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Night Bird
392 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 25, 2026
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 9, 2026
The finale of Boys of the Blue Hour, or at least Jake's story in it.
This book picks up a few years after Down On Him. Jake has graduated college and is living in Maui, working as a high school teacher and with some nebulous job as 'host' at a gay clothing optional resort.
The book follows two timelines, following Jake's time as a teacher and a budding romance with a local surf bum, while also flashing back to senior year and events that transpired then. There is a planned event scheduled that… well, maybe saying it builds tension isn't accurate. This isn't a thriller. But it looms on the horizon, a beacon that events are headed toward. There's also a shocking event that keeps the book from feeling like a slow deceleration of Jake's story.
Overall, I thought it was a solid conclusion to Jake's story. The interacting timelines were handled well and things never got confusing. I cared enough about what was happening and wanted to keep going and rushed through the second half of the book in a few days (much faster than my usual leisurely reading pace).
The downsides were the usual with this series. Kyle, the object of Jake's desire honestly seems dull as dishwater and prickly to boot. The appeal to Jake is baffling. He got a little more dimension in Down on Him. But honestly, when there's a hot surfer man that seems to easily pair with Jake, supporting him in ways Kyle never could, why keep pining? Eh, the heart wants what the heart wants I guess. But Kyle really could use a press agent or something. Because honestly, he kinda sucks.
The writing remains too self-consciously 'literary', the dialogue unnatural, too effortlessly witty or wise to ever come across as conversations real people would have.
That's been there through the whole trilogy. It does sometimes get on my nerves, but not enough to quit.
The author's next set of books, Gap Year Queer are promising to be much fluffier than Boys of the Blue Hour. It'll be interesting to see how the narration changes to match that tone.
This book picks up a few years after Down On Him. Jake has graduated college and is living in Maui, working as a high school teacher and with some nebulous job as 'host' at a gay clothing optional resort.
The book follows two timelines, following Jake's time as a teacher and a budding romance with a local surf bum, while also flashing back to senior year and events that transpired then. There is a planned event scheduled that… well, maybe saying it builds tension isn't accurate. This isn't a thriller. But it looms on the horizon, a beacon that events are headed toward. There's also a shocking event that keeps the book from feeling like a slow deceleration of Jake's story.
Overall, I thought it was a solid conclusion to Jake's story. The interacting timelines were handled well and things never got confusing. I cared enough about what was happening and wanted to keep going and rushed through the second half of the book in a few days (much faster than my usual leisurely reading pace).
The downsides were the usual with this series. Kyle, the object of Jake's desire honestly seems dull as dishwater and prickly to boot. The appeal to Jake is baffling. He got a little more dimension in Down on Him. But honestly, when there's a hot surfer man that seems to easily pair with Jake, supporting him in ways Kyle never could, why keep pining? Eh, the heart wants what the heart wants I guess. But Kyle really could use a press agent or something. Because honestly, he kinda sucks.
The writing remains too self-consciously 'literary', the dialogue unnatural, too effortlessly witty or wise to ever come across as conversations real people would have.
That's been there through the whole trilogy. It does sometimes get on my nerves, but not enough to quit.
The author's next set of books, Gap Year Queer are promising to be much fluffier than Boys of the Blue Hour. It'll be interesting to see how the narration changes to match that tone.
Displaying 1 of 1 review