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venetiana's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Overall, this book sadly really didn't do it for me. Without spoiling stuff, some emotional reactions were overwritten, the background felt too violent for me, and I unfortunately guessed too many things before they happened.
Also, I really didn't appreciate how some heavy and violent stuff was only dealt with and "solved" in passing, like the topic wasn't serious.
Still, some good/cute things inbetween.
A smaller but real bummer: there did not need to be any H*rry P*tter mentions in this book (why do we need to reference a transphobe's work??!!), and there were several. No thank youuu.
Also, I really didn't appreciate how some heavy and violent stuff was only dealt with and "solved" in passing, like the topic wasn't serious.
Still, some good/cute things inbetween.
A smaller but real bummer: there did not need to be any H*rry P*tter mentions in this book (why do we need to reference a transphobe's work??!!), and there were several. No thank youuu.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Medical content, and Gun violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Sexual content, and Torture
Minor: Blood, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Stalking, Transphobia, Grief, Outing, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Vomit, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia
fanboyriot's review
funny
lighthearted
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
4.5
Read for:
♡ Idiots in Love
♡ Crime Family
♡ Only One Bed
♡ Forbidden Romance
♡ Angst with a Happy Ending
I enjoyed this book. It was a simple and cute story with forbidden romance vibes. The main characters were cute together.
However, it did kinda feel like it was missing something. There was little backstories and I think parts just kinda felt bland; not to mention the dialogue felt a bit forced at times.
It's a good book to binge read. The angst is light and there were way more wholesome vibes than I was expecting. And so many music and movie mentions, which I always appreciate.
Spice: 🌶
(First Person POV)
Rep: Gay MC, Gay LI
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, Homophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, and War
evbyrd's review against another edition
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
elwirax's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
*1.5/5
What initially interested me in the synopsis of this book was the mention of criminals and mobsters as I'm an absolute sucker for such premises. I quite liked the Romeo and Juliet- esque dynamics what with the family rivalry and thought the m/m romance was a nice twist to the traditional trope. Truthfully , I was wanting a bit more of the criminal aspects. Much of this was overshadowed by the romance (which i thought was a wee bit insta lovey and didn't have enough substance to have me convinced). That being said, although I didn't really care for any of the main characters I did like Luke as he seemed to be the only character that had any decent depth.
I hate to say that the ultimate downfall of this book was the writing. It felt unrefined and rather juvenile especially the dialogue which didn't come naturally at all. However, I think Cale Dietrich has potential and I definitely think their writing will develop in future works.
As a whole, I think this book had so much potential but the execution fell flat. Really quite dissapointing.
What initially interested me in the synopsis of this book was the mention of criminals and mobsters as I'm an absolute sucker for such premises. I quite liked the Romeo and Juliet- esque dynamics what with the family rivalry and thought the m/m romance was a nice twist to the traditional trope. Truthfully , I was wanting a bit more of the criminal aspects. Much of this was overshadowed by the romance (which i thought was a wee bit insta lovey and didn't have enough substance to have me convinced). That being said, although I didn't really care for any of the main characters I did like Luke as he seemed to be the only character that had any decent depth.
I hate to say that the ultimate downfall of this book was the writing. It felt unrefined and rather juvenile especially the dialogue which didn't come naturally at all. However, I think Cale Dietrich has potential and I definitely think their writing will develop in future works.
As a whole, I think this book had so much potential but the execution fell flat. Really quite dissapointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Violence
frantic_vampire's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Wow, this book gave me such mixed feelings and I’m honestly not sure how to process it. On the one hand, I loved this so much. And on the other, I just wanted so much more from this book. Like, the enjoyment factor was definitely there, but it’s got some problems.
I loved that Matt was so anxious about being in the family business and realizing that it was just not for him. Also, it felt like Matt was written as autistic or at least somewhere on the neurodivergent spectrum. It was so nice! I really loved that he was so happy to make a new friend! That was utterly precious and he needs to be protected at all costs. And the fact that Jason was also really happy to make a friend (even if it was under some dubious circumstances). I also really loved Luke as a big brother! He’s so supportive and loving to Matt. I would die for him! The last thing that I loved was that this didn’t have a lot of the usual teenage drama that comes with YA contemporary books.
The things that I didn’t like were numerous. But the number one being the gaslighting. Like holy shit, there was a lot of it! I just wanted to slap Jason every time he started pushing Matt to talk about his family and then turning it around on him and making Matt feel like a bad friend for not talking. I just...I didn’t like it, at all. There were also a couple of comments that came off as aphobic and they just didn’t need to be in this book. Another thing that I didn’t like was that there were so many little plot holes. Like, did Matt come out to his dad? Did he tell his dad about Jason? Did anyone figure out if the guy they killed was a cop?? And a few other things that just didn’t add up in the end.
As you can see my thoughts are mixed. The story was so enjoyed and fun to read, but there were some problems with it. And in the end it’s a little hard for me to justify giving this more than a 3.25 stars. But don’t let that deter you from reading this! It’s such a good read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
Death of a parent is referring to Matt’s mom, who passed away. They do talk about her dying in an accident. The gaslighting is referring to Jason’s behavior with trying to get Matt to talk about his family and the family business.
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