I have a lot of thoughts about this one, but unfortunately, it would be spoilerish if I said most of them. For the most part, I enjoyed this story, but there were certainly parts that didn’t work as well for me. Starting with the things I did like, I enjoyed the rowing aspect and learning about what it’s like to attend Cambridge. I know nothing about either of those things, so it was interesting to learn more about them. I have no idea if it was accurate, but as a reader, it felt like they were.
I also liked George. He was a bit of a himbo, dumb jock character, but it was sweet and a little sad how badly he wanted to please everyone (often to his own detriment). Yes, in a lot of ways, he’s had an easy ride and had things handed to him just because of his looks and athletic prowess, but I thought he genuinely wanted to be better and work hard to earn what he got.
My feelings toward Lucas ran hot and cold. I didn’t care for him much at first; he was kind of a whiny jerk. But once George pins him down and gets him to agree to tutor him in exchange for helping Lucas woo his crush, we got to see another side of him, and he wasn’t so bad. I actually quite liked this portion of the book as George and Lucas’s friendship grew. There were some funny and sweet moments here.
But then something happens (which I can’t get into details on since it’s a major spoiler), and I was so disappointed. In my mind, it was a genuinely unforgivable act, and I’m not sure there was enough grovelling for this character to earn the other’s forgiveness. I wish the angst had been anything other than this.
There were a few other things I didn’t totally love, but I didn’t mind in the grand scheme of things. I did like how things turned out in the last chapter (despite my feelings that there should have been more grovelling before that point), and the epilogue was cute.
So yeah, this was a mixed bag for me, but I’m still glad I gave it a shot! The writing itself was good, even if some of the plot points didn’t hit for me.
The Book Boyfriend Addict 