how much I loved him and Adam together.
rustbeltredux's review against another edition
4.5
A beautifully written story about young love, falling out of love, and the heartbreaking torture of allowing oneself to find love anew. I’m absolutely marveling at how someone could possibly pack an entire novel’s worth of emotion into a scant 90 pages.
“I don’t know anymore. I don’t know where love ends and habit begins.”
“People make choices, and sometimes they just leave. And, afterwards, we gather up our hearts, pick up our lives, do the best we can with them, and see what comes.”
“I don’t know anymore. I don’t know where love ends and habit begins.”
“People make choices, and sometimes they just leave. And, afterwards, we gather up our hearts, pick up our lives, do the best we can with them, and see what comes.”
rachelrude's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
emilyexmas's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn’t realised that this was expanded to more than twice the length with the inclusion of a new novella focused on Marius.
Edwin and Adam were sweet and just like I remembered. Not much to add there.
But Marius? What a dick! But he was a dick who stayed true to his dickishness throughout and yet o still ended up wanting him to be happy. His mother, though, what an absolute GEM! She was the highlight of the entire story. lol. Her getting the RICE and RACK acronyms mixed up was simply perfection.
I also loved the shorts at the end about the elderflower wine and pierogi recipes.
Edwin and Adam were sweet and just like I remembered. Not much to add there.
But Marius? What a dick! But he was a dick who stayed true to his dickishness throughout and yet o still ended up wanting him to be happy. His mother, though, what an absolute GEM! She was the highlight of the entire story. lol. Her getting the RICE and RACK acronyms mixed up was simply perfection.
I also loved the shorts at the end about the elderflower wine and pierogi recipes.
amy_macbeth_aotearoa's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ann_is_reading1's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0