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A review by jce
For Real by Alexis Hall
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is my review for the re-release, out on Tuesday, which was my fourth time reading For Real. It's actually the first romance book I ever read, so I don't think I'm capable of being normal about it, but I'm gonna give it my best shot. Basically, if you haven't read this book, I highly recommend reading it, and if you have read it and are at all open to re-reading, I highly recommend a re-read of this new version.
There are bound to be people for whom age gap and kink are automatic nopes, and that's obviously fine. I'll say that I'm not generally much of an age gap reader, and I think it's handled extremely well here. I do like reading about kink, which is written about in this book in it a way I rarely see it portrayed. If it's less that those are hard no's for you and more that they just often aren't your jam, I do think it's worth giving this book a try, because it is so thoughtful in the portrayal of both elements.
So, ummmm... this book is really good? I'm always sort of dumbstruck by how good it is. And I find new things with every reading of it. And I think it does things that are still rarely done in the romance genre. I feel like if I try to say more about the characters or story I'll never shut up so I'm just going to leave it at that.
The Spires books all have a recipe included, and I've made the lemon meringue pie from this one and it is LIFE CHANGING PIE. I enjoy baking and am pretty good at it, but I find pie terrifying to make and this one was magically not at all hard and turned out absolutely perfect. Like I still have a picture of it on my phone two years later because it should be on the cover of some pie magazine or something. And I love recipes written in the voice of the character, they are such fun. So if you're at all into baking you should totally make the pie. It's particularly satisfying to serve it at like a family function or whatever because it's impressive and because you know it's secretly kinky queer lemon meringue pie, which is obviously the best kind.
Weirdly, the ARC doesn't have the bonus story about a side character that's going to come with the actual book, so I can't comment much on that. It used to be sent out when you subscribed to the author's newsletter, so I did read it at some point, but I don't remember it in detail. I'm fairly certain it's a bittersweet story, rather than a happy one, so it might be a bit of an odd note for ending a romance book. But again, can't be sure because it isn't included in my ARC.
I have a surprising amount of strong mixed feelings about the author annotations included in this re-release. Honestly, if I was reading the book for the first time I think my reading experience would be hampered by the annotations. I think first time readers would most enjoy the story if they hold off on reading the annotations until the end. But I have no self-control and would find the annotations really distracting, so I probably wouldn't be able to hold off until the end even if it was my first time. The thing is that if you stop and read the annotations as you're reading the story, it really disrupts the flow of the book. And I feel like the annotations are very much aimed at readers who are already familiar with the story and the Spires series. They are notes from an author going back and reading their work after years of being away from it, so it sort of takes away from the immediacy of the story if you're reading it for the first time I think? Anyway, this might be a me thing, but I'd suggest not reading the annotations until the end if it's your first time reading the book.
If, however, you're doing a re-read of the book, I think the annotations add a great new element to the experience. It's so interesting to hear the author's intentions around the structure of the book and other aspects that I never would have thought about. So, yeah, love the annotations for re-reads but not so much for first reads. Also, the way the annotations are done (there are stars in the text rather than like numbered annotations) made it kind of tricky for me to match up the annotations with the corresponding bits of text. I don't know if other people will feel the same but I didn't love the style used.
So my final thoughts are:
Should you read this book? YES!
Should you make the pie? YES!
Should you read the annotations? MAYBE!
Love this book and loved getting to revisit it with some new behind the scenes knowledge. Will definitely be making the pie again soon.
*ARC provided by NetGalley. Over the top reactions to the book, all my own.
There are bound to be people for whom age gap and kink are automatic nopes, and that's obviously fine. I'll say that I'm not generally much of an age gap reader, and I think it's handled extremely well here. I do like reading about kink, which is written about in this book in it a way I rarely see it portrayed. If it's less that those are hard no's for you and more that they just often aren't your jam, I do think it's worth giving this book a try, because it is so thoughtful in the portrayal of both elements.
So, ummmm... this book is really good? I'm always sort of dumbstruck by how good it is. And I find new things with every reading of it. And I think it does things that are still rarely done in the romance genre. I feel like if I try to say more about the characters or story I'll never shut up so I'm just going to leave it at that.
The Spires books all have a recipe included, and I've made the lemon meringue pie from this one and it is LIFE CHANGING PIE. I enjoy baking and am pretty good at it, but I find pie terrifying to make and this one was magically not at all hard and turned out absolutely perfect. Like I still have a picture of it on my phone two years later because it should be on the cover of some pie magazine or something. And I love recipes written in the voice of the character, they are such fun. So if you're at all into baking you should totally make the pie. It's particularly satisfying to serve it at like a family function or whatever because it's impressive and because you know it's secretly kinky queer lemon meringue pie, which is obviously the best kind.
Weirdly, the ARC doesn't have the bonus story about a side character that's going to come with the actual book, so I can't comment much on that. It used to be sent out when you subscribed to the author's newsletter, so I did read it at some point, but I don't remember it in detail. I'm fairly certain it's a bittersweet story, rather than a happy one, so it might be a bit of an odd note for ending a romance book. But again, can't be sure because it isn't included in my ARC.
I have a surprising amount of strong mixed feelings about the author annotations included in this re-release. Honestly, if I was reading the book for the first time I think my reading experience would be hampered by the annotations. I think first time readers would most enjoy the story if they hold off on reading the annotations until the end. But I have no self-control and would find the annotations really distracting, so I probably wouldn't be able to hold off until the end even if it was my first time. The thing is that if you stop and read the annotations as you're reading the story, it really disrupts the flow of the book. And I feel like the annotations are very much aimed at readers who are already familiar with the story and the Spires series. They are notes from an author going back and reading their work after years of being away from it, so it sort of takes away from the immediacy of the story if you're reading it for the first time I think? Anyway, this might be a me thing, but I'd suggest not reading the annotations until the end if it's your first time reading the book.
If, however, you're doing a re-read of the book, I think the annotations add a great new element to the experience. It's so interesting to hear the author's intentions around the structure of the book and other aspects that I never would have thought about. So, yeah, love the annotations for re-reads but not so much for first reads. Also, the way the annotations are done (there are stars in the text rather than like numbered annotations) made it kind of tricky for me to match up the annotations with the corresponding bits of text. I don't know if other people will feel the same but I didn't love the style used.
So my final thoughts are:
Should you read this book? YES!
Should you make the pie? YES!
Should you read the annotations? MAYBE!
Love this book and loved getting to revisit it with some new behind the scenes knowledge. Will definitely be making the pie again soon.
*ARC provided by NetGalley. Over the top reactions to the book, all my own.