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A review by haletostilinski1
Salvation by Sloane Kennedy
2.0
So I feel very 25/75 about this book, because I really enjoyed Ronan and Seth's relationship, except the beginning part was very hard to read, warning for anyone -
Anyway, Ronan and Seth's relationship was sweet, sizzling, and the chemistry was crazy good. But they were also extremely frustrating.
Because it was like watching a ping pong match, going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Ronan would take one step forward and then two steps back. And Seth would be angry at him (without really taking much time think why Ronan kept running away) and then forgive him like two seconds later when they came in contact again.
First Ronan was "distancing" himself because of what happened in the beginning of the book, but not really. After their first time, Ronan "runs" again, but not really. Seth is all "we're done" and then they're fucking two seconds later, and while it is scorching hot, after it's over Seth is firm again in them being done.
But then a week later after a conversation with Hawke, Seth is back at Ronan's door - asking for friendship, but just friendship between them doesn't last that long. Also, Ronan does leave when Seth asks him to, but doesn't actually leave Seattle, because he can't truly leave Seth - except he won't give Seth anything of himself except sex at that point. And keeps saying and thinking "we can't, I'm not good for you, your best without me" but he keeps coming back.
So they do the friend thing for like a week or a little bit more - and they do have their sweet moments that I enjoyed, and I felt that it was more than just sex between them - but then Ronan goes - frankly, a little scary on a dude at Seth's job and threatens the guy (while the guy was being an asshole, I don't know if he deserved that reaction - that frankly felt like an overreaction on Ronan's part, even though it fit his character) and I guess Seth finds that hot somehow because he kisses Ronan.
Then they fuck in Seth's office - which, hot, of course - but then after Ronan runs again, and Seth is hurt, and later they fuck again after Ronan has been all cold to him, again, and Seth even proclaims his love and Ronan, runs, AGAIN.
It felt a little like getting whiplash. And Seth was firm with Ronan for all of three days, and then he was swooning over him again, but then eventually Ronan acted all cold and distant, of course, and Seth would be angry again. And he kept saying for Ronan to leave him alone, that after all this shit was over, they were "done" but then five seconds later they were all lovey dovey with each other again, and calling each other baby when they were angry or distant from each other five seconds ago, and then sex (while hot) happened again and again.
And frankly most of this back and forth would have been solved if Ronan would have just TOLD Seth the truth about what happened to Trace, and what he did for a living now, and while it was understandable for the first half of the book that he didn't tell Seth, because that is heavy shit and hard to talk about, it got tiring after Ronan refused over and over and over again, to Hawke, to Seth, to himself, to just fucking say something.
I get that Ronan was broken and men usually suck at communication, but jesusss, it took until the 83% mark for Ronan to finally tell Seth everything (when he'd said nothing of his two big "secrets" beforehand), and there was so many "this is the last chance, or I'll lose him forever" or "I'm probably going to lose him and never see him again" moments I was like, really????
And the plot, while it made perfect sense (and was also completely predictable I was like how do you guys NOT see who is behind all this?? Honestly??) had a completely anti-climatic end. I felt no fear
I was going to give this book three stars, but the more I wrote the review the more I felt I needed to give it two stars, because there was so much more that annoyed me about than what I liked - although it was good at sucking me into it, I'll give it that, and Ronan and Seth's steamy sex scenes were awesome.
There was a barely there and gone plot with some Barry dude that was like Seth's creepy therapist? What was the point of him other than to like, make Ronan jealous and get all hulk on him and to show Seth "the real him" as Seth thought it. Seriously, that went nowhere, and was probably also there to make us "wonder" who the bad guy could be, but I never thought it was him because besides being a creep and a gross asshole, he never seemed to be the person doing all this to Seth.
Also, when Seth's home was invaded and he was tortured there and saw his parents killed, why would Seth feel safe inside a house?? Wouldn't it be the opposite? Why would the outside world be so scary when the horrible thing happened to Seth inside his home, not in the outside world? It didn't make much sense to me.
SOooo many plot holes here, so little time.
Also, I know horrible, awful things happen to people and it isn't impossible that all this horrible shit would happen, but it felt kind of like overkill, because Seth lost his parents, was tortured and almost died when he was a kid, and then a year later his brother dies, and then all Seth has is his ailing, barely there to help, grandmother, and Seth barely has anyone, basically no one. And then Ronan has an alcoholic, abusive father, then what happens to Trace, to himself, and then having to hear all the horrible things that happened to all the secondary characters (while that makes sense because they're all part of Ronan's...company (?) for a reason, it's still...yeesh) it's just like jesus fucking christ can no one get a break in these novels? Can all this shit happen to so many people so close to each other? And it's fine that it did, because horrible shit happens, but having horrific things happen to everyone in this story just felt like overkill. Ronan was messed up, Seth was messed up, Hawke was messed up, the guys from the first book (which, yes, I did not read), and so on and so forth. Again, I'm not saying bad things can't happen, but if horrific things happened to one character (that don't usually happen in everyday life) and then bad, sucky things that happen in everyday life to the other, it wouldn't feel like overkill. But just...whew, it was a lot.
So, this book was very frustrating to me. I like Ronan and Seth's relationship - although something more organic that could have happened for drama was the fact that Seth was Trace's little brother and them dealing with that, and forming a relationship when Ronan had been with Seth's brother, because I felt like that was barely touched on when that could have been played up instead of other things that were front and center.
Overall, I enjoyed Ronan and Seth's relationship, I thought they were the strongest part of the novel, them together, and the sex was scorchingly good, but the rest was just...ughhh, annoying.
Spoiler
no rape happens, but it almost does between them. Seth wants it but it's bringing back horrific memories he has of being tied up and tortured, and if Ronan didn't see his tears, he wouldn't have stopped. He fingers Seth, but he doesn't penetrate him and it stops before rape happens, and before that it was consensual (the kissing and blowjob). And Seth later explains it was the flashback to what happened, not what Ronan was going to do. Still, it is hard to read, even though they don't go through with it. Later when they do have sex, it is completely consensual.Anyway, Ronan and Seth's relationship was sweet, sizzling, and the chemistry was crazy good. But they were also extremely frustrating.
Because it was like watching a ping pong match, going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Ronan would take one step forward and then two steps back. And Seth would be angry at him (without really taking much time think why Ronan kept running away) and then forgive him like two seconds later when they came in contact again.
First Ronan was "distancing" himself because of what happened in the beginning of the book, but not really. After their first time, Ronan "runs" again, but not really. Seth is all "we're done" and then they're fucking two seconds later, and while it is scorching hot, after it's over Seth is firm again in them being done.
But then a week later after a conversation with Hawke, Seth is back at Ronan's door - asking for friendship, but just friendship between them doesn't last that long. Also, Ronan does leave when Seth asks him to, but doesn't actually leave Seattle, because he can't truly leave Seth - except he won't give Seth anything of himself except sex at that point. And keeps saying and thinking "we can't, I'm not good for you, your best without me" but he keeps coming back.
So they do the friend thing for like a week or a little bit more - and they do have their sweet moments that I enjoyed, and I felt that it was more than just sex between them - but then Ronan goes - frankly, a little scary on a dude at Seth's job and threatens the guy (while the guy was being an asshole, I don't know if he deserved that reaction - that frankly felt like an overreaction on Ronan's part, even though it fit his character) and I guess Seth finds that hot somehow because he kisses Ronan.
Then they fuck in Seth's office - which, hot, of course - but then after Ronan runs again, and Seth is hurt, and later they fuck again after Ronan has been all cold to him, again, and Seth even proclaims his love and Ronan, runs, AGAIN.
It felt a little like getting whiplash. And Seth was firm with Ronan for all of three days, and then he was swooning over him again, but then eventually Ronan acted all cold and distant, of course, and Seth would be angry again. And he kept saying for Ronan to leave him alone, that after all this shit was over, they were "done" but then five seconds later they were all lovey dovey with each other again, and calling each other baby when they were angry or distant from each other five seconds ago, and then sex (while hot) happened again and again.
And frankly most of this back and forth would have been solved if Ronan would have just TOLD Seth the truth about what happened to Trace, and what he did for a living now, and while it was understandable for the first half of the book that he didn't tell Seth, because that is heavy shit and hard to talk about, it got tiring after Ronan refused over and over and over again, to Hawke, to Seth, to himself, to just fucking say something.
I get that Ronan was broken and men usually suck at communication, but jesusss, it took until the 83% mark for Ronan to finally tell Seth everything (when he'd said nothing of his two big "secrets" beforehand), and there was so many "this is the last chance, or I'll lose him forever" or "I'm probably going to lose him and never see him again" moments I was like, really????
And the plot, while it made perfect sense (and was also completely predictable I was like how do you guys NOT see who is behind all this?? Honestly??
Spoiler
Have you dudes ever watch a movie about greedy fuckers who want all your money???Spoiler
for Seth, because I knew he would get saved. I had no doubt that he wouldn't, and he was barely in danger before he was saved. There was no tension in the climax, at all.I was going to give this book three stars, but the more I wrote the review the more I felt I needed to give it two stars, because there was so much more that annoyed me about than what I liked - although it was good at sucking me into it, I'll give it that, and Ronan and Seth's steamy sex scenes were awesome.
There was a barely there and gone plot with some Barry dude that was like Seth's creepy therapist? What was the point of him other than to like, make Ronan jealous and get all hulk on him and to show Seth "the real him" as Seth thought it. Seriously, that went nowhere, and was probably also there to make us "wonder" who the bad guy could be, but I never thought it was him because besides being a creep and a gross asshole, he never seemed to be the person doing all this to Seth.
Also, when Seth's home was invaded and he was tortured there and saw his parents killed, why would Seth feel safe inside a house?? Wouldn't it be the opposite? Why would the outside world be so scary when the horrible thing happened to Seth inside his home, not in the outside world? It didn't make much sense to me.
SOooo many plot holes here, so little time.
Also, I know horrible, awful things happen to people and it isn't impossible that all this horrible shit would happen, but it felt kind of like overkill, because Seth lost his parents, was tortured and almost died when he was a kid, and then a year later his brother dies, and then all Seth has is his ailing, barely there to help, grandmother, and Seth barely has anyone, basically no one. And then Ronan has an alcoholic, abusive father, then what happens to Trace, to himself, and then having to hear all the horrible things that happened to all the secondary characters (while that makes sense because they're all part of Ronan's...company (?) for a reason, it's still...yeesh) it's just like jesus fucking christ can no one get a break in these novels? Can all this shit happen to so many people so close to each other? And it's fine that it did, because horrible shit happens, but having horrific things happen to everyone in this story just felt like overkill. Ronan was messed up, Seth was messed up, Hawke was messed up, the guys from the first book (which, yes, I did not read), and so on and so forth. Again, I'm not saying bad things can't happen, but if horrific things happened to one character (that don't usually happen in everyday life) and then bad, sucky things that happen in everyday life to the other, it wouldn't feel like overkill. But just...whew, it was a lot.
So, this book was very frustrating to me. I like Ronan and Seth's relationship - although something more organic that could have happened for drama was the fact that Seth was Trace's little brother and them dealing with that, and forming a relationship when Ronan had been with Seth's brother, because I felt like that was barely touched on when that could have been played up instead of other things that were front and center.
Overall, I enjoyed Ronan and Seth's relationship, I thought they were the strongest part of the novel, them together, and the sex was scorchingly good, but the rest was just...ughhh, annoying.