Review - "For The Win"

For The Win, The Perfect Play #1 by Sara Rider
rating:☆☆☆ 1/2
published: 6th June 2016
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

Anything worth fighting for always required sacrifices. She wasn't the type to live her life in the shadows of what-ifs and regret.

Galley provided by publisher

For The Win tells the story of Lainey Lukas as she gets back into football following a horrific injury in the World Cup final. The owner of the franchise she joins, decides that the women's team will train on the main training ground, while the men's team get relegated to the apparently cursed Cricket Ground pitch, a move which doesn't go down well with Gabe Havelak, the men's captain.

Thus begins the media-dubbed "Battle of the Sexes" in which the teams compete in various tasks (including cooking and fund-raising) to prove they are the better team. Whoever wins gets to train on the main pitch.

Overall, the book was enjoyable. I really liked the first half of it, but the second half was a bit less interesting, especially once Lainey and Gabe had actually got together. I feel like that could have been delayed for a while longer.

The second half of the book also included some of the scenes I didn't like so much. There was Lainey's sudden attack of jealousy and possessiveness, following Grace flirting with Gabe after the naked calendar reveal. Which, I guess, was a nice subversion of the man usually doing that, but possessiveness always makes me a little dubious, especially if it's as violently expressed as I read this being and unless it's conveyed reciprocally, which it wasn't here.

Another scene I wasn't a huge fan of was their first sex scene, which involved an overuse of the word "pounding". If it's aiming to be 'hot' or whatever, then pounding is not the way to go about it surely. I feel like it ruins all the sexual tension (not that there seemed to be huge amounts, beyond 'oh he's hot'/'oh she's hot').

And then the Havelak family curse, which felt unnecessary, really. Especially the scene were Mama Havelak starts claiming that Lainey is a proponent of the curse, while Lainey is there. At which point, Lainey gets pissed off at Gabe (why?), and they have a prank war (but really, it's just aimed at getting attention, like pulling pigtails). And then they make up (including a 24-hour sex marathon, which, forgive me, is so unbelievable), and everyone's happy.

There were a few other issues I had with this book. For one, there was the women-hating-on-women thing going on. All of the female footballers hated on Grace because she kept flirting with the guys (especially Gabe) and... not much else. Not here for that, sorry.

Also the overprotective parents/brother trope going on, with Tessa. I mean, Tessa is wholly capable of looking out for herself, even at 14. It was understandable given that the guy Gabe was eyeing up in his overprotective mode was 19, but Tessa was perfectly able to show her lack of interest. Like, chill out, Gabe.

The age difference was also an issue. I don't quite understand why almost every romance has to have a significant (like, 5 or 6 years) age difference. Is it like a rule of NA romance? Why can't they just be the same age? (Also, the masturbation to a poster of him when she was younger is borderline creepy.)

I think part of the reason I didn't enjoy this book more was because I was always internally comparing it to Kulti, which has great characters and such unbearable tension. For The Win seemed for a while like it might live up to that, but in the end, it was a little disappointing, even though I enjoyed it.

Review - "The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy"

The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer
rating:☆☆☆☆
published: 8th April 2014
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

Sometimes, the most awesome and complicated thing you can do is just stick around.

Don't be put off by the "perfect for fans of John Green" tagline - this is actually much much better than his books.

The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy is the story of what happens when a high school becomes the backdrop to a reality TV show, For Art's Sake. Needless to say, the decision doesn't go down well with everybody, and a group of students decide to take a stand by distributing a rebellious epic poem, extolling the vices of For Art's Sake.

The plot is simple. Beyond that, there's all the cliches, boy likes popular girl, boy's best (female) friend likes him, etc, etc, you know the drill. However, there's no real romance in this, and arguably there's more to Luke and Ethan's relationship than there is to any romantic relationships Ethan might have. When Luke betrayed them and went on the show, my heart broke. Not gonna lie, I thought it was going to take the gay route, but it didn't, and instead filled all Ethan's descriptions of Luke with some "no homo" shit. (Even though they did seem somewhat... involved descriptions. Are you sure there's no homo there, Ethan? Not to mention how much he obsessed over Luke later on - even his other best friends called him out on that. Look, Kate Hattemer, I just think you've missed a trick here.)

It's also pretty funny. I kept laughing out loud every now and then, which is always nice in a book (and laughing out loud because the book intended it, rather than because there was a turn of phrase that struck me as hilarious).

Overall, this book is a nice, simple read, and surprisingly enjoyable, even if it does conform to about 10 of the possible cliches.

Review - "On The Brink"

On The Brink, In The Zone #0
by Kate Willoughby
rating:☆☆
published: 28th June 2016
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

Like with most of these kinds of novellas, I feel like they would actually work better as a full-length novel. As it is, there is not nearly enough time (~90 pages) for the required character development to be realistic or seem effective.

Mostly, my issue lay with the plot of this book seeming kind of unbelievable. The interview for one, seemed a bit confusing. Like, why would some newspaper be so interested in Jeremy's story? And the presidents desperate desire to promote how diverse and accepting his school is. I mean, I guess it's entirely plausible that a school president is that eager to promote diversity, but when it gets to the athletes willingly making this incredibly cheesy video to basically just prove that they're not homophobic or anything, that's when I call bull.

I could have probably lived with it, but that plot's that seem unreasonable and implausible tend to turn me off books, and that's compounded by my other issues.

Firstly, Jeremy is somewhat obsessed with Hart, before he even knows him. And it's a little creepy how much he knows about him, and how closely he watches his game. Also, the part where they meet when Jeremy goes to the players' entrance seemed a little contrived. Surely they could equally have met at an after-party of something? It would have made more sense.

The subsequent blowjob in the car in the parking lot of the ice rink was also pretty unrealistic. I mean, they've just me, Hart has told Jeremy he was putting him off his game, then all of a sudden the conversation switches to experimentation and how if you kiss a boy it doesn't make you gay, right? (You do know there are more than two sexualities, right, bud?) This then leads to this wonderful quote:

It [his cock] tasted good. Salty and earthy, like virility in 3-D. He gobbled up more of it...

I have trouble enough reading sex scenes because they're uncomfortable, but then ones that throw sentences like this in just put me off entirely (and make me burst into laughter, which I'm sure is not the author's intention). (See also, later on: You want to hear me grunt?)

A minor point: I'm not a huge fan of experimentation storylines to begin with - I mean, I don't mind them, but I wouldn't pick them over everything else - let alone ones where someone's desperately trying to convince themselves and the other person that they're not gay, while they've got their dick in that person's mouth.

There's also that really irritating thing where the characters seem to have to say 'I love you' to one another. Even when they've known each other for not that long, and it's really not believable. 'I like you lots' would have done surely.

A final final point, it did make me tear up a little when Hart said he had to deny himself to be big in the NHL. I'm weak. (And perhaps rating too harshly.)

Review - "Dreams and a Home"

Dreams and a Home
by Max C. Payne
rating:☆☆
published: 1st June 2016
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

To be fair to this book, it isn't bad. If I hadn't had quite so many problems with it I might have rated it more highly than this.

First of all, the age difference between the two characters had me a bit dubious. I'm not a huge fan of big gaps so when I read that the narrator was 19 and this other guy was 32, I was... not particularly eager to continue reading, to say the least. What was even worse was that they first met, a fleeting acquaintance as it may have been, when he was only 18, and, coincidence upon coincidence, this other guy happened to be the architect designing the main character's parents' house renovations, when (get this) the main character was in high school. So you can see why I had my reservations. (I mean, he even says "I've wanted you since the first time I saw you, Nick, even if you were jailbait then." #romantic...)

Anyway, I continued reading. And it turned out that Nick (the MC) was pretty highkey misogynistic. I mean, get a load of some of these:

'Squeal worthy,' a girl would say.

It was a woman's job to be nosy.

[he's in there with] the skank of the week...

Lovely. Also, when his girlfriend claims he's using her, his rebuttal is that he's not having sex with her so obviously he can't be using her. Sorry to break it to you, bud, but there are more ways than that to be "using" someone.

The book had a setup where it flipped back and forth between the past and present (which, again, I'm not a huge fan of). It would have been fine, but for the various time skips that were slotted in there. A whole chunk of how they got together was taken up with a time jump, which is never going to convince me to like their relationship.

One mini-point slotted in here: why does Nick's coming out suddenly put him in mortal danger, and result in slights and bullying? Did I miss something? Is he in a ridiculously conservative school? I don't remember reading anything like that. Or maybe it's because he's technically in a relationship with a teacher. Which is just no. I actually hate that idea so much. Because there's such a power imbalance in a relationship like that, and it's just gross. Please don't.

My last point is entirely to do with the author's treatment of Nick's sexuality. There was a point where he mentioned not feeling any attraction to anyone until Eli, at which point I was like, hey! maybe this guy is going to be demisexual! But no such luck. Not even a hint of the d-word being mentioned. Then there's the part where he says gay, straight, bi, asexual: they were all just labels to me..., which is one of my hugest bugbears. I hate books where the minority character (often, just put in there to up the quota) is like, I don't believe in labels. If he had said he didn't want to label himself, or didn't know how to, I wouldn't be so annoyed but it's the we're-all-the-same-really-so-why-make-these-distinctions vibe that gets me with this don't-believe-in-labels crap. Anyway. Onwards.

There's a bisexual character in this! (*cheers*) A bisexual character who fits those gross stereotypes. (*boos*) First off, we're met with the assumption that, because this man is bi, he must always want sex, and he must be indiscriminate about who he has sex with. Thanks. Then, later on, he turns out to be a leering creep who shuts Nick in the bathroom at a club to proposition him and doesn't back off even when Nick says he's there with someone. Double thanks.

One last point on this: Nick describes the bi character as being comfortable with "their alternative sexuality". Alternative to what? Heterosexuality? Because I really don't like this statement. It's basically saying that heterosexuality is the norm and is right, and anything else is "alternative" to that. Also, it has a sense of choice in it, or at least it does to me. I thought we were past thinking of sexuality as a choice.

Finally, I would like to point out this quote:

I knew I looked fuckable.

I have nothing more to say.

Review - "Break"

Break, Hard Hit #6
by Charity Parkerson
rating:☆
published: 18th April 2016
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

Sometimes, you've just got to admit that you can spot some books are obviously going to be crap from page 1. Even when you're hoping that it won't be.

First of all, everything in this book happened very quickly. I mean I get that it's a novella, but it was still a good 90-page novella so surely all the events could have been spread out a bit longer. As it was, it didn't allow for any development of characters, and the time skips didn't help with that.

Also, it read like a soap opera. I didn't realise I was going to be reading a hockey equivalent of Eastenders. Not that there was much hockey going on, given how much of a soap it was... I mean, like a page in, they're having sex (no build-up to it, we're just supposed to take it as read that they're a) best friends, and b) each crushing on the other), then about 25 pages later, they're broken up because Troy doesn't want to be Noah's "dirty little secret". And then a couple of pages after that, Troy gets into a car crash in which his sister is killed and they don't know if he'll make it. (You see what I mean about the soap opera feel?) Everything sorts itself out in true soap style too, although there's a twist at the end where Noah takes a hit playing hockey and ends up bleeding all over the ice (which, I would like to interject, sounds pretty unbelievable. I've never seen someone go down on their face intentionally, and also why wasn't he wearing a gum shield? Given the (shitty) style of hockey helmets, surely that's a must? Unless you feel like losing your teeth I guess).

That being said, I wasn't entirely against the characters. I did like them (even as I was shaking my head over their (read: Noah's) stupidity at times). It just couldn't override my dislike of the plot.

Review - "Actual Stop"

Actual Stop, Agent O'Connor #1
by Kara A. McLeod
rating:☆
published: 14th June 2016
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

DNF at 52%

I was honestly really excited for this one. It (ostensibly, at least) combines two of my favourite things: mystery stories and lesbians (which there aren't enough of). Needless to say, I was disappointed.

First of all, it was going relatively OK up until the point where I DNF-ed it. It was maybe a little boring - all there was going on was the presidential detail, when I was kind of expecting something more like FBI/Scott & Bailey but with lesbians (so OK maybe more than a little). The writing was good, but the characters were only vaguely interesting to me and that probably contributed to my boredom. I was ready for it to pick up, in other words.

And then, it's revealed that a Muslim character (who was earlier introduced in connection with a counterfeit case, which, OK, I was slightly amenable to letting slide) is connected to terrorists. At which point, I gave up. The thought that something like this might happen had actually gone through my mind when we first were introduced to him, but I was holding out for him being innocent. Obviously, it didn't turn out like that. And I don't care if in the end he isn't directly part of this terrorist plot or whatever (I don't know where the plot was going because I gave up before it could get there), the fact that the author's gone 'oh, Muslim character -> terrorists' is more than enough of a reason for me to quit.

Another (brief) issue I had was how much of an overreaction Lucia seemed to have, over the simple issue of Ryan looking at Allison. Like, can you not just talk it out? Did it have to get so blown out of proportion? (I'm 90% sure there was the implication that when you're with someone you can't so much as look at someone who you might be attracted to let alone actually be attracted to them.) Like, OK, it was a plot device to have Ryan single so she can get together with Allison, but it could have been done in an entirely friendly way, with Lucia and Ryan staying friends. Right?

Anyway, I was prepared to overlook that before the terrorism thing came up and I quit. Which is a shame because I really was looking forward to this book.

Review - "The Pirate of Fathoms Deep"

The Pirate of Fathoms Deep, Tales of the High Court #2
by Megan Derr
rating:☆☆ 1/2
published: 13th July 2016
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

He hadn't expected ever to hear that voice again. His heart pounded in his ears. It couldn't be his pirate. But he remembered that rough-edged voice, like years at sea had stripped the softness from it. He couldn't forget it even if he tried - because he had tried. Some things simply refused to be forgotten.

Galley provided by publisher

Actual rating 2.5

To be honest, I was kind of disappointed by this book. I was hoping for something more (second chance romance is such a good trope, and that's mainly what drew me to this book). I'm being a little harsh in my rating by rounding it down, but there is a reason for that (even if maybe I could justify giving it three stars).

Firstly, the plot. I don't want to say there was none, because there was, but from the Megan Derr books I've read, I've found they all seem to be a little plot-light (The King's Harem very much so). And this is no different. The kidnapping right at the beginning set it up very nicely, but then within about 40 pages that was resolved. Then, there was no real attempt at any sort of investigation into who did it, until suddenly the answer is (almost literally) dropped into their laps, with another 40 pages to go. The romance also seemed to have not so much development, with the first romance-y parts happening on page 30. Like, I'm all for it happening quickly (sometimes), but there's a limit. (Although that's a general problem I find with LGBT+ new adult stuff...) Actually, in general, everything could be drawn out a little longer. They could spend longer escaping the kidnappers, or fighting in that tavern, or following Lesto's poisoning (where he blacks out, and next thing you know, he's a-OK and healthy again).

Then there's their initial hookup, pre-start of the book. It is... dubious, say the least. Shemal is, at this point, a prisoner, while Lesto is the High Commander (can you see where this is going?). And the way it is described is:

"[he had] dragged Shemal into an empty room, pulled him to the floor, and all but demanded that Shemal fuck him."

How, exactly, in this situation, is Shemal supposed to say no? When this guy is totally in charge of what happens to him. Especially when, preceding this, Shemal had punched Lesto. For all he knows, this could be some perverse punishment. And he can't say no. Hence why I found it dodgy.

Also, it would have been nice to have some context of things like the political situation, or who's in charge where, before the important things start to happen. Like, we only learn about the situation in the culprit country when their ambassador's explaining why there are mercenaries running willy-nilly about Sarrica's land, and it's a little hard to follow when there's not really been any context about it beforehand. I don't know - it could equally just have been that I wasn't paying enough attention.

Anyway, it was nice otherwise. I'm only really rating down for that dubious consent scene.

Review - "Out of Nowhere"

Out of Nowhere, Middle of Somewhere #2
by Roan Parrish
rating:☆☆☆☆
published: 29th February 2016
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

“Armor’s not dangerous. That’s for survival. It’s weapons you have to watch out for. And you—” He strokes my lips with his thumb. “It’s mostly armor, Colin. And when you’re with me, the armor falls away. Who you are without it… it’s beautiful.”

It's books like this that make trawling through all the trash ones worth it. That's not to say it's perfect, because it isn't and there are definitely things about it that I didn't fully like, but it's a helluva lot better than some of what's going.

I loved the characters (except Daniel, and maybe Rex but he didn't appear much, which is going to make reading his book and being sympathetic really hard but hey) even when they were doing their level best to rip my heart to shreds. In fact, I love them so much, I periodically go back and reread my favourite parts. (Please, Roan Parrish, do me a solid and write another book about these characters.)

The issues I did have mainly revolved around an apparent inability on the author's part to see plot threads through. First of all, it's revealed that Colin has attempted suicide multiple times but it's never really dealt with beyond him recalling it, or Daniel bringing it up once as a memory. Then there's the self-harm, which happens once, after Colin's dad dies, and all we get is Rafe noticing the cuts and commenting that it was "a bad one". That's it. No development, no attempt at dealing with it. Nothing.

So you would forgive me for being a bit wary when it is revealed that Colin was raped because, on the basis of the other two heavy issues that were mentioned then dropped, you might expect the same to happen with this one. In a way, it does, although it does get more discussion than the cursory "it was a bad one", which is nice (Rafe even makes the comment that men can be raped too). Equally it somewhat makes it seem like all these issues have been lumped on Colin to make him a tragic MC, and they're left unresolved (but apparently not so unresolved too, because everyone's happy at the end, and I guess there must have been something going on to make that happen?). Also, occasionally they seemed to be thrown in at the last minute, almost as an afterthought, although that could be because the author was writing from Colin's POV and he had blanked them from his memory because of the trauma.

Anyway, overall it's great. The characters are brilliant (and the character development!! Slay me!!!) and the writing is good and engaging (which seems to rarely happen...) and really, Roan Parrish, I need more of these characters (specifically to see Colin and Rafe happy, maybe from an outsider's viewpoint?).

Review - "What Remains"

What Remains
by Garrett Leigh
rating:☆☆
published: 4th July 2016
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

What Remains follows the story of Jodi and Rupert after Jodi is the victim of a hit-and-run which results in Jodi having amnesia and not being able to recall anything of the previous five years of his life, with Rupert.

To be honest, I thought this book would have a different format than it did. I was expecting something like them meeting, getting together, then the accident, and subsequent recovery, but in fact it started with the accident, interspersed with memories of their meeting and relationship, before switching to the present once Jodi woke up. It's not a bad way of doing things, but it was a little disorientating at first, and also it felt like there wasn't enough in the way of how they met and got together. In a way, it kind of made the accident less angsty and emotional, because I knew next to nothing about their relationship beforehand.

Also at first, the book kind of dragged, and I had to motivate myself to read it, which is always going to cause my rating to lower, even if it later picks up and I enjoy it (which was the case here). The writing just wasn't doing it for me, which could have just been that I wasn't in the right mood or it wasn't for me, but also that it wasn't great.

There were various small things throughout the book that irritated me too. One is the arse slapping (which is like my biggest bugbear with this kind of lit. I hate it so much), but thankfully that only happened once. The other was the way the author wrote Indie's speaking. Like, I get she's a little kid, but I've never heard a kid of any age say "cwunchy cuddles". I don't even know what "cwunchy cuddles" is supposed to mean! Also, Rupert's incessant use of the word "boyo", which a) again I've never heard anyone say ("kiddo", yes, but not "boyo"), and b) is that supposed to be an attempt at marking him as Irish? O-K. (Same with the "aye", which, to me, is more stereotypically Scottish than Irish, but like, what do I know.) The word "boyo" really bugged me the most when he said it during sex scenes. Not gonna lie, it was pretty off-putting. Not to mention, that I associate that word with grandpas for some reason, which made it doubly so.

Despite my issues, this book still managed to make me emotional, especially when Jodi didn't remember who Rupert was (this is why I don't read amnesia fics, damnit!), so I'm maybe being a little harsh in my rating.