Bubblegum

Epic story!

Revisado: 03-03-23

This story... I don't have words to describe how epic it is. And the impressive amount of research that must have gone into this book! Kudos to Bauer for this masterpiece!
Captivating, emotional, nuanced. I loved it.

But the narrator does his best to ruin the story. John Solo overacts, whines, and wails. His narration kept pulling me out of the story. Incredibly annoying.

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Crude and unsophisticated murder mystery

Revisado: 11-17-22

There's a lot to unpack here. And it concerns both the suspense/detective arc of the story, as well as the characters themselves.

But let's start with the serial killer and the portrayal of the ongoing police investigation. I realize that a novel like this can't possibly include all the details involved in a criminal investigation, but I don't think it's too much to ask that it at least should be slightly credible. As it were, despite everyone involved being perfectly clear on that it was an actual serial killer on the loose, only one Detective - Tyler Jamison - appeared to be assigned the case. Which is absurd, no matter how under-funded the police was supposed to be. Sure, there was some peripheral police presence, but it wasn't depicted as particularly active, and Tyler was pretty much left to flounder along on his own. And that floundering was actually pretty sad to witness. For example, when Ian decides to "investigate" on his own, and has made arrangements to meet with the man he believed to be the killer - an ex boyfriend of one of the victims - Tyler sort of just "well okay then", and apparently viewed this as the only means to get info from the man. Like he wouldn't be allowed to get close to him himself and question him officially as a person close to one of the victims. And the silliness only continued. And it all compounded to make Tyler appear to completely lack initiative, and being a bit thick to be honest.

The murder mystery and suspense itself was crudely done, with no finesse at all. It was disappointingly obvious early on who the killer was. And everyone involved added their own brand of illogical behaviour and faulty conclusions to drag out the story somewhat. Then the killer was caught in the middle of the book! And that was that mystery-wise. Extremely disappointing.

The last half of the story was about Ian and Tyler and their interactions. I thought Ian was quite likable. His background and past trauma added some complexity to the story. But despite his difficulties I did have a hard time with him being a trust-fund brat with no ambitions or plans on what to do with his life. His issues aside, that background made him very aware of how lucky he was and I thought he should have made more of an effort to embrace the opportunities he now had.

Tyler... I couldn't stand him.
First of all, from the start it's all about how there's 'something wrong' with him. Because he's not attracted to women that is. He apparently knew he was attracted to guys since High School, he doesn't like women, but he's at 40+ oblivious to being gay!?! I mean, WTF! He also has these vague and unfounded reasons for not wanting to come out (nevermind he just stated that he didn't know what was 'wrong' with him). How his orientation could effect his work was a factor, but not the main one. Instead it was all about not 'disappointing' his family. His family who was NOT homophobic, his sister who lived together with a gay couple, and who's mother viewed that gay couple as family. Talk about made up drama.

I did not like this book (shocker! ;)). And when I realized there was an entire series I was flabbergasted. The only reason I finished Somebody to Love was because I bought the audio, and audios are expensive as all get out.
The narration was good though, he did the best he could with the material he had to work with.

Do not recommend.

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Great ...but reservations

Revisado: 04-23-22

4.5 stars!
Obviously, since this is book no. 8 in a series and I’m still here for it, I’m a dedicated fan.
And the narration was overall very good. The narrator that did Akara had a tendency to sound overly dramatic at times, but is was still ok.

However, I have reservations. So, so, so many reservations.
But first, the good things.

Apart from high-quality everything (writing, story-telling, world-building, characters and yada yada), what I most adore about the series and this book, is the way fame is depicted. It’s not glitz and glamour, private jets and extravagant living which is pretty much standard in every other “millionaire story”. Although – obviously – the famous ones are financially independent. No, instead it’s all the negative aspects of fame. The lack of privacy. The media and paparazzi. The inability to go out in public without being faced with strangers who act like jerks, thinking they have the right to Sully in this case. A right to say whatever to her as if she wasn’t a person. That because she’s famous, basic human decency is forgotten and they have the right to heckle and assault.
It’s bloody brilliant.

But, now to the main two sources of my conflicted feelings about Wild Like Us.

First, the issue of Sully’s virginity. The entire book is totally obsessed about the fact that she hasn’t yet had penetrative s*x. With a person that is. It’s something she talks about, not only with her bodyguards – before they’ve started dating – but her family as well. Even her parents. I mean, really, she’s an adult. That topic of conversation shouldn’t ever come up. And the way they’re talking about it. She’s talking about someone “taking her virginity” this and “taking her virginity” that. It’s like it’s the 17th century or something. I found it embarrassingly antiquated and sexist to be honest.

And then, even though it’s revealed early on that she had used toys in the past, she still bleeds when they finally get it on. I mean, come on! It just made me even more angry. Because of course she has a virginity seal that only a real, live D can penetrate. So antiquated indeed.

Then, the budding relationship between Sully and both Akara and Banks. It’s just so unbalanced. Everything is about Sully. All three of them have their own POVs, but the focus is still entirely on her, and she seems okay with that. Like Akara and Banks are there to serve her, even in the situations that are clearly private and separate from their duties as bodyguards. Sure, those lines are blurry considering they’re her 24-7 security. But still. It makes Sully appear extremely selfish.

Also, since Banks and Akara aren’t interested in each other romantically, the imbalance gets even more pronounced. Because there’s no way around the fact that both of them would have preferred having Sully for themselves if only they could do so without hurting the other. So they compromise in order to have her. Only Sully gets everything. It’s disconcerting in its inequality.
Meaning, in my opinion, the story would have been waaay better if all three of them were actually involved with the other two in a romantic capacity.

When I’m re-reading what I’ve just wrote it’s kind of difficult to understand why I even liked this story. Because I did- I was completely swept away, and I’ve already started on the sequel Fearless Like Us. Guess I’m just complex like that. 😉

Because despite everything, I can only say: Highly recommend!

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True to its title!

Revisado: 03-04-22

Best revisit with Wesmie I could ask for. Adored it. Humor, shenanigans. The banter is to die for! And the narration couldn't be more awesome. Funny thing though, I've always thought that Jacob Morgan and Teddy Hamilton should have switched characters since, to me, Wes' voice sounds how I imagine Jamie's and vice versa.
Anyway, highly recommend!

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Loved it! Loved the narrators!

Revisado: 03-10-20

Love the story love the narrators!
I love this story, It has it all the feels and steam too. I've listened to the entire series several times

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Love it! Loved the narrators!

Revisado: 03-10-20

Love the story love the narrators!
I love this story, It has it all the feels and steam too. I've listened to the entire series several times

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Love the story love the narrators!

Revisado: 03-10-20

I love this story, It has it all the feels and steam too. I've listened to the entire series several times.

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