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jackiehorne's review
3.0
I've loved the previous books in Cousins's series, but this one felt a little flat to me. Working class immigrant Rafi wins an athletic scholarship to an elite private New England college, largely due to the influence of his rich white friend Denny (we met both characters in the previous book in the series). Denny's ready to welcome Rafi to college and to the crew team with open arms, but Rafi puts up walls between them, worried that people will think he's only there because he slept his way into a scholarship. And more than a little taken aback that 18-year-old never-been-kissed Denny has blossomed into a 20-year-old buff guy with a lot more sexual experience than Rafi had ever imagined him having.
A year of college ensues, with Rafi suffering microaggressions because of his race and his sexual orientation, refusing to discuss said microaggressions or his difficulties keeping up in his classes with Denny, and trying not to act on his growing attraction to Denny. The two finally get together, but then have some on-again off-again difficulties as the pressure on Rafi only increases. This back-and-forthing got a bit annoying towards the end of the book, when the two get back together only to be separated again a chapter or two later, without any real build-up to make Rafi's motivations for shying away from Denny understandable or believable.
Still, the book's larger messages—"I don't quit just because you're a pain in the ass and make me feel like shit sometimes. But I don't have to put up with your crap either, you understand" (Kindle Loc 4068)—and that Rafi doesn't need to be ashamed that his lack of privilege makes college more difficult for him than it does for Denny—are important ones. And Rafi and Denny make for an appealing couple.
A year of college ensues, with Rafi suffering microaggressions because of his race and his sexual orientation, refusing to discuss said microaggressions or his difficulties keeping up in his classes with Denny, and trying not to act on his growing attraction to Denny. The two finally get together, but then have some on-again off-again difficulties as the pressure on Rafi only increases. This back-and-forthing got a bit annoying towards the end of the book, when the two get back together only to be separated again a chapter or two later, without any real build-up to make Rafi's motivations for shying away from Denny understandable or believable.
Still, the book's larger messages—"I don't quit just because you're a pain in the ass and make me feel like shit sometimes. But I don't have to put up with your crap either, you understand" (Kindle Loc 4068)—and that Rafi doesn't need to be ashamed that his lack of privilege makes college more difficult for him than it does for Denny—are important ones. And Rafi and Denny make for an appealing couple.
lifeand100books's review
2.0
My biggest issue with this book is Rafi. I'm so confused by his character. He openly admits that he was very out in high school and in the prologue seems like an incredibly confident guy. Then when we see him at school he's suddenly got terribly anxiety and is essentially hiding that he's gay. It was such a juxtaposition from who he was in the prologue that I never quite got over it enough to connect with his story.
geo_ix's review
3.0
I've decided to finish this series here. I enjoy reading these books but I also don't. I'm unsure if it's just not my style of writing or maybe it's the characters or something, but something always holds me back from loving them since book one. I also don't like that there's so much tension but the sex scenes feel like those scenes in movies where it's just super dark and you see glimpses of them and fades to black and personally that's just not enough when the tensions as high as this, I need the whole journey not to stop and see the sights for two seconds. I'm greedy. Also there were a lot of handjobs and blowjobs in this one and they were more steamy than the sex to me lol
runningonbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
emilyrpf's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- 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
ilovebakedgoods's review
4.0
Re-read 6/23/16
****
First read 9/19/15 Probably 3.5 stars. There is a lot of angst in this one, which I know a lot of people hate and it's something that I normally am not bothered by when it comes to m/m NA books. Maybe it's my own tendency toward the anxious and neurotic that allows me to forgive those traits in the characters I meet in books, especially when they are young adults. But, despite my forgiveness of angst, Rafi did annoy me at times with his dramatics and his push-pull attitude toward Denny. Rafi would convince himself that he and Denny didn't fit, so he would sabotage things.
Denny is a saint for sticking by Rafi while Rafi figured out how to deal with his anxiety and stress, among other issues. Denny was also a sweetheart who went from a newly-out virgin in the book before this one, to a confident, out young gay man who wanted to experience love with the guy he held a torch for (that's you, Rafi! Ya doof).
****
First read 9/19/15 Probably 3.5 stars. There is a lot of angst in this one, which I know a lot of people hate and it's something that I normally am not bothered by when it comes to m/m NA books. Maybe it's my own tendency toward the anxious and neurotic that allows me to forgive those traits in the characters I meet in books, especially when they are young adults. But, despite my forgiveness of angst, Rafi did annoy me at times with his dramatics and his push-pull attitude toward Denny. Rafi would convince himself that he and Denny didn't fit, so he would sabotage things.
Denny is a saint for sticking by Rafi while Rafi figured out how to deal with his anxiety and stress, among other issues. Denny was also a sweetheart who went from a newly-out virgin in the book before this one, to a confident, out young gay man who wanted to experience love with the guy he held a torch for (that's you, Rafi! Ya doof).
sonni89's review
3.0
This book would have been 50% more enjoyable if Rafi had been 50% less of an asshole.
That could basically be my review. I still really liked a lot of this, and I ADORE Denny beyond belief, but I thought he was just too patient sometimes and Rafi was just too much of a dick sometimes. Which is a bummer, because I had really been looking forward to their story after Cash and Steph's book.
This is a hard one to rate because I did enjoy it overall, but there were elements that definitely irked me.
That could basically be my review. I still really liked a lot of this, and I ADORE Denny beyond belief, but I thought he was just too patient sometimes and Rafi was just too much of a dick sometimes. Which is a bummer, because I had really been looking forward to their story after Cash and Steph's book.
This is a hard one to rate because I did enjoy it overall, but there were elements that definitely irked me.
stenaros's review against another edition
4.0
I have sworn, hand to [whatever god-thing I swear to] that I will not buy any more of these smart smut ebooks and read them on my phone. I get my books from the library. I like the feel of paper. I have a ton of things to read that are not romances. But then I find my hands creeping back to my phone. Because it's the next book in the Bend or Break series. And this time it's Denny, the then-17-year-old kid who showed up at his cousin Cash's door in The Girl Next Door. But now he's 19 and Rafi, Cash's co-worker, is joining him at the same elite Western Massachusetts college that Cash and Steph and Tom and Reese all graduated from.
Amy Jo Cousins, aside from her expertly written sex scenes and her fantabulous character development, spends a goodly amount of time dealing with Rafi's fitting in to the elite college environment, as well as being a very brown guy in a very white place. There's a rowing element to the plot as both Denny and Rafi are rowers. Overall, the push-pull is the feeling Rafi has that he needs to make his own way in this world, while also being crazy about Denny. Plus, there's a "tables turned" element. The last time we saw the two main characters, Denny was a just-out 17-year-old and Rafi was 18 or 19 and, having been out through high school, was the Obi-Wan in their friendship. But it's been a few years and Denny's had some experience. Cue the trouble.
Amy Jo Cousins, aside from her expertly written sex scenes and her fantabulous character development, spends a goodly amount of time dealing with Rafi's fitting in to the elite college environment, as well as being a very brown guy in a very white place. There's a rowing element to the plot as both Denny and Rafi are rowers. Overall, the push-pull is the feeling Rafi has that he needs to make his own way in this world, while also being crazy about Denny. Plus, there's a "tables turned" element. The last time we saw the two main characters, Denny was a just-out 17-year-old and Rafi was 18 or 19 and, having been out through high school, was the Obi-Wan in their friendship. But it's been a few years and Denny's had some experience. Cue the trouble.