Review: Beautiful writing as usual but..
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 11, 2013
I appreciate writers who do research on their stories. Harper Fox's vivid description of her majestic mountains, the setting of her story, could not be more alluring. As a reader I could only marvel at her use of words and flow of sentences. My problem is this is a novella and Harper Fox's beautiful descriptive style, be it in the setting, her guys' characters development or emotional struggles, really suit a longer novel better. I come away from this one, feeling a bit dissatisfied, reason for 4 and not 5 stars.So the romance between the guys skipped the first meeting and development part as they have known each other for 5 years. It basically started with Kestrel breaking down with the realization that his ex-lover was fading from his memory and the reason was Rory, his partner in work for 5 years. At the same time it was no secret that Rory has long held a crush for Kestrel. Here is the angst, which is the core of the the story, where Kestrel has to finally let go of his past and move on and Harper Fox could not have done it better. But in the process Rory's character is sort of lost because the focus is on Kestrel and this being a novella, does not leave much room for Rory's feelings. And because this is a novella, the final declaration of love at the end seems rushed. One reviewer does not like the subplot with its little twist but I find it a refreshing angle of the story.Still an enjoyable read and Harper Fox's distinctive and beautiful style just place her a notch above even the best in this genre, in terms of soulful writing.