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ellelainey's review against another edition
4.0
Book – Anthem
Author – A.M. Leibowitz
Star rating - ★★★★☆
No. of Pages - 200
Movie Potential - ★★★★☆
Ease of reading – fairly easy to read and follow, with a few hiccups
Would I read it again – Definitely. And I can't wait for the next one.
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK, BY THE AUTHOR, IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW **
*This review may contain spoilers.*
~
PLOT
I really enjoyed this one. As the first book in a series, I was pleased to get a HFN at the end, with nearly everything wrapped up excerpt a few problems that, I suspect, will crop up later in the series.
It was about 90% very easy to follow and 10% confusing, but I think that may be a cultural thing rather than the writing. I'm form the UK and the book is set in Boston, so I stumbled over a few things:
First Night – I'm guessing this is our version of Hogmany (the night before Jan 1st)
Moxie – it says it's a drink, but I have no idea what it might be.
“well-dressed brother” - I assumed this was slang, since it would have been a grammatical error and an unexplained relation otherwise.
“reaching into the box on his chair” - I also have no clue what this means. As far as I know, he's sitting in a desk chair, but I don't know of any desk/office chairs that have boxes anywhere on them. It was confusing.
“Trey's palm made slow circles on Andre's back” - this is impossible. Try it and you'll discover that you can't snog, dance in a bump and grind and do this at the same time. Your brain won't allow it. It's like trying to circle your right hand and foot in opposite directions. It's impossible.
As a bisexual story, about two bisexual men, there is one explicit MF scene, with Trevor and Marlie.
The crux of the plot – and the title – is a song Trevor writes about his conflicted feelings towards Andre. I loved the cringe-worthy factor and the idea of all these dedicated worshipers singing about Trevor blowing Andre in a club.
~
CHARACTERS
There were a lot of characters to keep track of, when I started. I wasn't a fan of being introduced to three room mates by their first and last names, as it came across a little forced and unnecessary. As with a few information dumps – history of the characters – there was a more fluid way of doing this that was more natural. However, it's a small matter and one that I forgave.
The introduction of those three characters, by first and last names, made me wonder if they were the three that would be most involved in the story, as this was billed as a poly romance (though that aspect is very light and doesn't result in any sexual scenes, which I approve of). However, only one was a main character and the other two were surplus, but good friends. It is, however, only the start of complicated introductions to many, many characters. Within two chapters alone, we were introduced to eleven characters, who would all be recurring, important and pivotal to the way the plot moved forward. This made it difficult to keep track of who was who and what their role in the story might be. If they'd been introduced in a more gradual manner, it might have been easier.
Moving on to individual characters, I hate Marlie. At every turn, she's done the wrong thing, but even at the end of the book she got everything she wanted. I don't like that. I don't like a hypocritical, judgmental person being rewarded with their dreams, when they've caused nothing but harm and problems all throughout the story. She's uncomfortable with gay people, but is a supposedly dedicated Christian, having sex with her boyfriend out of wedlock, who even considers an abortion and only decides against it, because of what her parents might say.
Trevor, as the main character, is very realistic. He makes mistakes, he's naive and selfish, but it makes sense. He's spent his whole life fighting against the idea of being bisexual and is suddenly surrounded by people who are trying to tell him how to live his life. He'd done things that are unfair to himself, Nate and Marlie, as well as Andre at points, but he owns his mistakes in the end and does everything he can to remedy or correct them.
Nate and Julian, for me, are very similar. They're the best friends of the main characters and they do everything they can to push them towards the inevitable, no matter how reluctant they are. Although they both make mistakes, pushing too hard or not hard enough, they're always there for their best mates. I love them both and really hope Nate can get his HEA or even an HFN in another book.
The flat mates are cool, but kind of irrelevant, as they don't really do much. I want to read Jamie's story, but find Mack too judgmental and arrogant to care about his. The Boyfriend intrigues me.As for everyone else, I like Irina, Jagathi and Grams, but they're all background characters and I don't feel a pull towards any of them in particular.
Andre is a great character. The chemistry between him and Trevor is brilliantly written and really well explored. I like that they take things slow, even when they find it hard to keep their hands off each other. I also love the way they try to help each other, when problems pop up and things get crazy. They both have to deal with a lot grief and drama, but they make it through because they're open with each other and work together.
~
OVERALL
The characters were unique, but all holding their own dark secrets, their own drama and heartache, while trying to keep each other sane and together. I can't wait to read the other books to see who gets a story and how it will progress.
I don't get the poly theme. For me, Marlie doesn't deserve to have any part in Trevor's life. She's messed up so many times in such important ways that I'd love to see her get her comeuppance, but I don't imagine that will ever happen. Right now, she's settled with Trevor and Andre, about to have a baby. I'd much rather she handed her unwanted child to Trevor and Andre to raise, rather than pretending that she can be a mother, when she doesn't want to be.
The writing and storytelling are both fantastic. I love and hate characters and know what I want to see in future books, which is a good sign of how invested I am in the characters involved.
~
FAVOURITE QUOTE
“Trevor shifted then ground his teeth against the pain that shot down his back. He used the pads of his fingers to press on the sore spot.
“Here,” Jamie said. “Let me.” He moved to sit behind Trevor and began massaging his neck and shoulders.
“Oh,” Trevor moaned. “So good.” He leaned into the touch, reveling in the way his muscles loosened.
Jamie snickered. “Bet you say that to all the boys.”
“Please shut up and just rub.”
“Bet you say that, too.”
“Oh, my God.” Trevor nearly reached around to smack Jamie, but the massage felt too good, and he didn't want to interrupt.”
Author – A.M. Leibowitz
Star rating - ★★★★☆
No. of Pages - 200
Movie Potential - ★★★★☆
Ease of reading – fairly easy to read and follow, with a few hiccups
Would I read it again – Definitely. And I can't wait for the next one.
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK, BY THE AUTHOR, IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW **
*This review may contain spoilers.*
~
PLOT
I really enjoyed this one. As the first book in a series, I was pleased to get a HFN at the end, with nearly everything wrapped up excerpt a few problems that, I suspect, will crop up later in the series.
It was about 90% very easy to follow and 10% confusing, but I think that may be a cultural thing rather than the writing. I'm form the UK and the book is set in Boston, so I stumbled over a few things:
First Night – I'm guessing this is our version of Hogmany (the night before Jan 1st)
Moxie – it says it's a drink, but I have no idea what it might be.
“well-dressed brother” - I assumed this was slang, since it would have been a grammatical error and an unexplained relation otherwise.
“reaching into the box on his chair” - I also have no clue what this means. As far as I know, he's sitting in a desk chair, but I don't know of any desk/office chairs that have boxes anywhere on them. It was confusing.
“Trey's palm made slow circles on Andre's back” - this is impossible. Try it and you'll discover that you can't snog, dance in a bump and grind and do this at the same time. Your brain won't allow it. It's like trying to circle your right hand and foot in opposite directions. It's impossible.
As a bisexual story, about two bisexual men, there is one explicit MF scene, with Trevor and Marlie.
The crux of the plot – and the title – is a song Trevor writes about his conflicted feelings towards Andre. I loved the cringe-worthy factor and the idea of all these dedicated worshipers singing about Trevor blowing Andre in a club.
~
CHARACTERS
There were a lot of characters to keep track of, when I started. I wasn't a fan of being introduced to three room mates by their first and last names, as it came across a little forced and unnecessary. As with a few information dumps – history of the characters – there was a more fluid way of doing this that was more natural. However, it's a small matter and one that I forgave.
The introduction of those three characters, by first and last names, made me wonder if they were the three that would be most involved in the story, as this was billed as a poly romance (though that aspect is very light and doesn't result in any sexual scenes, which I approve of). However, only one was a main character and the other two were surplus, but good friends. It is, however, only the start of complicated introductions to many, many characters. Within two chapters alone, we were introduced to eleven characters, who would all be recurring, important and pivotal to the way the plot moved forward. This made it difficult to keep track of who was who and what their role in the story might be. If they'd been introduced in a more gradual manner, it might have been easier.
Moving on to individual characters, I hate Marlie. At every turn, she's done the wrong thing, but even at the end of the book she got everything she wanted. I don't like that. I don't like a hypocritical, judgmental person being rewarded with their dreams, when they've caused nothing but harm and problems all throughout the story. She's uncomfortable with gay people, but is a supposedly dedicated Christian, having sex with her boyfriend out of wedlock, who even considers an abortion and only decides against it, because of what her parents might say.
Trevor, as the main character, is very realistic. He makes mistakes, he's naive and selfish, but it makes sense. He's spent his whole life fighting against the idea of being bisexual and is suddenly surrounded by people who are trying to tell him how to live his life. He'd done things that are unfair to himself, Nate and Marlie, as well as Andre at points, but he owns his mistakes in the end and does everything he can to remedy or correct them.
Nate and Julian, for me, are very similar. They're the best friends of the main characters and they do everything they can to push them towards the inevitable, no matter how reluctant they are. Although they both make mistakes, pushing too hard or not hard enough, they're always there for their best mates. I love them both and really hope Nate can get his HEA or even an HFN in another book.
The flat mates are cool, but kind of irrelevant, as they don't really do much. I want to read Jamie's story, but find Mack too judgmental and arrogant to care about his. The Boyfriend intrigues me.As for everyone else, I like Irina, Jagathi and Grams, but they're all background characters and I don't feel a pull towards any of them in particular.
Andre is a great character. The chemistry between him and Trevor is brilliantly written and really well explored. I like that they take things slow, even when they find it hard to keep their hands off each other. I also love the way they try to help each other, when problems pop up and things get crazy. They both have to deal with a lot grief and drama, but they make it through because they're open with each other and work together.
~
OVERALL
The characters were unique, but all holding their own dark secrets, their own drama and heartache, while trying to keep each other sane and together. I can't wait to read the other books to see who gets a story and how it will progress.
I don't get the poly theme. For me, Marlie doesn't deserve to have any part in Trevor's life. She's messed up so many times in such important ways that I'd love to see her get her comeuppance, but I don't imagine that will ever happen. Right now, she's settled with Trevor and Andre, about to have a baby. I'd much rather she handed her unwanted child to Trevor and Andre to raise, rather than pretending that she can be a mother, when she doesn't want to be.
The writing and storytelling are both fantastic. I love and hate characters and know what I want to see in future books, which is a good sign of how invested I am in the characters involved.
~
FAVOURITE QUOTE
“Trevor shifted then ground his teeth against the pain that shot down his back. He used the pads of his fingers to press on the sore spot.
“Here,” Jamie said. “Let me.” He moved to sit behind Trevor and began massaging his neck and shoulders.
“Oh,” Trevor moaned. “So good.” He leaned into the touch, reveling in the way his muscles loosened.
Jamie snickered. “Bet you say that to all the boys.”
“Please shut up and just rub.”
“Bet you say that, too.”
“Oh, my God.” Trevor nearly reached around to smack Jamie, but the massage felt too good, and he didn't want to interrupt.”
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