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jijirich's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Homophobia and Abandonment
thenextbookdilemma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment and Homophobia
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Toxic relationship
republicofben's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual content, and Homophobia
marioosa517's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and Mental illness
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Fatphobia, Dementia, Alcohol, Vomit, Excrement, Medical content, Drug use, and Blood
imds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Abandonment, Death, Dementia, Grief, and Toxic relationship
the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I do wish the autism was better explored, instead of being implied and then added in the epilogue. It felt obvious that it was where the author was going but I wish there had been some earlier discussions on the subject to really work it into the message being put out.
Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Homophobia
Minor: Toxic relationship
madisongturner's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Abandonment
nevawink's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Abandonment, and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
Minor: Dementia
amandaboyer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Homophobia, Abandonment, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Racism, Dementia, Misogyny, and Fatphobia
finesilkflower's review against another edition
3.75
As a nature lover, I love the idea of a romance set on the Pacific Coast Trail. It is a romanticized view, but that is what you are here for in a romance!
The romance is sweet, and the characters are likable and complement each other well. Both characters are painfully earnest and endlessly tender. The main problem I suppose is that it's difficult to imagine why these characters who genuinely adore and want the best for each other would have a book-level of relationship conflict, and as a result Kelly has given them both a level of insecurity and angst that it is actually pretty difficult to deal with (both in technical/authorial terms of being able to resolve it by the end of the book and for me personally as a reader). It sort of felt like Kelly was resolving on "he walks on the trail for a long time and then feels like a different person" to do a lot of work.
Random Observations:
* Alternating POV is one of my romance pet peeves but it's SO common.
* I can't confirm this, but the appearance and demeanor of Alexei led me to imagine he's modeled on the autistic-coded CEO character Evan Speck from Freeform's "Good Trouble" - the softer version of the character who loved turtles, before the soap opera wiped his memory.
* Feels like there was a missed opportunity for Ben to patch up an injury of Alexei's and engage in some hurt/comfort.
* I like that the pining portion of the book isn't the whole thing and they actually move onto a relationship which is more interesting.
* The book contains scenes of sexual tension and sex scenes; I am not sure if I am just bringing my graysexuality to this book, but the sexiness didn't really land with me. It just kind of felt like the tone of scenes randomly shifted between sexiness, tenderness, angst, etc.
What kills me is that there are COMPLETELY genuine romance conflicts you could put in the book without having the two characters be this messy. Ben's job could have created a serious roadblock even if they had been open and communicative about it. Alexei's relationship inexperience and/or neurodivergence could have created communication barriers or expectation gaps. The book could have covered the difficulty of translating an intense trail experience to the real world. I suppose I just felt that Alexei's second abandonment of Ben crossed the Relationship Feasability Event Horizon, so by the end I didn't even want them to get together.
* Dark-eyed juncos are pretty?? Compared to TANAGERS?????
Moderate: Abandonment and Homophobia