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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book was so much fun! I adored Julian and Seamus. They were so stupid and stupid for each other. I loved that Seamus was just willing to help a homie out with experimenting despite, ostensibly, being straight. There were quite a few data points gathered before Seamus settled on being bi which was cute and funny.
I did not love that Julian just forgave his mom after one conversation. Shitty parents do not deserve to get off that easily just because they also had people say mean things to them. Be. Better.
It was pretty wild that both Julian and Seamus were extremely proficient at everything they did for the first time, but that happens in all romance books, so what can you do. But! I love, love, LOVED that this book exemplified having fun and laughing during sex. It should be a blast!
I loved both Julian and Seamus’ friend groups and how supportive they were. I am so proud of everyone’s growth here.
I did not love that Julian just forgave his mom after one conversation. Shitty parents do not deserve to get off that easily just because they also had people say mean things to them. Be. Better.
It was pretty wild that both Julian and Seamus were extremely proficient at everything they did for the first time, but that happens in all romance books, so what can you do. But! I love, love, LOVED that this book exemplified having fun and laughing during sex. It should be a blast!
I loved both Julian and Seamus’ friend groups and how supportive they were. I am so proud of everyone’s growth here.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
emotional
lighthearted
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:
Complicated
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
funny
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
Julian & Seamus are fantastic together! They have a very well balanced friendship from the start built on care and trust that translates into when they start to become more. Seamus is a sweet himbo who truly sees the world in Julian. I also think this has some great plus sized rep! The South Rock High found family continues to be wonderful!
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Julian and Seamus were such sweethearts. An interesting concept for a story but I did like the way it unfolded and I loved the friendship and developments between Julian and Seamus. They both had some depth and reasons for their reluctance and for holding themselves back but how supportive their friends ultimately were and how they helped them to see themselves properly. They were genuinely just really sweet characters.
Didn't love how much the word "fatty" was used throughout this book, it felt juvenile and didn't feel like a word grown up people would use to describe people, even if they were trying to be mean. But I did like how Julian's weight was shown to be the least interesting thing about him, he was intelligent and funny and so sweet and I think Seamus' emphatic love for his body and him overall was just what he needed. Similarly I feel like Seamus needed Julian's trust and his love for him even after knowing everything about him.
Sweet book with lots of spicy scenes.
Didn't love how much the word "fatty" was used throughout this book, it felt juvenile and didn't feel like a word grown up people would use to describe people, even if they were trying to be mean. But I did like how Julian's weight was shown to be the least interesting thing about him, he was intelligent and funny and so sweet and I think Seamus' emphatic love for his body and him overall was just what he needed. Similarly I feel like Seamus needed Julian's trust and his love for him even after knowing everything about him.
Sweet book with lots of spicy scenes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Fatphobia
DNF at 28%
Sadly, this one wasn't for me. I liked the first two books and Julian's character in those and could see the premise of the book really go either way, but this just wasn't great.
It's painfully awkward to read. With the other books, the characters had sex around the 50% mark, so they had time to develop some chemistry. With these two, there was no chemistry.
Plus there was some things I couldn't quite get on board with. The book starts off with the notion that kids are eagerly waiting for their first time, that of course everyone plans to have physical intimacy in their life and that it's somehow a failure to not have had sex until your mid-thirties as if this wouldn't vary widely. It goes on with Julian guessing how much sex his friends and coworkers might have, which is a bit weird and obsessive. Then there's the 'you're not fat, you're good looking'-dialogue, which made me roll my eyes, because...in this day and age we're really gonna pretend that those are mutually exclusive? Then there was the thing where Julian was constantly rejected romantically because of his weight, and maybe gay men are so much more shallow than straight man, but from my experience online dating as an overweight person, there will always be people who will find you attractive. Then there was the painfully cringeworthy scene of Julian being unable to put a condom on, because apparently someone as prepared and organized as Julian didn't have sex ed in school himself, it didn't come up in this health certificate programme and he didn't think to put any preparation into the lesson? And...the spicy scenes, goodness. They were painful to read. I get that sex is awkward and all but these are supposedly good friends. It could have been funny and awkward instead if cringeworthy, drunk and awkward.
I'm a bit bummed because I liked Julian and a friends to lovers sort of thing could have been so cute, but this was so cringey.
I was already on the fence about the next book (I've read poly, I've read age gap, but age gap poly with former students sounds a bit questionable), so I guess that was it for me.
Sadly, this one wasn't for me. I liked the first two books and Julian's character in those and could see the premise of the book really go either way, but this just wasn't great.
It's painfully awkward to read. With the other books, the characters had sex around the 50% mark, so they had time to develop some chemistry. With these two, there was no chemistry.
Plus there was some things I couldn't quite get on board with. The book starts off with the notion that kids are eagerly waiting for their first time, that of course everyone plans to have physical intimacy in their life and that it's somehow a failure to not have had sex until your mid-thirties as if this wouldn't vary widely. It goes on with Julian guessing how much sex his friends and coworkers might have, which is a bit weird and obsessive. Then there's the 'you're not fat, you're good looking'-dialogue, which made me roll my eyes, because...in this day and age we're really gonna pretend that those are mutually exclusive? Then there was the thing where Julian was constantly rejected romantically because of his weight, and maybe gay men are so much more shallow than straight man, but from my experience online dating as an overweight person, there will always be people who will find you attractive. Then there was the painfully cringeworthy scene of Julian being unable to put a condom on, because apparently someone as prepared and organized as Julian didn't have sex ed in school himself, it didn't come up in this health certificate programme and he didn't think to put any preparation into the lesson? And...the spicy scenes, goodness. They were painful to read. I get that sex is awkward and all but these are supposedly good friends. It could have been funny and awkward instead if cringeworthy, drunk and awkward.
I'm a bit bummed because I liked Julian and a friends to lovers sort of thing could have been so cute, but this was so cringey.
I was already on the fence about the next book (I've read poly, I've read age gap, but age gap poly with former students sounds a bit questionable), so I guess that was it for me.