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A review by endemictoearth
Forbidden in the Falls by J.E. Birk
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
3.75
This book has a lot of good and great moments, which carried me through. I teared up near the end, because Malachai really is pretty well put through the wringer.
I have a soft spot for widower stories, and having the added weight of Sam's guilt about how his husband died, thinking he could have prevented the accident, made this especially poignant.
I think my biggest issue was the varying tone and pacing. The countdown to the festival (and wedding for Book 1's couple) was ostensibly a clever way to frame the story. It worked in some aspects, but I think it also made it so that we had to fill more of days with some sort of action, and a lot of it ended up involving townspeople who bear a grudge towards Malachai and cause him (maybe too much) grief. We kind of flit from witty banter to some really serious internal angst from Malachai, which felt like too much of a contrast.
That being said, the character work in the main cast was well done; these are not cardboard cutouts by any means, and being in a series, I got just enough information about the previous couple to follow along without having read book one. (They are getting married in this book and are present in the narrative, but do not overwhelm this couple's story.)
Any book that can wring tears from me is doing something pretty well, so I must salute it for causing me emotions. I do like the author's style and most of the choices worked for me, just possibly needed a bit of smoothing out of the plot's edges. Definitely intrigued by Christian's brother Colin and his best friend, who might be the next book?
Thanks to Gay Romance Reviews for providing a review copy.
I have a soft spot for widower stories, and having the added weight of Sam's guilt about how his husband died, thinking he could have prevented the accident, made this especially poignant.
I think my biggest issue was the varying tone and pacing. The countdown to the festival (and wedding for Book 1's couple) was ostensibly a clever way to frame the story. It worked in some aspects, but I think it also made it so that we had to fill more of days with some sort of action, and a lot of it ended up involving townspeople who bear a grudge towards Malachai and cause him (maybe too much) grief. We kind of flit from witty banter to some really serious internal angst from Malachai, which felt like too much of a contrast.
That being said, the character work in the main cast was well done; these are not cardboard cutouts by any means, and being in a series, I got just enough information about the previous couple to follow along without having read book one. (They are getting married in this book and are present in the narrative, but do not overwhelm this couple's story.)
Any book that can wring tears from me is doing something pretty well, so I must salute it for causing me emotions. I do like the author's style and most of the choices worked for me, just possibly needed a bit of smoothing out of the plot's edges. Definitely intrigued by Christian's brother Colin and his best friend, who might be the next book?
Thanks to Gay Romance Reviews for providing a review copy.