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A review by baudshaw
Half-Drawn Boy by Suki Fleet
4.0
The first 340 pages of this book are genuinely amazing (even if the first Noah sections are a bit strange and there's a lot of typos). The book is a long, complicated, and detailed adventure with much to ponder about. The extremely descriptive prose fits well with the story and the characters, and makes for some truly excellent scenes. The blossoming romance between Gregor and Noah, while slow, is still quite interesting to see. I really like how there's a lot of mysteries about Gregor and Noah's families, along with stuff that's barely explained (like Eddy)... it makes the world feel a lot more detailed and complex.
However... the last 50 pages of the book are a massive step down. We have this deep, long, emotional climax ending with Gregor drawing his and Noah's dream, as well as Noah saying I love you, and Bruno explaining that Noah needs a family of his own. But then, it abruptly has a weeks-long time skip. That alone is a bit surprising (I would've liked a more natural ending where they slowly ended things on a positive, wholesome, but still uncertain note), but then... the most out of place, shockingly forced, unfitting sex scene of all time! What is the point of this? Why, after they just said "I love you" and they did nothing besides hug, are they instantly having a sex scene? It makes no sense, after Gregor struggles so much with being overwhelmed with emotions, he just immediately goes from hugging to sex without complaints? Because that's how it's legitimately introduced here. And of course, the descriptive prose is turned on its head as we learn about the sex acts done by these two minors in excruciating detail. I don't care how much Bruno tries to justify it by saying it's okay to talk about sex, there was no point including this sex stuff in the book. It doesn't help the characters advance their feelings at all, and it's just erotica for erotica's sake.
The last few chapters are eh. We get some good resolution stuff with Noah, then the awful Bruno sex talk, then a random Toby perspective shift, and then *two* epilogues taking place years after. I honestly think a second book should've been made with these characters, because now, everything feels a bit too cramped in these last 50 pages.
In the end, I still like a lot of things about this book. I would rate it a 9/10 until... that part, where I would then bring it down to an 8/10. Still, I would really love to see more works from this author!
However... the last 50 pages of the book are a massive step down. We have this deep, long, emotional climax ending with Gregor drawing his and Noah's dream, as well as Noah saying I love you, and Bruno explaining that Noah needs a family of his own. But then, it abruptly has a weeks-long time skip. That alone is a bit surprising (I would've liked a more natural ending where they slowly ended things on a positive, wholesome, but still uncertain note), but then... the most out of place, shockingly forced, unfitting sex scene of all time! What is the point of this? Why, after they just said "I love you" and they did nothing besides hug, are they instantly having a sex scene? It makes no sense, after Gregor struggles so much with being overwhelmed with emotions, he just immediately goes from hugging to sex without complaints? Because that's how it's legitimately introduced here. And of course, the descriptive prose is turned on its head as we learn about the sex acts done by these two minors in excruciating detail. I don't care how much Bruno tries to justify it by saying it's okay to talk about sex, there was no point including this sex stuff in the book. It doesn't help the characters advance their feelings at all, and it's just erotica for erotica's sake.
The last few chapters are eh. We get some good resolution stuff with Noah, then the awful Bruno sex talk, then a random Toby perspective shift, and then *two* epilogues taking place years after. I honestly think a second book should've been made with these characters, because now, everything feels a bit too cramped in these last 50 pages.
In the end, I still like a lot of things about this book. I would rate it a 9/10 until... that part, where I would then bring it down to an 8/10. Still, I would really love to see more works from this author!