Reviews

How to Belong with a Billionaire by Alexis Hall

itsjustjane's review against another edition

3.0

I didn't like this one as much as the other two books, but I'm still giving it the same rating. I was invested enough that I barely put it down, but at the same time, there were so many random storylines that I didn't really think did much for the overall story.

iam's review against another edition

3.0

The very different than expected and a little weird finale to this mostly enjoyable series.

Content warnings include: drug use, sex on-page, BDSM (bondage, impact play, D/s), graphic attempted rape, cheating; mentions of abusive relationship, sexual abuse of a minor, death of a parent.

What most surprised me about this was how very little Caspian appeared in this book. For most of the book, Arden simply continues on with his life after the breakup. Which was fine - I mostly enjoyed what was going on with him, his relationship with his friends and parents and his job. But that made the inevitable ending of the book - Caspian and Arden getting back together - seem sort of abrupt and even... I hestitate to call it unfitting? I can just say that I enjoyed myself more reading about the parts where Arden was single than the parts where he got back together with Caspian.

The ending was also very underwhelming. It was short and didn't really resolve anything, it didn't really feel like the main conflict was properly talked out and huge parts of it were simply ignored??? Most of this could easily have been made better by extending the ending and giving it a proper epilogue but... nope.

I adored the side characters (George, Ilya, Poppy and Finesilver <3) and I wished they had gotten more page time as well. Others, like Nathaniel, felt sort of weird to me, but that might be because I had wholly different expectations for his character than what he turned out to be, and that's on me.

Overall I just feel extremely puzzled by pretty much all decisions about how this book was handled, the choices that were made in regards to writing and what to focus on, what to expand and what roles to give different characters. Which isn't a really pleasant feeling, even if I would say my experience with the series was largely positive.

madieve's review against another edition

my first read of the year was a self-indulgent romance novel which really sums me up right now

cotes's review against another edition

4.0

At university, I quickly learned that the way to find the best classes was to pick them by the professor. That even if it wasn’t a subject I was inclined toward, if it was a professor who I loved, the class would end up being magical, transporting me to other worlds and opening up my world. This is also how I feel about Alexis Hall books. Normally a trilogy focused on kink with one of the heroes being a billionaire is not my cup of tea. But these books are the anti-50 shades, so well-written that you end up liking them in spite of the conceit.

The books aren’t perfect. Plot points don’t get resolved or strain credulity a little too much. But they ring so true, and I found myself crying while reading each of the three. Arden is a wonderful main character. And while Caspian isn’t nearly as interesting as Arden thinks, the details were given about him make him more than a stock character.

I think Hall does kink & d/s better in For Real, part of the Spires series. Still, well worth reading.

robazizo's review against another edition

4.0

A fascinating trilogy. I absolutely adored Arden and felt for Caspian, who really grew on me throughout the story. The ending was a bit abrupt and I think they have a long way to go, but everything is in the open now and the potential is definitely there.

The secondary characters were also very interesting (spinoff material?) and really enjoyed Hall's writing style and his use of cultural references. I'm a sucker for parallels to and discussion about my favourite book of all time. I'll be sure to pick up more of Mr. Hall's books in the future.

auntstacey's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.75

cocoabearcupcake's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

thegreatmanda's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.75

This had somewhat less sex and a lot more exploration of grief, friendship, self-worth, learning to live with chronic illness and/or disability, becoming an adult and figuring out what that means for your dreams, making your own choices, and a variety of other emotion-provoking content than I had expected.

New year’s was awful and frustrating.

Obviously Arden should never have kissed Ellery without her consent and when he knew she would have said fuck off if he’d asked for it. I was also really icked out when he’d declined to do cocaine with her several times and she wouldn’t let it go, which is its own different kind of threatening, boundary-crossing behavior. So just, violations and bad decisions all around, really.

Lancaster Steyne continued to be the worst and bask in his own awfulness, and frankly, Nathaniel continued to be blithely controlling and abusive

, more through ignorance than malice, but he doesn't figure any of that out until he's left several train wrecks' worth of damage in his wake. Idiot

.

I still spent a lot of time frustrated with Caspian and wanting to shake some sense into him, but I ended up caring about him a lot more than I expected, seeing him through Arden's eyes.

I wish we could have gotten a bit more of their beginning together because it felt like a bit of an abrupt ending.

Favorite Quotes:

Thankfully, I'd emerged from the womb serving manic pixie dream queer.

"It will never be anything like you thought it would. But that's okay. And it's also okay if you decide it's not what you want."

And wasn't that a whiskey sour of an emotional cocktail? Being smug and hopeful and bitter and sad all at the same time. Which so wasn't me. I was a strawberry daiquiri boy, through and through.

"Don't worry about it. I thought it might be funny, but it just turned out stupid. Story of my life, really."

"But sometimes I get so fucking claustrophobic, like I'm in prison, except what I'm stuck inside is me."

"And," I went on, "I will always love you—"
Nik, in the fashion of most tragically heterosexual men, wasn't very good at emotions. Even when he needed them. He blushed. "So gay."
"So gay," I agreed, laughing. "Although I heard there's been some new legislation, so now the straights are allowed to have feelings too."

"And I know you say you've changed, and probably you have, but when it comes down to the colours of your dreams, and whatever makes your heart fly, and the things that really matter, you always get to choose."
"Choose what?"
"What you take with you and what you leave behind." I let out a shaky breath. "Because that's all change is."

His teeth scraped my earlobe. "I don't need to spank you to own you, Arden."

"Love isn't earned, Caspian. It's given."

shmommysreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

chirson's review against another edition

2.0

I wish the conclusion lived up to the story that came before it, but for me, too much of this book is spent on characters being utterly selfish and mean to each other. I get that mistakes are part of the point, but I found most of the characters became actively annoying, to the point where I'd stop reading to vent at how much I couldn't understand their actions. (Like Arden bringing Ilya to his place, where there were drugs lying around, for example.) In addition, most of Caspian's journey happens off page, and so that lacks closure. Arden admitting he'd been wrong about pushing Caspian constantly: well, a little too late. But mostly, I just stopped liking Arden - I enjoy most of Hall's flaily manic pixie protagonists, but Arden's series of horrible decisions hit the wrong buttons for me. I found Caspian more sympathetic, and that's saying something.

There were some amusing moments, I was fine with the ending, but this is definitely my least favourite Hall so far.