A review by vrstal
Always Oskar by Odessa Hywell

5.0

“I hope you live a long life—happy and healthy and, most importantly, safe—knowing that since the moment you were born, I have existed for you. You are the one thing—the only thing in my life that is irreplaceable.”

5/5. This is one of the most romantic, swooniest reads I have read this year (and just in time, considering it is almost January).

Odessa Hywell is an amazing author. Her writing gets me invested, the POVs between each characters are clear in their difference, and the sex scenes are hot and steamy. I didn't know what exactly to expect from this book except a generational-gap of incest I haven't read before, and it was not what I was expected. It was everything and more.

On the surface, this has a lot of enjoyable tropes and taboo: grandfather/grandson, size difference, a 35-year age gap, mafia. Yet this story is more than the sum of its parts: it is a story of love that is all-consuming, is so gentle between the characters, and there is an amazing sense of how possession, love, and comfort manifests with the bond these two have. How each breath they take is for one another.

For the mafia plot, it was on the lighter side, but I know it will develop more as the rest of the books of the series come. We get a glimpse into a life lived in an environment like this, from the strong opening to some darker story beats - where we learn that no, Ian is not a 'perfect' person or even entirely moral. Yet it was all situated in a way that you are still compelled to read about Ian, and as it is reflected on in the epilogue for Oskar, I think Hywell creates a balance between the immoral underbelly and the almost pure love between these two.

Sex wise, this isn't wall-to-wall sex, and nor is it particularly kinky. There are panties and there are quite erotic scenes, but you won't be seeing power exchanges, roughness, or things such as that here. I think it makes perfect sense for them. The real intimacy between Ian and Oskar is the soft touches, the reaches for each other in the night, the bathing together that shows such a blissful love. However, there is one somnophilia-ish scene, for those who want the touch of kinkiness!

As far as side characters, I worry for Holden and love Arlo. I know Holden has a book, and I hope Arlo might get one himself. They weren't heavily featured but I like how they filled out the world some and can't wait to see it continue to build on.

The epilogue was sweet, even if a tad 'unrealistic', but you're reading a taboo incest book with an HEA. What did you expect? I loved how it all came together for them, both in the comedic bits and how there was a version of picket fences for them both. I was glad Oskar was able to step into his own.

I feel like I could rant about this book about how good it is, or fill it with my favorites quotes, but I won't. If you're comfortable with the incestual taboo, read it.