♥♥♥ 3.75 "Stop fighting" Stars ♥♥♥

 

Some parts of this book I really liked, while others not so much. It was hard for me to get into at times, but there moments that I was totally connected.

What I liked about this book, was the fact that the two male leads were already in a relationship of six years when this book began. This was about a couple trying hard to maintain their happily ever after. But after Sean gets injured during a school shooting, their relationship seems to be headed down a bad turn.

Sean I liked in the beginning, in fact I liked both in the beginning. They seemed so caring and loving of each other. But after Sean got injured, I became annoyed with the way he at times pushed Kyle away. I got that his pride was hurt with him being "handicapped" for a while, but it still made no sense to push the one person who loved him away. I also didn't like how selfish Sean was when it came to Kyle's feelings. He knew that Kyle didn't like having Brandt around, but that didn't stop him from letting Brandt into their homes and pretty much their lives. However, I did like that he tried to make a difference. He wanted to send a positive message that being gay isn't a bad thing. That I loved about him.

Kyle was at times as frustrating as Sean was. He would complain about Sean not paying much attention to their relationship. I got where he was coming from, but I also thought Kyle should have been a little more supported of what Sean was doing. I liked how much Kyle loved Sean, so it hurt my heart to see them arguing all the time.

While, the beginning was a tad bit slow, and the book had it's boring moments. The second half of the book really grabbed my attention. I desperately wanted things to work between them. And right when things seem to be getting better, it gets worse. I was so frustrated and hurt by all the things they were saying to each other that, I almost wanted them to separate (I know!! How could I want that to happen!?!). I'm so glad they didn't.

In the end, I really did enjoy this book. It wasn't perfect, which is kind of what I liked about it. Relationships don't end at Happily Ever After, and this book was great at showing how you can struggle to keep it going, but they tried. The ending was great, I was really happy for them. I think they still need to work on a lot of things, but I'm glad they have each other. I hurt and smiled. I loved the secondary characters as well. Overall, it was a good read.



*Buddy Read with Alvin, Mishyjo, Catherine, Sonia, Sheziss and Erika*

I am aware a lot of people love this book.



I have a message for Sean and Kyle:



You both unnerved me!



I must be sick or something because I have the bad habit of finishing my books. And I don’t learn!



That’s not healthy, or practical, but that’s me: the silly young woman who reads every paragraph from page 1 to the end. I must change, I know, I’ll die soon if I don’t. Because these two gave me heart palpitations!



Firstly, I have had not very good experiences with stablished relationships. For instance, [b:Prey|8393603|Prey (Infected, #1)|Andrea Speed|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348230389s/8393603.jpg|13252424] and [b:The General and the Horse-Lord|17561299|The General and the Horse-Lord|Sarah Black|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1365277360s/17561299.jpg|24491979] were a no-no for me. I had those warnings, and maybe that’s why this book spent so much time on my TBR self: something within me, very deep within me, knew this was going to happen.



Thanks, inner goddess.



You knew better than me.



Secondly, the writing didn’t get to me. I found better hobbies to do than reading this book. That’s a bad signal itself. The writing tired me only for trying to follow the thread, which itself was not interesting to begin with.



Thirdly, the plot is studiously shocking: a shooting in a high school, in which Sean is one of the victims who survive. After the worst has passed, he and his boyfriend for six years, Kyle, have to come back to normal life. But things are not as easy as they seemed in the beginning, and soon they discover that the hard part has yet to come. So, okey, it plays with your emotions: the fear of confronting a mad kid with a gun and the despair at knowing that the love of your life has been shot. It was convincing. Almost. That’s the excuse for us to get attached to the MC but I didn’t fall for it. I need pages and time for that, and there is no chance of achieving it without getting to know the characters first. Eventually I did have a concern of sorts, but it wasn’t enough to get on with them.



Fourthly, the main characters are plainly stupid. They are grown adults. Really?



So, Sean, why do you agree with Brandt’s plans? Can’t you see the obvious? Can’t you see your relationship is sinking because of that? Can’t you see the important things in life? Can’t you UNDERSTAND? And then you are shocked because things go wrong? Seriously, you know about cause and effect? The butterfly effect? The last straw?



Maybe you deserved it all and I almost like Brandt for it.



And Kyle, your reactions are childish sometimes. I can’t buy that after a two-page argument things are over. You give up too easily. You don’t fight for what you want or what you believe or what you love.



The characters are so thick they are hilarious sometimes. I can’t believe they lasted six years.



The sex…



It’s supposed to be hot but for me it was like a cold shower.



Ok, there were one or two scenes that were not that bad, but most of them didn’t inspire me. If I read sex scenes and I feel like I’m reading the shopping list in the supermarket, they are not worth it.



So, this book was boring and unreal, I WASTED too much time reading it and the feeling I had when I finished it was not satisfaction or contentment, just relief and frustration. It was almost a torture sitting down to continue the story. I didn't like the form nor the content of this novel. It made me roll my eyes, it made me yawn and it made me pull my hair out.



************

***Buddy Read with Alvin, Mishyjo, Meli Mel, Catherine, Sonia and Erika.***

I don't know, this just wasn't something I could get into. I might come back to it eventually, but we'll see. For now the status will remain as dropped.

Regularly Scheduled Life (Ohio Books, #1... I let this book sit on the self for three years. I forgot who wrote it and what it was about. I'm so happy. I was surprised by how deep the relationship between Sean the victim of a crazed shooter and his hearts desire Kyle. This story was about what happens when an established relationship has a major trauma. KA Mitchell pulled a rabbit out of her hat with this one.

Regularly Scheduled Life (Ohio Books, #1... Wow, I really enjoyed this one. It felt like we get to start on a pretty high peak at the beginning of this story, and we get to stay there for awhile, even after certain events take place.But then descent happens, slowly, making it more painful as it goes along. We get momentary breaks, a hope of will this be the time that it finally gets better? Nope.Kyle and Sean are written so well. I don't even want to call it banter, it's better than that some of the exchanges they have. They know each other so well that it's hard for them to not only notice but fall into well known places and feelings, before they catch themselves and remember why they are angry, scared or hurt. It makes sense some of the reactions they had to events, conversations, and themselves, despite knowing each other so well. I think when you do know someone so well, you're kind of lulled into thinking you know exactly what they may think or feel about something, no matter the situation. That is a good thing in some ways, but when you're dealing with your first huge obstacle in your relationship, it can be a hindrance. This is clearly evidenced by these two.You can feel the frustration, not just theirs but of their friends. There was definite anxiety in reading this but not in that annoying, angsty kind of way. There is humor, introspection and of course, great sex.I happened to read [b:Not Knowing Jack|9850284|Not Knowing Jack (Ohio Books, #2)|K.A. Mitchell|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1365993710s/9850284.jpg|14445738] first, so it was fun to get more flavor about those two, especially Tony.I definitely recommend this one. And once you've taken a deep breath and had a comforting cup of tea, try Jack and Tony's story next ;)