Heidi Belleau Reads

Characterization was great, and as a recovery story it worked well. Loved the leads.

Pacing-wise it moved a little too slowly for me, with too many misunderstandings. I wish there had been just a bit more conflict either from the outside or even just between the main characters that went beyond them misinterpreting one another because while their feelings were realistic to the situation, as a reader it felt very repetitive to go through the same pattern over and over again. While I loved David, I did, he was just too perfect all the time. I wanted him to make real mistakes and missteps. Even the most well-intentioned people don't handle trauma perfectly all the time. The one time David DID step out of line (the punch), it was basically immediately forgiven and glossed-over.

Also, a lot of the dialogue felt a little forced, a little TOO teenage for two grown men, or rather, an imitation of what teenage boys would talk like since it didn't ring true to me on that end, either and there were a few times where they didn't sound American, but British, or British trying to sound American. There were also some amateurish editing issues like multiple question marks or exclamation points, which is something that really shouldn't have made it past an editor, because yikes!

Ultimately though, a very addictive book with easy to love characters, andI love that it had an ensemble cast and moved beyond the POVs of the two leads. I just wish it would have taken a few more chances.