A review by dinohakari
Protector by Nicole Dykes

4.0

A sweet ending to an already sweet series. All of these books talk about a deep connection between the MCs. They talk about how the MCs decide to live their lives with courage, with bravery, despite being surrounded by an environment that could have been even more hostile, but nevertheless, slowly, reaaaaally slowly, was opening to tolerance and to the acceptance that each person is free to choose who to love.

This author has an incredible ability to portray those moments where teenagers stop being teenagers and begin to take their first steps into adulthood. The fears, the changes, the decisions that must be made and that will mark the course of their lives. How they learn to discover and navigate their sexuality, and the internal struggle to accept themselves and to live their lives being true to their feelings. (Each of these stories is a portrait of this, including the one about the coach and his assistant, even though they are already adults).

And it is because of this that we find a Zach conflicted by mistakes he has made, and who feels ashamed to admit them in front of Adam, and an Adam who feels different from his peers and does not understand why, but together and due to the deep bond they share, they manage to get through those difficult moments. And although Adam is the one who always tries to protect Zach, and give him a safe space to escape his family conflicts, their relationship is nourished by the love and loyalty that exists between them, and even though they are young, together they learn to be real and honest with each other, knowing that it makes them stronger.

It is difficult to say goodbye to these characters, but the pleasure remains of having accompanied them on their journeys, and with the hope of meeting them again in the stories to come from this author, even if it is just small glimpses of their lives.

I was given an advanced copy and voluntarily wrote a review.