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gillianw's review against another edition
4.0
Super enjoyable story with great characters. Probably one of my favourite Annabeth Albert books to date.
a_reader_obsessed's review against another edition
4.0
4 Stars!
And the hits just keep on coming!
Whenever I think of Albert for some reason I think of major fluff. But in reality, she is deceptively more serious and always pleasingly more smexy than expected. This was no exception.
What should’ve never worked, does, as a travel delay starts up a tentative friendship between complete opposites Ryan and Josiah. Through their love of gaming, feels and flirting bloom despite long distance and despite being in what seems very different stages of their lives.
Josiah is a little bit scattered. He’s a lot flighty and impulsive, and just wants to show everyone he can be a responsible adult. Despite a rocky start, he’s instantly smitten with Ryan, though he feels he might not be good enough for the confident, injured soldier. Ryan is determined to get better so he can return to his military job and nothing is going to stand in his way. He doesn’t want to rely on anyone, he doesn’t want to be treated differently, but he reluctantly admits that Josiah is a much needed breath of fresh air in between his grueling PT and the inevitable frustrations that come with recovery.
Slowly though, they worm into each other’s lives. Josiah wanting them to be so much more and Ryan too scared to even contemplate such a serious step. This doesn’t skimp on the UST, the insecurity and doubt amongst the hot smex, and the ups and downs of how Josiah and Ryan navigate their feelings and how to fit together.
Simply put, realistic on topical issues and relationship progression, and thankfully with no asinine misunderstandings or miscommunication. Just another wonderful addition to this series!
And the hits just keep on coming!
Whenever I think of Albert for some reason I think of major fluff. But in reality, she is deceptively more serious and always pleasingly more smexy than expected. This was no exception.
What should’ve never worked, does, as a travel delay starts up a tentative friendship between complete opposites Ryan and Josiah. Through their love of gaming, feels and flirting bloom despite long distance and despite being in what seems very different stages of their lives.
Josiah is a little bit scattered. He’s a lot flighty and impulsive, and just wants to show everyone he can be a responsible adult. Despite a rocky start, he’s instantly smitten with Ryan, though he feels he might not be good enough for the confident, injured soldier. Ryan is determined to get better so he can return to his military job and nothing is going to stand in his way. He doesn’t want to rely on anyone, he doesn’t want to be treated differently, but he reluctantly admits that Josiah is a much needed breath of fresh air in between his grueling PT and the inevitable frustrations that come with recovery.
Slowly though, they worm into each other’s lives. Josiah wanting them to be so much more and Ryan too scared to even contemplate such a serious step. This doesn’t skimp on the UST, the insecurity and doubt amongst the hot smex, and the ups and downs of how Josiah and Ryan navigate their feelings and how to fit together.
Simply put, realistic on topical issues and relationship progression, and thankfully with no asinine misunderstandings or miscommunication. Just another wonderful addition to this series!
evethingiread's review against another edition
2.0
Josiah was really sweet and kind
Ryan was annoying as fuck. All his insecurities made me kinda mean and stand-offish at times.
This was an okay story. The audiobook narrator was really bad! I think it’s the same guy from the other books I’m the series. Don’t like him! I think he made this reading experience worse
Ryan was annoying as fuck. All his insecurities made me kinda mean and stand-offish at times.
This was an okay story. The audiobook narrator was really bad! I think it’s the same guy from the other books I’m the series. Don’t like him! I think he made this reading experience worse
jagiaquinto's review
5.0
Love these two and the ADHD rep!
Once again I love the representation that Annabeth gave to her characters Josiah having ADHD (which I have as well) was so well done and I loved it so much. Ryan's issues with his injuries pulled on my heart strings but I did feel the ending was rather jumbled. Scenes flashed quickly and I wasn't sure what was going on some times hut they were cute scenes that I was more than happy to enjoy! Now I have to reread off base and see if I catch anything I missed the first time!
Edit for new reread*
I still think the ending was rushed but I have a new found love of Ryan and the struggles he went through with needing to be needed. I love it so much more now.
Once again I love the representation that Annabeth gave to her characters Josiah having ADHD (which I have as well) was so well done and I loved it so much. Ryan's issues with his injuries pulled on my heart strings but I did feel the ending was rather jumbled. Scenes flashed quickly and I wasn't sure what was going on some times hut they were cute scenes that I was more than happy to enjoy! Now I have to reread off base and see if I catch anything I missed the first time!
Edit for new reread*
I still think the ending was rushed but I have a new found love of Ryan and the struggles he went through with needing to be needed. I love it so much more now.
tildasaali's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
linda_1410's review against another edition
3.5
As with the previous two books in this series, traveling and getting to know each other while trapped together in a confined space plays an important part in the MCs' relationship. Unlike the previous two books, they weren't frenemies beforehand, and the traveling didn't force them to come to terms with their differences and learn to appreciate each other, with that appreciation quickly turning to love.
I said in my review for the second book - Status Update? Or was it Beta Test? I don't really remember which one came first or second. - that they were too similar to each other and I probably would've done better to wait to listen to the second book so I could better appreciate it on its own merits. And that's why I waited so long to finally get around to this one. Well, that's one reason. The other would be Sean Crisden, who is at best a meh narrator for me, so he doesn't exactly inspire me to rush out and get his books. Yet somehow, despite his meh-ness, I still really enjoyed this book.
I was really pleased to see that this book deviated a bit from the previous two. Ryan doesn't work for the video game developer that Josiah works for, so the first time they meet is on their flight, which they're both taking for different reasons. So there's none of that boring frenemy nonsense to bog through. They hit it off immediately and forge a really strong friendship while geeking out over the video game expansion packet Josiah is developing.
And then they land - and Josiah realizes for the first time that Ryan, the super hunky Navy SEAL he's been sitting next to this whole time, is a double amputee, missing both his legs - and in true Josiah fashion he blurts out the most horrible insensitive thing you can say to an amputee. It doesn't matter that he doesn't mean it in a cruel way, that he's just stating the obvious in his shock. It's a bad thing and he knows it and immediately tries to apologize. Thankfully, Ryan's able to forgive him and their friendship continues.
A lot of this is told through their various texts and emails as they have a friends with benefits relationship long-distance while Ryan does his rehab in Texas and Josiah works on his video expansion pack in Germany and California. We get to see them actually be friends and come to care for and like each other in that capacity. Yes, Ryan knows very early on that he wants more than just friendship, but there's no instalove here. I loved pretty much everything about their relationship and how it developed. Ryan takes longer to get to where Josiah is, but he's actually there a lot sooner than he realizes or admits.
While I did like seeing them chit chat back and forth, these parts did kind of drag a wee bit. I'd have skimmed/skipped right over all those To:s and From:s and Subject:s if I were reading this myself so I could get to the actual messages faster. Crisden naturally had to read all those headers out in full. Also, Crisden does this weird thing with his voice when he's reading their texts and emails, like he's almost trying to make them sound a little robotic or automated. Or maybe he's just being typical Crisden. Hard to tell.
All the rehab stuff with Ryan and his goals and ambitions were very well done. I can tell the author did her research, and while I can't validate any of this as authentic, it did seem to be stuff that a double amputee would be reasonably expected to tackle during his recovery.
Josiah's issues at work though - I feel like Josiah got shortchanged in his own book. We get to meet Ryan's rehab team and see him doing his rehab and having his setbacks and successes and frustrations. Josiah's issues at work, leading a team for the first time and dealing with his ADHD and how that makes people undermine him, is mostly given lip service. We're told about it, but we don't actually see it. There's only one scene in the entire book at his job. One! Everything else we hear about secondhand, and not even from Josiah some of those times. And for all that we're told his ADHD can make reading social cues difficult, other than that first snafu on the airplane, we're also not really shown that either. There's so much focus on Ryan, that Josiah just got shifted to the side.
If there had been a better balance of scenes, I'd have given this four stars easily, but as it is, 3.5 is the best I can do.
I said in my review for the second book - Status Update? Or was it Beta Test? I don't really remember which one came first or second. - that they were too similar to each other and I probably would've done better to wait to listen to the second book so I could better appreciate it on its own merits. And that's why I waited so long to finally get around to this one. Well, that's one reason. The other would be Sean Crisden, who is at best a meh narrator for me, so he doesn't exactly inspire me to rush out and get his books. Yet somehow, despite his meh-ness, I still really enjoyed this book.
I was really pleased to see that this book deviated a bit from the previous two. Ryan doesn't work for the video game developer that Josiah works for, so the first time they meet is on their flight, which they're both taking for different reasons. So there's none of that boring frenemy nonsense to bog through. They hit it off immediately and forge a really strong friendship while geeking out over the video game expansion packet Josiah is developing.
And then they land - and Josiah realizes for the first time that Ryan, the super hunky Navy SEAL he's been sitting next to this whole time, is a double amputee, missing both his legs - and in true Josiah fashion he blurts out the most horrible insensitive thing you can say to an amputee. It doesn't matter that he doesn't mean it in a cruel way, that he's just stating the obvious in his shock. It's a bad thing and he knows it and immediately tries to apologize. Thankfully, Ryan's able to forgive him and their friendship continues.
A lot of this is told through their various texts and emails as they have a friends with benefits relationship long-distance while Ryan does his rehab in Texas and Josiah works on his video expansion pack in Germany and California. We get to see them actually be friends and come to care for and like each other in that capacity. Yes, Ryan knows very early on that he wants more than just friendship, but there's no instalove here. I loved pretty much everything about their relationship and how it developed. Ryan takes longer to get to where Josiah is, but he's actually there a lot sooner than he realizes or admits.
While I did like seeing them chit chat back and forth, these parts did kind of drag a wee bit. I'd have skimmed/skipped right over all those To:s and From:s and Subject:s if I were reading this myself so I could get to the actual messages faster. Crisden naturally had to read all those headers out in full. Also, Crisden does this weird thing with his voice when he's reading their texts and emails, like he's almost trying to make them sound a little robotic or automated. Or maybe he's just being typical Crisden. Hard to tell.
All the rehab stuff with Ryan and his goals and ambitions were very well done. I can tell the author did her research, and while I can't validate any of this as authentic, it did seem to be stuff that a double amputee would be reasonably expected to tackle during his recovery.
Josiah's issues at work though - I feel like Josiah got shortchanged in his own book. We get to meet Ryan's rehab team and see him doing his rehab and having his setbacks and successes and frustrations. Josiah's issues at work, leading a team for the first time and dealing with his ADHD and how that makes people undermine him, is mostly given lip service. We're told about it, but we don't actually see it. There's only one scene in the entire book at his job. One! Everything else we hear about secondhand, and not even from Josiah some of those times. And for all that we're told his ADHD can make reading social cues difficult, other than that first snafu on the airplane, we're also not really shown that either. There's so much focus on Ryan, that Josiah just got shifted to the side.
If there had been a better balance of scenes, I'd have given this four stars easily, but as it is, 3.5 is the best I can do.
lifeand100books's review
4.0
As someone who was diagnosed with ADD at the age of 4, I can totally get on board with Josiah's character. And I think me connecting with him so much, let me really enjoy this book.
What a great story about adapting, and learning to trust and lean on the people who love you.
What a great story about adapting, and learning to trust and lean on the people who love you.
mads0527's review
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? Yes
4.0
dazairoo's review
challenging
inspiring
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
4.0