finding this video almost a year late but since I randomly picked up the sequel at an airport bookstore and started reading last week I had to say something... I'm so glad I'm not the only one who was soo disappointed by this one considering the first book was one of my favourite books ever (i read it like 4 times and the 4th time being like 2 weeks ago cause I wanted to freshen up before starting the second but god I should’ve just stopped right then and there and let the memory be a good one ) I reached a point where I thought if I read one more line that goes 'Ari, you are loved...' or smt like that I was going to jump from a window! also hearing that we both gave up at the same page was the only thing that turned out good about the book sadly... I guess it's better to die as a good book than to see yourself turned into a sequel that has an abundance of empty dialogue and no actual base worth reading. (also side note I think one of the reasons why it flopped is that it tries to be a bit too "woke" with the problems gay people had at the time and even though that issues deserve to be talked about when represented in a too self aware way it just kills the authenticity and feels bland)
I'm sorry we've both now had our love for the original tainted by the sequel, although unlike you, I hadn't read it 4 times, heh. It's such a pity that happens sometimes... You hit the nail on the head in both regards, empty dialogue and an inauthentic overly woke attempt at addressing problems they'd have faced for their sexuality which I felt, just came off overdone. There's a lot of nuance to the social dilemmas different groups face, but when every damn sentence and scene all leads back to that one thing, it gets tedious. There is more to a gay man's life, than being gay, and it was almost offensive in its over-simplified obsession-- where every aspect and conversation in Dante and Ari's life was now about being gay.
@@The_Open_Book I agree the book was redundant in its writing but the aspect of them being gay and how much they focused on it is realistic for their age, especially being in the 80s. HOWEVER the book was still not it to me lol. I can’t give it more than 3 stars and that’s being generous. It is not nearly as good as the first book, I appreciate that it tried to give more depth in its themes and characters but it all lacks nuance and the characters don’t talk or act like teens often. The writing came off pretentious which is a vibe i didn’t get at all w/the first book. I liked the first quarter or so of the book up until they went back to school and the rest was a chore to read.
Ha ha yeah, I'm sad it didn't hit like the first one. I think that just inherently happens with sequels which didn't help but the more I think about it, this one just felt more polished when the thing I liked about the first was that it felt "raw". If you like these though, I just started "Radio Silence" and I'm not finished but you'll probably love it!
Yes, very. The second book is mostly just a lot of dialogue between pre-established characters, whereas the first book is their actual development/love story. If you don't already know them, I imagine it would be pretty hard to jump in on the second book because they are all very opinionated/talky.
It would be interesting if books logged info like youtube videos so you could see where people stopped watching(reading). I think it'd be fascinating if everyone stopped around where we did, or if there are other breaking points 🤔
@@The_Open_Book I was ready to give up about halfway in but decided to see it thru. I read plot spoilers and reviews that hated it so bad they wanted to pretend it didn’t exist so I wanted to see for myself lmao
THANK YOU! I'm honestly going to pretend that this one doesn't exist. It felt like it was written by a different author trying to copy Saenz from the first one - a cheap fan fic. So glad I'm not the only one extremely let down by this.
It makes you feel a little crazy doesn't it? One of those "am I the only one seeing this?" moments haha. I totally agree that he may have *copied* the basic tone of the writing in the original, there was no substance behind that, and I guess that was enough to fool people into seeing the love they had for the first book? Thanks for watching and commenting, I'm sure we both feel a little more sane now :)
@@The_Open_Book 100% In the first one, I feel he had A LOT to say and used his prose efficiently. Here, in the sequel, I feel that he didn't have nearly as much to say and therefore decided to double down on the poetic, flowery prose as a way to compensate for the fact that he was just saying the same thing over and over and over. Such a shame :(
Thank you for this review. I’m not gonna lie I absolutely hated this book, I wish I was as nice as you but after how good the first was this felt like the biggest waste of time and a lot of dialogue was honestly cringy to me
No problem! I was really scared to make the review honestly. There weren't a lot of opinions on Goodreads for this book that weren't *glowing 5 star reviews* and I thought that community would cause some backlash if I disagreed. I'm happy to have provided a refuge of sanity for fans disappointed in the sequel, from the echo chamber of positivity with no critical thinking. Thanks for watching!
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 85 | คู่เอก "ยอดเหล็กเพชร vs ผึ้งหลวง"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Qq_19bnnxEo/mqdefault.jpg)
finding this video almost a year late but since I randomly picked up the sequel at an airport bookstore and started reading last week I had to say something... I'm so glad I'm not the only one who was soo disappointed by this one considering the first book was one of my favourite books ever (i read it like 4 times and the 4th time being like 2 weeks ago cause I wanted to freshen up before starting the second but god I should’ve just stopped right then and there and let the memory be a good one ) I reached a point where I thought if I read one more line that goes 'Ari, you are loved...' or smt like that I was going to jump from a window! also hearing that we both gave up at the same page was the only thing that turned out good about the book sadly... I guess it's better to die as a good book than to see yourself turned into a sequel that has an abundance of empty dialogue and no actual base worth reading.
(also side note I think one of the reasons why it flopped is that it tries to be a bit too "woke" with the problems gay people had at the time and even though that issues deserve to be talked about when represented in a too self aware way it just kills the authenticity and feels bland)
I'm sorry we've both now had our love for the original tainted by the sequel, although unlike you, I hadn't read it 4 times, heh. It's such a pity that happens sometimes...
You hit the nail on the head in both regards, empty dialogue and an inauthentic overly woke attempt at addressing problems they'd have faced for their sexuality which I felt, just came off overdone. There's a lot of nuance to the social dilemmas different groups face, but when every damn sentence and scene all leads back to that one thing, it gets tedious. There is more to a gay man's life, than being gay, and it was almost offensive in its over-simplified obsession-- where every aspect and conversation in Dante and Ari's life was now about being gay.
@@The_Open_Book I agree the book was redundant in its writing but the aspect of them being gay and how much they focused on it is realistic for their age, especially being in the 80s.
HOWEVER the book was still not it to me lol. I can’t give it more than 3 stars and that’s being generous. It is not nearly as good as the first book, I appreciate that it tried to give more depth in its themes and characters but it all lacks nuance and the characters don’t talk or act like teens often.
The writing came off pretentious which is a vibe i didn’t get at all w/the first book. I liked the first quarter or so of the book up until they went back to school and the rest was a chore to read.
Whooooo. Well we definitely didn't agree about this. But it happens. Everything isn't for everyone. 🤷🏾♀️
Ha ha yeah, I'm sad it didn't hit like the first one. I think that just inherently happens with sequels which didn't help but the more I think about it, this one just felt more polished when the thing I liked about the first was that it felt "raw". If you like these though, I just started "Radio Silence" and I'm not finished but you'll probably love it!
@@The_Open_Book Cool, I don't think I've heard of that title. I'll look it up.
Is it important to read discovering the secrets of the universe before reading discovering in the water?
Yes, very. The second book is mostly just a lot of dialogue between pre-established characters, whereas the first book is their actual development/love story. If you don't already know them, I imagine it would be pretty hard to jump in on the second book because they are all very opinionated/talky.
I made it to page 155..... I'm with you on the alien dialogue thing lol I couldn't finish the book either
It would be interesting if books logged info like youtube videos so you could see where people stopped watching(reading). I think it'd be fascinating if everyone stopped around where we did, or if there are other breaking points 🤔
@@The_Open_Book I was ready to give up about halfway in but decided to see it thru. I read plot spoilers and reviews that hated it so bad they wanted to pretend it didn’t exist so I wanted to see for myself lmao
The second book did not suck, it's just that the first book was not written for sequel.
THANK YOU! I'm honestly going to pretend that this one doesn't exist. It felt like it was written by a different author trying to copy Saenz from the first one - a cheap fan fic. So glad I'm not the only one extremely let down by this.
It makes you feel a little crazy doesn't it? One of those "am I the only one seeing this?" moments haha.
I totally agree that he may have *copied* the basic tone of the writing in the original, there was no substance behind that, and I guess that was enough to fool people into seeing the love they had for the first book?
Thanks for watching and commenting, I'm sure we both feel a little more sane now :)
@@The_Open_Book 100% In the first one, I feel he had A LOT to say and used his prose efficiently. Here, in the sequel, I feel that he didn't have nearly as much to say and therefore decided to double down on the poetic, flowery prose as a way to compensate for the fact that he was just saying the same thing over and over and over. Such a shame :(
Thank you for this review. I’m not gonna lie I absolutely hated this book, I wish I was as nice as you but after how good the first was this felt like the biggest waste of time and a lot of dialogue was honestly cringy to me
No problem! I was really scared to make the review honestly. There weren't a lot of opinions on Goodreads for this book that weren't *glowing 5 star reviews* and I thought that community would cause some backlash if I disagreed. I'm happy to have provided a refuge of sanity for fans disappointed in the sequel, from the echo chamber of positivity with no critical thinking. Thanks for watching!
Dumbest review ever…