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A review by brokenrecord
Liam Davis & The Raven by Anyta Sunday
3.0
This was fine, but definitely not my favorite Anyta Sunday book. I think my main problem was just that I wasn't that into the main plot about the Raven. I also found it a little annoying that when Liam figures out who the Raven is and tells both Hunter and Quinn he knows, the name isn't actually written on the page, so I couldn't tell if Liam ACTUALLY knew who it was or if he was wrong. And I think that's to keep the suspense so it'll be surprising in the end when it's , but I had already guessed correctly for myself, so I just found it frustrating to not know if Liam was on the same page as me. There was ambiguity where I didn't think there needed to be any. It also felt like the end was more focused on the plot than the romance, and since the romance was the part I was more invested in, I lost interest in the book near the end.
I also would have liked a bit more from Liam about the development of his feelings for Quinn. I get that he's more calculating and pragmatic and not a huge feelings person, but I still needed just a LITTLE more, especially because I didn't fully buy that they were in love in the end. There was just a step missing for me between the initial interest and the jump to them being in love. It also annoyed me that Liam was like, "I'm straight because I've only kissed girls," then he kisses Quinn and likes it and is like, "Oh, nevermind, I must be gay," and at literally no point does anyone bring up the possibility of him being bi/pan or anything like that. I mean, he can be gay, that's completely fine of course, it's just a pet peeve for me when it feels like sexuality is being treated like a gay/straight binary and if you're a dude who likes kissing one single dude, you must be gay, and bisexuality/pansexuality don't exist. I think this goes back to my complaint about there not being enough examination of Liam's feelings — if there had been more reflection on his part about what he was feeling, then it might've felt more like, "Oh yes, he's clearly gay," instead of, "He's gay because he's attracted to a man and no other sexualities exist beyond gay/straight."
There was also one spoilery plot twist that I HATED, which was:
I DID actually enjoy this more than I'm making it sound. I particularly liked the earlier bits when Quinn and Liam were just getting to know one another, and Liam would say things that made Quinn think he might be into him, but then he'd say something contradictory, and Quinn would just be like, "UGH." That was super cute. Really, the romance itself was nice enough, I just needed a bit more development and more of Liam exploring his feelings and less of the Raven/vigilante stuff because I didn't care about that element and it ended up feeling kind of muddled.
Spoiler
Shannon and not Quinn, since Quinn would've been the more obvious culpritI also would have liked a bit more from Liam about the development of his feelings for Quinn. I get that he's more calculating and pragmatic and not a huge feelings person, but I still needed just a LITTLE more, especially because I didn't fully buy that they were in love in the end. There was just a step missing for me between the initial interest and the jump to them being in love. It also annoyed me that Liam was like, "I'm straight because I've only kissed girls," then he kisses Quinn and likes it and is like, "Oh, nevermind, I must be gay," and at literally no point does anyone bring up the possibility of him being bi/pan or anything like that. I mean, he can be gay, that's completely fine of course, it's just a pet peeve for me when it feels like sexuality is being treated like a gay/straight binary and if you're a dude who likes kissing one single dude, you must be gay, and bisexuality/pansexuality don't exist. I think this goes back to my complaint about there not being enough examination of Liam's feelings — if there had been more reflection on his part about what he was feeling, then it might've felt more like, "Oh yes, he's clearly gay," instead of, "He's gay because he's attracted to a man and no other sexualities exist beyond gay/straight."
There was also one spoilery plot twist that I HATED, which was:
Spoiler
Mitch being blackmailed into helping Jack. MITCH AND HUNTER WERE SO CUTE! I was so upset about that reveal.I DID actually enjoy this more than I'm making it sound. I particularly liked the earlier bits when Quinn and Liam were just getting to know one another, and Liam would say things that made Quinn think he might be into him, but then he'd say something contradictory, and Quinn would just be like, "UGH." That was super cute. Really, the romance itself was nice enough, I just needed a bit more development and more of Liam exploring his feelings and less of the Raven/vigilante stuff because I didn't care about that element and it ended up feeling kind of muddled.