romance

August 31, 2021 by acackler Leave a Comment

Luther and Allison – One Plus Three Does Not Equal Four…

You know how sometimes a relationship just… doesn’t land? Well in the case of Luther and Allison from The Umbrella Academy, it super(hero) didn’t land. And that always disappointed me, because this is one of those shows that, in all other aspects, effing nails it.

The characters are interesting, diverse (in ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and personality), realistic (insofar as you can be when superpowers are involved), likable (even though they’re all assholes), and gorgeous to look at. Even the kid, for some reason. Does that make a perv? To be fair, his character is actually 60 years old.

Wait… does that make me a perv??

Plus the plot line and magic system is original (enough), and satisfying to watch.

But my forte is character relationships, so that’s what I’m going to dive into.

Romance

Every main character gets a romance at some point during the current two seasons. Even the dead guy got to make out with his cult lady. And considering this show is NOT a romance, I thought they were all relatively well done. Just the right amount of romance to support the story and add a little sweetness without crossing the line into cheeseville or a lame audience grab.

Except…

There’s always a but, isn’t there? Seems that way to me.

Luther and Allison are the exception here.

Now hold on. I already went over the fact that this is NOT a romance show, and the romances aren’t supposed to be a whole big thing, right? Well Luther and Allison are the exception here. These are the two that the audience is supposed to root for. Theirs is The Romance that gets a multi-series arc. They’re the ones who get obstacles and a will-they-won’t-they. They get the kisses that get undone, the “close relationship,” and the jealousy and the pining.

This is supposed to be the epic love story. Except they do it so half-assed it hurts to watch. I think this may be the only time I’ve ever seen a tv show or movie break the cardinal sin of “telling not showing.”

It’s a tv show! It’s in the name! How can they not show it!

But they don’t show the audience jack shit. They tell us. And it’s boring. I think at one point Vanya actually says to Allison, “You two were always so close.” That’s it. That’s all they give us. Hey audience, these two were always close. Got that? Okay great. Moving on.

You Look Great

Their interactions with each other are cold. Their first meeting is full of small talk and non-answers. There’s no closeness, no comfort between them.

And you could argue that this makes sense. They’ve been apart for years, and there’s a bit of awkwardness between them. It’s okay, as the show moves forward, we’ll see them grow inseparable, just like they probably were as kids. They keep telling use that’s how things were. And the “You look great,” comment from Luther is a big road sign. “I’m noticing what you look like, and I want you to know that.” And for the audience, that means “These two are totally gonna kiss later.”

Sidebar…

You know, I’ve had people tell me I pick way too hard at these things. I make a big deal out of things that don’t matter. Every phrase gets analyzed, every comment, every look. But I disagree with those people. For someone who wants to write great relationships, this is the stuff that matters most. As writers, we know that to be concise is to be powerful. And that means every phrase, every comment, every look – they all have to mean something. Or else they get cut.

So when I’m a member of an audience, and I hear a comment like “you look great,” I have to think to myself. Why did the writers include that line? And when should I consider using it myself? In what situations, between what kinds of characters would that line be powerful?

Well the answer is, when two people with Feelings see each other after a long time apart.

Anyway, back to the point.

So we’ve had a lackluster reunion, but we’ve seen the signposts to expect romance between these two. Shy looks, awkwardness, comments on appearances. All sprinkled in during their conversation about the other members of the Umbrella Academy. Because remember, right now the audience has no context at all. They’re repeating, repeating, repeating each other’s names and most obvious character quirks. That’s classic beginning-of-story stuff.

But the marked closeness never actually happens. They don’t back each other up on anything. They don’t make exceptions for each other. Every conversation they have together after that is just… two people talking about things. They act like brother and sister. Allison even says she tells her daughter about “her uncle Luther” all the time.

They hardly even stand next to each other. That’s why I have so few images in this post. It’s nearly impossible to grab an image with both of them in the frame at the same time!

The only good moment they had together was in the very last episode when Luther called Allison’s daughter for her. And I don’t mean the love speech he gave. I mean the fact that he helped her call her daughter.

Words are just words. In the classic words of one Philip J. Fry:

Words don’t mean much. His big romantic speech has no legs to stand on because we haven’t experienced any closeness between them during the entire season.

Actions mean a lot. And this action (calling Allison’s daughter for her) is the only thing Luther does for her in the entire show. I mean, he does pine for her a bit, but he pines about just about everything, mostly his own father.

And what does Allison do for Luther?

Go on. I’ll wait.

Nothing? That’s what I thought, too. Allison doesn’t do anything at all for him ever. The stories she tells her daughter, that’s for Claire. Not Luther.

Oh no, wait. When they were kids, she made a fort for them to share in the greenhouse. But as adults during the timeframe of the story we’re experiencing now? Nothing.

The Non-Dance

I was gonna say “don’t get me started on the dance that never happened,” but here I am. Started.

They had a nice conversation during episode 6, and here I was thinking “Okay finally. Here we go. The romance is finally going to go somewhere. But then Allison ruins it by blurting out this winner:

I think you’re maybe the only person who really knows who I am and still likes me anyway.

This is, on its own, a great line. It fits with their characterizations and the story. I like it. But it’s the kind of line you have in a bittersweet, doomed romance, where the two characters try to be together but they’re not actually in love.

Because he only likes her for what he thinks she is, and she only likes him because he likes her. That’s what this kind of line sets up. Everyone in the world dislikes her, except for him. Therefore he’s got rose colored glasses on where she’s concerned.

Everyone in the world dislikes her, except for him. Therefore she keeps him around for her own ego.

And that totally fits them! So why are the writers continuing to push this “epic” romance?

Ugh, and then the non-dance happens, which is cringe city. I watched this train wreck again just to count the cuts and be salty about it.

They’re walking onto the dance floor during one of the longest un-cut segments of the scene.
Yeah… They’re totally into this. /s

There were 65 cuts in a 2 minute dance sequence. That’s an average of one cut every 2 seconds (ish). And some of the cuts happened so fast that I probably missed a few. I’m willing to bet it’s closer to 70 cuts.

Guys, I love a great dance break. I love all the dance movies, musicals, both classic and modern. They’re so slick to watch, full of athleticism and artistry and energy. I feel like if frickin It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia can do it, anybody could!

But clearly not. Because despite the expectations set by the dance number in episode one, this one really did not live up to the hype. 65 cuts? Really? They couldn’t go more than 2 seconds at a time?

And then of course, the show took whatever relationship building they had achieved during this scene and undid it all by having Five go back and time to start that day over again. So…

History Repeats

And the pattern continues in season 2. Luther pines for her, and looks for her for a while. And he is legitimately freaked out when he finds out she’s married. (I have to admit, his freakout when meeting Ray was spot on.)

But when they’re actually together? Crickets. They make small talk again at an outdoor restaurant (like brother and sister).

The only intimate moment the pair of them have during season 2 is in the last episode (just like before) when Allison is struggling to breathe and Luther gives her mouth to mouth. That moment has some real intimacy in the way they hold each other, in the way she desperately wants his help and he desperately tries to give it.

But even then — once the moment’s over, it’s over. They continue behaving like brother and sister afterwards. Their relationship with each other is no different than their relationship with everyone else.

Does it really matter?

Of course it doesn’t! This isn’t a romance show! And their relationship makes sense within the context of their characterizations and the overall plot. So why am I making a big deal out of the lack of chemistry between Numbers One and Three?

Because the writers did that thing where they set up a romance and then failed to deliver. And this isn’t me complaining that they aren’t together together by the end of season 2. No, I can wait for The Big Moment. But the writers put out sign posts that this is The Romance to root for, and they keep putting out more road signs saying “trust us, this is gonna be epic,” but they’re leaving out all the closeness between the two characters that actually encourage us to ship them. They’re saying “it’s coming” without developing a close relationship or a growing relationship or anything at all special between them.

There is a reason why I can go on youtube and find about a dozen fan videos about Luther and Allison, but about 200 videos about Nick and Jess, or Lucifer and Chloe, or Ben and Leslie, or Damon and Elena, or Luke and Lorelai.

Why do these other epic romances (in other ensemble shows in varying genres) pack such a punch, when Luther and Allison just… don’t? That’s what I want to know.

I’ll tell you the difference. In every single one of those shows, no matter what was happening or what a specific episode’s plot was, those characters supported each other, made exceptions for each other, were aware of each other. They shared secrets. They orbited around each other. And that’s where Luther and Allison failed.

So far, anyway. We’ll see how things turn out in season 3. But for right now, this is my favorite romance that the Umbrella Academy has given us so far:

And that’s not me making a joke. Five had a a fantastic relationship with that mannequin, and she stood by him through everything. Metaphorically speaking. You know, since she doesn’t have legs.

July 27, 2021 by acackler Leave a Comment

Writing Close – Making Exceptions

This is post 6 of 6 in the series “Writing Close”

There are lots of ways to communicate that two characters are close. I’ve compiled a list of my favorite tools from the romance toolbox. These are tried and true methods and can work in any genre for developing both romantic and platonic relationships.

I promised to write this post months and months ago, and now I’m finally delivering! In this post I’ll go over one of my favorite methods for displaying closeness between two characters: making exceptions. It’s one of the easiest to explain: basically one character will make exceptions in his/her personal rules/routines in order to accommodate another character they feel close to.

And considering how easy it is to explain, it’s amazing how effective it is. This is (in my opinion) one of the most effective tools in the relationship toolbox. Don’t worry, I’ll go into way too much detail as to why, as usual.

Agency

I did a post recently in which I defined agency as when a character makes decisions that affect change and advance the plot, meaning the character decides to act or not based on their individual motivations.

Agency is necessary for creating strong characters, and it is absolutely VITAL for all main characters.

This tool of exceptions is so strong because it depends on the main character making concrete decisions, and that will always result in agency. So this is one of those tools that automatically does double duty, which is always a good thing. It will always produce agency and illustrate closeness at the same time.

If you compare it to other tools in this series, it is so much stronger in terms of story telling than others. Accidental nudity is a strong indicator of closeness, but it doesn’t necessarily drive plot. Same with having two characters stand next to each other. Those things simply illustrate closeness without driving plot.

Because making exception relies on decision making and motivation, it will always engender agency and often pushes plot as well.

It’s Super Easy

I mean, there’s not much more to say about this. Exceptions are super easy to make. All you have to do is give one character a set of rules, and then have them break those rules for another character.

This isn’t one of those read-between-the-lines, subtle, look-at-it-a-different-way, complicated things. Not like keeping secrets, where I defined secrets as anything that intellectually separates two characters from everyone else. It’s not like character awareness, where you have to subtly indicate that one character is always thinking about another without making it too obvious.

Nope. One person has a set of rules, and then they break those rules because of someone else. That’s it. No fuss, no muss.

My Favorite Trope

This next reason is a personal thing, but it counts anyway. My all time favorite trope is grumpy/sunshine (as you may already be aware), and making exceptions is a required element of that trope.

Basically, the grump has all kinds of walls up and is generally unhappy or lonely or gruff. Their choices tend to revolve around self preservation from heartbreak or unnecessary effort. They’re often loners.

But there is always a point in the grumpy/sunshine trope when the grump starts to go out of his way in order to make the sunshine happy. That’s a classic exception to make.

Examples

Me Before You

Will has given up on life. He has had a string of assistants and drove them all off because he’s decided he’s done. That is, until Lou comes along. He tries to drive her off at first, just like all the rest, but it’s not long before he starts making exceptions for her. It starts small – they simply enjoy a movie together. But before long he’s letting her shave his face, take him out on the town, and even go out to meet her family. For her, he’d go. But not for anyone else.

Twilight

Edward has hidden who he is for a hundred years, but when Bella’s life is in danger, he choses to reveal himself. He makes the exception for her. Early in the book, he leaps in front of an out-of-control van and stops it from crushing her. No one sees but her, but it’s enough.

In the moment, the reader sees it as just an exciting incident, a point of no return. This is concrete proof that Edward isn’t just a teenage boy. He’s something more. Something supernatural.

But later on, he confesses that he did it because it was Bella in danger. Not her, he thought to himself.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Both John and Jane are accomplished killers. Neither one of them has ever lost a night of sleep over their job. But they both made exceptions for each other. They couldn’t pull the trigger:

Pride and Prejudice

Mr. Darcy is very much aware of what he owes to his family. He must marry for rank, wealth, and connections. He is so entrenched in this belief that he convinces his friend Mr. Bingley to abandon all hope for Jane Bennet, who is so far beneath him.

I have no wish of denying that I did everything in my power to separate my friend from your sister, or that I rejoice in my success. Towards him I have been kinder than towards myself.
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austin

But when it comes to Darcy’s own heart, he cannot apply the same logic. Darcy must make an exception. He separated his friend from one sister, and begs to attach himself to the other. He does not care about their inferior situation in life, he only knows he loves Elizabeth.

Of course he was a giant ass when he said all this to her face, but don’t worry. Lizzy put him in his place and sent him packing.

New Girl

Man, somebody already did all the work for me on this one. Nick and Jess are far and away my favorite couple to ship.

What have been your favorite exceptions made for a beloved character? Let me know in the comments below!

June 19, 2021 by acackler Leave a Comment

Jeff and Annie – How Community Dropped the Ball on a Beloved Romance Trope

I think we can all agree that Community is one of the better caricature sitcoms out there. The acting, writing, and comedy gags are just spectacular. Top notch, especially in early seasons. And even though this is not a romance show per se, romance is often an expected subplot at least. But the show never really went that route, which is totally fine. The ensemble cast relationships and antics were more than enough to carry the stories and keep the audience entertained, which is the entire point, right?

But the writers kind of dabbled in romance anyway, and they did a sloppy job of it, to boot. And then it never went anywhere. Which left us lovers of love feeling a little… let down.

After a recent rewatch of season one, I think I’ve got a handle on what went wrong. And it all boils down to not knowing your tropes. The trope in question?

Grumpy and Sunshine

This is one of my all time favorite tropes. You have one character grumpy, closed off, distant, and a little gruff. He keeps everyone at arm’s length, and never lets anyone in. The love interest is some version of sweet, lovable, outgoing, optimistic, and bright. They are a ray of sunshine. Literally. And that sweet little slice of life is what usually cracks the dam in the grump’s emotional walls. He opens up to her, he finds her cute, and can never resist her persistent optimism.

And in case you couldn’t tell from the post title, Community’s grump and sunshine are Jeff and Annie respectively.

And don’t you start saying I’m seeing what I want to see! Because I took notes! I watched season one and wrote down every trope setup the writers used to set up a romance between this grump and his ray of sunshine. Let’s dig in.

I swear to god I’m not obsessed, but the amount of detail I’m about to spew at you is going to make me look a little bit nuts. I don’t even care. It begins with episode six.

S01E06 – Football, Feminism, and You

This is the first major interaction between Jeff and Annie. She is mad at him for manipulating Troy, and he yells at her for it. He calls her selfish, and gives her a talking to about not supporting Troy. Annie leaves in a huff.

And here’s where it gets interesting. As Annie stalks off, Jeff yells after her, “Look, don’t bother trying that thing that women do where they walk away and make the guy feel like crap because it won’t happen! Yeah!! …damn it.”

Why is that interesting? Because for the first time in the show, Jeff begins to regret making someone feel bad.

He immediately resolves to fix things. Entirely unprompted, he reverses his manipulation of Troy, and then apologizes to Annie for yelling at her. It’s a first for Jeff Winger.

Annie also listens to Jeff. She takes stock of the faults he pointed out, and resolved to be better. He then shields her from the freaky-ass Greendale Human Being, then casually invites her to go to the football game with him.

These are all classic setups for the grumpy/sunshine trope. At the first sign that her sunshine is dimmed, he becomes protective of her emotional state. He gives up his own motivations and immediately tries to help Annie instead of himself. Why? To make her happy. To bring back the sunshine.

S01E07 Introduction to Statistics

In the very next episode, we get another classic example of grumpy/sunshine trope. Annie asks Jeff to attend her party in order to help her look cool. (This was one of my favorite interactions on the show, btw.) Here it is, linked to the relevant moment.

https://youtu.be/sIecyIc2hgs?t=138

She starts by being overly assertive. “I am putting my foot down, you understand? I am being assertive. And I am making eye contact. And it is achieving results!”

He of course it doesn’t work on him. He’s the grump. He is immune to tough attitudes.

But when she starts crying? Yeah, he’s done for. He tries to fight it. But in the end, even though he knows she’s exaggerating her upset, he caves anyway.

S01E09 Debate 109

This is when the two characters first see each other as a sexual object. And they are NOT subtle about it. When she lets her hair down and shows a teeny tiny bit of cleavage, he is insta-horny. Like, bam. They both are. And suddenly they can’t touch each other anymore. He even leaves behind his phone so he can get away from her faster.

I did a post on touching in my series Writing Close. But that denotes closeness. Comfortableness. When two characters actively avoid touching each other, that speaks more to sexual chemistry than intimacy. And in romance, sex is just as important as an emotional connection. This is where the writers check that box.

And for our grumpy/sunshine trope, this setup is right on target. Commonly (though not exclusively), the grump sees the sunshine as overly innocent and naive in early days. In those cases, there is always a turning point early on where suddenly the sunshine becomes sexually attractive.

And of course, this is also the episode with their first kiss.

When she kisses him, he immediately kissed her back. And when he realized she was just using him to make a point, he is completely baffled. he is THROWN. He just stands there, looking confused. He doesn’t cheer for their win, he can’t even speak. Because for him, that was their first kiss. It was the first proof that his sudden sexual desires about her had real potential.

S01E15 Romantic Expressionism

The main point I’d like to focus on for this episode is the round table near the end. Britta accuses Jeff of being jealous for Annie, calling her his “debate/makeout partner.” At which point we get this exchange:

Annie says, “I took that kiss for the team!”

Jeff is upset. “What???”

Annie then gives him the side eye to remind him they’re keeping their sexual attraction secret. He gets back on the ball and calls the kiss “strategic and joyless.”

Then Annie is offended. “What????”

At which point Jeff has to give HER the side eye. Because they both really enjoyed that kiss. Obviously.

And THEN when jeff says “there’s nothing to stop any one of us from looking at any of the others as a sexual prospect.” And then they all eye each other. And they’re all a little grossed out.

But of all of the couples, Jeff and Annie get double time, no grossing out, and a secret smile from both partners.

S01E17 Physical Education

And we all enjoyed this moment when Jeff gets naked for a crazy game of pool.

Why?

I ask you, why in the heck did the writers throw us all these road signs, only to have it go NOWHERE? There were more. Yes, I had even more examples documented like a lunatic, but this is getting out of hand already. I haven’t even gotten to the Britta comparisons, yet.

We’ll run through Britta briefly. She was set up as Jeff’s romantic interest from the very first moments. She was the one member of the group of Jeff’s preferred gender, in his age range, and pretty. So of course she was the one he zeroed in on. But it was only ever about sex with her. Sure, they got along fine, but he never let her in. She wasn’t sunshine enough for him. She never was.

In S01E03, Abed’s dad calls Britta a bitch. Jeff barely bats an eye. In contrast, in S01E09, Simmons teases Annie for her poor score in debate and calls her Annie Adderall. “That’s it!” Jeff yells, and suddenly he’s in it to win it. He’s going to beat Simmons at debate no matter what it takes. Why? Because he was mean to Annie.

When Britta dates Vaughn, Jeff is a little jealous, but he resolves to be okay with the relationship. When he catches them kissing, he says casually, “That’s not what I wanted to see.”

Annie later dates the same hippie, and he gets visibly angry. “What is Annie doing talking to Micronipples!?” He then spends the entire episode trying to break them up.

In S01E23, Abed summed up Jeff and Britta’s relationship in true Abed style: “your sexual tension and lack of chemistry are putting us all on edge.”

And in the last episode of the season, Jeff opens up to Annie about his feelings for two other women. “Slater makes me feel like the guy I want to be, but Britta makes me feel like the man I really am.” You’d think the line about Britta would be a home run in Britta’s favor, but it’s not. Why? Because he says it to Annie. He opened up to Annie, not Britta. He says Britta makes him feel like himself, but he only acts like himself with Annie. No masks, no hiding his feelings.

And then? The big kiss. And we’ve seen it coming, and it’s glorious.

And then the writers crap their pants. I mean, not in general. Again, Community as a whole is amazing. But for Jeff’s relationship arc with Annie? The writers totally shit the bed. They reversed all the setup they did, and instead of moving forward in the relationship arc in season 2, they continue on in limbo. They continue sitting Britta next to Jeff. Jeff continues treating Annie like a child. He insists there’s nothing between them.

And there are a smattering of hints that something may be on the horizon between them. Maybe they just need time for Annie to grow up and for Jeff to soften up. A near kiss, plenty of longing looks, and Jeff continually gets jealous about Annie’s romantic partners… But no. Nothing. It never comes to anything. And even though fans of comedy agree Community is a gem, the romance lovers get the shaft.

They even went so far as to have Jeff intentionally nullify all the longing looks by saying they were all in Annie’s head. Boo. Not cool cool cool.

It would be totally fine to omit the romance entirely, but to tease us with it and then fail to deliver? Blech. Not satisfied with the romance. 4/10

5/10 with rice.

May 23, 2021 by acackler Leave a Comment

Speechless – Review

Author: Ava Cates
Published by: Amazon
Publish date: October 17, 2020
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Audience: Young Adult
Rating: Four Stars

I have to admit, I was really torn when it came to rating this one. On one hand, the characters and the paranormal aspect of the plot were fantastic. Just loved it.

But on the other hand… oof.

Just… oof.

I was strongly tempted to give Speechless three stars. But at the end of the day, I genuinely want to read the next book. I want to know what happens next! So despite the many technical failings, I have to be honest. It’s a four star book that simply lacks polish.

Speechless is available now on Amazon. You can read more reviews for it on Goodreads.

Pros

Let’s start with what I loved about this book. First things first: Julia. She is a fantastic MC with an excellent voice and point of view. I loved to love her. I cared about her and wanted to know how her story would turn out.

Her life on the farm was very well fleshed out without being overbearing. And I’m always a sucker for a great brother character/relationship.

It was a breath of fresh air to have a disabled protagonist as well. Her deafness wasn’t just tossed in to make her more interesting. No, we get to experience the everyday struggles of dealing with an unusually complicated social life and having a translator constantly in her business. It was beautifully handled, at least so far as I can tell (not being disabled myself).

And then we have the hunky boys to daydream about. Both Luke and Jeremy are delightful. (I mean, if one is, then the other has to be, right? Read the book to find out why.) The sweet romance element was a great touch to balance out the fantasy side of things.

And speaking of the fantasy, it was original, intriguing, and dramatic. Cates slipped hints to the reader very deliberately to create a slow burn mystery. What exactly is different about Luke? Why can Julia hear his voice in her head?

And the final cherry on top? Ava Cates’s voice is smooth and easy to read. I WANTED to get back to reading this.

So all the building blocks are there for a great fantasy romance. And like I said before, I definitely want to know what happens next for Julia.

Cons

But… oof. Though the story, voice, and characters are great, Cates basically stumbles all the way through it. From beginning to end, it’s almost like she doesn’t quite know how to communicate the drama to her readers. Not quite. She’s almost got it, but not quite. She has the talent, but seems to lack the academia of writing a book.

Errors

First things first are the typos and grammar errors. This book is in DESPERATE need of an editor. I found many typos, several instances of misused words (who’s instead of whose, etc), and a slew of random commas throughout. I can overlook a handful of mistakes/errors, especially in a self published book. But this was beyond anything I’ve seen in a long time. Especially in a book that has such a lovely, professional-looking cover.

Pacing

Next was the pacing. Speechless was a fast read, but I basically got whiplash as Julia jumped from one scene to the next at breakneck speed.

And by breakneck, I mean one paragraph she’s at home getting ready for school. Two sentences later, she’s at lunch. The next sentence? Art class. The next paragraph? She’s at work at the cafe. One line of dialogue later, she’s at home again. This happened multiple times, so there were many instances where I simply couldn’t absorb what was happening now before the next thing happened.

Relationships

And my absolute biggest complaint is the lack of character relationship shown on the page.

The individual characterizations were fantastic. But the interactions between them were fairly shallow. Julia meets Jeremy on the school bus, and then he begins driving her to and from school. Then, that’s literally all they do together. Ride to school together, making chit chat, saying nothing much. And then halfway through the book, Julia suddenly begins describing him as her best friend.

And though it may be true, I simply didn’t see it. I didn’t feel it.

The same was true with Luke. Aside from Julia’s obsession with him, when it came time to interact, there was nothing special. They didn’t have much chemistry on the page. I only knew that Julia kept thinking about him and clearly liked him a lot.

And I honestly simply did not understand the relationship between Julia and Jill, her supposed best friend. Jill is completely in Julia’s corner at first, but then she gets irritated about something and then kind of disappears for the rest of the book.

An Afterthought

My final con is that a specific character (which I won’t mention for fear of spoiling something) was inserted almost as an afterthought. He made a handful of appearances toward the end of the book, and the reader is led to believe he will be a major character moving forward. But I couldn’t get a grasp on him. And considering how the book ended, I desperately wanted him to have a better foundation in book one.

Twilight Zone

This next bit isn’t much of a con, but it was noticeable.

Speechless drew many, MANY parallels to Twilight, which I found amusing.

The first half of the book, not much happened. The MC is fascinated by a beautiful boy who seems to be not quite human. Then at exactly the 50% mark, we get the first mention of danger. Yup, other people like Luke – the not so nice ones – want to hurt Julia.

Luke, the mysterious not-quite-human boy, lives in a house with a bunch of other people like him: his chosen family. Exactly like the Cullens.

There is a love triangle involving shape-shifters. (Sound familiar?)

And Luke even slipped into Julia’s room at night to watch her sleep.

I’ll be honest, I almost stopped reading right there, I was so creeped out by the unknown invasion of her privacy. But I had to be fair, so I continued reading. I would give Cates the opportunity to let Julia find out about it and be justly creeped out as well. By the end of book one, however, Julia still doesn’t know about that little tidbit, so I’ll have to wait until a later book to make sure she doesn’t see it as being romantic.

Final Thoughts

Any two (or even three) of these cons I could have overlooked. But altogether, they nearly bumped Speechless down to a three.

But at the end of the day, I want to know what happens next. I WANT to read the next book. And that alone is enough to guarantee a four star rating from me. Because that’s the goal, isn’t it? To make people love our stories? Well, I loved this one.

What about you? Did you love Speechless? Let me know in the comments. And don’t forget to check out my other reviews before you go.