Reviews

How to Belong with a Billionaire by Alexis Hall

samanthamarie's review against another edition

3.0

Everything just happened so … weirdly? I just kept asking, why is this happening like this?

I enjoyed it I suppose but not nearly as much as the second book.

bukowski's review

emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

rynwyn's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

meatloafqueen's review

4.0

Read #2 3/2023:

As a whole, I’d rate this series a 4.5

tellingetienne's review

4.0

Wow. This was a phenomenal close to this series. It was heart rending and dramatic and everything I possibly wanted it to be. Alexis Hall is by far one of my favorite contemporary queer authors and this series nails what I love about his work. It's emotional, fraught, complex, but with beautiful endings. All of the characters are so vivid that they practically leap off the page. I was delighted to see everyone again.

Spoiler

I really felt conflicted about the end game romance by the time I was finishing this up. I almost wanted Arden to end up with George, the photographer from Milieu, by the end of the book. She was so vivid and wonderful, his scenes with her were some of my favorites. Caspian is set up to do a lot of the work he needs to do recover, but it wasn't on page quite enough for me to really believe they were going to make it work in the end! Still...I loved it and it was a happy ending for now.

ellebeez's review

3.0

This was really great until the last three chapters. I had to read them three times to figure out what actually happened. Also, for a person with a ton of trauma, Caspian just sort of shelved his issues and they ride off in to the sunset. Strange.

TW-d/s, bdsm situations, cheating, attempted SA, discussions of past child SA

readingwithstardust's review against another edition

2.0

Alexis Hall's writing and Arden's messy and hilarious narration kept me engaged throughout this book but I don't think I liked it? I'd have liked a different resolution--for Caspian to have come to the realization that he did on his own terms and come to Arden having changed of his own accord. I felt like it was unrealistic that Arden had *so much care* for Caspian after a point. I understood Arden was a character who loved deeply and always saw the best but honestly there was a point where even the most passionately optimistic person would and should have let go. I don't think anyone should hang on that long or hard trying to convince someone else to change, even if the "change" Arden craved was for Caspian to accept himself and his wants and to live the life he deserved. Also throughout the entire trilogy I found it ridiculous that Arden never dealt with subdrop after Caspian repeatedly put him down in a (pseudo/implied) subspace, fucked him, provided not a hint of aftercare, and then made him feel small afterward (even if by accident). Arden deserved better and it was not realistic to me that he could give that much, be abandoned afterward, and not be adversely affected at least hormonally. Petition for more aftercare in books dealing with BDSM, thanks.

shewasmadeofdreams's review

5.0

“This was basically the bit in a Mafia movie where all the characters started pointing guns at each other and yelling. I mean, apart from the guns and the yelling. We were too British for that.”
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“All that time, waiting like a fool for an ending. When what I’d really wanted—what we’d both needed—was a beginning.”

sbelasco40's review

4.0

The audiobooks for this series continue to be outstanding. This was a satisfying conclusion to the series, with all the requisitie growth happening for Arden and progress for Caspian (even if it is, at times, infuriatingly slow). I adore the character of George, and many points for on-the-page sex with a trans character in a romance novel. This series in general has a level of complexity that I don’t think I expected going into it — but all of Hall’s work is psychologically complex, with characters who come off the page. I think Hall does an especially good job here with showing the ways in which trauma and abuse effect romantic relationships, and those intersections with kink as well, but it doesn’t fall into that territory where it’s like, “Oh, this person was abused, so of course they now mimic the behavior of the abuser.” Caspian is a survivor but he is also many more things than that, and Arden is delightful in his insistence that there is nothing wrong with Caspian’s desires, no matter how they originated.

Also: please give Ellory a book now, thank you.

lalauren04's review

2.0

This series started out so well for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the first book. All I can say is that I’m bitterly disappointed that the series didn’t end as well, and certainly lost my interest and didn’t hold my attention at all from about a third of the way through this final book. I was cross about so many things that happened. I didn’t like that Arden and Caspian were with other people, that Arden had his heart smashed into bits (he deserved more), that Caspian went back to Nathaniel, and that both of them slept with other people in this book (even if they weren’t together anymore). I skimmed towards the end and couldn’t get back into it, these two were so frustrating and they even screwed over Nathaniel (who I hadn’t liked much anyway) and it just felt wrong. It all ruined the ‘love’ part of the story for me, and as much as I absolutely love angst and hurt/comfort themes, I like there to be love and honesty and faithfulness in the stories I read. I just wasn’t impressed, and really felt it was such a shame for such a potentially fantastic series to end on a sour note. I have given the book two stars because, as a whole, I really did enjoy book one and had just wished for better things. I haven’t got the heart to rate it any lower.