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naiadtales's review against another edition
I don't really care for bully romances even though they were kids at the time
nomomstayandread's review
4.0
I see from other reviews that people were turned off by the thinly veiled Draco/Harry fanfiction aspect of this and I don't see why. The similarities were there but I enjoyed the story more for it.
Theo was a bully and horrible to Jack the entire time they were at boarding school. Jack was poor, attention starved, and desperate for a better life for himself. After a nearly perfect summer together after graduation, they don't see each other for 20 years when their sons are roommates at the same school.
I wish desperately that this book would have had date indicators on the chapters because we moved from 20 years ago to today, to week ago, to years ago with only context clues to guide the way. I had a hard time with a few chapters to see whether we were in the present or in the middle of a flashback. I did appreciate how they both ended up making choices that felt the most genuine to themselves as adults.
Thank you to Netgalley and Carina Press for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.
Theo was a bully and horrible to Jack the entire time they were at boarding school. Jack was poor, attention starved, and desperate for a better life for himself. After a nearly perfect summer together after graduation, they don't see each other for 20 years when their sons are roommates at the same school.
I wish desperately that this book would have had date indicators on the chapters because we moved from 20 years ago to today, to week ago, to years ago with only context clues to guide the way. I had a hard time with a few chapters to see whether we were in the present or in the middle of a flashback. I did appreciate how they both ended up making choices that felt the most genuine to themselves as adults.
Thank you to Netgalley and Carina Press for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.
kaybee_reads's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Overall this was a fun read and I enjoyed it but I do think I would have rated it lower if I didn't immediately realize that it was repackaged fanfic. I think I would have wanted a couple more gaps to be filled from their childhood and then school days to understand why they are behaving the way they are in the present.
Character rating - 3.5 .
Plot rating - 3.
Character rating - 3.5 .
Plot rating - 3.
tagoreketabkhane31's review
3.0
Prior to starting this book, I assumed this was your run of the mill queer romance from the "Carina Adores" imprint - and while it is, this is definitely one of the more heavier of their offerings (even with their HEA guarantee). As I read through the book, I recognized that it had similariies of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy from the characters (to an extent) and then of course, coming on here and finding out that this is repurposed Drarry fan-fiction, this book made a lot more sense, in particular with its narrative choices and porse.
Jack Gardner (our Harry stand in) and Theodore Beaumont (our Draco stand in) first meet when they are freshmen at Gwynns Academey (non magical Hogwarts) [and yes, I have to point out that there meeting is very similar to how the two meet in Sorceror's Stone - though not the exact same] and the lack of dates and context until you're in the recollection or scene keeps occuring throughout the remainder of the book - there are moments where both characters will be in the present, and then a past scene will pop up and you are transported to a time in their past - and even these recollections are not linear, as they fluctuate between their time at the school and the summer after graduation that they spent in Ireland.
I will say that the book being Harry Potter fan fic isn't what initially threw me - but it is the reliance on the original source material to make this story that much more impactful that gets me. If you take Malfoy from the sixth book with how he his personality wise, and Harry from books 5-7 to put their high high school selves as, and then amplify that regret and angst to where they are during the Cursed Child era into this book, you get these two characters. While there are differences to make Jack and Theo distinct from Harry and Draco, you can't unsee it when the connection is made - and indeed, a lot of the animosity and behavior traits that they two have towards each other and their friends (there are stand ins from the series, with Theo having Tom, Ginni and Philippe who are Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle, with Jack having his group that includes a mashup character of Ron and the Weasleys - with a hint of hermoine, a Neville, and a Seamus and Dean that are paired together).
It's not a bad book - the angst is TAKING IT, and as someone that likes those high angst reads, that part worked and saved the book for me. However, it was the over-reliance on the Harry Potter fan fic origin and the disjointed narrative style that kept me detached from the story and distracted. Also, while I understand that the authors intent (with the epilogue) to state that their upbringing had incluenced how they were with each other and their avoidance for 19 years, when Jack and Theo interacted in the present, I didn't see much change from their younger selves and that moment of character development that I think Kit was attempting to get us as the reader to see.
That being said, I do hope Kit publishes other works - I would be interested in reading what they write next.
Jack Gardner (our Harry stand in) and Theodore Beaumont (our Draco stand in) first meet when they are freshmen at Gwynns Academey (non magical Hogwarts) [and yes, I have to point out that there meeting is very similar to how the two meet in Sorceror's Stone - though not the exact same] and the lack of dates and context until you're in the recollection or scene keeps occuring throughout the remainder of the book - there are moments where both characters will be in the present, and then a past scene will pop up and you are transported to a time in their past - and even these recollections are not linear, as they fluctuate between their time at the school and the summer after graduation that they spent in Ireland.
I will say that the book being Harry Potter fan fic isn't what initially threw me - but it is the reliance on the original source material to make this story that much more impactful that gets me. If you take Malfoy from the sixth book with how he his personality wise, and Harry from books 5-7 to put their high high school selves as, and then amplify that regret and angst to where they are during the Cursed Child era into this book, you get these two characters. While there are differences to make Jack and Theo distinct from Harry and Draco, you can't unsee it when the connection is made - and indeed, a lot of the animosity and behavior traits that they two have towards each other and their friends (there are stand ins from the series, with Theo having Tom, Ginni and Philippe who are Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle, with Jack having his group that includes a mashup character of Ron and the Weasleys - with a hint of hermoine, a Neville, and a Seamus and Dean that are paired together).
It's not a bad book - the angst is TAKING IT, and as someone that likes those high angst reads, that part worked and saved the book for me. However, it was the over-reliance on the Harry Potter fan fic origin and the disjointed narrative style that kept me detached from the story and distracted. Also, while I understand that the authors intent (with the epilogue) to state that their upbringing had incluenced how they were with each other and their avoidance for 19 years, when Jack and Theo interacted in the present, I didn't see much change from their younger selves and that moment of character development that I think Kit was attempting to get us as the reader to see.
That being said, I do hope Kit publishes other works - I would be interested in reading what they write next.
bellagothswife's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
crocus's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
blaireisrad's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
anderemi's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ktcasa87's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
coreylanesmith's review
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
5.0
I absolutely loved this book, I cried, I laughed, I was shocked, I had so many emotions. It did confuse me with the flashbacks but I quickly got used to them.