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A review by koistyfishy
Things We Left Behind by Lucy Score
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
5.0
5 Cherry Blossom Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️/5
Well shit…
This made me cry.
But like happy tears 😭
Please note: This is Book 3 in a series that cannot be read as a standalone, as the overarching plot continues and it is important to understand the previous book's events and characters going into this - even though it follows a different couple. As a result, there might be spoilers for Book 1 and Book 2. I would hate to spoil the experience of reading those books, so please stop reading - JUST KNOW I RECOMMEND THIS SERIES SO GO READ THOSE FIRST...
So this book is incredibly hard for me to review because I know at this point I am SUPER biased and I don't know how to separate my overall feelings of the series from my feelings only for this book. It's not like I didn't know who Lucian and Sloane were before this, because we have been following their tension-filled interactions from Book 1.
In fact all the characters in this: Sloane, Lucian, Naomi, Knox, Lina, Nash, Waylay... they were each slowly unpacked through the whole journey, that by the end - just like with your favourite TV show, you believe you know them on a deep emotional level because you have seen their journey, been inside almost all of their heads and witnessed the greater story unfold as this group of people find themselves, find their family and home and finally put to end the drama of the drug lord they have been chasing since book 1.
But back to Lucian and Sloane specifically, they were by far my most anticipated, after all the teasing Lucy Score gave of their interactions in Book 2... I WAS DESPERATE to finally see their love story. Sloane, our little librarian throws the "stereotype" of quiet, innocent and reserved out the window. She is sassy, and feisty and does not hold back at all with Lucian. AND LUCIAN... the best way to describe him is... you know how often your SO can be the most irritating, insufferable, annoying, hardheaded and stubborn arsehole...but you can't help but love him because he is secretly the sweetest most caring and considerate human alive and you cannot imagine your life without him?
Lucian's hatred for Sloane is almost equally matched by the fact that he is so irrevocably in love with her, but is too stubborn to admit it. Likewise with Sloane - a mistake in Lucian's eyes (though if you ask me COMPLETELY JUSTIFIED WHAT SHE DID) completely ruined their amazing friendship because Lucian was too worried about his pride and their supposed "broken trust". Their banter is top-notch with sexual tension literally DRIPPING from the pages! I did enjoy that we had the dual timeline as well as the dual POV. it gave a deeper insight into these two characters that we hadn't seen before in Lucy Scores previous books in this series and made it easier to understand their dynamic and the intense loathing between these too.
This was also a difficult read for me as my father had cancer and seeing Sloanes grieving journey was difficult as she has to learn how to navigate her life without the best man she has ever known, without him being there to experience new things and without him being able to see Sloane and Lucian finally getting together in the end. It made my heart happy and jealous that Lucian had such an amazing relationship with Sloane's father and that he treated Lucian like a son he never had. It was heartwarmingly beautiful that even though he couldn't see it, he could rest easy knowing that his daughter was with the type of man that he loved, protected and had such a deep connection with.
I also didn't really care that there was a third-act breakup!!!
I did find it funny as I was recording the tropes of this, the number of tropes this book contained...
I'll put them behind a spoiler tag so if you want to see them you can, but KNOW it's almost every trope or microtrope you could think of....
▶ Small Town Romance
▶ Neighbours (Forced Proximity)
▶ Childhood Friends to Enemies to Lovers
▶ Second Chance Romance
▶ He Fall's First
▶ Steamy/Spicy Water Scene
▶ Adult Couple (Sloane, 38; Lucian, 40) - I refuse to call them old because that would make me OLD and I AM NOT!
▶ Dual POV
▶ Hand Necklaces
▶ Mine
▶ It's Always Been You
▶ Hidden Cinnamon Roll disguised as an Alphahole
▶ Mental Health Rep
▶ Slowburn
▶ GrumpyXSunshine
▶ He Washes her Hair
▶ Good Girl
▶ Grey Sweatpant
▶ Burn the World for You
▶ He loves her Laugh/Smile
▶ He brings her FOOD
Overall this is a bittersweet goodbye to Knockemout because I am seriously going to miss these characters and their antics, and I swear I NEEED Waylay's story (even from the glimpse of the MEGA Epilogue we got I NEED MORE)
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️/5
Well shit…
This made me cry.
But like happy tears 😭
Please note: This is Book 3 in a series that cannot be read as a standalone, as the overarching plot continues and it is important to understand the previous book's events and characters going into this - even though it follows a different couple. As a result, there might be spoilers for Book 1 and Book 2. I would hate to spoil the experience of reading those books, so please stop reading - JUST KNOW I RECOMMEND THIS SERIES SO GO READ THOSE FIRST...
So this book is incredibly hard for me to review because I know at this point I am SUPER biased and I don't know how to separate my overall feelings of the series from my feelings only for this book. It's not like I didn't know who Lucian and Sloane were before this, because we have been following their tension-filled interactions from Book 1.
In fact all the characters in this: Sloane, Lucian, Naomi, Knox, Lina, Nash, Waylay... they were each slowly unpacked through the whole journey, that by the end - just like with your favourite TV show, you believe you know them on a deep emotional level because you have seen their journey, been inside almost all of their heads and witnessed the greater story unfold as this group of people find themselves, find their family and home and finally put to end the drama of the drug lord they have been chasing since book 1.
But back to Lucian and Sloane specifically, they were by far my most anticipated, after all the teasing Lucy Score gave of their interactions in Book 2... I WAS DESPERATE to finally see their love story. Sloane, our little librarian throws the "stereotype" of quiet, innocent and reserved out the window. She is sassy, and feisty and does not hold back at all with Lucian. AND LUCIAN... the best way to describe him is... you know how often your SO can be the most irritating, insufferable, annoying, hardheaded and stubborn arsehole...but you can't help but love him because he is secretly the sweetest most caring and considerate human alive and you cannot imagine your life without him?
Lucian's hatred for Sloane is almost equally matched by the fact that he is so irrevocably in love with her, but is too stubborn to admit it. Likewise with Sloane - a mistake in Lucian's eyes (though if you ask me COMPLETELY JUSTIFIED WHAT SHE DID) completely ruined their amazing friendship because Lucian was too worried about his pride and their supposed "broken trust". Their banter is top-notch with sexual tension literally DRIPPING from the pages! I did enjoy that we had the dual timeline as well as the dual POV. it gave a deeper insight into these two characters that we hadn't seen before in Lucy Scores previous books in this series and made it easier to understand their dynamic and the intense loathing between these too.
This was also a difficult read for me as my father had cancer and seeing Sloanes grieving journey was difficult as she has to learn how to navigate her life without the best man she has ever known, without him being there to experience new things and without him being able to see Sloane and Lucian finally getting together in the end. It made my heart happy and jealous that Lucian had such an amazing relationship with Sloane's father and that he treated Lucian like a son he never had. It was heartwarmingly beautiful that even though he couldn't see it, he could rest easy knowing that his daughter was with the type of man that he loved, protected and had such a deep connection with.
I also didn't really care that there was a third-act breakup!!!
I did find it funny as I was recording the tropes of this, the number of tropes this book contained...
I'll put them behind a spoiler tag so if you want to see them you can, but KNOW it's almost every trope or microtrope you could think of....
▶ Neighbours (Forced Proximity)
▶ Childhood Friends to Enemies to Lovers
▶ Second Chance Romance
▶ He Fall's First
▶ Steamy/Spicy Water Scene
▶ Adult Couple (Sloane, 38; Lucian, 40) - I refuse to call them old because that would make me OLD and I AM NOT!
▶ Dual POV
▶ Hand Necklaces
▶ Mine
▶ It's Always Been You
▶ Hidden Cinnamon Roll disguised as an Alphahole
▶ Mental Health Rep
▶ Slowburn
▶ GrumpyXSunshine
▶ He Washes her Hair
▶ Good Girl
▶ Grey Sweatpant
▶ Burn the World for You
▶ He loves her Laugh/Smile
▶ He brings her FOOD
Overall this is a bittersweet goodbye to Knockemout because I am seriously going to miss these characters and their antics, and I swear I NEEED Waylay's story (even from the glimpse of the MEGA Epilogue we got I NEED MORE)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Gun violence and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Infertility, and Murder