Color of You

Color of You (2017) C.S. Poe

Bowen Merlin has moved to Lancaster NH to take a job for the county, as the music teacher and director for the high and middle schools. It’s a big change, to have moved from NYC, but he is excited about the change. And then he dumps hot apple cider all over the cute guy he kind of has a crush on.

“Hansen or Handsome?” I asked, before I was quite certain I resembled something akin to a deer in the headlights. “I said that out loud.”

There is a good deal I liked about this story. I very much liked both Bowen and Felix, and I really liked that Bowen had synesthesia. (Considering that another of her main characters has debilitating color-blindness, this does seem a bit unfair.)

“His voice was just so flippin’ gorgeous,” I said, sighing a little. “I’ve never heard an amber voice. It was smooth and flowed like blues music.”

However, there were some things that bugged me about this story.

First: teenagers. He comes in the middle of the school year and all the teenagers immediately fall in love with him? This book was not marked as a fantasy.

Second, I really wish more time could have been spent on Felix’s issues. He justifiably has issues, and it felt as if they were almost magically overcome. It felt a little disappointing, because love overcomes a lot, but I don’t think it overcomes body issues that quickly.

This is set in the same town as Joy, and I did like seeing Gideon and Silas again, and I liked that Bowen became friends with them, but it seemed a little weird that Felix wasn’t already friends with them, what with this being a small town.

So, it was fun, but I felt like the story wasn’t as good as I have come to expect from her.

Publisher: Emporium Press
Rating: 7/10

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