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A review by gretchenelaine
Love Always, Wild by A.M. Johnson
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I give this 3.5
I really went into this thinking I would love it, and at first, I did, but then it entered the topic of sin because of your sexual orientation, and that's where I got a little frustrated. While it is a very relatable topic, this is a topic that took the majority of the book, and as time went on, I just became angered by the characters, which took away from my ability to stay with the story. I think A.M. did a fantastic job tackling the subject, my personal views just made it difficult to stay in the present with the book and not want to jump into the book and shake Jax's mom and dad, heck, Jax himself when he blamed his gayness on a pretty pivotal part of the story and what ripped him and Wilder apart.
I think if I could have stayed focused and not lost my cool about 65% of the time, it would be a complete 5/5, and maybe it should be. However, I just struggled to stay connected. What also didn't help was Tim Paige's southern dialect/accent. For some reason, when he was trying to stay in character for Wilder, he made Wilder more feminine with the dialect as a way to differentiate between Wilder and Jax, which threw me for a loop.
Now, what I did love was that I laughed a ton! Wilder, I connected with the most because we both have abandonment issues and are extremely dramatic. Both getting in our own ways. Like him, I have to have my own June's of the world to knock some sense into me.
I really went into this thinking I would love it, and at first, I did, but then it entered the topic of sin because of your sexual orientation, and that's where I got a little frustrated. While it is a very relatable topic, this is a topic that took the majority of the book, and as time went on, I just became angered by the characters, which took away from my ability to stay with the story. I think A.M. did a fantastic job tackling the subject, my personal views just made it difficult to stay in the present with the book and not want to jump into the book and shake Jax's mom and dad, heck, Jax himself when he blamed his gayness on a pretty pivotal part of the story and what ripped him and Wilder apart.
I think if I could have stayed focused and not lost my cool about 65% of the time, it would be a complete 5/5, and maybe it should be. However, I just struggled to stay connected. What also didn't help was Tim Paige's southern dialect/accent. For some reason, when he was trying to stay in character for Wilder, he made Wilder more feminine with the dialect as a way to differentiate between Wilder and Jax, which threw me for a loop.
Now, what I did love was that I laughed a ton! Wilder, I connected with the most because we both have abandonment issues and are extremely dramatic. Both getting in our own ways. Like him, I have to have my own June's of the world to knock some sense into me.