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Review
2 very conflicted stars
This book is the follow up to the fabulous [book:The Slam|40201863]. It’s a continuation of the friends-to-‘friends-with-benefits’-to-lovers story between childhood friends Ender and Adelaide, showing us the story after the happy ending they got in their first book, and I was excited to explore more of this fantastically entertaining, fun and passionate couple. So beware that this shouldn’t be read as a standalone.
Ender and Adelaide have now graduated college, and as was hinted at in the last book, Ender has entered the pro tennis circuit. Adelaide, a highly intelligent scientist with Asperger’s, is taking a break from her research to spend time and travel with Ender. They are together and happy and enjoying their time together, and I loved their playfully teasing yet highly passionate relationship.
Text me something to get me hot.
I replied: The AC is broken.I’d never touched a surfboard in my life.
“C’mon.” She delivered a solid punch to my arm. “Just think of the wave like it’s me.”
“You.”
“Me,” she said in a jolly voice. “A joy to look at and a thrill to ride.”
But the pressures of Ender’s new celebrity lifestyle and Adelaide’s career path is set to cause conflict, and while Ender is secure in their relationship and ready to start his life with his girl, Adelaide is uncertain about her feelings and is keen to explore and meet other men.
“This is what I know. I know that I have questions. And when I have questions I propose a theory or possible explanation, a hypothesis if you will. And then I test that hypothesis with an experiment and from that experiment I draw a conclusion.”
“Adelaide.” His voice hardened. “This thing between us is not some fuckin’ science experiment. Not everything is a fuckin’ science experiment.”
“But that’s how I make sense of the natural world.”
…
“Why? Why do you always have to overanalyse everything? Why can’t you just let things be?”
Because I can’t. Because the absence of certainty fuels my imagination and I’ll always be left wondering what if?
It’s an interesting concept, and it’s addressed well, but sadly it just wasn’t the story I wanted to read.
I get that Adelaide processes things differently and thinks that she need some time to explore and fully come to understand what she is feeling, but I didn’t want to read about it. I didn’t want to read about dating apps and dick pics and bad dates. I wanted more of Ender and Adelaide together, figuring things out together, and I was disappointed that I didn’t get that.
And I found that there were a lot of times where conversations seemed to come out of nowhere and take up a significant amount of page space that didn’t seem necessary to the story and felt more like just filler. I didn’t need to read so much detail about ancient ruins, ten-pin bowling techniques, the dark web, space or shellfish, and I often found my eyes glazing over while I read.
“My friend here is a great repository of useful and useless information. She’s Siri in the flesh. Ask her anything.”
I loved Ender and Adelaide together. Their banter and flirting is lots of fun, and I loved seeing Ender’s commitment to his girl, his patience and understanding of what she is going through and his acceptance of the way she deals with it, all while still holding on to his love for her and the future he wants so badly. He is a great hero and I feel like he got screwed over a bit, and my heart ached for him.
“Why?” I asked, my voice breaking into a hoarse whisper. “Why are you always looking for answers?”
Maybe this was one of the challenges that came with dating someone with Asperger’s. Or maybe this was just who she was.
Either way, I had to come to terms with it and accept it.
Fuuuucccck.
And the fact that their big discussion about her wanting an open relationship happens, and then the following morning she’s confidently (and nakedly) seducing Ender like a sexed-up porn star…. it didn’t really gel with me. And speaking of which – they are an incredibly passionate couple, and sex has always been an important part of their relationship – it’s frequent, and it’s graphic, and while I usually like a bit of steam with my romance, some of these scenes were a bit squicky, with excessive talk of “cream” and even multiple uses of the dreaded m-word. Bleh.
After loving The Slam I had high expectations for this one. When I started reading I thought the stage was set for the story to go in one direction, and then it went somewhere completely different. I’m a hopeless romance fan, I read for the love story, and honestly, had I known that this was what this book was about, I may have chosen not to read it.
There were moments of fun and romance, and I enjoyed being back in these characters’ world, with their crazy group of friends and family. I also really loved the direction of the story towards the end, which provided a great opportunity for lots of feels and some great character development. And, of course, in the end things end up right where we want them, I just would have preferred it happen in a different way.
“For me, there’s only you. No one else.
2 stars – it was ok.
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Hemsworth Brothers
