I’m a little disappointed with this book. The first half (or thereabouts) was amazing, gritty and raw and everything I’ve come to expect from Voinov’s work. It’s clear he'd done extensive research on boxing — and I always appreciate that — and the fight sequences were engaging and very well-written, unpredictable and full of nail-biting tension. The worldbuilding was nice (if a little perfunctory), and of course Voinov’s writing style is nothing to sneeze at, either. So, what went wrong?

It feels like I’ve read a book and its sequel, all at once. The transition was really noticeable, too — at ~45%, there was this strange plateau, before the story moved on. The flow suffered. And to tell the truth, I wasn’t too keen on the ‘sequel.’

Aside from that, my biggest issue with this book was the romance. It was completely lacking in passion (well, except for a few well-done sex scenes), and seemed more like an afterthought than one of the main focus points. Should this book even be shelved as a romance? I’m not sure. I didn’t feel any sort of connection between the two MCs. What’s more, I couldn’t connect to them, either.

I didn’t like that Brooklyn took Nathaniel for granted, and the way he recovered so quickly after their breakup. That was really anticlimactic, and the time-skips didn’t help. The threesome with Rose and Em was hot, and not unexpected, but still very much unwelcome in the circumstances. And don’t get me started on this ending… I refuse to believe that after a year of absolutely ZERO contact, Nathaniel was still willing to continue that relationship. Talk about a far-fetched HEA…

I think the fact that the character I liked most was the snobby ex-husband of one of the MCs (who only appeared two times, and very briefly at that) says a lot. ( )

Another keeper from Mr Voinov whose work I will always buy sight unseen. I read this as Counterpunch previously, and while I enjoyed it, I can say the redoubled efforts on this new version have borne fruit. It’s twice as long, for one thing. There’s a lot going on in the story, plot lines and well fleshed out side characters. It doesn’t just focus on Brooklyn and whoever he’s fucking, but his whole life journey and his attempts at finding connection and family. It also is heavily researched on the sport angle, something which is rare in a romance-oriented story. It’s refreshing to explore the psychology of an athlete. As an athlete it was good to feel seen.
The story bobbed and weaved. I wasn’t able to predict what was in store for Brook. The climax came out of nowhere! And the conclusion was satisfying and got me misty-eyed.
This kind of well-balanced tale is what I’ve come to expect from one of my all-time favorite authors. ( )