Reviews

Cold Calculation by Cole McCade

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anja23's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful

5.0

everemembered's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

purple676's review

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4.0

BIG OOF that was a lot.

Why did it take me so long to finish this when I was dying to read it? Why do I always get distracted by other books? wtf is wrong with me

layla87's review

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4.0

Reread
I forgot how hard this episode was.
.......................

Gahhh. These two are just EVERYTHING.
Even though this book was bumpy for SJ and Mal, they still persevered.

“How can you stand this?” he choked out. “Being with me, when I give you nothing?”
“You give me everything, Seong-Jae,” Malcolm promised, voice thick, those slate blue eyes so warm beneath the grizzled thatch of his brows. “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be my omr-an. That’s what it means.”
I mean...why is Mal is PERFECT!

“I love you,” he whispered, when Seong-Jae wasn’t awake to yell at him for it.

Also SJ is freaking ADORABLE.

kaitlin_durante's review

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3.0

Side eye central up in here - what the heck happened in this book besides an absolutely absurd/disgusting crime, Seong-Jae BLOWING IT OVER AND OVER and Malcolm showing his precious side while he helps try to untangle this mess of a crime.

nic55's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was angst city, but I was mostly here for it. Malcolm and Seong-Jae are experiencing some growing pains and this tension and difficulty is why I love reading books about the same couple. I also liked the struggle between balancing a need for partner's privacy, a need for open communication and vulnerability, how shitty trauma is...the push and pull was well done. Loved Seong-Jae talking to his sister, their dynamic is really cute. The central case in this book was rough, particularly anything to do with the children of the victim. But it was really well written and emotionally resonant, so I appreciated that aspect of it. Also, I've come to really enjoy the parts written from the serial killer's pov...idk as a Criminal Minds girlie, I eat that kinda stuff up.

At my core, I'm not a lover of high angst and I like when people communicate so...parts of this book (namely, Seong-Jae) did frustrate me. Like I said above, I understood it logically. I just struggle with the cyclic nature of their relationship issues because it feels like we've already done this "not talking to Malcolm" thing?? And we saw it didn't work out?? So yeah idk it ultimately just doesn't make for a particularly enjoyable reading experience emotionally lol. Also, why leave the "we need to talk" part as a cliffhanger??😭 Anyway. On another note, the side character stuff continues to be just ok in this one for me. I actually like everyone outside of Seong-Jae and Malcolm (even Aanga's growing on me), but I'm not as invested in their arcs as I want to be.

All in all, another strong entry in the series. Cole McCade was my most read author in 2023, so it felt very fitting that this my last finished book of the year!