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4.31 AVERAGE
4.31 AVERAGE
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Something Wild & Wonderful was a beautiful, emotional story about finding love - both the love from another and the love for your queer self.
Alexei is a recently out gay man who is determined to create Alexei 2.0, to be better, bigger, and experience more. I loved him so much, his special interest in birds and their calls, his spreadsheets and GPS tracker. I loved seeing him literally navigate the Pacific Crest Trail and his relationship with Ben and others that he meets on the trail.
Ben is a whirlwind of energy and had the biggest open heart and I want all the good things for him always. I love how he found peace and quiet with Alexei, how he was vulnerable and strong. I loved seeing him realize his dreams and his decision to put himself out there over and over.
There are a lot of ups and down for my sweet babies. I cried several times, this is marketed as rom-com and there are so many comedic moments, and it's one of the most sincere and emotional rom-coms. Is rom-dram-com a genre? This might be more a contemporary romance with comedic moments.
This is the second book in Anita Kelly's Love & Other Disasters series and even though I haven't read the first one yet, it didn't take away anything from the story. You do meet the two MCs from Love & Other Disasters, but you do not need to know anything to enjoy the banter and the friendship.
If you enjoy the grumpy and sunshine trope, gays on a hiking trail, family hurt/comfort, found family, and lots of emotional vulnerability and pining, I do recommend this one.
Alexei is a recently out gay man who is determined to create Alexei 2.0, to be better, bigger, and experience more. I loved him so much, his special interest in birds and their calls, his spreadsheets and GPS tracker. I loved seeing him literally navigate the Pacific Crest Trail and his relationship with Ben and others that he meets on the trail.
Ben is a whirlwind of energy and had the biggest open heart and I want all the good things for him always. I love how he found peace and quiet with Alexei, how he was vulnerable and strong. I loved seeing him realize his dreams and his decision to put himself out there over and over.
There are a lot of ups and down for my sweet babies. I cried several times, this is marketed as rom-com and there are so many comedic moments, and it's one of the most sincere and emotional rom-coms. Is rom-dram-com a genre? This might be more a contemporary romance with comedic moments.
This is the second book in Anita Kelly's Love & Other Disasters series and even though I haven't read the first one yet, it didn't take away anything from the story. You do meet the two MCs from Love & Other Disasters, but you do not need to know anything to enjoy the banter and the friendship.
If you enjoy the grumpy and sunshine trope, gays on a hiking trail, family hurt/comfort, found family, and lots of emotional vulnerability and pining, I do recommend this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, Blood
Minor: Domestic abuse
I usually wait a day or two after reading a book to write a review of it, to give my brain time to work out my thoughts, but I literally finished reading Something Wild & Wonderful like three minutes ago and if I don't get this overwhelming love out of my head right now I might literally explode. This book was so beautiful, y'all. Like, it wrapped me up in this cloud of happiness, even when there were tears streaming down my face (tissue count: 5).
Ben and Alexei are such beautiful characters, and I identified with parts of each them so much it felt like I knew them deeply. Each of them has come to hike the Pacific Crest Trail as a means of processing grief and trauma. And while the 2600 miles of the PCT serves as the dazzling, treacherous, awe-inspiring background for most of this story, the focus here is on the characters. And I fell hard for all of them. Alexei and Ben entered into the ranks of those "If you could spend a day with any fictional character, who would it be?" people, because they just burrowed so far into my heart.
Because I always strive to keep my reviews spoiler-free, I really can't talk about the part of this book that was mostly responsible for those five tissues I mentioned above. IYKYK. Sitting in my living room, NC headphones on to block out the Saturday morning noise of my family and dogs. Kindle in front of me, eyes overflowing as I read, desperate to know if the words "sent" or "unsent" would appear. What can I say? Epistolary content gets me every time.
TL;DR: Five stars simply doesn't seem like enough. I would like to give this book all the stars. Please read it. You will not regret it.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Forever Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Ben and Alexei are such beautiful characters, and I identified with parts of each them so much it felt like I knew them deeply. Each of them has come to hike the Pacific Crest Trail as a means of processing grief and trauma. And while the 2600 miles of the PCT serves as the dazzling, treacherous, awe-inspiring background for most of this story, the focus here is on the characters. And I fell hard for all of them. Alexei and Ben entered into the ranks of those "If you could spend a day with any fictional character, who would it be?" people, because they just burrowed so far into my heart.
Because I always strive to keep my reviews spoiler-free, I really can't talk about the part of this book that was mostly responsible for those five tissues I mentioned above. IYKYK. Sitting in my living room, NC headphones on to block out the Saturday morning noise of my family and dogs. Kindle in front of me, eyes overflowing as I read, desperate to know if the words "sent" or "unsent" would appear. What can I say? Epistolary content gets me every time.
TL;DR: Five stars simply doesn't seem like enough. I would like to give this book all the stars. Please read it. You will not regret it.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Forever Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sometimes a book comes along and manages to wring all of the best emotions out of you with a seemingly simple premise. This was one of those books for me! Two men meet on the Pacific Coast Trail. They hike together and fall in love. Sounds so basic!! In Anita Kelly’s hands, this concept is transcendent.
Not only is this a love story between Alexei and Ben, this is a love letter to hiking, to the Pacific Coast Trail, to the beauty of the outdoors, to the exceptional peace that comes in being quiet with someone, to the goodness that can persist in a world full of hatred and loss, to finding family and friends, to siblings who show up for you, to birds (yes, birds!), to embracing yourself and allowing yourself to feel joy and pleasure, to allowing yourself to be fully weird but also fully loved and lovable.
As I have gotten deeper into my historical romance era, I have become extremely picky with contemporary romance. This one though, THIS ONE TICKS ALL THE BOXES. The MCs are believable, lovable, relatable and realistic. Alexei is struggling with some intense parental trauma, and I found his inner monologue emotionally deep and also very sad at times, but also incredibly touching. Ben is struggling with some past relationship trauma, and *his* inner monologue and his friend group were very sad and very beautiful. Most of all, I was struck by Alexei’s struggle to reconcile his faith in God with his awful experience with religion, and I appreciated that point of view, as it is one I know is common but is very rarely addressed with the level of nuance and gray area that Anita built into this story.
I dunno gang. No matter how much I tell you this book is incredible, I will not do it justice. Just read it.
Recommended. With my whole chest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Abandonment
Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship
Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly was a special read and I loved it so much. I read the first in the series, Love & Other Disasters, earlier in the year and fell completely in love with the author’s storytelling. I knew I need to get my hands on their second book and Forever Publishing hooked me up with an advanced copy – my first ever physical arc! Thank you so much.
This book had everything I needed and hoped for, just like the first one did. The story takes place on a Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) long distance hike and as an Appalachian Trail hiker (1400+ miles, from GA to NY) I was excited to see how trail life would be portrayed, especially love on the trail. I hiked with my now husband and it’s a special thing to experience with a loved one, but also not a piece of cake. The author represented it so beautifully (and accurately, for me) and I loved re-entering that space through the book.
Now on to the love story – such a swoony and sweet couple with spice peppered in. Alexei’s and Ben’s personal stories and their budding relationship came together so genuinely and I was so invested in them. In both books the character building is so well done that I felt like I knew them in real life and I would beg for a film adaptation of these stories.
If you enjoy a heartfelt and at times emotionally hard, but ultimately a feel good love story with characters you want to embrace – these books are a must read. Something Wild & Wonderful is out today.
Content warnings: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexual content (moderate), Abandonment
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual content, Abandonment
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
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 can't even begin to explain what an emotional roller coaster Something Wild & Wonderful was. We follow Alexei Lebedev and Ben Caravalho, two men journeying on the Pacific Crest Trail for different reasons that seem to keep running into each other. After Alexei saves Ben from a rattlesnake, they decide to stick with each other and hike the trail. They slowly get to know each other and eventually develop a beautiful romance.
Anita Kelly has a wonderfully descriptive writing style that has completely sold me on a visit to the Pacific North West. The journey that they take us on with the entire cast of characters in this story is masterful. There are various ways of storytelling, including letters, text messages, and phone calls, each used in the best way. I will definitely be reading their future releases!
Something Wild & Wonderful is a warm reminder that we all deserve love and that a chosen family can be just as beautiful, if not more than the family that we are all born into.
Thank you to NetGalley & Forever/Grand Central Publishing for a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Anita Kelly has a wonderfully descriptive writing style that has completely sold me on a visit to the Pacific North West. The journey that they take us on with the entire cast of characters in this story is masterful. There are various ways of storytelling, including letters, text messages, and phone calls, each used in the best way. I will definitely be reading their future releases!
Something Wild & Wonderful is a warm reminder that we all deserve love and that a chosen family can be just as beautiful, if not more than the family that we are all born into.
Thank you to NetGalley & Forever/Grand Central Publishing for a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Abandonment
Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This book!! I have so much to say about it but I’m exhausted and my mind it jumbled from the back and forth sobbing and smiling I did the last 40%! All I know is I hope everyone picks up this book when it’s released on 3/7 and gets to experience this incredibly beautiful and heart wrenching story and fall in love with Alexei & Ben as they fall in love with each other 🥰
This is a book about love in all forms at its core. Love of yourself and figuring out who you are and where exactly you fit into the world but at the same time as realizing that you don’t have to change yourself to fit, you’re perfect exactly as you are! It’s also about falling in love when you least expect it and making mistakes along the way but making up for it and finding their way back to each other no matter what. It’s about finding a family, even if it’s not the family you expected.
This was about two guys that had very very different experiences in life and came from vastly different backgrounds but they both had trauma that they needed to work through. Alexei with religious trauma and dealing with having to walk away from his family. It took him until he was almost thirty to realize that he had to be true to himself and even though he knew his community and family wouldn’t accept him, he learned to put himself first. And along the way he found new family but also realized that he didn’t lose everyone from his past life. And Ben with his relationship trauma and feeling like he lost so much time with the people he loves. Having to deal with heartbreak after heartbreak but still putting himself out there again and again. I just loved these two so much and being on their journey was difficult at times but it was also beautiful and made me really happy! 🥰
This is a book about love in all forms at its core. Love of yourself and figuring out who you are and where exactly you fit into the world but at the same time as realizing that you don’t have to change yourself to fit, you’re perfect exactly as you are! It’s also about falling in love when you least expect it and making mistakes along the way but making up for it and finding their way back to each other no matter what. It’s about finding a family, even if it’s not the family you expected.
This was about two guys that had very very different experiences in life and came from vastly different backgrounds but they both had trauma that they needed to work through. Alexei with religious trauma and dealing with having to walk away from his family. It took him until he was almost thirty to realize that he had to be true to himself and even though he knew his community and family wouldn’t accept him, he learned to put himself first. And along the way he found new family but also realized that he didn’t lose everyone from his past life. And Ben with his relationship trauma and feeling like he lost so much time with the people he loves. Having to deal with heartbreak after heartbreak but still putting himself out there again and again. I just loved these two so much and being on their journey was difficult at times but it was also beautiful and made me really happy! 🥰
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes