Raze

Raze (2019) Roan Parrish (Riven)

Huey has spent a decade focusing on being sober, and helping others by being a sponsor. But in building his life, he hasn’t allowed anything unplanned or unexpected.

I liked the dishes to be done in a particular way, and the routine was important to me.

For as long as Felix Rainey can remember, he’s spent his life helping to hold his family together. The oldest of five, his single mother struggled to keep them together, so Felix–and then his sister Sasha–did everything they could to help.

Now he and Sasha live in New York, she working for the University where she went to school, and he still working at the job he got when the first moved to the city so she could go to school. He doesn’t really know how to want anything for himself. But when he meets Huey, he finally wants something for himself.

As with the previous two books in this series, this book made me want to cry. Huey has worked so hard to get where he is, but he is still broken, and doesn’t really even realize it.

(W)ith the pain in my knee managed, I realized they helped me with other kinds of pain too. They let me run away. Hide in the way it felt to not have to be me.

…

“I liked how it felt too much, not being me. Liked it too much to stop.

Oof.

Also:

There was an itch beneath my skin. A raw ache like when I overdid it at the gym— muscle and sinew pushed beyond their previous limit— but inside.

And Felix is adorable.

Felix turned to me, clearly enjoying the interplay.

“I will win you this monster if it’s the last thing I do!” he pledged, hand to heart. Then, shoving his hand into his pocket, he added, “And if I can do it in six dollars.”

Though there were hard things to read here, it wasn’t as angsty as the first two books, and I never actually full-on cried while reading.

Publisher : Loveswept

Rating: 8/10

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