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pam_h's review against another edition
3.0
The romance didn't really work for me, but Lisa Henry is a good enough writer that she had my attention captured from beginning to end regardless. There were just too many caretaker vibes and not enough of anything else. It didn't skeeve me out, but that's about the best I can say about it!
kaje_harper's review against another edition
5.0
An intense, emotional, and ultimately satisfying story about an Australian-Samoan police officer who finds an abused teenager on a case investigating a religious cult. From the first moment, Caleb's spirit sparks something in John. Not just pity, or even compassion, or responsibility, but a deep awareness of the strength of the individual behind the battered exterior.
John has befriended and watched over Caleb and his father, for years now. And as Caleb's strength and stability have improved, John's love has become something else. But Caleb still has bad moments, and self-harms, and his PTSD derails him. How can John justify anything other than a platonic friendship, when the deeper waters of a relationship might destroy Caleb if anything goes wrong.
Caleb has other ideas, though. The strength that sustained him locked in a water tank for days, also helps him move forward. He's doing better, ready to try for more than friendship. But the people who abused him are due to get out on parole, and his hard-won balance may not be solid enough to withstand their release into the world.
This story manages deep emotions without being graphic about the abuse. Brief flashbacks to the day John saved Caleb give us a sense of the devastation they began with. Caleb's dad made me ache - for the way it feels to want to help your child past a mental health problem and to be unable to shield or heal them. John's mother is a warm though sometimes demanding presence in his life, and his family issues with his sister add texture to the story.
I loved that this ends with happiness, but not with healing and perfection. You can be broken and patched together and still shaky, and still find love and moments of joy.
John has befriended and watched over Caleb and his father, for years now. And as Caleb's strength and stability have improved, John's love has become something else. But Caleb still has bad moments, and self-harms, and his PTSD derails him. How can John justify anything other than a platonic friendship, when the deeper waters of a relationship might destroy Caleb if anything goes wrong.
Caleb has other ideas, though. The strength that sustained him locked in a water tank for days, also helps him move forward. He's doing better, ready to try for more than friendship. But the people who abused him are due to get out on parole, and his hard-won balance may not be solid enough to withstand their release into the world.
This story manages deep emotions without being graphic about the abuse. Brief flashbacks to the day John saved Caleb give us a sense of the devastation they began with. Caleb's dad made me ache - for the way it feels to want to help your child past a mental health problem and to be unable to shield or heal them. John's mother is a warm though sometimes demanding presence in his life, and his family issues with his sister add texture to the story.
I loved that this ends with happiness, but not with healing and perfection. You can be broken and patched together and still shaky, and still find love and moments of joy.
dith_kusu's review against another edition
2.0
Got this months ago when this came out, and only just read it. The writing and depiction of characters and what their internal thought process was, is very good and there's no issue there in connecting with John and Caleb here. If I wasn't so frustrated with the events happening here and just the whole premise of the romance happening under this dynamic to begin with, this would be more than a three star. But at the core of it, I just can't ignore my thoughts on the very basis of romance happening here being very wrong and squicky, no matter if it's not *technically* violating anything.
John is a police officer with child protective services who was on a case early in his career, where Caleb was the child victim, subject of horrific abuse under his years of having grown up in an abusive cult. Eight years later, Caleb is a twenty two year old doing better but still struggling daily with his mental health, and he and John end up in a relationship despite John resisting at first? No. Just no- and when later on the evil cult adults who were in jail get released on probation and predictably ACTION SUSPENSE happens culminating in what you think would happen reading this, John is STILL ON THE CASE, and from the reader perspective we're supposed to think that their romance and love is okay? Just extremely compromising in terms of professionalism and serving the best he can to bring justice to everyone involved on the case.
Not to mention the police work came across as shoddy to me, with the girl Naomi also just being there to be murdered and act as a sad catalyst point, which if they'd done better work, thought of taking precautions, even checking up on her, wouldn't have happened as a plot point. TBH, I don't typically gravitate towards heavier subject matter in romance books, especially in this romanticizing cop/detective procedural style (Whew, reading this in the current time, I was also raising eyebrows at "school-focused policework", moments detailing John's job- policing system in Australia wouldn't be as bad though, right....?). I don't like military romance, security romance, police cop detective, action thriller romance, and so compounding the more angsty heavy aspects of surviving trauma and abuse with the "action" moments, this overall was frustrating even though it wasn't badly written.
At the core of this, basically I just was not on board for any of the romantic unfolding of events, and even if I could get past the squickiness of their dynamic and how they first were involved in the other's lives, I just didn't buy the romance. Their strong feelings was more already baked in and implied from the years of history with each other rather than shown in the story, and even that was more of a caring type of bond than anything, could've very easily just been platonic and IMO should've stayed that way. The romantic chemistry was not there for me, and the sex scenes (while I appreciated John being considerate of Caleb's traumas when approaching them sleeping together) were not convincing either.
Not only that, they met when Caleb was an abused traumatized vulnerable child, and John was a figure of authority and safe comfort to him over the years, he was very involved in his life. Then when he turned legal over the years their romantic feelings bloomed and became mutual? This is the same amount of gross outside of the police-subject of case dynamic, and into the met-you-while-you-were-underage gross. The Sidecar book with Amy Lane was kind of also squick in this manner too, but I felt that had more to stand on and it wasn't as bad/apparent as this for me.
What I did appreciate from this story was that Caleb and how he deals with mental health struggles is very fleshed out and poignant, and he's not instantly cured from the miracle of love but here it's shown how strong he is, and it's touching that he has his very good father Darren and (ugh fine) John as support systems who love him (wish the love wouldn't have taken the other direction for John but whatever). It's even understandable and realistic how sometimes John had moments of being weary from Caleb's episodes, but he always sticks by him and won't leave. Also the heartbreaking moments of Caleb feeling he's a liability in his father's life, his up and down good then switching on a dime bad moments.
The backdrop of Gold Coast Australia, the details of their environment around the beach and the names of all these places around them, the slang and mannerisms, were another good aspect. I did appreciate John's Samoan background and the strength of his cultural roots, and how they inform his character but don't define him, and his devotion to his family and how well-drawn they are (the teen sister Jess is extremely terrible though, just ugh especially given the much worse happenings around John and Caleb here).
Well, at least I started again in reading and clearing my catalog of still unread books. This didn't give me a fun cathartic romance vibe, but it didn't totally drag me down in the heaviness either, so I still don't regret having read it, might as well since I already own it. I just would not start books with this type of premise again in the future, at least not in the romance genre where it just doesn't go along together with the suspense to make for a good time.
John is a police officer with child protective services who was on a case early in his career, where Caleb was the child victim, subject of horrific abuse under his years of having grown up in an abusive cult. Eight years later, Caleb is a twenty two year old doing better but still struggling daily with his mental health, and he and John end up in a relationship despite John resisting at first? No. Just no- and when later on the evil cult adults who were in jail get released on probation and predictably ACTION SUSPENSE happens culminating in what you think would happen reading this, John is STILL ON THE CASE, and from the reader perspective we're supposed to think that their romance and love is okay? Just extremely compromising in terms of professionalism and serving the best he can to bring justice to everyone involved on the case.
Not to mention the police work came across as shoddy to me, with the girl Naomi also just being there to be murdered and act as a sad catalyst point, which if they'd done better work, thought of taking precautions, even checking up on her, wouldn't have happened as a plot point. TBH, I don't typically gravitate towards heavier subject matter in romance books, especially in this romanticizing cop/detective procedural style (Whew, reading this in the current time, I was also raising eyebrows at "school-focused policework", moments detailing John's job- policing system in Australia wouldn't be as bad though, right....?). I don't like military romance, security romance, police cop detective, action thriller romance, and so compounding the more angsty heavy aspects of surviving trauma and abuse with the "action" moments, this overall was frustrating even though it wasn't badly written.
At the core of this, basically I just was not on board for any of the romantic unfolding of events, and even if I could get past the squickiness of their dynamic and how they first were involved in the other's lives, I just didn't buy the romance. Their strong feelings was more already baked in and implied from the years of history with each other rather than shown in the story, and even that was more of a caring type of bond than anything, could've very easily just been platonic and IMO should've stayed that way. The romantic chemistry was not there for me, and the sex scenes (while I appreciated John being considerate of Caleb's traumas when approaching them sleeping together) were not convincing either.
Not only that, they met when Caleb was an abused traumatized vulnerable child, and John was a figure of authority and safe comfort to him over the years, he was very involved in his life. Then when he turned legal over the years their romantic feelings bloomed and became mutual? This is the same amount of gross outside of the police-subject of case dynamic, and into the met-you-while-you-were-underage gross. The Sidecar book with Amy Lane was kind of also squick in this manner too, but I felt that had more to stand on and it wasn't as bad/apparent as this for me.
What I did appreciate from this story was that Caleb and how he deals with mental health struggles is very fleshed out and poignant, and he's not instantly cured from the miracle of love but here it's shown how strong he is, and it's touching that he has his very good father Darren and (ugh fine) John as support systems who love him (wish the love wouldn't have taken the other direction for John but whatever). It's even understandable and realistic how sometimes John had moments of being weary from Caleb's episodes, but he always sticks by him and won't leave. Also the heartbreaking moments of Caleb feeling he's a liability in his father's life, his up and down good then switching on a dime bad moments.
The backdrop of Gold Coast Australia, the details of their environment around the beach and the names of all these places around them, the slang and mannerisms, were another good aspect. I did appreciate John's Samoan background and the strength of his cultural roots, and how they inform his character but don't define him, and his devotion to his family and how well-drawn they are (the teen sister Jess is extremely terrible though, just ugh especially given the much worse happenings around John and Caleb here).
Well, at least I started again in reading and clearing my catalog of still unread books. This didn't give me a fun cathartic romance vibe, but it didn't totally drag me down in the heaviness either, so I still don't regret having read it, might as well since I already own it. I just would not start books with this type of premise again in the future, at least not in the romance genre where it just doesn't go along together with the suspense to make for a good time.
ilibra's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very promising story and I was pretty invested in the beginning, but ultimately, the book lost me somewhere in the middle.
I really liked that Caleb and John already had a pretty strong relationship, since they have already known each other for 8 years at the beginning of the story. The donwside of that, though, was that we never really got to see these two falling in love or why they even loved each other so much. They already have so much history. I liked the little glipses we got into the past at the beginning of every chapter, though!
While I did enjoy Caleb and John as characters, I also feel like I barely got to know them. Like I said, I did like the strong bond they and Darren had, but still, there was something missing for me.
I was quite baffled by the amount of typos in this, because this book overall seems very competently written, but there were just so many words missing or "were" instead of "we're" and really easy to catch errors like that.
Anyway, this book is already leaking out of my brain and I can't even formulate what I liked and didn't like, so I'll just stop here.
I really liked that Caleb and John already had a pretty strong relationship, since they have already known each other for 8 years at the beginning of the story. The donwside of that, though, was that we never really got to see these two falling in love or why they even loved each other so much. They already have so much history. I liked the little glipses we got into the past at the beginning of every chapter, though!
While I did enjoy Caleb and John as characters, I also feel like I barely got to know them. Like I said, I did like the strong bond they and Darren had, but still, there was something missing for me.
I was quite baffled by the amount of typos in this, because this book overall seems very competently written, but there were just so many words missing or "were" instead of "we're" and really easy to catch errors like that.
Anyway, this book is already leaking out of my brain and I can't even formulate what I liked and didn't like, so I'll just stop here.
alexis_reads's review against another edition
2.0
The dynamic between John and Caleb was just . . . not super romantic to me. Their dynamic was more parent/child than anything else, which made the entire romance . . . iffy. Good writing as usual though.
dithkusu's review against another edition
2.0
Got this months ago when this came out, and only just read it. The writing and depiction of characters and what their internal thought process was, is very good and there's no issue there in connecting with John and Caleb here. If I wasn't so frustrated with the events happening here and just the whole premise of the romance happening under this dynamic to begin with, this would be more than a three star. But at the core of it, I just can't ignore my thoughts on the very basis of romance happening here being very wrong and squicky, no matter if it's not *technically* violating anything.
John is a police officer with child protective services who was on a case early in his career, where Caleb was the child victim, subject of horrific abuse under his years of having grown up in an abusive cult. Eight years later, Caleb is a twenty two year old doing better but still struggling daily with his mental health, and he and John end up in a relationship despite John resisting at first? No. Just no- and when later on the evil cult adults who were in jail get released on probation and predictably ACTION SUSPENSE happens culminating in what you think would happen reading this, John is STILL ON THE CASE, and from the reader perspective we're supposed to think that their romance and love is okay? Just extremely compromising in terms of professionalism and serving the best he can to bring justice to everyone involved on the case.
Not to mention the police work came across as shoddy to me, with the girl Naomi also just being there to be murdered and act as a sad catalyst point, which if they'd done better work, thought of taking precautions, even checking up on her, wouldn't have happened as a plot point. TBH, I don't typically gravitate towards heavier subject matter in romance books, especially in this romanticizing cop/detective procedural style (Whew, reading this in the current time, I was also raising eyebrows at "school-focused policework", moments detailing John's job- policing system in Australia wouldn't be as bad though, right....?). I don't like military romance, security romance, police cop detective, action thriller romance, and so compounding the more angsty heavy aspects of surviving trauma and abuse with the "action" moments, this overall was frustrating even though it wasn't badly written.
At the core of this, basically I just was not on board for any of the romantic unfolding of events, and even if I could get past the squickiness of their dynamic and how they first were involved in the other's lives, I just didn't buy the romance. Their strong feelings was more already baked in and implied from the years of history with each other rather than shown in the story, and even that was more of a caring type of bond than anything, could've very easily just been platonic and IMO should've stayed that way. The romantic chemistry was not there for me, and the sex scenes (while I appreciated John being considerate of Caleb's traumas when approaching them sleeping together) were not convincing either.
Not only that, they met when Caleb was an abused traumatized vulnerable child, and John was a figure of authority and safe comfort to him over the years, he was very involved in his life. Then when he turned legal over the years their romantic feelings bloomed and became mutual? This is the same amount of gross outside of the police-subject of case dynamic, and into the met-you-while-you-were-underage gross. The Sidecar book with Amy Lane was kind of also squick in this manner too, but I felt that had more to stand on and it wasn't as bad/apparent as this for me.
What I did appreciate from this story was that Caleb and how he deals with mental health struggles is very fleshed out and poignant, and he's not instantly cured from the miracle of love but here it's shown how strong he is, and it's touching that he has his very good father Darren and (ugh fine) John as support systems who love him (wish the love wouldn't have taken the other direction for John but whatever). It's even understandable and realistic how sometimes John had moments of being weary from Caleb's episodes, but he always sticks by him and won't leave. Also the heartbreaking moments of Caleb feeling he's a liability in his father's life, his up and down good then switching on a dime bad moments.
The backdrop of Gold Coast Australia, the details of their environment around the beach and the names of all these places around them, the slang and mannerisms, were another good aspect. I did appreciate John's Samoan background and the strength of his cultural roots, and how they inform his character but don't define him, and his devotion to his family and how well-drawn they are (the teen sister Jess is extremely terrible though, just ugh especially given the much worse happenings around John and Caleb here).
Well, at least I started again in reading and clearing my catalog of still unread books. This didn't give me a fun cathartic romance vibe, but it didn't totally drag me down in the heaviness either, so I still don't regret having read it, might as well since I already own it. I just would not start books with this type of premise again in the future, at least not in the romance genre where it just doesn't go along together with the suspense to make for a good time.
John is a police officer with child protective services who was on a case early in his career, where Caleb was the child victim, subject of horrific abuse under his years of having grown up in an abusive cult. Eight years later, Caleb is a twenty two year old doing better but still struggling daily with his mental health, and he and John end up in a relationship despite John resisting at first? No. Just no- and when later on the evil cult adults who were in jail get released on probation and predictably ACTION SUSPENSE happens culminating in what you think would happen reading this, John is STILL ON THE CASE, and from the reader perspective we're supposed to think that their romance and love is okay? Just extremely compromising in terms of professionalism and serving the best he can to bring justice to everyone involved on the case.
Not to mention the police work came across as shoddy to me, with the girl Naomi also just being there to be murdered and act as a sad catalyst point, which if they'd done better work, thought of taking precautions, even checking up on her, wouldn't have happened as a plot point. TBH, I don't typically gravitate towards heavier subject matter in romance books, especially in this romanticizing cop/detective procedural style (Whew, reading this in the current time, I was also raising eyebrows at "school-focused policework", moments detailing John's job- policing system in Australia wouldn't be as bad though, right....?). I don't like military romance, security romance, police cop detective, action thriller romance, and so compounding the more angsty heavy aspects of surviving trauma and abuse with the "action" moments, this overall was frustrating even though it wasn't badly written.
At the core of this, basically I just was not on board for any of the romantic unfolding of events, and even if I could get past the squickiness of their dynamic and how they first were involved in the other's lives, I just didn't buy the romance. Their strong feelings was more already baked in and implied from the years of history with each other rather than shown in the story, and even that was more of a caring type of bond than anything, could've very easily just been platonic and IMO should've stayed that way. The romantic chemistry was not there for me, and the sex scenes (while I appreciated John being considerate of Caleb's traumas when approaching them sleeping together) were not convincing either.
Not only that, they met when Caleb was an abused traumatized vulnerable child, and John was a figure of authority and safe comfort to him over the years, he was very involved in his life. Then when he turned legal over the years their romantic feelings bloomed and became mutual? This is the same amount of gross outside of the police-subject of case dynamic, and into the met-you-while-you-were-underage gross. The Sidecar book with Amy Lane was kind of also squick in this manner too, but I felt that had more to stand on and it wasn't as bad/apparent as this for me.
What I did appreciate from this story was that Caleb and how he deals with mental health struggles is very fleshed out and poignant, and he's not instantly cured from the miracle of love but here it's shown how strong he is, and it's touching that he has his very good father Darren and (ugh fine) John as support systems who love him (wish the love wouldn't have taken the other direction for John but whatever). It's even understandable and realistic how sometimes John had moments of being weary from Caleb's episodes, but he always sticks by him and won't leave. Also the heartbreaking moments of Caleb feeling he's a liability in his father's life, his up and down good then switching on a dime bad moments.
The backdrop of Gold Coast Australia, the details of their environment around the beach and the names of all these places around them, the slang and mannerisms, were another good aspect. I did appreciate John's Samoan background and the strength of his cultural roots, and how they inform his character but don't define him, and his devotion to his family and how well-drawn they are (the teen sister Jess is extremely terrible though, just ugh especially given the much worse happenings around John and Caleb here).
Well, at least I started again in reading and clearing my catalog of still unread books. This didn't give me a fun cathartic romance vibe, but it didn't totally drag me down in the heaviness either, so I still don't regret having read it, might as well since I already own it. I just would not start books with this type of premise again in the future, at least not in the romance genre where it just doesn't go along together with the suspense to make for a good time.
steiner's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. I liked the cultural elements which are totally new to me. I don't think I have ever read any book featuring a Samoan protagonist.
The story was well executed. It could have been very dodgy territory with the power dynamics in the relationship but I think she handled it with sensitivity. I liked that Caleb could get a future while still struggling with problems. I found this hopeful despite the dark subject matter.
The story was well executed. It could have been very dodgy territory with the power dynamics in the relationship but I think she handled it with sensitivity. I liked that Caleb could get a future while still struggling with problems. I found this hopeful despite the dark subject matter.
ariknox05's review against another edition
It was boring. I didn't understand why the two were in love (that was established before the story began)
Caleb also didn't feel like he recovered enough to be in a relationship
Caleb also didn't feel like he recovered enough to be in a relationship
pedromartins's review against another edition
5.0
Incrível como estilo de escrita is a thing. Quando li The Island elogiei a Lisa Henry por sair do óbvio e narrar uma história com perfeição. The Parable of the Mustard Seed é a mesma coisa. Vi milhares de similaridades entre os dois livros. Na verdade, pelo que vi do sumário de várias obras da Henry, ela parece incluir sempre alguns elementos repetidos: sempre tem uma pegada dark (às vezes até meio perturbadora), abuso, violência, problemas psicológicos... Tem que ter estômago.
A escrita também tem uma pegada similar – pelo menos entre os dois livros dela que li até agora. Longos monólogos internos, escrita poética às vezes, feelings e muitos feelings. Já me incomodei com esse tipo de coisa, mas não foi o caso com a Lisa Henry até agora. Muito pelo contrário, às vezes na primeira frase de uma cena eu já tava com os olhos marejados. Beautifullllll.........
No geral eu gostei muito da história. Também achei legal como a autora lidou com questões de saúde mental mesmo que it hits too close to home, rsrs..
Gostei muito do casal principal, senti o amor deles aki no meu core e to torcendo por eles. Digo torcendo pq de novo a Lisa Henry não me deu um Happily Ever After, mas um simples Happy For Now (!!!!). Sou um romantico! Eu preciso de um HEA em qualquer livro bobinho. Nesse livro carregado de sofrimento e tristeza então, um Felizes Para Sempre deveria ser obrigatoriooooo!!!!!! Policia FBI façam alguma coisa.
A escrita também tem uma pegada similar – pelo menos entre os dois livros dela que li até agora. Longos monólogos internos, escrita poética às vezes, feelings e muitos feelings. Já me incomodei com esse tipo de coisa, mas não foi o caso com a Lisa Henry até agora. Muito pelo contrário, às vezes na primeira frase de uma cena eu já tava com os olhos marejados. Beautifullllll.........
No geral eu gostei muito da história. Também achei legal como a autora lidou com questões de saúde mental mesmo que it hits too close to home, rsrs..
Gostei muito do casal principal, senti o amor deles aki no meu core e to torcendo por eles. Digo torcendo pq de novo a Lisa Henry não me deu um Happily Ever After, mas um simples Happy For Now (!!!!). Sou um romantico! Eu preciso de um HEA em qualquer livro bobinho. Nesse livro carregado de sofrimento e tristeza então, um Felizes Para Sempre deveria ser obrigatoriooooo!!!!!! Policia FBI façam alguma coisa.
kelbee's review against another edition
4.0
The angst and turmoil were VERY real with this one, but Lisa Henry wove a beautiful and heartbreaking tale that had me rooting so hard for our MCs.
Between all the angst there was some much appreciated levity.
“Hmm.” John hoped he wasn’t pushing him. “What’s your thing?”
“Oh, I’m pretty specific,” Caleb said. His eyes shone. “You’re my thing, John. Just you.”
John’s devotion to and adoration for Caleb was beautiful, and really carried the story for me.
“This was Caleb, and everything was new. The entire universe was born right now in this exact moment, and John’s eyes stung with sudden tears.”
I do wish we had gotten a glimpse inside Caleb’s head, and an epilogue with a glimpse at their future, but I’m mostly satisfied and did enjoy this story a lot. If you’re looking for some gut-wrenching angst paired with a love story then look no further. You’ve found your book.
“John didn’t know when it happened.
He’d always been in love with Caleb Fletcher.
It was his spirit he fell in love with first.
All of the rest came later.”
Between all the angst there was some much appreciated levity.
“Hmm.” John hoped he wasn’t pushing him. “What’s your thing?”
“Oh, I’m pretty specific,” Caleb said. His eyes shone. “You’re my thing, John. Just you.”
John’s devotion to and adoration for Caleb was beautiful, and really carried the story for me.
“This was Caleb, and everything was new. The entire universe was born right now in this exact moment, and John’s eyes stung with sudden tears.”
I do wish we had gotten a glimpse inside Caleb’s head, and an epilogue with a glimpse at their future, but I’m mostly satisfied and did enjoy this story a lot. If you’re looking for some gut-wrenching angst paired with a love story then look no further. You’ve found your book.
“John didn’t know when it happened.
He’d always been in love with Caleb Fletcher.
It was his spirit he fell in love with first.
All of the rest came later.”