Ok, wow, I don't know where to start with this book. I liked the story, what I didn't like was how the author presented certain aspects of it. At the beginning of the book the author explains how the friendship between one of the MCs and his twin friends is so close and how it is natural for them. That it doesn't matter that others see it as something inappropriate due to that naturalness. That for the three of them is not inappropriate. But I have to say, I am a fervent believer that everyone has the right to feel how they feel, to express it, without being censored or judged for it, but also that you have to call things by their name. And in this case, this relationship was not a close friendship. It was a love triangle where one of them didn't know it was because he was too oblivious to notice, maybe because of his sexual identity that he hadn't discovered yet, maybe because he lived in denial, for fear of losing the two most important people in his world, until he met his Professor. And it feels like Declan and Damon were taking advantage of that vulnerability in Simon's, masking it in with words like connection and wanting to take care of him. And the only reason the twins didn't cross more lines was because they thought Simon was straight. That did not prevent them from bathing him naked (yes, bathing him, complete, as if he were a baby), sleeping with Simon in the same bed snugling him (and grinding too against him in the morning while suppossedly they were still asleep), dancing grinding against him, kissing him on the mouth, etc. Something that intensified when they found out that he had started a sexual relationship with the Professor that turned emotional too, even knowing that they might make him feel uncomfortable.

Now Simon. He didn't know that he could be asexual, until Quin (the Professor) pointed it out, but he also realized that he never wanted to confide his doubts to the twins, and since they were so close, it makes you wonder why he couldn't trust? And I think it's because he knew that if he did it, more boundaries would be crossed. Deep down, he knew or was beginning to realize that his friendship, while "natural" for them, was quite inappropriate. He was happy letting his friends have their way with him, because of his need to feel wanted and his longing to feel human touch. In this part I see him as a doormat. The twins managed him as they wanted, they controlled him as they wanted, I mean, they even controlled his bank account...come on, the excuse of "it's because we don't want you to run out of money" is poor. If you knew he was short of money, you just transferred money to his account and that's it. You didn't need to go through all the phone apps for that.

And let's not even start with the part where the contract contains the "exclusivity" that should exist between the Sugar Daddy and the Sugar Baby. For me, a sexual act is not just penetration. That another person was kissing you, tongue and all, that was caressing you or rubbing their private parts against you to get off, while your boyfriend/sugar daddy or whatever was at home sleeping alone... And that you were uncomfortable thinking about what they did to you but you didn't stop them? Why were you uncomfortable if it was supposedly natural, or if you were supposedly not cheating on the other? Is that exclusivity? For me it is crossing the limits. And then go and tell your boyfriend what was happening, and that he didn't feel jealous, or uncomfortable or annoyed, in what world is it real? As much as he accepted that the friendship between Simon and the twins was special, everything has a limit...

And OMG... the way Declan and Damon started to treat Simon when they discovered the relationship between him and Quin... The passive-agressive remarks, the jealousy, the possessiveness... Yeah they wanted to take care of him but they didn't wanted him to be happy.

And yes, it is a book, it is fiction. But it's not science fiction. It is a story that somehow must reflect something of reality, and this "friendship" and how everyone acts around it is not REAL. It is not NORMAL, and it is not NATURAL. And it bothers me that the author wants us to believe that it does. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE toxic or codependent stories, I love stories with a taboo touch. But don't you want me to believe that this is NORMAL and NATURAL or APPROPRIATE. It's not okay to want to naturalize or normalize toxic or codependent relationships. Call them what they are. And also, therapy people. Apparently nor the parents of the twins nor the professor thought they needed therapy?

And let's not even talk about the open ending? Something the author should have said at the beggining is that it ends with a cliffhanger. Yes, Simon ends up with Quin, but now we have to wait for the twin's books to see how the story finishes.

I was giving an advanced copy and voluntarily wrote a review.