3 stars
Potential sweet story of falling for your best-friend….but
too much drama and not enough to tie the story of Still Water together.
Finn Stevenson is a 22 year-old University student and rower
who is just starting to own his sexuality.
After a summer away from campus, he discovers that is actually gay and really
and truly in love with his best friend, Max Hartmann. Max is a loveable guy, struggling with his parents’
expectations, heavy school workload, what to do after University and unexpected
jealousy that he might want to be the one to date Finn.
There are so MANY good ideas in this book, the struggle of
graduation, eating disorders, competitive sports, friends-to-loves, but they
all become a bit jumbled in the end. I appreciate
how Ruthie Luhnow has developed each character, and you really understand them,
but it becomes a bit too much. She
tackles Finn’s eating disorder through the lens of stress and competition, and
you can really understand his struggle, however, the recovery road is less
clear, or not really fully developed. The
angst in this book is high. There is
always seems to be something to keep the 2-apart, some misunderstanding, or
argument.
So, what did we like. Sexy athletes yes and yes! These boys are dedicated to their sport of
rowing, and really like learning about a sport that isn’t tackled a lot. The secondary characters, there is good
development on their friends, and how they support them through Finn’s coming
out, and their love-story. And the sex
is pretty hot, and Ruthie has found a good balance of sex and story, it is
there to compliment and not take over.
Still Water is the first (we are assuming) in The Boys of
Bellamy series, and although this wasn’t our favorite of Ruthie Luhnow’s
stories, we won’t miss the 2nd installment!
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