Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
Well...I tried. I really did. People seem to love this series, I gave the first book 3 stars and wasn't particularly impressed, but wanted to give it another go. I can definitively say this series isn't for me - not a bad thing, means I don't have to read 30 books, but unfortunate non the less.
Here's the thing. I was bored. The whole time I read this (which, lets be real, was a lot of time for a book under 250 pages!) I just didn't care about anything. The characters, the plot, the murder, the world, I just don't care.
The two leads are meant to be aloof and mysterious and intriguing, but I just found both of them acted like moody teenagers who bristle and snap at any interaction. There's a slow build up to these two guys becoming something romantic, but I'm just not here for these grown ass men acting like they wouldn't know how to have a conversation if it was written out for them in black and white and they just had to read the words to each other.
The plot - book one had quite an interesting plot, a serial killer on the loose, some interesting twists and turns and a decent final showdown. This book was about a guy who got murdered. Half way through the book the detectives had talked to one witness and two guys who said 'yeah, I knew that dude. Can't help though'. It dragged so much -even the characters agree. Several times they act like this case is a massive weight and why can't they get a break - when it had barely been a day since the murder happened! The outcome was obvious, no interesting twists, the end showdown was boring and none of the suspects had any development meaning I didn't care.
Now lets talk about the writing, cause I haven't mentioned that yet. There's this really weird dynamic between the author writing simple, not very interesting, repetitive dialog, interactions and plot. While simultaneously shoving in extremely overly wordy metaphors and descriptions, to the point where they feel out of place and clunky in the writing.
All in all, as you can tell I was not a fan. I pushed through in hopes of at least having an interesting twist to the main murder plot, but it ended up being as stale as the interactions between these two grown men - growling and huffing at every word the other says.
Here's the thing. I was bored. The whole time I read this (which, lets be real, was a lot of time for a book under 250 pages!) I just didn't care about anything. The characters, the plot, the murder, the world, I just don't care.
The two leads are meant to be aloof and mysterious and intriguing, but I just found both of them acted like moody teenagers who bristle and snap at any interaction. There's a slow build up to these two guys becoming something romantic, but I'm just not here for these grown ass men acting like they wouldn't know how to have a conversation if it was written out for them in black and white and they just had to read the words to each other.
The plot - book one had quite an interesting plot, a serial killer on the loose, some interesting twists and turns and a decent final showdown. This book was about a guy who got murdered. Half way through the book the detectives had talked to one witness and two guys who said 'yeah, I knew that dude. Can't help though'. It dragged so much -even the characters agree. Several times they act like this case is a massive weight and why can't they get a break - when it had barely been a day since the murder happened! The outcome was obvious, no interesting twists, the end showdown was boring and none of the suspects had any development meaning I didn't care.
Now lets talk about the writing, cause I haven't mentioned that yet. There's this really weird dynamic between the author writing simple, not very interesting, repetitive dialog, interactions and plot. While simultaneously shoving in extremely overly wordy metaphors and descriptions, to the point where they feel out of place and clunky in the writing.
All in all, as you can tell I was not a fan. I pushed through in hopes of at least having an interesting twist to the main murder plot, but it ended up being as stale as the interactions between these two grown men - growling and huffing at every word the other says.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a good job. Borrowed via Hoopla. I did double check and this is classified under romance but no romance yet accept one of the H doing one night stands.
The character’s personalities and conflicts were kinda messy on this one. And the murderer was predictable. But I still had fun with it.
(DEUTSCH WEITER UNTEN)
Okay, the case was a bit weird - especially the ending *sighs* ... but I really grew fond of Malcolm Khalaji and Seong-Jae Yoon and I hope they talk about their feelings like real men at some point. û.u
(DEUTSCH)
Okay, der Fall war schon ein wenig abgedreht – vor allem das Ende *sighs* ... aber Malcolm Khalaji und Seong-Jae Yoon sind mir echt ans Herz gewachsen und ich hoffe, sie sprechen irgendwann mal, wie echte Männer, über ihre Gefühle. û.u
Okay, the case was a bit weird - especially the ending *sighs* ... but I really grew fond of Malcolm Khalaji and Seong-Jae Yoon and I hope they talk about their feelings like real men at some point. û.u
(DEUTSCH)
Okay, der Fall war schon ein wenig abgedreht – vor allem das Ende *sighs* ... aber Malcolm Khalaji und Seong-Jae Yoon sind mir echt ans Herz gewachsen und ich hoffe, sie sprechen irgendwann mal, wie echte Männer, über ihre Gefühle. û.u
Ohh.. things are being set up to “happen“. I love the foreshadowing and the extra slow build of their relationship.
Malcolm and Yoon should be chemistry teachers, because damn.
This series in criminally underrated. I can't wait to continue on
It felt strange to know the taste of the soft, sighing sounds of Seong-Jae on his tongue, and know that every time he called the man’s name he was speaking to him with an intimacy that only Seong-Jae himself fully understood.
3.5 stars. Really good! The mystery in this one wasn't quite as gripping as the first, but it was still a fun time. I forgot how much I really do love case of the week type books like this, and it's even more interesting because I do think we'll see some overlap in characters. I loved the fact that Malcolm and Seong-Jae are still dealing with the emotional aftereffects of the first case. It wouldn't seem genuine, to have clear cut lines between all the cases, and for them not to think of their previous cases. Especially since these don't take place too far apart, only like a couple weeks. So I liked having that emotional through-line. The conclusion of this case wasn't my absolute favourite; Malcom leaned further in one direction on the letter of the law scale, and I would have liked if he'd leaned the other way. But I mean, I didn't dislike it, and it still seemed very much in character for him. I continued to really enjoy the slow building of attraction between the two partners. Ugh, slow burn like this is SO GOOD. Especially now that Malcolm is at the stage where he's imagining a different face on his hook-ups, and Seong-Jae is in turn being kinda mean to his hook-ups. (That scene in particular was A+ lol.) And this sets up some other little plotlines with other side characters that I'm really interested to pick up in future books.
Listened to the audiobook as read by Curt Bonnem, and enjoyed it once again. The Malcolm voice is perhaps growly to exaggeration, but I still liked it. This series is just what I'm in the mood for right now; I've already started the third book and it's so good.
Content warning:
Spoiler
murder, blood/gore“Yeah. It’s all right to just stay.”