A story of first love, first times, and a summer that could change everything.
Instead of heading to France for a kite camp with his friends, this summer, Casper is stuck with his family at a camping site in northern Germany—the last place he wanted to spend his vacation.
But the sleepy little town by the sea hides more than meets the eye. Like Valentin, the moody waiter at “The Wild Rooster” with icy blue eyes that send every customer running. But not Casper. He’s drawn to the blue-haired boy from the moment they meet. The only problem? Val doesn’t seem interested at all… or is that cold exterior just a mask?
“… Val is like the weather on the North Sea—stormy and biting like crashing waves, but then suddenly warm and magnetic, absolutely irresistible like the first rays of spring sunshine …”
A steamy, heart-racing gay romance filled with passion, desire, and the unforgettable thrill of young love.
Chapters are accompanied by beautiful, author-created illustrations that bring key moments of the story to life.
через обкладинку і опис я очікувала чогось середнього між аестетік фото з пінтересту і молодіжних німецьких комедій, які в мою юність крутили по «новому каналу». але ніт десь на середині цієї 150-сторінкової книжки я почала не розуміти, для якого віку ця книжка. як для янг едалту забагато сцен 18+, а для старшого віку - стосунки між майже сімнадцятирічним і двадцятиоднорічним трохи іу і некомфортно. а потім вилізло ДРАМАТИЧНЕ МИНУЛЕ
зато дуже гарні арти! оце дійсно радість пінтереста
I didn't love this one as much as I wanted to. While I liked parts of it I felt like there was a decent amount that I didn't like. This is very much a coming of age story and did not feel like a true "romance". It is very instalove and there are some pretty awkward moments (which is fine - this is all true to MCs where one is almost/newly 17). It ends with an HFN and so much is so quickly wrapped up in the end that I was never fully invested in their connection. I think we were supposed to feel that this was a "big" love but it felt like puppy love/lust.
The author had both MCs dealing with mental health issues and honestly some of them were BIG but there is a tiny hint of therapy at the end and that's it. TW - death of a previous girlfriend, substance abuse, and behavior that is self-destructive.
One MC is newly interested in men while the other is almost a complete virgin yet the first time they do more than rub off on each other it is flip-fucking... It felt very non-intuitive to the characters.
All of this is crammed into such a short novella. This may be a first in a planned duet/series I don't know, but as a standalone (which I believe it is as of now) it missed it's mark with me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
What great pillowtalk to casually confess to the murder of your previous partner. Gullig med exasperated — mc är ”bara” 17 och det märks, he’s kind of toxic och ”hela världen är emot mig” gets old real fast. Som alla teenage love stories är känslorna väldigt intensiva väldigt fort, and I realise det måste vara så i en bok på blotta 150 sidor, men still wished for more depth of both characters and feelings. Very Wattpad-era vibe (bestäm själv om det är bra eller dåligt). Mc säger vid flera tillfällen ”it’s not just about the sex” but it kind of is? Ändå ett fan för pan rep och non-fetishised MM romance as the book was written by a gay man. Happy ending as well of course!
I need an 800 page book of them. I devoured all 180 pages in a few hours. All the feels with Cas and Val. I love them! I wish there were more books by the author in English. She has been an amazing discovery.
I really wanted to love this story. I came across it on TikTok and had such high hopes from what I read — but alas, it didn’t quite live up to expectations for me.
It wasn’t a bad story, don’t get me wrong, and the artwork throughout the book is absolutely beautiful! I liked the premise: two boys meet and have a summer fling, but they’re haunted by ghosts of the past and not everything is easy breezy. However, I didn’t really feel the chemistry between Cas and Val; the story very much felt like it was more about insta-lust/puppy love, even though Cas as the narrator tries to make it clear that they’re soulmates, a once-in-a-lifetime love story. I didn’t feel like I got to know Val through Cas’ narration, and I would’ve loved to have his POV as well.
There were also a few stylistic choices and minor errors that bugged me, namely lots of exclamation marks that weren’t part of dialogue between characters, words in all-caps for emphasis, missing quotation marks at the start of some dialogue, and sometimes new lines were started when the same person was speaking, whilst other times a new person started speaking without the dialogue being put on a new line, which was at times a little confusing. Also, a five-year age gap is a lot when one character is not-quite 17.
Trigger warnings for drug and alcohol abuse, addiction , depression, suicidal ideation, and mentions of a fatal accident involving a loved one.
The art in this book is just gorgeous and the cover made me buy this one. The story is so sweet and hot. Cas was so sweet but destructive. And Val was such a marshmallow deep inside. I really would have liked Val's pov!.. Really wanted to know what our blue haired icy boy was thinking. I finished this book in a day. This was a fastpaced,quick, real and fun lovestory!
This story was a lovely read and tbh got me out of my reading slump that I was in.. it was a short story but awesome and just what I needed.. Val and Cas are so sweet together and instantly drawn to each other,, they meet at the bar that Val works in when Cas visits the the town for the summer and their 1 week of love begins… it was a great read and the artwork inside the book is exceptional:)
So, let me start by saying that I saw this book on my social media SO MANY TIMES I finally caved in. Wish I hadn't, though. One thing is sure: this book has the most GORGEOUS illustrations. Like, out of this world. You kind of go in expecting the same about the story, right? Well, no. The story was, in fact, extraordinarily underwhelming. 80% of it was smut - and I do love me a bit of smut, but when that's the gist of the whole book, well... yeah, not my jam. And all that smut was so descriptive, so clynical, so... barren that I, for a couple of minutes there, thought I was kind of reading some sort of article on sexual prowess and what to do in the sack. The book lacked an enormous capacity to kindle emotional responses in the reader - I don't really have an issue with age gap, and I didn't feel like the older one was grooming the younger, who actually did all the pursuing to the point he felt like a stalker with a lot of issues going on, but come on, the older one was such a massive red flag all I could do was roll my eyes at the how stupid the younger one was, like I used to do with some of my friends when were were 16, 17 and they had the hots for ppl who couldn't care less about them. Moving on, there were some really heavy issues (drug and alcohol addiction, PTSD, anxiety, attachement issues, lack of self-esteem, etc) that were completely brushed aside by the author, they seemed to be there as a gimmick, a sales pitch, actually. This was a short read, fine, but the entirety of it was wasted with descriptive sex scenes that did nothing to the quality of the book, while these issues could have been better explored, or presented in a more... how do I say this? Respectful manner? Because, and speaking like someone who has lived with some of them for most of her life, it felt very dismissive, like the author used it just for the sake of being able to say they write diverse characters. And what to say about the characters? Flat, one-dimensional, barely credible, everything about them felt like... well, like the stuff I wrote at 14, 15, tbh. With less smut. And without the illustrations, which are the reason I gave this book a rating, as a matter of fact. If they didn't exist, I wouldn't have rated it. Disappointing, to say the least, especially because there was all this raving about this book on social media and I was convinced the thing was GREAT...
So I saw this on instagram and the concept of a gay awakening first love somber story sounded great. It didn't feel as advertised I'm gonna be honest.
I wanna say like 70% of this book is smut. Which, great, if that's what you're looking for. I can't really enjoy it though. I didn't really enjoy the characters all that much and it's mainly due to the biggest flag. The main character is 16 almost 17 and the love interest in 21. A 4 5 year age difference isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things, like my partner and I have a 7 year age difference. However, we're in our 30s. My priorities when I was 16/17 were vastly different to when I was 21. Plus like, I was groomed when I was 16 by a 21 yr old so it was a bit...familiar lol.
The novella also deals with some pretty heavy topics but they more or less felt like they were all handled off screen. It's a fairly short book so there is that but in that case, maybe just focus on one character's issues? Plus Cas's parents being protective and then going, oh yea you can go off with this random 21 yr old you met in a town you don't know all that well. I think at that point I kind of checked out a little.
So yea, adjust your expectations and you'll probably be good.
Tinha tudo para ser incrível, mas parece que a autora precisava entregar as 159 páginas para a editora. A história tem um começo e um meio incrivelmente bons. Quando Cas e Val se conhecem, à medida que vão conversando, tudo isso é muito interessante e bem construído. No entanto, na metade em diante, pareceu que a autora precisava correr para acabar. A história ficou muito rápida e pouco construída. Como assim o Val subitamente não quer mais ficar com ele? Mas mesmo assim ficam juntos, porque subitamente volta a amá-lo? Muito confuso e, de verdade, me decepcionou. Val começou com uma personalidade apaixonada. Adorava a confiança dele e o mau-humor, sua personalidade blackcat. Cas, por outro lado, era um golden retrive que sabia flertar, mesmo sendo virgem. Isso foi divertido e saiu da zona de conforto que normalmente são esses personagens. Infelizmente, esse efeito é perdido quando a autora resolve apelar para o clichê e uma construção confusa no final do livro. Uma pena, porque tinha tudo para ser meu favorito.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
"Those deep blue eyes, like the sea itself, have held me captive since the moment we met."
Read if you like:
* MM Romance * First Times * Exploration of sexuality * Opposites Attract * Summer and Sea Vibes * All the Emotions
I think a lot of us know that rush of feeling when you fall in love for the first time. That high that comes with it and the unbearably low lows that come after.
The rush of figuring out who you are as an individual. Finding someone who changes all your prospectives on life. And, those first initial feelings of lust and love all rolled into many small heart stepping moments.
This book had it all, and it was so addicting to witness and FEEL those feelings all over again. Julien Roux did an amazing job portraying all of those feelings in this beautifully written story of young love.
Il trope dell'instant attraction e dell'instant love é quasi dovuto, perché il tempo della narrazione é piuttosto breve. Il legame nasce e cresce in modo repentino, ma il modo in cui viene raccontato, lo rende talmente verosimile che non sembra mai esagerato. I protagonisti sono molto giovani, soprattutto Cas, perciò non risulta difficile comprendere la passione incontrollabile e quel tipo di innamoramento che esplode dopo aver visto una persona un paio di volte. Se il lettore lo ha provato, ne riconosce i "sintomi" e ci entra facilmente in empatia. Il punto forte del libro é proprio questo. I protagonisti sembrano persone reali, ci raccontano in modo semplice uno di quegli amori estivi che non solo ti restano nel cuore, ma ti cambiano la vita. La scrittura é emozionante tanto quanto i personaggi. Immersiva e coinvolgente, mi ha rapita dalla prima all'ultima pagina. Soprattutto quando la trama é semplice, come nel caso di questa storia, credo che i personaggi e lo stile siano il vero fulcro del libro e il talento dell'autore sta nel trascinare il lettore dentro la storia, fino a farlo sedere su quella spiaggia in cui Val e Cas si incontrano, per sognare il futuro guardando l'orizzonte. La storia breve, unita alla fluidità della scrittura, mi hanno dato modo di godere di una lettura leggera, non per questo priva di emozioni (tutto il contrario) e con un finale da batticuore. Voto: 4.5/5
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The trope of instant attraction and instant love is almost due, because the narrative time is rather short. The bond is born and grows abruptly, but the way it is told makes it so likely that it never seems exaggerated. The main characters are very young, especially Cas, so it is not difficult to understand the uncontrollable passion and the kind of falling in love that explodes after seeing a person a couple of times. If the reader has experienced it, he or she recognizes the "symptoms" and easily empathizes with it. The strength of the book is precisely this. The main characters seem like real people, telling us in a simple way about one of those summer loves that not only stay in your heart, but change your life. The writing is as exciting as the characters. Immersive and engaging, it enraptured me from the first page to the last. Especially when the plot is simple, I think the characters and style are the real focus of the book, and the author's talent lies in pulling the reader into the story, until he or she sits on that beach where Val and Cas meet, to dream about the future while looking at the horizon. The short story, combined with the fluidity of the writing, gave me a way to enjoy a light read, not without emotion (quite the opposite) and with a heart-stopping ending. Rating: 4.5/5
This isn’t one of those stories that is about spice or smut; so if that’s what your looking for, you won’t find it here. It is more about the love story itself. It was very reminiscent of “Call me by your name” for me. I didn’t love it but for being only 100 pages, it flows decently enough and a lot still manages to take place.
absolutely loved reading this ❤️ a very heartwarming story that I couldn't stop reading once I started. Julien Roux's writing had me immersed and I fell in love with the writing style. will definitely be rereading during my reading slumps ❤️
This was a attention grabbing, page turning story that was amazing. Could feel the emotions from the MC's and invision the events of what is happening.
This showed up in a suggested post to me on Instagram, and I was captivated by the artwork (which I believe the author created) and the premise. This is a beautiful coming-of-age story about a closeted young man in Germany on the cusp of discovering himself yet still being firmly tied to his family: a chance encounter makes him — and the object of his affections — come apart at the seams. It was a beautiful read.
𝕀𝕟𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕥: Statt mit seinen Freunden ins Kite-Camp zu fahren, muss Casper mit seiner Familie auf einen Campingplatz im norden Deutschlands. Darüber ist er alles andere als begeistert. Doch dann trifft er auf Valentin. Auch wenn der blauhaarige Junge ihm die kalte Schulter zeigt, ist Casper sofort fasziniert. Und vielleicht steckt auch hinter Valentins kühler Fassade mehr, als Casper anfangs vermutet.
𝕄𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕄𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕦𝕟𝕘: Das Buch war, trotz der ein oder anderen grammatikalischen Schwäche, angenehm zu lesen. 😊 Ein kleiner Snack für zwischendurch. Obwohl einige harte Themen vorkommen, bleibt es doch eher oberflächlich. Das kann aber auch daran liegen, dass es eher eine kurze Geschichte ist. 👀 Es hat mir gut gefallen, mehr aber auch nicht. Es gibt aber Leute die richtig begeistert sind (schaut dazu gerne bei @ vorbei)! 😀 Was mich richtig begeistert hat waren die Illustrationen. 😍 Allein schon das Coverbild fand ich richtig toll und genau in diesem Stil, geht es im Buch weiter. Allein dafür lohnt sich ein Blick. 😁
𝕃𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕗𝕖𝕙𝕝𝕦𝕟𝕘? Alle die auf der Suche nach einem Buch über eine junge Sommerromanze sind, sind hier richtig.