Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Scottish Boy

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The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi

16 reviews

njh_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

If you are looking for a historically accurate historical fiction romance novel, please U-turn at your earliest convenience, if not, this may be for you.

It was decently believable until the last 150 pages and then...

It's a thick book, about 500 pages, yet it never really dragged for me. Some parts were slower than others but there was never really a point in the novel where I was begging for it to get on with it.

I quite enjoyed Harry and Iain, and they both grew on me as they grew up as well. Sometimes they were both idiots with each other, but they seemed to generally figure it out. Glad Iain got his revenge.

Alys is a rockstar as well and I enjoyed her wit and keeping Harry in check. While this is a MLM novel, Alys could be ace--her distain for the process to get pregnant to the point she basically does some medieval process of IUI and that she desires a courtly love, not a physical/sexual one, speaks of that potential.

The dynamic between Harry, Iain, and Alys I would've loved to see more of, simply because the last scene was killer and the three of them seem to balance each other out well. Liked the ending where the protagonist, the lover, and the best friend all can get along and live in harmony.

Some fav quotes/scenes that may have made me giggle:

"The aide scrunches his face in discomfort. ‘Those are the private royal gardens, Sir Harry. We do not look towards them nor do we reach into them, unless we have a very great desire to lose our hand.'
Harry's face reddens in embarrassment as he is led away from the bench, probably never to be allowed near it again.
'Are you worried the King overheard your prayer?' the aide asks.
'No. I prayed in English,’ Harry says.
'Pfft,' the aide snorts. ‘Then God did not hear it either, for He does not speak the vulgar tongue.'"(474)

"Alys finds the chest containing the scarves and ribbons. Her brow furrows. ‘lain, why on earth do any of us need so much haberdashery? I, for one, have no intention of ever going to court again.’
‘Well,’ lain whispers, in his rough, ruined voice, 'you're going to go through a lot of ribbons, because every time that great Sassenach idiot rides into a tournament he's going to need a favour.'
‘Oh lord,’ Harry groans. 'You're teaming up on me?’
And two bright, mischievous brunets look at him and grin. 'Who, us?' says Alys, her face innocent.
‘We'd never,’ purrs lain." (505-506)

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quinnyquinnquinn's review

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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corin_134340's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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wildatheart1339's review against another edition

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4.5

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ohloulou's review

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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pitsikakku's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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menomica's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

He knows now the word for the soaring feeling he gets in his chest every time he looks at his squire. He knows now the name of the song his body sings when he touches his friend. It is love. And it is impossible.

Maybe my brain is rotted because everyone’s saying they hated this book meanwhile I was getting my life with this.

Once you know and understand that this book was originally a stucky fanfic everything clicks. Like once you see and accept that it’s a repackaged ~~and repolished~~ fanfic

I know they had to chang the names for legal reasons but I need to know the original character roster. Who the fuck was Montegue in the original fic??? Every time there was a new character introduced I was like was that originally and MCU character or an OC? Someone send me the characterlist I’m dying to know!!!

off ao3 it makes a lot more sense. Like with this book, I really felt like I was reading a fic, just kind of turning my brain off and enjoying the ride. Like of course they’re just gonna have random sex with no fear of painting, painting doesn’t exist in ao3land!

That being said, I would argue this book does manage to stand on its own. Like for me at least I enjoyed watching ~~Steve~~ Harry and ~~Bucky~~ Ian’s relationship grow. And like I said, since it follows more of the fanfic structure, you shouldn’t be suprised to see hot gay sex first, plot intrigue later. But this book really doesn’t get hot and horny till the 25% mark, and there is actually a lot of plot in this book.

Idk I liked it. Wouldn’t be mad if there was a sequel 🤷🏾‍♀️.

Uncle Iain is definitely the kids favorite. Plus I’d love to see Aly, Harry and Iain’s relationship after the books.

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rey_therese07's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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? No

5.0

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mallorypen's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I don’t think I have reacted as physically as much to any book as I did to this one in a very long time. Gasps, blushes, tears, giggling and full body flinching … holy cow, what a story.

What I loved:

Harry’s abrupt transition from naive boy hoping for glory and riches with war, to disillusioned participant in horrific acts of war, to unwilling jailor, to a man so desperately In love that it changed the rest of the course of his life. His ability to cling to chivalry, even during his darkest years of depression, make him such a good man and worthy of the love he receives.
Ian’s rage and fire - from his capture, to his transition from captive to member of Harry’s household, his journey from doomed pawn to master of his own fate as the Knight of Death. His knowledge of courtly politics, his inability to back down, and his intense jealousy balance his character so well into a compelling character and unwilling hero.
The machinations of Montague and his cronies … and how thoroughly Ian takes them all down.
The medieval courtly GOODNESS … this felt like all the best parts of A Knight’s Tale but infused with the research and delivery of a historian. I died at Ian and Harry’s joust, and Ian throwing away the win at the last moment -!
The Yearning™️ intermixed with the most compelling political intrigue. I’m starting to think that dangerous political machinations as a B plot to a fantastically steamy romance is exactly my brand of storytelling.
The smut was absolutely on fire. I don’t think I’ve blushed so hard listening to or reading anything else this year. “I only bow to one man” hnnnnnng.
The narrator did a great job … Scottish accent notwithstanding.
Elise and Annie. Does this book pass the Bechdel test? Not in the slightest. Are Annie the Straight Aly and Elise the Asexual Badass still great characters? Obviously.

I didn’t love how Harry turned to war to drown out his pain after he thought Ian was dead, but it made narrative sense. It also got Harry to France, so he could be in Ian’s path once again. The ending also wrapped everything up neatly and in a lot less time than the rest of the plot, leaving it feeling a bit like an afterthought. That said, the ending was happy, the chivalrous were handsome, strong and true, and Ian got to meet his “niblings” and I am suffused with joy imagining the love of the household.

… We will also forgive the untimely death of Star. Why are these authors killing all these horses lately???

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r_a's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

3.75

“I loved you before and I love you now and I’m going to lose you.’"

Before I get stuck into this review, I did want to preface that overall I did enjoy this book and it had some beautiful lines in it (like the one above). But I did have some issues with it.

One of these issues with The Scottish Boy was its length. I believe that the story would have benefited from being spread across two books instead of one. Something that frustrates me is when books are marketed as ‘enemies to lovers’, but they’re a ‘dislike or rivals to lovers’ or aren’t committing wholeheartedly on the ‘enemies’ aspect. The Scottish Boy does fall into the ‘enemies to lovers’ category, but the pacing of the romance felt a bit rushed in relation to the trope and the overall length of the book, creating more of a soft take. Despite this, I did enjoy the relationship dynamic between the characters; it had its moments of beauty and pain, hope and despair. If the story had been presented as a duology rather than a standalone, the ‘enemies to lovers’ aspect could have been given more time to develop, with more attention given to the intricacies of their attraction. Additionally, the political plot could have been explored in more depth, adding more nuance and mystery to key players. Of course, this slower pacing may not be to every reader's taste and is probably more my personal preference as I love slow-burn romances (though I doubt fans of the book would protest spending more time with these characters). But I still can’t help feeling that they went from ‘enemies’ to ‘lovers’ too quickly based on how the English viewed the Scottish at the time.

"And if this is the act that will send him to Hell, then he is willing to burn."

My second issue with the story has spoilers.

I found the title to be misleading. I believe that The French Boy would have been a more appropriate title, as it more accurately reflects the subject matter of the story. However, this would have given away the reveal of Iain’s identity, spoiling it before readers could connect the dots themselves. I also had anticipated that the story would be set more in Scotland and would explore how the main characters' love for each other helped them to overcome their prejudices towards the Scottish and the English. Although I recognise that this may have been too idealistic given the historical setting of the story (though the story isn’t historically accurate to begin with), it could have been interesting to see this explored further. Instead, the book primarily focused on international political secrets and the dangers surrounding the legitimate claim to the French throne. Furthermore, as the book had spent a considerable amount of time building up theories and speculating about who would claim the throne, I had expected that we would spend more time in France than we did to gain a deeper understanding of the political machinations taking place there. However, even though the book only briefly touched on France towards the end, it's worth noting that we spent more time in France than we did in Scotland, despite 'Scottish' being in the title of the book.

I also found that the book included an almost excessive amount of sex scenes at times, which I believe distracted readers from the overall plot and pacing. This was particularly true in the early parts of the book, where I felt that more attention should have been given to establishing and developing the important political background that was later introduced. Perhaps their sex scenes could have been less distracting if the story had been spread across two books, allowing for more pacing and development to facilitate in rectifying the issue. However, as I mentioned above, there was some beautifully written lines in regards to their relationship throughout the book. And despite my want for a little less sex scenes, their scenes were the best part of the book for me.

"I will always come back to you. Always. Even if I have to drag myself out of the grave to do it."

So to sum up: I just wanted this to be two books and have more time with the ambitions of the authors work. I would also deter people away if they’re looking for a more historically accurate book to read. This one might infuriate you. But if you don’t have any issues with that or don’t read too heavily in the ‘historical fiction’ genre – like myself – there is a lot to enjoy in Campi’s M/M romance.

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