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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
A good but sad start to this one, hmm you might need tissues though in the epilogue and later. A beginning of Phoenix's life was a happy one until he reached 10 years old.
Time jumps forward and Pheeny's in School and loving his clases but one in particular. Oh thats what his freinds call him.
A student / Teacher freindship begins over the philosophy subject growing to become much more.
The Prom was coming up and his friends pressure Phoenix to find a date.
The forbidden and the big secret was the ultimate time bomb waiting to go off. A great book written about famous philosophers which they have class discussions about.
Wow the book turns a twist at halfway and oh... nope no spoliers
This is a roller-coaster with the story ending in a HEA.
Phoenix 18 yrs and a senior at school finds a new teacher to the philosophy class.
Mr Sebastian Wicked is married but being distanced by his wife.
Time jumps forward and Pheeny's in School and loving his clases but one in particular. Oh thats what his freinds call him.
A student / Teacher freindship begins over the philosophy subject growing to become much more.
The Prom was coming up and his friends pressure Phoenix to find a date.
The forbidden and the big secret was the ultimate time bomb waiting to go off. A great book written about famous philosophers which they have class discussions about.
Wow the book turns a twist at halfway and oh... nope no spoliers
This is a roller-coaster with the story ending in a HEA.
Phoenix 18 yrs and a senior at school finds a new teacher to the philosophy class.
Mr Sebastian Wicked is married but being distanced by his wife.
The first half was slow but consuming. The second half was rife with inconsistencies.
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
this book was good but it focused a lot of philosophy, it also added a lot of starts and stops to the relationship which in my opinion took away from their connection. I did like that the characters got to grow and fix their issues before finally being together tho.
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
People would not shut up about this book.
The buzz for this thing started before it even came out. Having read Surviving the Break (I couldn’t read Merge due to a DID trigger), I knew it was probably going to be good. Then it was released and it was all everyone talked about. I just had a several book full of angst weeks long marathon and I wasn’t up for this yet. But it was in my face every day so I relented. *sigh*
There is a reason everyone is talking about this book. It goes beyond a trope. This isn’t a “age gap” or “teacher/student” book. It is a love story that defies the trope. And the angst is necessary for such a “forbidden” relationship. But this book is not defined by its heaviness either. It’s uniqueness comes from two grief stricken souls who find solace in each other in a way that I really haven’t seen done before. Despite the fact that I am angst-weary, there wasn’t a second I regretted finally diving into this. It is a breath of fresh air in a genre heavily saturated by the same story told over and over. This takes a step away. Literally no one will be shocked when I say this is one of the best books of 2021.
The buzz for this thing started before it even came out. Having read Surviving the Break (I couldn’t read Merge due to a DID trigger), I knew it was probably going to be good. Then it was released and it was all everyone talked about. I just had a several book full of angst weeks long marathon and I wasn’t up for this yet. But it was in my face every day so I relented. *sigh*
There is a reason everyone is talking about this book. It goes beyond a trope. This isn’t a “age gap” or “teacher/student” book. It is a love story that defies the trope. And the angst is necessary for such a “forbidden” relationship. But this book is not defined by its heaviness either. It’s uniqueness comes from two grief stricken souls who find solace in each other in a way that I really haven’t seen done before. Despite the fact that I am angst-weary, there wasn’t a second I regretted finally diving into this. It is a breath of fresh air in a genre heavily saturated by the same story told over and over. This takes a step away. Literally no one will be shocked when I say this is one of the best books of 2021.
MM Romance
Teacher-Student Sobfest
3 I’m so torn stars
I’ve never started to cry while reading the first chapter of a book before. I had no idea who this letter was being written to or who any of these people were and yet I was sobbing. It was surreal and it would continue as I read this book because there was so much heartbreak. And then when I found out who the letter was addressed to, way later in the book, it made me teary again. Usually when a book evokes that much emotion out of me, it’s instantly a 5 star read but I couldn’t quite get there and I’m not sure why.
This is unlike any teacher student romance I’ve ever read and that’s a good thing however I wish this had taken place in college instead of high school. While Phoenix appeared mature for his age and knew profound loss, he didn’t have a lot of life experience and some of the things that happened in this book were life changing heavy events. It was hard to believe at times that this 18 year old would have accepted what was happening and have patience for the future.
Also, I found the sex scenes to be a bit cringy especially when he was still in high school. That stuff usually doesn’t bother me but because Phoenix was portrayed as being so innocent, it almost felt creepy reading about how he responded to being touched. I know by that point he was touch starved but it just made me cringe. However, once they reunited I no longer felt it was cringy and I loved how their future together progressed and the multiple epilogues. Once again I found myself crying. So because I’m so torn on this book, I’m giving it 3 stars. I loved all the emotion this author pulled from me and really want to read her other books but there’s also something missing for me and I’m not sure what it is.
Also, can we talk about the cover???? I would have read this a lot sooner had the model not been this guy because he looks soooo young and part of me wonders if that was part of my hang up during the sex scenes. I’d rather have Sebastian on there with his Angel tattooed chest or like anything else.
Teacher-Student Sobfest
3 I’m so torn stars
I’ve never started to cry while reading the first chapter of a book before. I had no idea who this letter was being written to or who any of these people were and yet I was sobbing. It was surreal and it would continue as I read this book because there was so much heartbreak. And then when I found out who the letter was addressed to, way later in the book, it made me teary again. Usually when a book evokes that much emotion out of me, it’s instantly a 5 star read but I couldn’t quite get there and I’m not sure why.
This is unlike any teacher student romance I’ve ever read and that’s a good thing however I wish this had taken place in college instead of high school. While Phoenix appeared mature for his age and knew profound loss, he didn’t have a lot of life experience and some of the things that happened in this book were life changing heavy events. It was hard to believe at times that this 18 year old would have accepted what was happening and have patience for the future.
Also, I found the sex scenes to be a bit cringy especially when he was still in high school. That stuff usually doesn’t bother me but because Phoenix was portrayed as being so innocent, it almost felt creepy reading about how he responded to being touched. I know by that point he was touch starved but it just made me cringe. However, once they reunited I no longer felt it was cringy and I loved how their future together progressed and the multiple epilogues. Once again I found myself crying. So because I’m so torn on this book, I’m giving it 3 stars. I loved all the emotion this author pulled from me and really want to read her other books but there’s also something missing for me and I’m not sure what it is.
Also, can we talk about the cover???? I would have read this a lot sooner had the model not been this guy because he looks soooo young and part of me wonders if that was part of my hang up during the sex scenes. I’d rather have Sebastian on there with his Angel tattooed chest or like anything else.
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes