nabecker13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Abandonment, Death, Dementia, Grief, and Toxic relationship
kelly_e's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Author: Anita Kelly
Series: Love & Other Disaster #2
Genre: Romance
Rating: 5.00
Pub Date: March 7, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Untamed • Affectionate •
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Alexei Lebedev’s journey on the Pacific Crest Trail begins with a single snake. And it is angling for the hot stranger who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Lex is prepared for rattlesnakes, blisters, and months of solitude. What he isn’t prepared for is Ben Caravalho. But somehow—on a 2,500-mile trail—Alexei keeps running into the outgoing and charismatic hiker with golden-brown eyes, again and again.
Ben has made his fair share of bad decisions, and almost all of them involved beautiful men. And yet there’s something about the gorgeous and quietly nerdy Alexei that Ben can’t just walk away from. Surely a bad decision can’t be this cute and smart.
💭 T H O U G H T S
When a trusted book friend described and raved about this book, I instantly added it to my TBR and placed a hold through my library. When my hold finally came through I dropped everything to jump in. At the time, I was in quite a reading slump and Something Wild & Wonderful definitely changed that. I could not put this book down and fell absolutely in love with this story!
As an outdoor enthusiast myself, the Western wilderness of the Pacific Crest Trail was immediately transporting. The imagery - from the desert to the mountains, from the trees to the birds - all of it came to life. At times I even felt like I was taking the journey alongside Alexei. And as other readers have said, it certainly made me want to go hiking and see parts of the PCT.
But it is the characters that truly make this book shine! While I can safely say Alexei and Ben are opposites, they both are facing their respective life challenges. The heartbreaking reality of Alexei's reason for embarking on the journey evoked great emotion and I just felt an instant connection to his quiet, introverted character. The two men come together to help each other in ways they weren't even aware of and in the process being to heal. Ben's family and friends were also just wonderful.
The writing comes together in a tender and compassionate manner creating a purely magical story. The plot just made me heart happy. And even though the romance does happen fairly quick, yet it felt believable and sincere. There's no doubt Something Wild & Wonderful will be on my 2023 favourites list. It took me by utter surprise just how much I adored this book and it definitely made me was to explore more of Anita Kelly's work. I'd also be completely okay if Alexei and Ben got a sequel at some point.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• M/M romance enthusiast
• fans of Allison Cochrun
• readers who likes adventure
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Being still was powerful."
"There will also never be anyone else to take the place of my parents. Some parts of myself will always be missing. But you taught me I can find people. That there will be other people I meet in my life who will understand me. Who will love me. Who will show me how wonderful and surprising the world can be."
"Moving forward was different from running away."
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Homophobia
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Dementia, Gaslighting, Death, and Sexual assault
familial estrangementsophieamreacher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Homophobia
Minor: Toxic relationship, Death, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Medical content, Grief, Dementia, and Religious bigotry
piperclover's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is getting 5 stars even though I don't like letters to move a plot along and I don't like religion and this story had a lot of religion and a bit of letters moving the plot. This is so heavy on religious trauma. Alexei is what his faith means to him and how it looks now redefining. There's so much discussion about what moving on looks like and how to live your life without waiting around for people who have hurt you immensely. There's so many good discussions in this book that I feel like we're handled so realistically for what the character was going through at the time.
On top of all of the messaging and themes, it really is just so sweet and so adorable. Ben gives me golden retriever vibes and Alexei is so cute as a person and they work so well together. Ben is working as a nurse and male nurses often get a lot of unnecessary sexist and homophobic hate. Alexei is undignosed autistic through most of the book but receives a later in life diagnosis which I thought was cool.
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Death
evelynyle_88's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death and Dementia
aansano's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment
Minor: Death
imstephtacular's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Medical content
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Dementia, Racism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Death, and Outing
lost_windsock's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Terminal illness
lookatjimmy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I'm normally a big hater of the third-act break-up and, as a romance reader, simply live with the unhappy understanding that it's just to be expected now. But this was done so WELL and it made so much SENSE and it actually felt REWARDING at the end.
Also YES I cried on a public bus while I finished reading this book SO WHAT ABOUT IT.
Graphic: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Death
Minor: Toxic relationship
wilybooklover's review
4.5
I loved that Alexei remained estranged from his parents by the end of the book. So many times in romance I feel like authors force a familial reconciliation where it isn't warranted or deserved, and I'm glad that didn't happen here.
My only negative point is that I was not a fan of the third-act breakup here nor the length of it, but that's really the story of my life when reading romance. It was relatively understandable, as far as third-act breakups go. Their letters and reunion were just gorgeous and almost worth the angst.
Graphic: Abandonment, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Toxic relationship
Minor: Dementia, Fatphobia, Racism, and Death