Scan barcode
elenajohansen's review
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This is challenging to review for me, because the book is so clearly split into two types of scenes, and I generally liked one and disliked the other.
I enjoyed the romance itself, which is the most important part, and any scene that was Nicky and Gideon together, or Nicky (early on) alone but waiting for Gideon, I enjoyed.
Any scene that was about Nicky's life outside the romance (all the stuff about the choir and his brother) was an absolute trial to get through and seemed remote and disconnected from the romance, and frankly, boring.
Like some other reviewers, I think it might have helped to allow Gideon a POV as well, because having scenes with him alone dealing with his life outside the romance plot would have a) balanced Nicky's "alone" scenes, and b) probably been really interesting inherently because of Gideon's personality and unusual circumstances.
I could go even farther and say the book might have been better as a single-POV story with Gideon as the main character; it takes away the mystery Nicky faces about the identity of his patron and what their "deal" is, but I think having Gideon's internal conflicts about how to progress on this strange adventure would more than make up for it, and then I wouldn't have to read all the tedious stuff about Nicky's life that I simply didn't enjoy. It always felt to me like Nicky was two people--one who was having a weird love story accidentally happen to him, and one that lived and breathed church choir but didn't really have deeper musical aspirations. If that was on purpose and meant to be a reflection of how he compartmentalized his sex-worker self from his real life, I understand, but I never felt the two different versions of Nicky were reconciled into a whole person, even in the ending which grafts Gideon on to Nicky's big boisterous musical family. (Which also didn't really work for me.)
So ultimately I found this frustrating, because what I did enjoy, I liked quite a bit, but there was so much else I didn't.
I enjoyed the romance itself, which is the most important part, and any scene that was Nicky and Gideon together, or Nicky (early on) alone but waiting for Gideon, I enjoyed.
Any scene that was about Nicky's life outside the romance (all the stuff about the choir and his brother) was an absolute trial to get through and seemed remote and disconnected from the romance, and frankly, boring.
Like some other reviewers, I think it might have helped to allow Gideon a POV as well, because having scenes with him alone dealing with his life outside the romance plot would have a) balanced Nicky's "alone" scenes, and b) probably been really interesting inherently because of Gideon's personality and unusual circumstances.
I could go even farther and say the book might have been better as a single-POV story with Gideon as the main character; it takes away the mystery Nicky faces about the identity of his patron and what their "deal" is, but I think having Gideon's internal conflicts about how to progress on this strange adventure would more than make up for it, and then I wouldn't have to read all the tedious stuff about Nicky's life that I simply didn't enjoy. It always felt to me like Nicky was two people--one who was having a weird love story accidentally happen to him, and one that lived and breathed church choir but didn't really have deeper musical aspirations. If that was on purpose and meant to be a reflection of how he compartmentalized his sex-worker self from his real life, I understand, but I never felt the two different versions of Nicky were reconciled into a whole person, even in the ending which grafts Gideon on to Nicky's big boisterous musical family. (Which also didn't really work for me.)
So ultimately I found this frustrating, because what I did enjoy, I liked quite a bit, but there was so much else I didn't.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
camill3's review against another edition
2.0
i didn't like this book, it's basically just sex and some church choir practice. there is a scene when they go in the adult shop and they do role play as FATHER and SON???!?!? i had to skip bc it made me very uncomfortable, i think it's really inappropriate
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
ratcreature's review against another edition
emotional
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
More...