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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
emotional
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is book five in a series even if it's also advertised as a standalone so going in I knew I would meet previous characters and miss <i>some </i>context clues, however I was not prepared for how much of an epilogue this was. It's like the author did not care about the two characters the story is supposed to be about and instead used this as a way to wrap-up everyone else's story. The side characters were introduced every single scene and towards the end there's an entire paragraph naming every single family member...like what??
None of the characters were fleshed out either. Oliver is self centered, does not understand boundaries and thinks negging on someone is a form of teasing; Gavin literally could have been anyone, in the sense that he only served as a way for the author to portray Oliver as a good person. He was grumpy and mean and slouchy up until he was suddenly only there to be in love with Oliver. The side characters were even worse my god. They were only there to offer advice or push an emotional revelation on the mcs and it felt too blocky and put of place.
The book tries for a rivals to lovers story that is set off by the two characters being forced to be co-captains but it fails right from the beginning because the time skip from when they first met to the point the story starts completely eliminates all proof of a rivalry that would get the audience invested in their story. The characters then quickly progress from hatred to lust to love and it was just not plausible. The fact that they had their emotional climax before they even knew anything about each other damn near killed me.
Moving on to my major issue with the book, how anxiety was written. At the beginning we find out Oliver struggles with anxiety, fine, cool, I like that. The next chapter we get our first glimpse into Gavin's head and he talks about how Oliver is too happy-go-lucky and how it annoys him, also fine. The issue starts when Gavin sees Oliver experience a panic attack for the first time and he starts to think, 'oh he's not as happy as I thought he was, he suffers anxiety'. This sentiment is reiterated multiple times throughout the book and I'm just????? People with anxiety CAN be happy and optimistic too?? This honestly might just be an issue with the author's phrasing and not her intent but it's still not right.
I'm quite disappointed because this was my first pride month reads but oh well!
None of the characters were fleshed out either. Oliver is self centered, does not understand boundaries and thinks negging on someone is a form of teasing; Gavin literally could have been anyone, in the sense that he only served as a way for the author to portray Oliver as a good person. He was grumpy and mean and slouchy up until he was suddenly only there to be in love with Oliver. The side characters were even worse my god. They were only there to offer advice or push an emotional revelation on the mcs and it felt too blocky and put of place.
The book tries for a rivals to lovers story that is set off by the two characters being forced to be co-captains but it fails right from the beginning because the time skip from when they first met to the point the story starts completely eliminates all proof of a rivalry that would get the audience invested in their story. The characters then quickly progress from hatred to lust to love and it was just not plausible. The fact that they had their emotional climax before they even knew anything about each other damn near killed me.
Moving on to my major issue with the book, how anxiety was written. At the beginning we find out Oliver struggles with anxiety, fine, cool, I like that. The next chapter we get our first glimpse into Gavin's head and he talks about how Oliver is too happy-go-lucky and how it annoys him, also fine. The issue starts when Gavin sees Oliver experience a panic attack for the first time and he starts to think, 'oh he's not as happy as I thought he was, he suffers anxiety'. This sentiment is reiterated multiple times throughout the book and I'm just????? People with anxiety CAN be happy and optimistic too?? This honestly might just be an issue with the author's phrasing and not her intent but it's still not right.
I'm quite disappointed because this was my first pride month reads but oh well!
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
I loved the beginning of this book with Oliver and his niece, and it was nice to see how it came into play later. This Bergman Brothers’ book probably had me laughing the most. I loved seeing Oliver and Gavin take care of each other at their worst. Wished the audiobook would have been a dual narration.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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:
No
The fifth in a series, this does work as a standalone! I read this as a recommendation as I was looking for books with LGBTQ main characters for Pride month. A classic sports romance and quite steamy in parts! Great chemistry between Gavin and Ollie- age gap, enemies to lovers, and my favorite trope- one bed. Soccer players become co-captains and compete and then sparks fly. Multi POV. Would have liked more actual soccer... but I did love this one. Pure rom-com, Ollie's family and little niece was written very well. Bonus points that there is representation for mental illness (panic attacks) and chronic pain.
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
hopeful
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
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