Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ryanpfw 's review for:
Something Like Hail
by Jay Bell
2022 update - Five years later, perhaps knowing more about what is coming, this one worked a lot more smoothly. Upping to 4 stars. Noah and Harold, ironically, both have boundary issues between parents and what people need to know, although Noah’s character makes up for that. I’m not as comfortable as the characters are around certain topics, and a lot of my complaints about the book from my earlier review still stand, but if for a few days I can entertain alternate viewpoints, even if they’re not mine, I’m a more open minded human.
———
I know this was written as a group collaborate, and that Jay Bell has said community decisions on plot were not the ones he would have made. Noah as an original character started off a bit too exclamation pointy, Harold was a bit too perfect (perhaps Marcello was playing matchmaker and put them together on purpose?) and the heavy reliance on bizarre dates over character growthmade the first half a sluggish read. I'm by no means the target demographic of this series, but character growth has been what has kept me coming back, so the reliance on a plot in particular that was really beyond my comfort zone for so many pages really turned me off, but again, Jay's not writing this for me.
I loved the bits with Edith, and Marcello always makes everything better.
Felix was a more engaging character in the second half, and his family life brought a lot to the story. I get the contrast with Harold, but I felt we were almost out of time by the time we reached his character arc and were forced to speed through it. Noah's character matured over the jump and his characterization with Felix came across as almost big brotherly, and I just couldn't believe the chemistry. It was almost like he decided someone like Felix was what he needed and went with it, but it was insta-love and wasn't very believable. I did appreciate that the ending left Noah with two options, that it wasn't easy on everyone, and made a point that we don't know where the future will leave everyone. I just didn't buy into it as I did in previous books.
———
I know this was written as a group collaborate, and that Jay Bell has said community decisions on plot were not the ones he would have made. Noah as an original character started off a bit too exclamation pointy, Harold was a bit too perfect (perhaps Marcello was playing matchmaker and put them together on purpose?) and the heavy reliance on bizarre dates over character growthmade the first half a sluggish read. I'm by no means the target demographic of this series, but character growth has been what has kept me coming back, so the reliance on a plot in particular that was really beyond my comfort zone for so many pages really turned me off, but again, Jay's not writing this for me.
I loved the bits with Edith, and Marcello always makes everything better.
Felix was a more engaging character in the second half, and his family life brought a lot to the story. I get the contrast with Harold, but I felt we were almost out of time by the time we reached his character arc and were forced to speed through it. Noah's character matured over the jump and his characterization with Felix came across as almost big brotherly, and I just couldn't believe the chemistry. It was almost like he decided someone like Felix was what he needed and went with it, but it was insta-love and wasn't very believable. I did appreciate that the ending left Noah with two options, that it wasn't easy on everyone, and made a point that we don't know where the future will leave everyone. I just didn't buy into it as I did in previous books.