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A review by thesigilwitch
Tentacles & Triathlons by Ashley Bennett
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
If cheesy Romance channels embraced the Monster Fudger demographic this is the story they'd want. It's so wholesome and cuddly with just the right amount of spice and a tiny sprinkling of angst. Tentacles & Triathlons is book 2 in the Leviathan Fitness series (which I realized after I started it) but can be read as a standalone.
Reece is training for his first triathlon but there's two big hangups. 1 the swimming portion of the race, he has no confidence in the water and 2 monsters. Since monsters and humans integrated it's hard to avoid them but that's all Reece wants to do, he just doesn't trust their otherness. But his sister is mated to a wolven and for her sake he's willing to try. Atlas the wolven owns Leviathan Fitness and suggests that Reece is welcome to come use the pool to train for his race.
Cyrus is tired of being alone, and maybe just tired after all this time. As one of the only Krakens left Cy feels separated even from his monster community. When Atlas and Cyrus's other friends try to pull him out of his brooding artist funk the last thing he expects to find is his mate. Especially when that mate is a frightened, bigoted human that recoils at his first interaction.
Seeing Reece grow and change throughout the story from frankly, an asshole, to a sweetheart was heartwarming. I really think there's so much more to what happened in the woods with the monster and his dad's shaming him for being frightened but the story just wouldn't have been the same if the focus had been on that so i'm glad it's left mostly to us as the reader to interpret. Cyrus and Reece instantly made me want to say awww, they were just so cute in the initial flirting stages. I would love to see more character art or some of cyrus's painting because the descriptions are great, what I really want is a cartoon series :D. The pace of the book was really quick and probably only took a few hours to read. Anyone that's looking for a sweet palette cleanser after a darker read should definitely give this series a chance.
Reece is training for his first triathlon but there's two big hangups. 1 the swimming portion of the race, he has no confidence in the water and 2 monsters. Since monsters and humans integrated it's hard to avoid them but that's all Reece wants to do, he just doesn't trust their otherness. But his sister is mated to a wolven and for her sake he's willing to try. Atlas the wolven owns Leviathan Fitness and suggests that Reece is welcome to come use the pool to train for his race.
Cyrus is tired of being alone, and maybe just tired after all this time. As one of the only Krakens left Cy feels separated even from his monster community. When Atlas and Cyrus's other friends try to pull him out of his brooding artist funk the last thing he expects to find is his mate. Especially when that mate is a frightened, bigoted human that recoils at his first interaction.
Seeing Reece grow and change throughout the story from frankly, an asshole, to a sweetheart was heartwarming. I really think there's so much more to what happened in the woods with the monster and his dad's shaming him for being frightened but the story just wouldn't have been the same if the focus had been on that so i'm glad it's left mostly to us as the reader to interpret. Cyrus and Reece instantly made me want to say awww, they were just so cute in the initial flirting stages. I would love to see more character art or some of cyrus's painting because the descriptions are great, what I really want is a cartoon series :D. The pace of the book was really quick and probably only took a few hours to read. Anyone that's looking for a sweet palette cleanser after a darker read should definitely give this series a chance.