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readwithellie 's review for:
Gravity
by Tal Bauer
We’re a storm. The wind. The puck is a feather in a hurricane. All I can see is him.
Tal Baur has been on my radar for the past few years but i have never found the right time to dive into one of his books. despite various of his books being on my tbr, this one caught my attention the most— mainly because it’s tropes im familiar with and that i know i enjoy.
mm hockey romances are my kryptonite, add in friends to lovers and bi-awakening and im sold. i thought it would be the best option to act as an introduction to this author. it was the best way to gauge whether i would like his writing style and storytelling skills since it wouldn’t be the tropes and the type of story this is because they always work for me.
Bryce Michel is skating out under a swirl of spotlights.
It’s like seeing God.
my first impression was his writing style. it was unique without being overly flashy or poetic, but still had an interesting stylistic quality to it that immediately immersed you into the story and the characters without unnecessary info-dumping.
he wasn’t trying too hard to be poignant and metaphoric— it was written effortlessly so it was effortless to read. it’s glaringly obvious when an author is trying too hard, the fluidity of the prose can be super clunky and indigestible. luckily, it wasn’t like that here.
there were so many quotes i highlighted within the first 15% it was insane (trying to choose my fave quotes to include was so hard lol). i would read something and think “wow”. it was usually a very simple sentence but it was written so beautifully that it packed a punch.
Still, we are together. It's like I can't escape him. Et non, I do not want to. He can trap me in his gravity pour toujours.
for me, the story was simple but incredibly effective. Hunter was adorably endearing, i took an instant liking to him. his soft, flustered nature was sweet. while Bryce had this wise air about him that was pretty captivating. and then the more he was fleshed out, i loved and was surprised by the vulnerability of his character. it wasn’t something i was expecting just from the way his character was initially set up.
their first interaction had me smiling so much, it was actually so sweet. then it was hot. they switched it up so fast and gave me variety.
”Hi,” I squeak. “I wear your number.”
“Enchanté.”Bryce's grin grows. “I wear your number, too.”
normally the insta-anything isn’t my cup of tea. but i think because it was written softly, almost, that it didn’t feel unbelievable. their wasn’t super obnoxious waxing of poetics. more so, they have an instant friendship connection that builds up to a romantic one. i will say, i wish they hadn’t gotten together as early as they did because it meant the rest of the book lagged a little bit. and the intense emotions from earlier in the book weren’t as palpable.
because the pining? the longing? the pain? the tension? all of it was so palpable. it made me surprisingly emotional— it was a punch to the gut, something i really didn’t expect. the angst and the pain were written effortlessly, it didn’t feel forced or dramatised. Hunter and Bryce just felt so authentic and real, their internal struggles so suffocating and all-consuming.
I don’t know how to stop this fall. I don’t know how to stop dreaming of who I can never have. I don’t know how to stop this pain, or stop it from spreading to everyone and everything that I touch.
the climax to the book also shocked me and i wasn’t expecting it to take such an emotional toll on me. there was one scene that just made me start sobbing, eurgh. it was so incredibly raw— usually when this type of conflict is used, it doesn’t feel all that impactful because you know everything is gonna workout just fine. but here... it had me on the edge of my seat with tears in my eyes. i really don’t know how Tal did it.
the side characters were wonderful, too. they didn’t overtake the story but were a supporting presence. the provided a sense of comic relief and camaraderie— i enjoyed them a lot. if they get books, i would totally read them.
my only other complaints are there was actually too much sex which wasn’t something i anticipated. i ended up skimming them after the first few because they just felt like filler scenes more than anything else. i also got sick of the in-depth hockey descriptions— after a while i skimmed them too. hockey isn’t a thing here so i legit had no clue whatsoever, even though i enjoy hockey romances, i don’t need every play-by-play please