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roygbiv_books's review against another edition
2.0
I hate that I have more negatives to say here than positives because this had a ton of potential.
Negatives:
I was surprised to find that the story described in the summary, which drew me in to the book, was over in the first section. I was very confused when the book suddenly jumped to a different point of view and different story in general. That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy both of these POVs and aspects of overall story but the summary was definitely misleading.
I feel like I could’ve read two separate books, one about Edwin and one about Marius but instead was presented with rushed and forced versions of their stories. I understand that adult relationships can be fast paced and it can be difficult to build up realistic timelines in books but roughly 3 days for both of these men to dive in to pretty serious ‘relationships’? This seems like too much of a stretch.
Maybe it was the rushed stories, but I felt like there were a lot of unnecessary details/characters.
Overall, the writing in this book was littered with big words which felt out of place and made the prose choppy. At times this made pages difficult to get through and the general understanding of the writing hard to grasp.
Positives:
I really enjoyed the character of Edwin. He seemed sweet and it was interesting to read a story from the perspective of someone with a stutter.
The tropes of endearing loner meets perfect match (Edwin and Adam) and grumpy/sunshine (Marius and Leo) were generally interesting.
I feel like I learned a lot about Narrowboats.
Negatives:
I was surprised to find that the story described in the summary, which drew me in to the book, was over in the first section. I was very confused when the book suddenly jumped to a different point of view and different story in general. That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy both of these POVs and aspects of overall story but the summary was definitely misleading.
I feel like I could’ve read two separate books, one about Edwin and one about Marius but instead was presented with rushed and forced versions of their stories. I understand that adult relationships can be fast paced and it can be difficult to build up realistic timelines in books but roughly 3 days for both of these men to dive in to pretty serious ‘relationships’? This seems like too much of a stretch.
Maybe it was the rushed stories, but I felt like there were a lot of unnecessary details/characters.
Overall, the writing in this book was littered with big words which felt out of place and made the prose choppy. At times this made pages difficult to get through and the general understanding of the writing hard to grasp.
Positives:
I really enjoyed the character of Edwin. He seemed sweet and it was interesting to read a story from the perspective of someone with a stutter.
The tropes of endearing loner meets perfect match (Edwin and Adam) and grumpy/sunshine (Marius and Leo) were generally interesting.
I feel like I learned a lot about Narrowboats.
meigothic's review against another edition
5.0
Disclaimer: I received a review copy for free via Netgalley, and am voluntarily leaving my honest thoughts. Many thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity!
The Spires series is one that I hold dear to my heart with its themes and the writing style that Hall has here. Waiting for the Flood was one of my favorites even when it was just a novella with a theme of moving on from a relationship, and also has a quiet kind of somber tone! I'm so glad that Hall expanded upon the book here with the extra content and also included another novella about Marius. I loved and appreciated the journey that Edwin goes through in this book, and rereading it in its full length reminded me just how much I loved him and Adam together.
The Spires series is one that I hold dear to my heart with its themes and the writing style that Hall has here. Waiting for the Flood was one of my favorites even when it was just a novella with a theme of moving on from a relationship, and also has a quiet kind of somber tone! I'm so glad that Hall expanded upon the book here with the extra content and also included another novella about Marius. I loved and appreciated the journey that Edwin goes through in this book, and rereading it in its full length reminded me just how much I loved him and Adam together.
rustbeltredux's review
4.5
A beautifully written story about young love, falling out of love, and the heartbreaking torture of allowing oneself to find love anew. I’m absolutely marveling at how someone could possibly pack an entire novel’s worth of emotion into a scant 90 pages.
“I don’t know anymore. I don’t know where love ends and habit begins.”
“People make choices, and sometimes they just leave. And, afterwards, we gather up our hearts, pick up our lives, do the best we can with them, and see what comes.”
“I don’t know anymore. I don’t know where love ends and habit begins.”
“People make choices, and sometimes they just leave. And, afterwards, we gather up our hearts, pick up our lives, do the best we can with them, and see what comes.”
rachelrude's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
emilyexmas's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn’t realised that this was expanded to more than twice the length with the inclusion of a new novella focused on Marius.
Edwin and Adam were sweet and just like I remembered. Not much to add there.
But Marius? What a dick! But he was a dick who stayed true to his dickishness throughout and yet o still ended up wanting him to be happy. His mother, though, what an absolute GEM! She was the highlight of the entire story. lol. Her getting the RICE and RACK acronyms mixed up was simply perfection.
I also loved the shorts at the end about the elderflower wine and pierogi recipes.
Edwin and Adam were sweet and just like I remembered. Not much to add there.
But Marius? What a dick! But he was a dick who stayed true to his dickishness throughout and yet o still ended up wanting him to be happy. His mother, though, what an absolute GEM! She was the highlight of the entire story. lol. Her getting the RICE and RACK acronyms mixed up was simply perfection.
I also loved the shorts at the end about the elderflower wine and pierogi recipes.
amy_macbeth_aotearoa's review
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ann_is_reading1's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mikime's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
This is actually a duology, Waiting for the Flood + Chasing the Light, plus an Aftermath (and other bonus material). Proper review will come in due time.
transparent_tea's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5
Reading one of Alexis Hall's books earlier this year and DNF'ing it made me have second thoughts about picking up this book. I read Glitterland last year and was okay with it, overlooking Darian's heavy accent, and considered picking the second book of the Spires Universe.
What I enjoyed about this book is that the author added some notes at the very beginning of the book, stating that Waiting for the Flood was too short of a story to be published, and the original idea was to have another story that shows the other side of the broken relationship. Reading the first part, the reader sees that Edwin Tully's story is pretty short and gets to the point of forming a new relationship with Adam Dacre, while Chasing the Light, you get to understand Marius Chankseliani (Edwin's ex-) and get the actual reason why the two broke it off and for him to start a new relationship with Leo Dance.
The same person wrote both stories; however, reading them felt very different. Whether it be the writer's maturity or a purposeful change in tone, it feels like the two stories came from two voices.
Side note, I laughed at Marius' mother's appearance. We need more of her in our lives.
What I enjoyed about this book is that the author added some notes at the very beginning of the book, stating that Waiting for the Flood was too short of a story to be published, and the original idea was to have another story that shows the other side of the broken relationship. Reading the first part, the reader sees that Edwin Tully's story is pretty short and gets to the point of forming a new relationship with Adam Dacre, while Chasing the Light, you get to understand Marius Chankseliani (Edwin's ex-) and get the actual reason why the two broke it off and for him to start a new relationship with Leo Dance.
The same person wrote both stories; however, reading them felt very different. Whether it be the writer's maturity or a purposeful change in tone, it feels like the two stories came from two voices.
Side note, I laughed at Marius' mother's appearance. We need more of her in our lives.