Bitter Legacy

This review will be mildly spoilery, only because I think it's best to go into this book completely blind. But I'll keep things as vague as I can!

2.5 stars. There were parts of this that were 5 star worthy; absolutely impeccable. There were also parts that made me scowl in displeasure so intense that I seriously considered DNF'ing.

The main character: James, a detective sergeant in charge of brutal murders taking place in London. The love interest: Ben, a photographer and the landlord of James' new apartment. Conveniently, that makes them roommates.

I genuinely thought this would be a new favourite after reading the first chapter. The part that drops my rating from my predicted 5 stars to a mediocre 2.5 stars is the love interest, Ben. He was excruciating to read about, but I'll admit, there's more to him than what meets the eye.

‼️Even with my middle-of-the-road rating, I must tell you: You will not be able to form a proper conclusion about Ben without reading this book till the very end, plain and simple. I now understand completely why so many people loved this book; even though I didn't, I totally get why other people did. I think all reviews are valid, with some exceptions. And an exception applies here: don't read a single DNF review. You will not get the full picture. Instead read a low rating review of someone's who has actually finished the book because the ending changes everything, regardless of what you end up rating this book. I mean it‼️

I hated Ben; he made the reading experience so excruciatingly unpleasant. It's even more perplexing because he had equally as many stellar qualities as he did terrible qualities.

I understood why James kept going back to him, but it was also baffling how an MC with a backbone in some contexts (i.e. lead detective of a homicide, basically saying “fuck you” to his billionaire father through his career, etc.) could be such a fucking doormat when it comes to Ben.

But again, I understand. James' indecisiveness was frustrating but also quite realistic, as sad as that is. The realism added nuance to his and Ben's relationship. I think the author went above and beyond in articulating James' emotions very seamlessly, which was great. That's why it all made sense in so many aspects.

Never once did I root for James and Ben to be together, which is kind of a big deal since ya know, this is a romance. Personally I found their ‘will they won't they' part convincing for sure, but... they lacked a lot of chemistry. As a reader I still don't think I got an adequate enough glimpse into why they both wanted each other so badly.

Aside from lack of chemistry, Ben's constant dickhead behaviour made me not even care about him. I've read a lot of morally-dubious relationships where I still liked the characters in a fictional setting, regardless of whether there was redemption or not, and despite their arguably worse behaviour compared to Ben. But nothing about Ben made me feel that way—even though he was redeemed (kind of).

Ben has this big moment of jealousy that was clearly supposed to be hot, some parts of his and James' relationship after Ben fucks up constantly was supposed to be endearing, but it all made me so fucking uncomfortable and I found it all... not sexy at all. I actively rooted against them which I think was not the author's intention.

But, all of Ben's terrible qualities displayed throughout the developing “romance” make perfect sense once you reach the ending. Once again, I say this as someone who still didn't end up liking the book that much. That's how convincing I think the characterization was, minus to romance part of course.

...See what I mean by my mixed feelings? I don't like the conclusion to the book's romance. It's no secret that Ben and James will end up no matter what, this book is marketed as a romance after all. That doesn't make me any less bitter though.

Given the context of the ending, I wish Ben and James remained friends; some type of amicable relationship that didn't involve them dating. But alas, this is a romance. Unfortunately.

The mystery in this book kept me hooked from the first page to the very last. I had some minor predictions that were right, but not in the way I expected. The mystery elements were incredibly captivating.

I also thought the prose was well thought-out. Everything read very polished.

Overall, this was a major hit in some parts and a major miss in others. So a smack dab in the middle, 2.5 stars seems sufficient.

Sometimes I surprise myself. Though I've owned this for a bit I managed to “save it” for my time of need. The time was now and [a:Dal Maclean 15408926 Dal Maclean https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1470182224p2/15408926.jpg] came through with flying colors. What did I like about this? Nothing. I. LOVED. ALL. OF. IT.