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evaxo's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
Wasn't too keen on this, but it also wasn't terrible. Pretty similar to the first book, although I was hoping it'd have been better. The romance was good.
Positives:
The MCs make a cute couple, their romance was lovely, sweet and enjoyable to read about.
Negatives:
Time lapse of convenience, overuse of same phrases/writing style, uninspiring detective work.
To elaborate:
1. An alcoholic of several years, recovers 100% in just 3 weeks, with no descriptions of this, and no relapse, no struggles. If the author didn't wish the journey to sobriety to be included, they should have made Griffins nights of 'over-indulgence' sporadic instances.
2. When the romance reached a certain stage, we got another '3 weeks later'. All to say they're even more in love now, but all the other plot points stayed still. No detective work was done because the PI was waiting for one of his suspects to return a phone call? For 21 days?
3. The above is just one of the examples of how much of an amateur the detective was written to look. All he does is constantly repeat he's almost solved it, he just needs to figure out who did it. Without actually doing much at all. The case was very much a filler to the romance, even when robbing banks was thrown in it didn't get exciting, I really didn't care who the murderer was.
4. As with the investigation scenes, the spicy scenes and lovey-dove ones had repetition of the authors favourite words and phrases, it got too much. The talking, was too much - instead of showing us, the characters just kept saying things out loud. This is one of the weakness of the writing in this story for me.
5. I also found it disappointing when dinner with dad was planned for the weekend,but then completely forgotten about, just dropped from the story...
6. And lastly, I thought it was very disrespectful how they made one of the MCs have a cultural name, yet his partner not call him by said given name? Alejandro is not difficult, but all the way to the end, Griffin called him 'Alex'. Surely if you love someone, you'd make the effort to use their actual name, not an americanised nickname...
Positives:
The MCs make a cute couple, their romance was lovely, sweet and enjoyable to read about.
Negatives:
Time lapse of convenience, overuse of same phrases/writing style, uninspiring detective work.
To elaborate:
1. An alcoholic of several years, recovers 100% in just 3 weeks, with no descriptions of this, and no relapse, no struggles. If the author didn't wish the journey to sobriety to be included, they should have made Griffins nights of 'over-indulgence' sporadic instances.
2. When the romance reached a certain stage, we got another '3 weeks later'. All to say they're even more in love now, but all the other plot points stayed still. No detective work was done because the PI was waiting for one of his suspects to return a phone call? For 21 days?
3. The above is just one of the examples of how much of an amateur the detective was written to look. All he does is constantly repeat he's almost solved it, he just needs to figure out who did it. Without actually doing much at all. The case was very much a filler to the romance, even when robbing banks was thrown in it didn't get exciting, I really didn't care who the murderer was.
4. As with the investigation scenes, the spicy scenes and lovey-dove ones had repetition of the authors favourite words and phrases, it got too much. The talking, was too much - instead of showing us, the characters just kept saying things out loud. This is one of the weakness of the writing in this story for me.
5. I also found it disappointing when dinner with dad was planned for the weekend,but then completely forgotten about, just dropped from the story...
6. And lastly, I thought it was very disrespectful how they made one of the MCs have a cultural name, yet his partner not call him by said given name? Alejandro is not difficult, but all the way to the end, Griffin called him 'Alex'. Surely if you love someone, you'd make the effort to use their actual name, not an americanised nickname...
catfoy's review against another edition
2.25
Feels like too much of the same as the first book but with Harry Potter references ewwww
valerieullmerauthor's review against another edition
5.0
Griffin is a very interesting character. He has a tragic past and along with his bipolar diagnosis, isn't dealing with his demons very well. When he finds his roommate dead, you get an in-depth thought process that makes you as a reader panic along with Griffin as he describes the scene he wakes up in. This is a very original story and I enjoyed getting to know both Griffin and Alejandro and watching them fall in love as they navigate a murder investigation, family, friends, and other issues Griffin is struggling with.
mynameisprerna's review against another edition
4.5
I definitely found myself highly invested in the mystery and these characters’ wellbeing
serenity81's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Mental illness
karentje's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book, but I wasn't blown away by it.
It was very fluently written, with funny references throughout, and some very beautiful and unique imagery, which was a pleasure to read. I also loved the bits of Spanish dialogue and exclamations on the part of Alejandro! However, some of the plot twists were too implausible for me and that spoiled my enjoyment of the book.
The opening scene book was very powerful. There was a level of suspense that unfortunately died down a bit for the rest of the book, picking up only at almost the very end.
The investigation takes up most of the story, but it doesn't have that same edge as the opening scene. We don't have a sense of urgency and there seems to be little threat to Griffin from either the police or the real murderer. Alejandro believes in Griffin's innocence from the get-go, he doesn't even doubt him a little. That seems a bit gullible, even strange for someone in his particular profession. I'd have preferred Alejandro to hesitate a little bit and for the author to have used that bit of doubt to up the tension between both MC's.
I found it a bit difficult to believe that Griffin stopped drinking cold turkey after so many years of alcohol abuse, and without seeking help (AA?) or therapy of any kind. I would have also preferred it if he had made that choice for himself, whereas now it seemed in large part due to his meeting and wanting to impress Alejandro, who at that point was still more or less a stranger to him.
The secondary characters were fun and interesting, they made a very nice addition to the world of the book. They got me curious to know more of their stories.
It was very fluently written, with funny references throughout, and some very beautiful and unique imagery, which was a pleasure to read. I also loved the bits of Spanish dialogue and exclamations on the part of Alejandro! However, some of the plot twists were too implausible for me and that spoiled my enjoyment of the book.
The opening scene book was very powerful. There was a level of suspense that unfortunately died down a bit for the rest of the book, picking up only at almost the very end.
The investigation takes up most of the story, but it doesn't have that same edge as the opening scene. We don't have a sense of urgency and there seems to be little threat to Griffin from either the police or the real murderer. Alejandro believes in Griffin's innocence from the get-go, he doesn't even doubt him a little. That seems a bit gullible, even strange for someone in his particular profession. I'd have preferred Alejandro to hesitate a little bit and for the author to have used that bit of doubt to up the tension between both MC's.
I found it a bit difficult to believe that Griffin stopped drinking cold turkey after so many years of alcohol abuse, and without seeking help (AA?) or therapy of any kind. I would have also preferred it if he had made that choice for himself, whereas now it seemed in large part due to his meeting and wanting to impress Alejandro, who at that point was still more or less a stranger to him.
The secondary characters were fun and interesting, they made a very nice addition to the world of the book. They got me curious to know more of their stories.