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anotherhalima's review
this was best book as far as mystery is concerned. i will say though adrien really does needs to stay out of police business. i like him and obviously root for him but the usually is in the wrong for acting like a cop.
anyway jake… i hate him. he hates himself sure got it but why drag adrien into his self hatred?he assaulted him! like dude you are the one with a pregnant fiancé!!!! why are you mad at him??? you chased! you called him baby! you initiated sex! you jake! i know internalized homophobia can get just as aggressive as plain homophobia. i just don’t want the end goal guy to be… this!
i also hate the casually homophobic and transphobic language used here and previous books. i know it’s if it’s time but it’s still uncomfortable.
anyway jake… i hate him. he hates himself sure got it but why drag adrien into his self hatred?
i also hate the casually homophobic and transphobic language used here and previous books. i know it’s if it’s time but it’s still uncomfortable.
deb248211's review
5.0
I reached the end of this and immediately bought books 4 and 5 of the series, trying desperately not to read the blurb, because I really didn't want to spoil anything. There are some pretty devastating moments in this story, but I'm still rooting for a HEA.
Until now I really hated Adrien's mother (started to like her in this book, but currently I'm 75% of the way through book 4 and I hate her again). I love Adrien English still - his dry, witty humour, emotional distance and vulnerability make his a wonderful, deep character with whom to sympathise, although he has many traits in common with my own protagonist (Josh Sandison - Hiding Behind The Couch series), which does sometimes throw me when I'm reading.
I'm motoring through Lanyon's books now, and find his style easy to digest, but there are some wonderful sparkles of literary genius in here. He's a very clever, talented author.
Until now I really hated Adrien's mother (started to like her in this book, but currently I'm 75% of the way through book 4 and I hate her again). I love Adrien English still - his dry, witty humour, emotional distance and vulnerability make his a wonderful, deep character with whom to sympathise, although he has many traits in common with my own protagonist (Josh Sandison - Hiding Behind The Couch series), which does sometimes throw me when I'm reading.
I'm motoring through Lanyon's books now, and find his style easy to digest, but there are some wonderful sparkles of literary genius in here. He's a very clever, talented author.
ladydewinter's review against another edition
5.0
Here's the thing: I get why people are mad at Jake, but weirdly - I'm not, really? Mostly I feel sorry for him. For Adrien, too, of course, but - I honestly don't think it's fun to live a lie like that. And the fact that that aspect also is there for the reader to see is one of the many strengths of the series. Add to it a whole cast of likable characters and interesting cases, and you have something really good. If there'd anything I dislike it's the "rival love interest" in every single book. I get why they're there, but then they're not used to their full narrative potential, it seems. But it doesn't diminish my enjoyment.
Ugh, why do I have to work tomorrow when all I want it reeeeeead.
Ugh, why do I have to work tomorrow when all I want it reeeeeead.
vukosgrin's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
00100's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
3.0
Fuck jake riordan
cspoe's review against another edition
5.0
The third book in the Adrien English Mysteries really elevates the series from great to amazing, and it’s no surprise the book was a Lambda Literary finalist! Josh Lanyon really hit her momentum and groove with this universe and our star-crossed, sometimes lovers: Adrien English, amateur sleuth extraordinaire, and Jake Riordan, LAPD homicide detective. The plot delivers a chaotic, spooky, deadly web of occult-gone-wrong, blood sacrifices, dangerous red herrings, a closeted boyfriend reaching his limit, a new family, and oh yeah… the holiday season is among us!
Ho, ho, oh no…
It’s Christmastime, and Adrien’s used bookstore, the Cloak and Dagger, is doing pretty fantastic. With the exception of the anonymous threatening phone calls coming in for his assistant, Angus, that is. Adrien convinces the college kid to take a bit of time off and leave town, because demonic phone calls are “bad for business,” but little does Adrien realize how this one small decision becomes a catalyst that sets off a series of unstoppable events in his life—with a visiting author who goes missing, blood-painted Satanic symbols on the doorstep, very real dead bodies posed to incriminate those he cares for, there’s even tangible connections to Adrien’s surprise new stepfather and stepsisters. And to make everything all the more worse, more unbearable, more heartbreaking, the tenuous relationship with Jake is unraveling quicker than Adrien can stitch the seams back together.
I remember really liking the plot of The Hell You Say, but this re-read has given me an even greater respect for the romance angle and how Lanyon is able to frustrate me with both men’s choices, while also breaking my heart and feeling for their individual reasons that the relationship crumbles, despite both so clearly wanting each other physically, mentally, and emotionally. It’s just not the right moment. And that’s simply the hardest pill to swallow for any reader who’s just as dedicated to a romance as they are to solving a mystery, but if Adrien and Jake were to ride off into the sunset now, you know it wouldn’t last. Neither of them are in the right headspace, for completely different reasons, to love and respect what’s been building between them.
God, this really is just a fantastic book. I not only re-read it, but I listened to it immediately afterward another two times. The pacing, the sarcasm, the one-liners, the terror and sorrow and character growth—I could go on and on. Lanyon never delivers anything less than the pinnacle of writing, and if you’ve not begun this series yet, this is my promise that each title just continuously ups the previous!
Ho, ho, oh no…
It’s Christmastime, and Adrien’s used bookstore, the Cloak and Dagger, is doing pretty fantastic. With the exception of the anonymous threatening phone calls coming in for his assistant, Angus, that is. Adrien convinces the college kid to take a bit of time off and leave town, because demonic phone calls are “bad for business,” but little does Adrien realize how this one small decision becomes a catalyst that sets off a series of unstoppable events in his life—with a visiting author who goes missing, blood-painted Satanic symbols on the doorstep, very real dead bodies posed to incriminate those he cares for, there’s even tangible connections to Adrien’s surprise new stepfather and stepsisters. And to make everything all the more worse, more unbearable, more heartbreaking, the tenuous relationship with Jake is unraveling quicker than Adrien can stitch the seams back together.
I remember really liking the plot of The Hell You Say, but this re-read has given me an even greater respect for the romance angle and how Lanyon is able to frustrate me with both men’s choices, while also breaking my heart and feeling for their individual reasons that the relationship crumbles, despite both so clearly wanting each other physically, mentally, and emotionally. It’s just not the right moment. And that’s simply the hardest pill to swallow for any reader who’s just as dedicated to a romance as they are to solving a mystery, but if Adrien and Jake were to ride off into the sunset now, you know it wouldn’t last. Neither of them are in the right headspace, for completely different reasons, to love and respect what’s been building between them.
God, this really is just a fantastic book. I not only re-read it, but I listened to it immediately afterward another two times. The pacing, the sarcasm, the one-liners, the terror and sorrow and character growth—I could go on and on. Lanyon never delivers anything less than the pinnacle of writing, and if you’ve not begun this series yet, this is my promise that each title just continuously ups the previous!
lilyheron's review
1.0
As Adrien gets entangled with a Satanic cult, his fractured relationship with deeply closeted Jake reaches breaking point. I personally didn't enjoy this instalment for a few reasons. First, I thought there was some poorly researched/stereotypical conflations of Satanism, Wicca, witchcraft, and paganism. These things aren't interchangeable, and to my knowledge Yule has no associations with ritual human sacrifice so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Published in 2006, this is an example of a book has aged badly with regards to the cultural references. Mostly though, my issue was with Jake's arc. We know he's always been mired in self-hatred; we know he's queerphobic and despises himself for being gay (I swear he's bi? He says he likes women and men, so ... bi people exist, little reminder. I guess the bi erasure rubbed me up the wrong way too.)
But the great thing about Jake is that despite his internal conflict, he's good to Adrien - protective, kind, caring, gentle, even when he's sarcastic and grouchy. Where did that Jake go in this book? I can understand how the pressure of feeling like his secret is about to be discovered would get to him, but I hated how Adrien recognised he was frightened of Jake's violence and that he genuinely thought Jake might kill him, even accidentally. I get the impression these two are endgame but... there seems to be a lot of romanticisation of abusive dynamics that I didn't enjoy reading.
While it's important to demonstrate abusive relationships or even how loving relationships fall apart and into abusive dynamics, I prefer when the narrative perspective doesn't try to act like this is excusable, attractive, or just what you have to put up with in life. Adrien seems so depressed and basically like a battered partner in this book, and I'm wondering whether the next instalment will engage with his experience as a survivor of domestic violence or with his views on the kind of treatment he accepted from Jake. What I'm missing right now is the psychological experience of Jake and Adrien. I don't know how either of them really feel, because their internal landscapes aren't explored, so I have to fill in the blanks with my own projection, which in this case means I can't rate the book very high. I'm really hoping for a significant redemption arc from Jake in the final two books but...
cw: dubcon; domestic violence; murder; ritualistic killings; (constant) Harry Potter references
But the great thing about Jake is that despite his internal conflict, he's good to Adrien - protective, kind, caring, gentle, even when he's sarcastic and grouchy. Where did that Jake go in this book? I can understand how the pressure of feeling like his secret is about to be discovered would get to him, but I hated how Adrien recognised he was frightened of Jake's violence and that he genuinely thought Jake might kill him, even accidentally. I get the impression these two are endgame but... there seems to be a lot of romanticisation of abusive dynamics that I didn't enjoy reading.
While it's important to demonstrate abusive relationships or even how loving relationships fall apart and into abusive dynamics, I prefer when the narrative perspective doesn't try to act like this is excusable, attractive, or just what you have to put up with in life. Adrien seems so depressed and basically like a battered partner in this book, and I'm wondering whether the next instalment will engage with his experience as a survivor of domestic violence or with his views on the kind of treatment he accepted from Jake. What I'm missing right now is the psychological experience of Jake and Adrien. I don't know how either of them really feel, because their internal landscapes aren't explored, so I have to fill in the blanks with my own projection, which in this case means I can't rate the book very high. I'm really hoping for a significant redemption arc from Jake in the final two books but...
cw: dubcon; domestic violence; murder; ritualistic killings; (constant) Harry Potter references
fayrooz_s's review against another edition
5.0
It's either that this series gets better starting from this book.. or that this book is the best in the series.
I liked every aspect in it.
I liked every aspect in it.
red3horn's review against another edition
5.0
Rating 4.5 stars
This series hurts me. It hurts me and I love it for that fact. See, I am a self-proclaimed angst whore and I live for stories like this. A few months back, I wasn’t sure I was going to read this series even though I wanted to. The reaction it gets from readers is intense but I had to see for myself and well…
So this takes place a few months after book two ends. Adrien and Jake are doing okay in their one foot – meaning Jake – in the closet relationship. I know, I KNOW I should hate Jake for that, but I can’t. Not yet. I have a thing for the boys in the closet and the bits that Jake gives of himself to Adrien just kill me. I mean, how the hell does reading two sex scenes in this book make me break down and cry into my pillow so I don’t wake the man sleeping next to me? How would I explain that an act, so intimate and so seemingly foreign for Jake, when he does it and doesn’t expect nor want reciprocation, turns me into a sobbing girl? JHFC, yeah I was a mess and those moments are why I adore the holy hell out of him.
Now I will admit, I did want punch Jake in the nards a few times with the shit he pulls but WHY does Adrien put up with it? I mean, he is a grown man and I know his feelings are strong with Jake but, FFS dude! Man up and do something about your non-relationship!
I won’t bore you with a review of the story, this has been out for a bit, but I will say that this was the best mystery of the three books so far. I loved the layering with Angus and then meeting the handsome Guy Snowden. The whole occult business was fun and the bits of true Los Angeles history throughout the story really had my heart squeezed twice. Once again, Lanyon writes local and the small inclusion of the Beltane holiday had me in full swoon mode. *whispers* Beltane is my birthday. Yeah, I was born on an important pagan holiday where they dance naked around a fire under the full moon… if that doesn’t say something about me… *grins*
Adrien, while I think you are a bit of a doormat at times, I loved how strong you also were in this. You have come into your own and your wit is stunning. I highlighted so many one liners you tossed out because they were too good not to remember, as if I could forget.
Back to the story, I admit to skimming the mystery parts of the first books to get to the Jake and Adrien good stuff but this one, I read every last word. What I thought was going to happen, never happened and what did happened was all twisty and good. But then, then we get to the other stuff and that bit in the bookstore with Jake and Adrien… I still can’t form a proper thought on how angry and hurt I am at that. I mean, I get Jake to a point. I do. I understand his survival mode he goes in to but that? It hurt everyone in that scene and by everyone that includes me. Yeah, Jake. You hurt me.
So, the mystery has been solved and we are where we are with Jake and Adrien. Or well you know… you know? Ugh. I can’t say I hate Jake yet, I don’t think that will ever happen but I am disappointed in him, beyond the beyond I am disappointed. I know he loves Adrien, the things he does when he lets go shows me that but good lord, knock the shit off will you Riordan? I have a heart problem too… don’t break it.
Please.
This series hurts me. It hurts me and I love it for that fact. See, I am a self-proclaimed angst whore and I live for stories like this. A few months back, I wasn’t sure I was going to read this series even though I wanted to. The reaction it gets from readers is intense but I had to see for myself and well…
So this takes place a few months after book two ends. Adrien and Jake are doing okay in their one foot – meaning Jake – in the closet relationship. I know, I KNOW I should hate Jake for that, but I can’t. Not yet. I have a thing for the boys in the closet and the bits that Jake gives of himself to Adrien just kill me. I mean, how the hell does reading two sex scenes in this book make me break down and cry into my pillow so I don’t wake the man sleeping next to me? How would I explain that an act, so intimate and so seemingly foreign for Jake, when he does it and doesn’t expect nor want reciprocation, turns me into a sobbing girl? JHFC, yeah I was a mess and those moments are why I adore the holy hell out of him.
Now I will admit, I did want punch Jake in the nards a few times with the shit he pulls but WHY does Adrien put up with it? I mean, he is a grown man and I know his feelings are strong with Jake but, FFS dude! Man up and do something about your non-relationship!
I won’t bore you with a review of the story, this has been out for a bit, but I will say that this was the best mystery of the three books so far. I loved the layering with Angus and then meeting the handsome Guy Snowden. The whole occult business was fun and the bits of true Los Angeles history throughout the story really had my heart squeezed twice. Once again, Lanyon writes local and the small inclusion of the Beltane holiday had me in full swoon mode. *whispers* Beltane is my birthday. Yeah, I was born on an important pagan holiday where they dance naked around a fire under the full moon… if that doesn’t say something about me… *grins*
Adrien, while I think you are a bit of a doormat at times, I loved how strong you also were in this. You have come into your own and your wit is stunning. I highlighted so many one liners you tossed out because they were too good not to remember, as if I could forget.
Back to the story, I admit to skimming the mystery parts of the first books to get to the Jake and Adrien good stuff but this one, I read every last word. What I thought was going to happen, never happened and what did happened was all twisty and good. But then, then we get to the other stuff and that bit in the bookstore with Jake and Adrien… I still can’t form a proper thought on how angry and hurt I am at that. I mean, I get Jake to a point. I do. I understand his survival mode he goes in to but that? It hurt everyone in that scene and by everyone that includes me. Yeah, Jake. You hurt me.
So, the mystery has been solved and we are where we are with Jake and Adrien. Or well you know… you know? Ugh. I can’t say I hate Jake yet, I don’t think that will ever happen but I am disappointed in him, beyond the beyond I am disappointed. I know he loves Adrien, the things he does when he lets go shows me that but good lord, knock the shit off will you Riordan? I have a heart problem too… don’t break it.
Please.