Reviews

Safe Place by Jay Northcote

misssleepless's review

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emotional medium-paced

3.0

samanthamsouza's review against another edition

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5.0

4,5 estrelas!

Confesso que fiquei um pouco preocupada quando li "six-year age gap" na sinopse, mas durante a leitura, acabou não me incomodando. Os dois personagens estão em horas diferentes de suas vidas, mas ao mesmo tempo não tão diferentes assim, e acaba que os círculos de amizade vão se juntando um pouquinho e sei lá, não ficou algo bizarro.

De novo temos pelo menos um personagem em uma situação delicada, o que eu acho que é uma constante nessa série. Não me senti tão conectada a esses protagonistas quanto eu me senti com os anteriores, mas gostei bastante da história e do relacionamento deles. Achei fofo eles terem tentado ser amigos primeiro, porque o Alex não estava em uma situação boa para poder assumir sua sexualidade, mas ao mesmo tempo não teve tanta miscommunication, senão eu provavelmente ficaria de saco cheio.

Enfim, é um livro legal que continuou bem a série.

ladydewinter's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a nice and comfortable read. My main issue with Jay Northcote's books is that even when there is conflict, it goes away a little too smoothly. On the one hand, that is a welcome change from reality, on the other hand it's hard to get invested when everything just falls into place. The thing is, I do enjoy his writing and his characters. His books could be more interesting, though, with a structure that creates a little bit more tension.

nolagal's review against another edition

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hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

suzy76's review against another edition

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4.0

Absolutely adorable coming of age read, highly recommend.

riverreads's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a very lovely second installment in the series.
I really liked getting to know these characters and their different life struggles, I think it was really great that the author showed us to different upbringings. These guys were at different points in their lives so honestly, their way of looking at the world was different but there wasn't a disconnect between them. They worked really fine as friends and lovers.

One of the things that I love and appreciate the most about the author is how he includes so much representation in his books, he makes these tiny moments in the stories that hit you right in the chest because comments or actions can be huge for someone that deals with the judgment from close-minded people, so seeing those moment makes you feel like he is trying to make these stories as real as possible.

I hope we get the chance to see these guys in future books and how they are doing with their lives because even though the book does a lot of happy, in the end, it's about young guys so they have their lives ahead of them, their HEA it's just starting.

sidenote: Alex's mom story made me really happy! it showed that people can be wrong but everyone needs a chance to grow and change.

karentje's review against another edition

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4.0

*3.5 stars*

This is a NA friends to lovers story set in the wonderful new world created in Rainbow Place, the first book in this series.

I usually love friends to lovers stories, but I was a bit bummed by how this particular friendship started out. Cam and Alex have noticed each other already in the first book in the series, with Alex crushing on the cute, slightly older guy who seems way out of his league.
Cam is equally drawn to Alex, however, and they spend a lovely evening together.
Everything seems to be going great, until suddenly it doesn't anymore, when Cam finds out Alex's father is a local, prominent homophobe and does a sudden about-face. This really rubbed me the wrong way.
Ostensibly it's about protecting Alex, but to me it felt more like Cam wanting to avoid complications, giving in to his own fears and running away from a potentially great relationship. This doesn't exactly scream romance. Throughout the story he rejects Alex more than once, while giving him mixed signals. Cam's extreme reluctance to act on (or even admit to) his feelings for Alex makes it hard for me as reader to believe in the strength of his love.

I did like that Cam and Alex became friends under difficult circumstances and I was completely charmed by the secondary characters... seeing Seb and Jason again was amazing and the others like Sophia, Amber, Hayden and Wicksy are a great bunch of friends and I'd love to see more of them in the following books.

Still I would have liked to have seen more of Alex and Cam as an actual item. They only get together at the very end of the story, so we don't really see them grow as a couple.

Unless a story is a ménage romance, I also really dislike it when a third gets too close to one of the MC's... and at about 50% in a love story the connection between the MC's should be strong enough that something like that is just unthinkable.

alextweetsbooks's review against another edition

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5.0

*I received the book in exchange for an honest review*

Once again I am at a loss where to start, except to say I absolutely loved the book. After reading Rainbow Place (my review of it can be found here), I was really excited about the next book, and even more so when I found out that the next book would feature Alex and Cam.

I loved the characters, and I just want to hug Alex and protect him from all the crap he’d had going on. As his father was in a way responsible for people vandalising Rainbow Place in the first book it came as no surprise that he’d stay the same asshole even when it came to his son. I hated the guy in the first book already, but in this one, my hatred of him reached previously unknown levels.

I loved the community though. When Alex is homeless, his friends take up the slack. Cam and Wicksy let him stay with them, Seb is also prepared to give him a place, and also offers him a job. Like in the first book, the actions of the community cheered me up, and gave me hope.

And Cam? Oh what a hopeless dude. He was attracted to Alex from the beginning (and it certainly was reciprocated), but ugh! his doubts and noble intentions were occasionally so frustrating I just wanted to punch him. It was noble of him when he saw who Alex’s dad was and didn’t want to add extra complication in the mix, for Alex to deal with, especially with exams looming.

But once shit hit the fan and everything, his reasons were less noble and more…based on fear. He doesn’t want to risk the friendship he and Alex had because of one bad experience years ago, and even when it’s obvious it’s too late for those kinds of hang-ups.

But I loved the ending and the epilogue and WHOA did they have a huge surprise in them. It was so amazing! ❤

Anyway, the book CAN be read as a standalone but…the first one is too good to miss out.

vitniss's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5
The Q is are we getting a third novel about Dylan and his nerdy customer??

shelbanuadh's review against another edition

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3.0

Another nice and light read from this series. Overall, I enjoyed Alex and Cam more than I did Seb and Jason, though there were times I wanted to shake Cam.

I would have given this 4 vs 3 stars, except that the ending seemed a but abrupt. I would have liked to see a bit more of Alex figuring out what he was going to do in regards to school, work, his living situation as opposed to everything being wrapped up once the romance is sorted.