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divine529's review
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
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
April 2021 reread.
I still absolutely love this book and it was exactly what I needed right now. Everything I said about it in my initial review still stands.
I just love how atmospheric this book is; how calming and peaceful despite the difficult topics and rough pasts of the characters. It's a huge comfort book in so many ways.
James and Danny are still such relatable and compelling characters to me and I just really love their stories (though one thing I should mention is that there's quite a bit of an age difference between them. Despite the fact it doesn't feel that way because of how the author wrote it, it's still a fairly present aspect of the book)
But this is definitely a book I'm going to revisit over and over again.
TW/CW are below (with additional ones I failed to mention before - cursing, death, grief, medical content, medical trauma). Also note that this book has a lot of graphic sexual content.
_____________________________________________________________
What an incredible read.
For those of you who know me, you know I don't usually write reviews or read a ton of romance, but I feel like this book deserves more recognition.
Those of you who follow me, know that I like to break things down into categories and it'll be the same here.
The premise: LGBT historical, sports romance that takes place in 1970s California and Hawaii.
Jimmy Campbell was injured in Vietnam and ends up back in California. There are two things that help him get through: his best friend Rob and surfing. Our tale begins as Jimmy is participating in the International Surfing competition where he meets Danny Moore. Danny is the top surfer and the one to beat, but there's definitely more to him than meets the eye. Their paths collide and things go from there.
The writing: Honestly, I thought the writing was incredibly well done. Some people might think it's over the top or too flowery, but I'm here to tell you that I think it fits the story perfectly. It encapsulates the overall atmosphere and setting of the book. It feels the beach and the waves and the salt. It also captures the passion and love and tension between these characters so well. The pacing also flowed very well.
The setting: The author captured the atmosphere of the places that were being written about so well. We spend time in both California and Hawaii - Los Angeles and Oahu respectively and you are literally transported there. The setting is SO incredibly vivid and even if you've never been there before, it feels like you have.
The plot: I loved the plot of this a lot as well. The premise and plot are something I've never seen before, especially in a romance setting. I mean it's literally gay surfers falling in love in the 70s. The surfing aspects of the story were so well written and the author clearly knows what they're talking about/has done their research. They also wove in the romance in a wonderful way.
The characters: Our two main characters are Jimmy Campbell and Danny Moore, but there are a few incredibly side characters as well like Rob and Lori and Lehela. It can be argued though, that our primary main character is Jimmy. Getting to experience both Jimmy and Danny's stories both individually as well as together was so masterfully done. I won't spoil anything, but they're both incredibly complex and have had incredible and at times heartbreaking tales and getting to see it all interwoven together was wonderful. The relationship between Danny and Jimmy was believable and you could feel everything they went through just seep off the page. I also absolutely loved the relationship between Jimmy and Rob, so much. Their friendship is one of my new favorites and one of the best I've seen in quite awhile. Also getting to see Danny's relationships with all those around him was fascinating and I loved it. Basically, the relationships and characters is what truly drove this book.
Trigger warnings for: period typical homophobia, alcoholism (neither of the main characters), slight PTSD and mentions of suicidal thoughts, and war.
Overall, I absolutely loved this book and would absolutely recommend it.
I still absolutely love this book and it was exactly what I needed right now. Everything I said about it in my initial review still stands.
I just love how atmospheric this book is; how calming and peaceful despite the difficult topics and rough pasts of the characters. It's a huge comfort book in so many ways.
James and Danny are still such relatable and compelling characters to me and I just really love their stories (though one thing I should mention is that there's quite a bit of an age difference between them. Despite the fact it doesn't feel that way because of how the author wrote it, it's still a fairly present aspect of the book)
But this is definitely a book I'm going to revisit over and over again.
TW/CW are below (with additional ones I failed to mention before - cursing, death, grief, medical content, medical trauma). Also note that this book has a lot of graphic sexual content.
_____________________________________________________________
What an incredible read.
For those of you who know me, you know I don't usually write reviews or read a ton of romance, but I feel like this book deserves more recognition.
Those of you who follow me, know that I like to break things down into categories and it'll be the same here.
The premise: LGBT historical, sports romance that takes place in 1970s California and Hawaii.
Jimmy Campbell was injured in Vietnam and ends up back in California. There are two things that help him get through: his best friend Rob and surfing. Our tale begins as Jimmy is participating in the International Surfing competition where he meets Danny Moore. Danny is the top surfer and the one to beat, but there's definitely more to him than meets the eye. Their paths collide and things go from there.
The writing: Honestly, I thought the writing was incredibly well done. Some people might think it's over the top or too flowery, but I'm here to tell you that I think it fits the story perfectly. It encapsulates the overall atmosphere and setting of the book. It feels the beach and the waves and the salt. It also captures the passion and love and tension between these characters so well. The pacing also flowed very well.
The setting: The author captured the atmosphere of the places that were being written about so well. We spend time in both California and Hawaii - Los Angeles and Oahu respectively and you are literally transported there. The setting is SO incredibly vivid and even if you've never been there before, it feels like you have.
The plot: I loved the plot of this a lot as well. The premise and plot are something I've never seen before, especially in a romance setting. I mean it's literally gay surfers falling in love in the 70s. The surfing aspects of the story were so well written and the author clearly knows what they're talking about/has done their research. They also wove in the romance in a wonderful way.
The characters: Our two main characters are Jimmy Campbell and Danny Moore, but there are a few incredibly side characters as well like Rob and Lori and Lehela. It can be argued though, that our primary main character is Jimmy. Getting to experience both Jimmy and Danny's stories both individually as well as together was so masterfully done. I won't spoil anything, but they're both incredibly complex and have had incredible and at times heartbreaking tales and getting to see it all interwoven together was wonderful. The relationship between Danny and Jimmy was believable and you could feel everything they went through just seep off the page. I also absolutely loved the relationship between Jimmy and Rob, so much. Their friendship is one of my new favorites and one of the best I've seen in quite awhile. Also getting to see Danny's relationships with all those around him was fascinating and I loved it. Basically, the relationships and characters is what truly drove this book.
Trigger warnings for: period typical homophobia, alcoholism (neither of the main characters), slight PTSD and mentions of suicidal thoughts, and war.
Overall, I absolutely loved this book and would absolutely recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, and Homophobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, and Grief
Additional warning for a pretty big age difference between the main couple. It doesn't feel that big with how it's written, but it's a very big part of the book.aseaoftomes's review
emotional
funny
reflective
relaxing
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
April 2021 reread.
I still absolutely love this book and it was exactly what I needed right now. Everything I said about it in my initial review still stands.
I just love how atmospheric this book is; how calming and peaceful despite the difficult topics and rough pasts of the characters. It's a huge comfort book in so many ways.
James and Danny are still such relatable and compelling characters to me and I just really love their stories (though one thing I should mention is that there's quite a bit of an age difference between them. Despite the fact it doesn't feel that way because of how the author wrote it, it's still a fairly present aspect of the book)
But this is definitely a book I'm going to revisit over and over again.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What an incredible read.
For those of you who know me, you know I don't usually write reviews or read a ton of romance, but I feel like this book deserves more recognition.
Those of you who follow me, know that I like to break things down into categories and it'll be the same here.
The premise: LGBT historical, sports romance that takes place in 1970s California and Hawaii.
Jimmy Campbell was injured in Vietnam and ends up back in California. There are two things that help him get through: his best friend Rob and surfing. Our tale begins as Jimmy is participating in the International Surfing competition where he meets Danny Moore. Danny is the top surfer and the one to beat, but there's definitely more to him than meets the eye. Their paths collide and things go from there.
The writing: Honestly, I thought the writing was incredibly well done. Some people might think it's over the top or too flowery, but I'm here to tell you that I think it fits the story perfectly. It encapsulates the overall atmosphere and setting of the book. It feels the beach and the waves and the salt. It also captures the passion and love and tension between these characters so well. The pacing also flowed very well.
The setting: The author captured the atmosphere of the places that were being written about so well. We spend time in both California and Hawaii - Los Angeles and Oahu respectively and you are literally transported there. The setting is SO incredibly vivid and even if you've never been there before, it feels like you have.
The plot: I loved the plot of this a lot as well. The premise and plot are something I've never seen before, especially in a romance setting. I mean it's literally gay surfers falling in love in the 70s. The surfing aspects of the story were so well written and the author clearly knows what they're talking about/has done their research. They also wove in the romance in a wonderful way.
The characters: Our two main characters are Jimmy Campbell and Danny Moore, but there are a few incredibly side characters as well like Rob and Lori and Lehela. It can be argued though, that our primary main character is Jimmy. Getting to experience both Jimmy and Danny's stories both individually as well as together was so masterfully done. I won't spoil anything, but they're both incredibly complex and have had incredible and at times heartbreaking tales and getting to see it all interwoven together was wonderful. The relationship between Danny and Jimmy was believable and you could feel everything they went through just seep off the page. I also absolutely loved the relationship between Jimmy and Rob, so much. Their friendship is one of my new favorites and one of the best I've seen in quite awhile. Also getting to see Danny's relationships with all those around him was fascinating and I loved it. Basically, the relationships and characters is what truly drove this book.
Trigger warnings for: period typical homophobia, alcoholism (neither of the main characters), slight PTSD and mentions of suicidal thoughts, and war.
Overall, I absolutely loved this book and would absolutely recommend it.
I still absolutely love this book and it was exactly what I needed right now. Everything I said about it in my initial review still stands.
I just love how atmospheric this book is; how calming and peaceful despite the difficult topics and rough pasts of the characters. It's a huge comfort book in so many ways.
James and Danny are still such relatable and compelling characters to me and I just really love their stories (though one thing I should mention is that there's quite a bit of an age difference between them. Despite the fact it doesn't feel that way because of how the author wrote it, it's still a fairly present aspect of the book)
But this is definitely a book I'm going to revisit over and over again.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What an incredible read.
For those of you who know me, you know I don't usually write reviews or read a ton of romance, but I feel like this book deserves more recognition.
Those of you who follow me, know that I like to break things down into categories and it'll be the same here.
The premise: LGBT historical, sports romance that takes place in 1970s California and Hawaii.
Jimmy Campbell was injured in Vietnam and ends up back in California. There are two things that help him get through: his best friend Rob and surfing. Our tale begins as Jimmy is participating in the International Surfing competition where he meets Danny Moore. Danny is the top surfer and the one to beat, but there's definitely more to him than meets the eye. Their paths collide and things go from there.
The writing: Honestly, I thought the writing was incredibly well done. Some people might think it's over the top or too flowery, but I'm here to tell you that I think it fits the story perfectly. It encapsulates the overall atmosphere and setting of the book. It feels the beach and the waves and the salt. It also captures the passion and love and tension between these characters so well. The pacing also flowed very well.
The setting: The author captured the atmosphere of the places that were being written about so well. We spend time in both California and Hawaii - Los Angeles and Oahu respectively and you are literally transported there. The setting is SO incredibly vivid and even if you've never been there before, it feels like you have.
The plot: I loved the plot of this a lot as well. The premise and plot are something I've never seen before, especially in a romance setting. I mean it's literally gay surfers falling in love in the 70s. The surfing aspects of the story were so well written and the author clearly knows what they're talking about/has done their research. They also wove in the romance in a wonderful way.
The characters: Our two main characters are Jimmy Campbell and Danny Moore, but there are a few incredibly side characters as well like Rob and Lori and Lehela. It can be argued though, that our primary main character is Jimmy. Getting to experience both Jimmy and Danny's stories both individually as well as together was so masterfully done. I won't spoil anything, but they're both incredibly complex and have had incredible and at times heartbreaking tales and getting to see it all interwoven together was wonderful. The relationship between Danny and Jimmy was believable and you could feel everything they went through just seep off the page. I also absolutely loved the relationship between Jimmy and Rob, so much. Their friendship is one of my new favorites and one of the best I've seen in quite awhile. Also getting to see Danny's relationships with all those around him was fascinating and I loved it. Basically, the relationships and characters is what truly drove this book.
Trigger warnings for: period typical homophobia, alcoholism (neither of the main characters), slight PTSD and mentions of suicidal thoughts, and war.
Overall, I absolutely loved this book and would absolutely recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
There's a pretty big age difference in the main characters romance, and while it doesn't always feel that way with the way the author wrote it, it's a pretty present element.
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