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[REVIEW] Bloody Fool for Love
Oct. 26th, 2024 06:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apachefirecat
Title: Bloody Fool for Love
Author: William Ritter
Genre: Supernatural/Fantasy/TV
Review:
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apachefirecatTitle: Bloody Fool for Love
Author: William Ritter
Genre: Supernatural/Fantasy/TV
Review:
( Read more... )
quillpunkTitle: Skeletons in the Closet
Author: Nicky James
Genres: Romance, Mystery
Content Warnings: Domestic Abuse (I don't quite remember; I think it was mostly off-screen and in references, but it was definitely on-screen as well, and it has left Diem with lots of trauma, especially because he still has to be around his dad, who's still abusive, when Diem goes to visit his grandmother who lives with Diem's dad, because she can't live on her own anymore)
Review: *Skeletons in the Closet* is an MM romance mystery novel and the first in a series. The romance doesn't necessarily develop a lot in this book; I think it's setting up to be a multi-book series romance with a slow burn development, but it's definitely the star of the show. Diem and Tallus' relationship is the highlight of the book (well, *Diem* is the highlight of the book and Tallus is kind of dragged along. I'll get into it soon) while the mystery part is a little bit unsatisfactory on my part.
Diem is a private investigator who just got a new job; Faye, a woman who thinks her dead husband was cheating on her and wants proof. For information, Diem reluctantly goes to a police records clerk, Tallus, whom he had an unsatisfactory sexual encounter with some months ago. It's fair to say this encounter has further scarred (emotionally) Diem, who already has plenty of them (both physical and emotional) and it's difficult for Diem to work up the courage to approach Tallus. But he eventually succeeds, and Tallus, who craves adventure and finds his job boring, promptly inserts himself into the case. To be fair, he *is* helpful; unlike Diem, Tallus isn't big and scarred and intimidating and is pretty good at communication, which Diem is decidedly not.
But personally I can't say I ever really warmed up much to Tallus. It just felt a little bit like he was walking all over Diem's boundaries a little too much to me, and his irreverent attitude about Diem's issues bothered me a lot. He took a lot of liberties, and while Diem definitely wanted Tallus to take liberties, it also wasn't easy for Diem and I feel like Tallus doesn't understand how not easy it really is.
He does get better about it and more respectful of Diem's boundaries and learns to recognize that Diem really is trying over the course of the book, so they're on the right track. The progression of their relationship really is the focal point of the story, I think, and it makes sense that the story ended before they've officially gotten together—they definitely still have a ways to go!
On the mystery side, I'm not sure if this was that good a book? Personally I was lost the entire story, and I felt like the characters were, too; there were a lot of pieces but I couldn't see how they connected and neither could the characters until like the 90% point. I at no point clocked who the actual perpetrator actually was, and it felt like it came out of thin air when it was revealed.
Like, I don't know, I just feel like part of the joy of a mystery story is trying to figure out whodunnit but this novel provided no clues and didn't point me in any one direction, so I just didn't feel involved in that whatsoever, and when it did finally came up with a theory, it did that annoying thing where it didn't *tell* the reader the theory. It just glossed over it and moved on until they got the deets and then somebody else confirmed it all 'tell no show' for me. It just kind of felt a bit like an afterthought.
The novel spent so long on the *misdirection* of the mystery that I kind of feel like it never deigned to point in the right direction, if that makes sense. And so I never felt like I had a grip on the mystery or who could have done it.
All in all, Diem is definitely the best part of this novel. He's a delightful character, a lovely person. He's damaged and he tries so hard to be good, and it shows so much. I just love him. (I think he deserves better than Tallus, but I guess I'm not the one deciding that, sigh…) I’ll probably pick up the sequel at some point, if only for Diem, but while this wasn’t bad by any means and was overall enjoyable, it’s not my favorite read. I do recommend it though, if it appeals to you!
Author: Nicky James
Genres: Romance, Mystery
Content Warnings: Domestic Abuse (I don't quite remember; I think it was mostly off-screen and in references, but it was definitely on-screen as well, and it has left Diem with lots of trauma, especially because he still has to be around his dad, who's still abusive, when Diem goes to visit his grandmother who lives with Diem's dad, because she can't live on her own anymore)
Review: *Skeletons in the Closet* is an MM romance mystery novel and the first in a series. The romance doesn't necessarily develop a lot in this book; I think it's setting up to be a multi-book series romance with a slow burn development, but it's definitely the star of the show. Diem and Tallus' relationship is the highlight of the book (well, *Diem* is the highlight of the book and Tallus is kind of dragged along. I'll get into it soon) while the mystery part is a little bit unsatisfactory on my part.
Diem is a private investigator who just got a new job; Faye, a woman who thinks her dead husband was cheating on her and wants proof. For information, Diem reluctantly goes to a police records clerk, Tallus, whom he had an unsatisfactory sexual encounter with some months ago. It's fair to say this encounter has further scarred (emotionally) Diem, who already has plenty of them (both physical and emotional) and it's difficult for Diem to work up the courage to approach Tallus. But he eventually succeeds, and Tallus, who craves adventure and finds his job boring, promptly inserts himself into the case. To be fair, he *is* helpful; unlike Diem, Tallus isn't big and scarred and intimidating and is pretty good at communication, which Diem is decidedly not.
But personally I can't say I ever really warmed up much to Tallus. It just felt a little bit like he was walking all over Diem's boundaries a little too much to me, and his irreverent attitude about Diem's issues bothered me a lot. He took a lot of liberties, and while Diem definitely wanted Tallus to take liberties, it also wasn't easy for Diem and I feel like Tallus doesn't understand how not easy it really is.
He does get better about it and more respectful of Diem's boundaries and learns to recognize that Diem really is trying over the course of the book, so they're on the right track. The progression of their relationship really is the focal point of the story, I think, and it makes sense that the story ended before they've officially gotten together—they definitely still have a ways to go!
On the mystery side, I'm not sure if this was that good a book? Personally I was lost the entire story, and I felt like the characters were, too; there were a lot of pieces but I couldn't see how they connected and neither could the characters until like the 90% point. I at no point clocked who the actual perpetrator actually was, and it felt like it came out of thin air when it was revealed.
Like, I don't know, I just feel like part of the joy of a mystery story is trying to figure out whodunnit but this novel provided no clues and didn't point me in any one direction, so I just didn't feel involved in that whatsoever, and when it did finally came up with a theory, it did that annoying thing where it didn't *tell* the reader the theory. It just glossed over it and moved on until they got the deets and then somebody else confirmed it all 'tell no show' for me. It just kind of felt a bit like an afterthought.
The novel spent so long on the *misdirection* of the mystery that I kind of feel like it never deigned to point in the right direction, if that makes sense. And so I never felt like I had a grip on the mystery or who could have done it.
All in all, Diem is definitely the best part of this novel. He's a delightful character, a lovely person. He's damaged and he tries so hard to be good, and it shows so much. I just love him. (I think he deserves better than Tallus, but I guess I'm not the one deciding that, sigh…) I’ll probably pick up the sequel at some point, if only for Diem, but while this wasn’t bad by any means and was overall enjoyable, it’s not my favorite read. I do recommend it though, if it appeals to you!
