Raze

Read the whole review on The Queer Bookish I’ve already reread Raze and not just because I’ve managed to lose my review notes. After reading it for the second time I finally went ahead and bought as well as read the series’s first novel, Riven, so I can safely assure you, you don’t need to know what has happened in the other books to get sucked into Huey and Felix’ story. You probably will want to read about all the others after Haze though. I don’t know how but somehow Roan Parrish manages to write a bittersweet love story with just the right amount of heaviness to show how Huey struggles with his addiction and the aftermath without said heaviness closing its fist around your throat. More on The Queer Bookish

It’s probably somewhere around 3.5. This book is quite in the same vein as the previous books in the series - emotional, sexy, sweet and heartfelt. Huey and Felix are wonderful characters who have to fight their own issues and open their hearts to finally get to be together. It’s a lovely journey, but I somehow didn’t feel invested enough. It’s probably my fault that I kept comparing it to Riven, and I don’t think it’s ever going to be easy to match that brilliant love story. This was still a beautiful read and I would definitely recommend it.

Raze started off really strong. I loved reading the first chapter about Huey and I could tell that he had a wall built up. Addiction was something he was still dealing with and his routines were making it so he wouldn't slip. Felix is a person with such a kind heart, maybe too kind, and his family always came first. Felix has always taken care of everyone, because he was the oldest and his mother worked a lot to keep the family going. He's not really sure what he wants, because his needs are never on top. When his sister gets a break, Felix is alone more and needs to figure out. I thought he was really sweet and funny. I can't imagine how hard it is putting everyone's needs in front of your own. That made it totally understandable he was a bit lost. I would've liked to have seen him discover more, because this part of his journey didn't start until near the end of this book. My heart wanted to break for Huey as well. After losing his mother, his father has a hard time and he's kind of left on his own. When he hit rock bottom, the climb back to the top was hard, but he did it. He devotes his life to routine and his sponsees, but who takes care of him? I thought Huey was really interesting! I loved watching him starting to let himself feel more and even maybe being happy. This story didn't completely keep my attention though. I think it may have been just a bit too long and sometimes too descriptive. That made it harder for me to connect with the characters at time, because it distracted me. Even with that being the case, the romance was very heartfelt and definitely very steamy at times. I think my favorite was the kitten near the end, haha.