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A review by phee
Everything Changes by Melanie Hansen
3.0
3.5 Stars. This was a good book. Not great, but certainly not terrible. A good solid m-m romance that focuses on to ex-military men that have been to hell and back together and are living there post war lives.
What I liked:
- The author doesn't shy away from the harsh topics included in this book. PTSD, anxiety, amputation and the horrors of war. All seemly dealt with well and in a believable way. I'm a sucker for damaged men and both of our main characters have their own struggles and torment to get through.
- It was short and sweet. Not too much angst (which I don't typically mind anyway). The paperback clocks in at just shy of 200 pages which I think was the perfect length for this story.
- A well done time jump or two. This book has a few time jumps toward the end where several weeks pass. This passage of time is to give one of the characters space to decide what he wants and it felt reasonable.
What I didn't like:
- The GFY aspect wasn't well done in my opinion. I feel like this story would be better as a closeted story instead of GFY. It felt like the MC that was having the issues came around very quickly. As in, he tried to ignore his feelings for a couple of days and then gave in a had sex with a man for the first time. It felt unrealistic in my eyes. Although the MC's have known each other for years, it's still a big step. It felt like the MC had more trouble with the sexual feelings because they were for a man, and not a woman.
- I didn't really connect with the characters and didn't really care for them a whole lot. I liked for them and rooted for them towards the end. But I wasn't totally invested in their story which is sad.
- Flashbacks. I hate reading flashback scenes. This book had so many of them. It pulls me out of the story and it just disrupted the flow. I don't mind having the odd one but my god there were tons in this book.
Overall I enjoyed it but didn't love it. I have the next two books in the companion series which both sound more up my alley. I look forward to reading them in the near future.
What I liked:
- The author doesn't shy away from the harsh topics included in this book. PTSD, anxiety, amputation and the horrors of war. All seemly dealt with well and in a believable way. I'm a sucker for damaged men and both of our main characters have their own struggles and torment to get through.
- It was short and sweet. Not too much angst (which I don't typically mind anyway). The paperback clocks in at just shy of 200 pages which I think was the perfect length for this story.
- A well done time jump or two. This book has a few time jumps toward the end where several weeks pass. This passage of time is to give one of the characters space to decide what he wants and it felt reasonable.
What I didn't like:
- The GFY aspect wasn't well done in my opinion. I feel like this story would be better as a closeted story instead of GFY. It felt like the MC that was having the issues came around very quickly. As in, he tried to ignore his feelings for a couple of days and then gave in a had sex with a man for the first time. It felt unrealistic in my eyes. Although the MC's have known each other for years, it's still a big step. It felt like the MC had more trouble with the sexual feelings because they were for a man, and not a woman.
- I didn't really connect with the characters and didn't really care for them a whole lot. I liked for them and rooted for them towards the end. But I wasn't totally invested in their story which is sad.
- Flashbacks. I hate reading flashback scenes. This book had so many of them. It pulls me out of the story and it just disrupted the flow. I don't mind having the odd one but my god there were tons in this book.
Overall I enjoyed it but didn't love it. I have the next two books in the companion series which both sound more up my alley. I look forward to reading them in the near future.