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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
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.”
These are good! But disturbing, and purple enough prose to not make quick reading. The tension is something else, man.
This episode is a bit slow. Not a bad thing, because like Malcolm and Seong-Jae, I still had to digest their first case. The case in this book is relatively boring if you want to compare it to the first one. But it does have its peaks. And even though I haven't yet been surprised by who the murderer was, sorry was kind of obvious in both cases, the way they are presented is very good.
It's fascinating how the relationship between Malcolm and Seong-Jae doesn't develop ... i.e. how they drive each other a bit crazy and sneak around the elephant in the room.
He didn’t even like Malcolm. The man was an annoying bundle of contradictions, and Seong-Jae would like it very much if he would settle on one mode of behavior, one psychological archetype, rather than continuously contrasting himself and redefining himself with each new thing Seong-Jae learned.
It's fascinating how the relationship between Malcolm and Seong-Jae doesn't develop ... i.e. how they drive each other a bit crazy and sneak around the elephant in the room.
He didn’t even like Malcolm. The man was an annoying bundle of contradictions, and Seong-Jae would like it very much if he would settle on one mode of behavior, one psychological archetype, rather than continuously contrasting himself and redefining himself with each new thing Seong-Jae learned.
Well I must say: I enjoyed this a whole lot more than I expected too.
Some of my favorite things:
•Seong-Jae Yoon deserves a bullet point on his own because he’s without a doubt my favorite and I’m looking forward to finding out more about him as the books continue.
•I liked the crime/mystery aspect of the novel and I thought it was very well done. I’ve got to give the author credit; he writes such good mysteries in such short amounts of time. So far each one has always kept me guessing.
• This Book is the sole reason I am now hands down shipping Malcom and Seong-Jae; I wasn’t too sure about them in book one but I am now. I want my ship to sail!!
•Sade. SADE!! They’re, next to Seong-Jae my faves character. I need more of their character arc please . I’m also so nervous about what happened at the ending. Give me answers.
•The captain being her badass aromantic self!
•Okay Malcom gets a bullet point. He’s alright, clearly wounded with secrets I cannot wait to find out. He pissed me off a little at the beginning but I liked his growth towards Yoon as the novel continued, they really do make a good team.
Overall a fabulous sequel, I’m looking forward to seeing were the future books lead and what plans the author has for our main characters. I’d also like to point out how effortlessly queer this is. My only little issue is the whole “comparing each-other to animals” thing Seong- Jae and Malcom have going on. There’s only so much “he’s like a crow or moves like a Raven” that I can take.
Some of my favorite things:
•Seong-Jae Yoon deserves a bullet point on his own because he’s without a doubt my favorite and I’m looking forward to finding out more about him as the books continue.
•I liked the crime/mystery aspect of the novel and I thought it was very well done. I’ve got to give the author credit; he writes such good mysteries in such short amounts of time. So far each one has always kept me guessing.
• This Book is the sole reason I am now hands down shipping Malcom and Seong-Jae; I wasn’t too sure about them in book one but I am now. I want my ship to sail!!
•Sade. SADE!! They’re, next to Seong-Jae my faves character. I need more of their character arc please . I’m also so nervous about what happened at the ending. Give me answers.
•The captain being her badass aromantic self!
•Okay Malcom gets a bullet point. He’s alright, clearly wounded with secrets I cannot wait to find out. He pissed me off a little at the beginning but I liked his growth towards Yoon as the novel continued, they really do make a good team.
Overall a fabulous sequel, I’m looking forward to seeing were the future books lead and what plans the author has for our main characters. I’d also like to point out how effortlessly queer this is. My only little issue is the whole “comparing each-other to animals” thing Seong- Jae and Malcom have going on. There’s only so much “he’s like a crow or moves like a Raven” that I can take.
The police work and "mystery" are still comical to me, but I have a better grasp on the characters now.
I did some snooping though and apparently they only get together in Book. That is a slowwwww burn friends. I wonder if I'll make it. (March/20)
Nov/20: I did make it fyi, and it was v worth it!
I did some snooping though and apparently they only get together in Book
Spoiler
7Nov/20: I did make it fyi, and it was v worth it!
I am loving this. We have some slight communication between M and S-J, we have action packed mystery and procedural case, we have time after the case for some lore of the various characters and their POVs. I love this, it really feels like an actual series.
This case follows the murder of a man in a hotel, some asshole wealthy folks, adultery, shitty TSA agents. A little bit more of each MC cracking open the other one a little bit and learning some new details and being vulnerable. There's also a very intimate and detailed sex scene with a random man that added in some great angst and pining. I love S-J.
I have my popcorn out and this just keeps getting more intriguing. Great narration too!
PS. If McCade seriously introduced Sade, the best side character to exist ever, only to remove them from the series I will FLIP TABLES. I've only known them for 2 books but if anything happens to them, I'll be devastated.
This case follows the murder of a man in a hotel, some asshole wealthy folks, adultery, shitty TSA agents. A little bit more of each MC cracking open the other one a little bit and learning some new details and being vulnerable. There's also a very intimate and detailed sex scene with a random man that added in some great angst and pining. I love S-J.
I have my popcorn out and this just keeps getting more intriguing. Great narration too!
PS. If McCade seriously introduced Sade, the best side character to exist ever, only to remove them from the series I will FLIP TABLES. I've only known them for 2 books but if anything happens to them, I'll be devastated.
3.5 rounded up
I enjoyed this one as a continuation of the series, but I didn't like it quite as much as book 1, though I did think the writing here was better and less over-wrought on the whole.
There's some great UST and tension, but this is a slow burn and the MCs are not at all together. That is absolutely fine with me, but I will say, I didn't love how much "screen time" was given to Mal having sex with some random. As a plot point, I totally get it/appreciate it, but I just had zero interest reading this sex scene and skimmed it--I can understand why the author chose to write it in such detail, but I personally think a fade-to-black situation would have been stronger. I'm also... not yet sure how I feel about the return of the original one-night-stand at the start of book one, who appears in the final moments of this book. It's difficult, because what I would enjoy/appreciate in a tv series, I don't always love in a book, and so while I can see that TV show inspiration here, I'm not sure it's gonna quite land emotionally for me the same way due to different preferences for different mediums. We'll see!
I found Malcolm to be really frustrating and unreasonable for most of this book, which is part of why I didn't love it quite as much. While that is more or less addressed/resolved, I didn't think he quite took enough accountability for being a raging asshole for no reason, treating Seong-Jae poorly, and frankly jeopardizing their case. The case itself was decently interesting, though not quite as strong as book one. We get to know more of the supporting cast in this one, which was nice, and there were some more hints dropped about both of our MCs mysterious pasts and presents. I'm definitely still enjoying, and remain curious to see how it all plays out!
I enjoyed this one as a continuation of the series, but I didn't like it quite as much as book 1, though I did think the writing here was better and less over-wrought on the whole.
There's some great UST and tension, but this is a slow burn and the MCs are not at all together. That is absolutely fine with me, but I will say, I didn't love how much "screen time" was given to Mal having sex with some random. As a plot point, I totally get it/appreciate it, but I just had zero interest reading this sex scene and skimmed it--I can understand why the author chose to write it in such detail, but I personally think a fade-to-black situation would have been stronger. I'm also... not yet sure how I feel about the return of the original one-night-stand at the start of book one, who appears in the final moments of this book. It's difficult, because what I would enjoy/appreciate in a tv series, I don't always love in a book, and so while I can see that TV show inspiration here, I'm not sure it's gonna quite land emotionally for me the same way due to different preferences for different mediums. We'll see!
I found Malcolm to be really frustrating and unreasonable for most of this book, which is part of why I didn't love it quite as much. While that is more or less addressed/resolved, I didn't think he quite took enough accountability for being a raging asshole for no reason, treating Seong-Jae poorly, and frankly jeopardizing their case. The case itself was decently interesting, though not quite as strong as book one. We get to know more of the supporting cast in this one, which was nice, and there were some more hints dropped about both of our MCs mysterious pasts and presents. I'm definitely still enjoying, and remain curious to see how it all plays out!