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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Note: This was all written one-thumbed or so on my phone so please give me some grace re punctuation and other grammatical pet peeves.
I would recommend this book but I didn’t love Darian, the ML. Mainly I don’t think culturally I truly “got it”. However that so doesn’t matter!
I am late to this train I know because this is Alexis Hall’s debut novel which is crazy because Alexis GOES OFF language/writing wise. Fantastic lyrical writing that I couldn’t get enough of. I started off listening to this book but the language was so beautiful I ended up reading the second half between baby wake windows (iykyk).
Honestly, this shows Hall’s writing skills in a way that the infamous “Boyfriend Material” does not, and makes me think Hall may have a contemp lit background or at least, interest.
The story itself is complicated yet somewhat handled with care. I don’t think mental illness here was exaggerated or used purely for the sake of a plot device - though it surely is a massive contributor, Hall handles it with seemingly an understanding and empathetic hand.
I am going to continue reading through the “Spires” universe, mainly just for more of the beautiful writing.
I would recommend this book but I didn’t love Darian, the ML. Mainly I don’t think culturally I truly “got it”. However that so doesn’t matter!
I am late to this train I know because this is Alexis Hall’s debut novel which is crazy because Alexis GOES OFF language/writing wise. Fantastic lyrical writing that I couldn’t get enough of. I started off listening to this book but the language was so beautiful I ended up reading the second half between baby wake windows (iykyk).
Honestly, this shows Hall’s writing skills in a way that the infamous “Boyfriend Material” does not, and makes me think Hall may have a contemp lit background or at least, interest.
The story itself is complicated yet somewhat handled with care. I don’t think mental illness here was exaggerated or used purely for the sake of a plot device - though it surely is a massive contributor, Hall handles it with seemingly an understanding and empathetic hand.
I am going to continue reading through the “Spires” universe, mainly just for more of the beautiful writing.
Not very invested in them. Writing out the Essex accent almost made me DNF.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The main character was very difficult to love and unreliable. The story painted a painful picture of living with mental illness. None of these things are necessarily bad, but you definitely have to be in the right mood to accept it all.
I should admit up front that I am a relatively new reader of romance. Yeah, it's been a couple years since I picked that first one up, but that still leaves, like, 20 that I refused to. And it's only a little more recently that I started reading LGBT+ romance. Honestly, it's fairly recently that I even discovered it exists and have been kind of devouring it ever since, because het gender tropes make me crazy. (But I'm drifting.)
I'm newish to romance and though I enjoy it now, I still can't quite stand undiluted romance. If there isn't some other aspect to the plot beyond X & Y meet and fall in love, I'm out. So, despite being by one of my favorite authors, I put this book off. Eventually however, it just irritated me to no end to have one more AJH book out there that I hadn't read and gave in to its lure.
I'm glad I did because Ash's mental health, exhaustive anxiety and over-thinking was enough to keep me interested beyond the romance and sex (of which there was plenty). He's an eminently unlikable character, that dislike only partially negated by being pitiable. And Darian was just a darling. Presenting as shallow and simple, he was surprisingly adept at reading people and situations. He was also possibly the most forgiving human on earth.
This was my only real complaint with the book. I loved that he forgave Ash his many very serious foibles, but i thought he let some of them slide too easily, that last one especially. He felt a little door-mat like.
Then there is the Essex cant. A lot of readers disliked this. I however loved it. I thought it gave Darian's character such personality and made reading the book more colorful and enjoyable.
All in all, another success from Hall, as far as I'm concerned.
I'm newish to romance and though I enjoy it now, I still can't quite stand undiluted romance. If there isn't some other aspect to the plot beyond X & Y meet and fall in love, I'm out. So, despite being by one of my favorite authors, I put this book off. Eventually however, it just irritated me to no end to have one more AJH book out there that I hadn't read and gave in to its lure.
I'm glad I did because Ash's mental health, exhaustive anxiety and over-thinking was enough to keep me interested beyond the romance and sex (of which there was plenty). He's an eminently unlikable character, that dislike only partially negated by being pitiable. And Darian was just a darling. Presenting as shallow and simple, he was surprisingly adept at reading people and situations. He was also possibly the most forgiving human on earth.
This was my only real complaint with the book. I loved that he forgave Ash his many very serious foibles, but i thought he let some of them slide too easily, that last one especially. He felt a little door-mat like.
Then there is the Essex cant. A lot of readers disliked this. I however loved it. I thought it gave Darian's character such personality and made reading the book more colorful and enjoyable.
All in all, another success from Hall, as far as I'm concerned.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s difficult, sometimes, for me to understand that I have the power to hurt someone. You see, it requires me to accept that somebody might like me in the first place.
From all of Alexis Hall's books this was the one I was most worried about not liking. The result for this was twofold - my brain wasn't able to make sense of the blurb (this does happen to me quite often actually, so no shade to the blurb, although... it could do a bit better job at accuracy) and as a non-native english speaker, I was a little worried about the accent. I do get the point of using accents and dialects in fiction and I do approve, but that doesn't change the fact that sometimes it means the book is bordering on too hard to read for me. As you can see from my rating however, I have been worried over nothing.
I got the audio of this for an absolute steal and thanks to my lack of calming-before-bed-audiobook readiness, I got to this (way) sooner than expected. The audio of this is really great btw and I am wondering if it made the accent thing easier for me as well.
There are two main motives in the story, one could be already guessed from what I wrote about the accent so far - class and the other being mental health, namely one of the protagonists being bipolar. I really loved both of those. I won't lie, the class aspect was stressing me some, because Ash is self-loathing and depressed at the beginning and he's not kind in his thoughts. The things he thought about Darian were toeing the line for me in places, but thankfully we got Niall, so in comparison Ash seemed almost likeable. I'm kind of kidding though, I actually did find Ash likeable from the beginning, he's unsufferable, but his mental struggles were relatable in places and I absolutely got why he was acting like a dick, so... But yeah, I absolutely do get why peoples mileage on this might wary.
Anyway, this was great and I'm already looking forward to re-reading it. If you can, I would recommend the audio to your attention because Nicholas Boulton does a great job with the accents. Also, apparently there are two versions of this, I read the re-worked one and really liked it.
What more can I say, Alexis Hall is the best, I can't wait to read another of his books!
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
“So, lemme get this right. We're gonna make a go of it. You and me? Togeva? Even though I'm orange and you're mental?”
This was so good. So good, I've avoided doing any work and instead made this book aesthetic...Sigh.
Upon completion, I've realised I have read Alexis Halls books out of order ( if there's an order but in the Spires world there kinda is). I was just massively put off by the cover. DO NOT LET THIS SWAY YOU. There's gold in em hills. The book's tone is wonderfully set up from the get-go the "Towie" quote was a perfect pitch.
I gobbled up the audiobook today, Nicholas Boulton as the narrator is outstanding. He perfectly nails every single accent ( I'm British and can discern the accents) with such subtle ease and a self-assurance it blew me away. His Irish, Yorkshire and Essex are really worth the price alone. Hall's writing is lyrical and his description of manic depression is so apt and real it blew me away. Ash's attitude/tone was well received as I understood it all. I loved the wonderful Essex glitter pirate Darian. He was manic dream pixie boy but so real in every way. I've met and seen people just like this. I was listening to the Wedding rehearsal scene on the tube, and I genuinely made a noise of anguish out loud as I was so affected by it. Much to the weirded out gazes of my fellow commuters.
A lovely novel, that was Halls debut. 5 Stars just annoyed that I put it off for so long!