Reviews

משחק ידידות by סילביה הרמון, S.E. Harmon

kynikoskyon's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5/5

No entiendo por qué es tan difícil encontrar buenas novelas de romance m/m, pero me alegro que cuando por fin me topo con una, sea un delicia de libro. Siempre que encuentro estas joyitas, logran checkear casi todos las características que busco leer en este género, así que muy agradecida con el Dios de los gays

a_reader_obsessed's review against another edition

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4.0

4 Confounding Stars!

I’m scratching my head as to why I thoroughly enjoyed this because for me, there were many things in this book that shouldn’t have worked despite this containing the well loved trope of the classic friends to lovers progression. However, this features an adamantly heterosexual star athlete whose gay bestie is in love with him and is tossed liberally with female bits and in the closet overtones, understandably giving me plenty of reasons to furrow my brow.

So yes, I shook my head about 90% of time while listening to this, as Blue tries to reconcile these quasi-new feelings towards his bff. Once they cross the line, Blue’s not sure about going all in, but he’s not satisfied in going back to friendship only either. However, Kelly isn’t about to let him have his cake and eat it too and therein lies the rub.

Props to Harmon in giving both Kelly and Blue distinct voices, completely likeable personalities, and a dynamic that obviously clicked. It doesn’t hurt at all that these two were hot as fire. My brain short circuited no less than 8 times!

I absolutely believe that the narration by Alexander Cendese and Sean Crisden literally brought Kelly and Blue to life and made them and this story 10 times better. They delivered their lines with precision, expounding on the sarcasm, the snark, the doubt, the back and forth, and the above mentioned seriously-too-hot-to-handle chemistry between these two. Unf.

Despite my bafflement, this was smart and funny, and I immensely liked the push pull between Kelly and Blue, all the while fanning myself as I listened to this genius narration. I’m just happy there’s a sequel since this ended somewhat suddenly, and I look forward to more of this mind boggling goodness!

Thank you to the author/publisher for the audio in exchange for a honest review

bookwormdean's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-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

3.75

caitsbookcase's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

2.0

coffeeintherain's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5 stars - I really loved Kelly. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Blue - for most of the book, he took Kelly for granted, and never cared about how much his hot and cold (and very jealous) act impacted him. That being said, I'll probably still read the sequel, even it's just to find out how he redeems himself.

imme_van_gorp's review against another edition

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1.5

Holy Hell.. This book genuinely frustrated me to no end. I kind of despised everything about it, even though it had the potential to be everything I love. I mean, taking this plot and set-up at face value, I thought I was going to really like it. However, the actual book itself managed to execute everything so horribly and so annoyingly, that there was no way I could even enjoy it.

I think what bothered me most about this book were the characters and their absolute lack of a connection. Both of the love interests had an unlikable personality to begin with, but sometimes it’s possible for two arseholes to still create some chemistry. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case in this situation. All these two had was a long history and even that history does not get explored at all. There weren’t any loving or sweet moments between them. Why and if these two even really liked each other? Who the Hell knows. I would grow pretty damn sick of the other person if I were either of them. After all, Blue was such an undeciding dumbass, while Kelly was so incredibly entitled and demanding. So much so, I don't think there is even one moment where Kelly is in a mood other than angry or cranky.

Their whole story was honestly just boring. I found myself pushing to read further just to be done with it. There were also absolutely no stand-out moments: not a single one. It was bad from start to finish. I am just glad to be done with it, and I have absolutely zero intentions of ever reading the sequel.

mp_reads_romance's review against another edition

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3.25

Alexander saves this audio. 
Kelly saves this story.

maya56's review against another edition

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3.5

The writing was good. The characters just... started to irritate me. Also, warning, there are girly bits.

abrar2013's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

victoria_rosas's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0