Rare

by Briar Prescott

One summer changes their lives forever…

Alex Ellison is well-educated, rich and good-looking. Too bad the ingredients of success haven’t mixed too well for him and instead of having the world at his feet, Alex has, once again, landed himself in a hot mess of trouble.
The community service his father arranges for him in a wildlife center on the other side of the country comes as a bit of a nasty surprise, though. Being shipped off to middle-of-nowhere, Oregon, is not Alex’s idea of the perfect summer vacation.

What Alex never expects is to meet Noah Price.
He never expects to be noticed and understood.
He never expects to feel valued and special.
He never expects to fall in love.
Everything is not what it seems, though, and love that feels invincible turns out to be anything but.

But love finds a way, and when Alex and Noah unexpectedly cross paths years later, they will have to risk it all for the love they both deserve and so desperately need.

Rare is a standalone MM Second Chance romance about first loves, one perfect summer, one debilitating secret and finding your forever.

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Second Chance, Contemporary, LGBT, Friends To Lovers, Audiobook

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2020

About the author

Briar Prescott is a work in progress. She swears too much, doesn’t eat enough leafy greens and binge watches too much television. It’s okay, though. One of these days she'll get a hang of that adulting thing.
Probably.
Maybe.
She hopes.

Want to check in occasionally to hear what's up? You can stalk her here:
Newsletter: https://www.briarprescott.com/contact
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/briar...
Email: prescottbriar@gmail.com.
Webpage: www.briarprescott.com.

Reviews

[Shile (Hazard's Version) on-hiatus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audiobook - 4 stars

Story Part 1 - 2.5 stars

Part 2 - 1.5 stars

The audiobook was good but the voices didn't fit the characters. Imo, Iggy Toma's voice fits Noah and Alexander C fits Alex. It was all jumbled up. Good thing I was listening to it while doing chores.

The story was just eeeeehhh okay. I live, breath and all that jazz sarcasm This was not it. It was just douchery disguised as sacarsm. Alex wasn't sacarstic he was just a douche. And if you are going to be sarcastic, you don't need to explain you are being sacarstic.

The relationship was just okay too, the long separation was unecessary and the reunion felt meh!

These two guys deserved better parents.

Anyhoo, it helped me get through my chores. If I was reading this, it could have ended with a dnf.

[Snjez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this book.

I really enjoyed Part I. It took me a little time to become fond of Alex, but I loved how he started to change because of Noah. It was so sweet.

Part II didn't work so well for me. At first it felt too rushed, then it was lovely, then things happened, then there were some painful moments and finally, it was lovely again. A lot happened, it was very emotional, but I still had the feeling there was something missing. For some reason I didn't enjoy the writing as much as in Part I.

Despite my niggles with Part II, I still think that Alex and Noah's story is beautiful and I appreciate that it deals with more serious issues.

[Lyn❤Loves❤Listening to Real Voices Only!!!!❤️🎧📚 Addict ON HIATUS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio - 4.5 Stars
Story... 2 stars for part I and 4 stars for part II ...3 Stars overall

Is it me, or does it seem lately that the would be dark and brooding characters are being traded in for annoying sarcastic characters? It's hard for me to give a damn about snarky characters because, to me, they seem to be goading everyone into disliking them. ANNOYING!

[*J* Too Many Books Too Little Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars!

I really liked this author's first book Project Hero so I was excited for this one. And the blurb and cover drew me in even more.

This one definitely did not disappoint. The writing was on point. We get a second-chance love story. Great relationship angst. Nice steam. And So. Many. Feels.

My reason for not rounding up - I was so angered by the separation. Definitely a case of a character playing the martyr. To some degree I get it. But 10 years is a long time. I get some of the decisions were made when Noah was young, but to go 10 years not even trying to find your true love? 10 years to be alone. Resigning yourself to being alone, what the rest of your life? And they only found each other by chance. GRRRRRRRRRRR!

Ultimately I still loved the story depsite my issues in the spoiler tag. Definitely recommend.

[Lau ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

*2,5 stars

Rare is a sweet romance with a bit of mystery between Alex, a rich spoiled boy who is not as spoiled as he wants everyone to think, and quiet Noah, who has a secret nobody knows about.

“Do you ever just shut up?”
“Sure. I can name multiple occasions. When I sleep. When I eat. When there’s something more pleasurable to do with my mouth than talk.”

While I liked some parts of it and the plot was original, I wasn’t connecting with the characters and didn't agree with some decisions the author made towards the end -which I can’t explain because it’ll be a spoiler. Bittersweet ending for me, but maybe my expectations were too high because I really enjoyed Project Hero by the same author.

[Ele · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

That was one great surprise!

[.Lili. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rare is my first book by Briar Prescott, and I purchased her first book after reading this book. As soon as I read the blurb- I had to read it.

Pros:
-Second chance romance
-Steam
-Delicious angst
-Witty humor
-Above all, I just loved the author's writing style.

My only con:
-Long separation. I'm not a fan, but it didn't take much away from my enjoyment.

Highly recommend it.

[Cadiva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm incredibly impressed with Briar Prescott.

It's rare for me to read a Young Adult book, I find myself getting annoyed with the immaturity of most 18 to 21-year-olds, however in Part I of this book, at no point did either Alex or Noah irritate me.

I did find myself occasionally frustrated with both of them once they started their relationship but that was more down to lack of communication, and I find that frustrating irrespective of the age of the MCs!

However, I also found them both completely endearing, Alex being far more than the spoiled rich boy he was presenting to the world and Noah's sweetness providing a perfect foil.

By the end of Part I my heart was breaking for both of them, while I was also curious to know what caused the specific issues which cropped up at that time.

I was very glad there wasn't a long wait to reunite them in Part II and I absolutely adored Noah's friend and work colleague Hannah. I do love when there are strong and supportive female characters in an MM romance.

Did I like that there'd been a 10 year gap and that neither had tried to find the other, not a jot, but when I discovered Noah's reasons, while there is very much an element of martyr syndrome I think it was justified. I also appreciated the unique reason for why Noah had left Alex 10 years earlier wasn't an inconsequential one.

The path back to happiness is a relatively smooth one, and I again really appreciated how there was no messing about with communication once they reunited.

There won't be any spoilers from me, but it felt utterly believable, the cause is one that's close to my heart and I liked that it was treated with the seriousness it deserves and the awareness of the rarity of Noah's position.

I got the warm and fuzzies with their second chance relationship though and I loved how passionate they both were. I also thought there was considered effort put in to making neither Noah's mother, or Alex's father villains they're both just flawed humans who are doing what they think is right or were unable to verbalise their feelings.

So that's two out of two for Briar and I can't wait to see what common MM tropes get twisted next!

#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review

[Megan [At The Cottage] · Rating 3 out of 5]

MM Romance
Second Chance
3.5 Stars ⭐️

A To Z Book Title Challenge: R This has been on my TBR forever.

I am having a hard time rating this book because it has two parts and I LOVED part 1 but part 2 felt rushed, unrealistic and I just craved so much more than it gave me. Despite this, I loved this couple and the subject matter was so interesting I ended up looking it up and reading all about it. So this review will not mention that subject matter because there are questions I had throughout the book that made me want to keep reading and had I known all the answers it would have ruined it.

Alex is a troublemaker, constantly fights with his dad and after breaking the law one too many times he’s sent off to do community service in Oregon at an animal wildlife center. There he meets Noah and the two have this intense connection, start to date, fool around, fall in love etc until it all comes crashing down. Part 2 starts 10 years later when they crash back into each other’s lives.

Part one of this book was close to a 5 star read for me. I absolutely adored how they became friends then lovers, swooned about how much they both liked each other and loved seeing both of them come alive in each other’s presence. They made each other want to do more and be more and I loved all of that. However, part two jumps 10 years into the future and I would have loved to have some overlap between the two timeframes. It felt really abrupt going from what happens at the end of part 1 to 10 years later. It’s kind of discussed in their inner monologues but I felt like this book could have been so much more if the time they were apart was written about and then there was a part 3 with what happens when they reunite years later. Part 1 made me cry and it gave me such whiplash to turn the page 10 years later into new characters. It just really, really put me off this book. But then once these two do reunite and everything is explained, I absolutely loved that subject matter and how it changed the entire book. It even made the name of the book take on a new meaning but it left me super confused because I dont know how I feel about it now or how to even rate it.

Part 1 was easily 4.5 Stars ⭐️ but part two was probably 2.5-3 Stars ⭐️ Fuck you goodreads for not letting me rate in half stars.

[haletostilinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give the first half a 3 to 3.5 star rating, but the second half a 4.5 to 5 star rating, so I evened my overall rating of this to 4 stars.

In the other two books by this author, I've enjoyed them immensely, but the first of half of this kinda dragged for me, and I wasn't fully invested in Alex and Noah, our two MC's - I wasn't fully invested in their relationship.

The chemistry wasn't there enough for me. They had some good parts here and there and I didn't hate them together or anything, so the first half was pretty so-so for me. Not bad, some interesting parts, but overall not keeping my interest like I hoped it would.

We only get Alex's POV in the first half, and I wonder if that had something to do with that feeling I got. I really liked Alex in the first half, and I didn't hate Noah or anything, I just didn't feel much for him in the opposite direction either. We didn't get enough from him, and while these two had some convos, most of them didn't catch my interest or make me feel these two were falling in love. Not getting Noah's POV might have been part of that.

Although with Alex, he was trying so hard not to be serious all the time and just look at Noah like a fling that when it all the sudden became serious for him, that didn't quite work for me. I didn't quite feel a proper build up to love for me. So it all happened kinda slow and then fast at the same time for me.

But skip forward 10 years, they're both adults, and they see each other for the first time in that long, and I felt that connection much more. Maybe because we finally got Noah's POV as well and I could understand him better, but also there was that shared history between them, and with their reconnection I felt more of a connection then their first one.

The secret was both a little anticlimactic and somewhat understandable at the same time. I dunno how others feel about it, but I kinda get it. With Noah's mom laying on the guilt trip, with Noah only being 18, with being a good guy, and being scared of what Alex would think, and the discrimination, the homophobia others had ultimately I kinda get it. It also felt maybe a tad too much for all that heartbreak...but then at the same time not...so I was torn about that, but ultimately okay with it.

A lot of romances, if the main couple meets when they're teens, does the separation thing, and I think as much as it sucks, it's ultimately a good thing, because that means the two can grow and learn and come into their own separately, maybe - hopefully - deal with the pains of growing up on their own and work through it on their own so they can be ready to be together as older adults, as more mature adults. I would still like to see a romance where the teen couples actually stays together through it all, though ;). High school sweethearts exist lol.

Anywho, once these two reconnected, and things were explained, past hurts were forgiven and trust was slowly restored. I much more enjoyed the second half than the first half. They were great together, and this time they weren't giving up on each other. They were determined to stay together, and the epilogue was a sweet and happy one.

So overall, I ultimately enjoyed this a lot. It just a slow and slightly uneven start that put a slight damper on my read of this. But overall, a good read. I definitely recommend, as the first debut novel by this lovely author. Might be my least favorite of this author's 3 works so far, but still a pretty strong debut novel overall.

So two thumbs up from me :D

[Rebelexmachina · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5 stars.

2.75 stars because the concept of this book was really good... LAMBDA nomination level good, but it fell apart in the execution through too much tell, not enough show and an unbalanced structure.

The book is separated into two parts (when the MCs met, and then years later). The former part was so overly long, that when they are reunited later in the book, forgiveness comes easily and everything is wrapped in a tidy little bow without any angst, which after what happened, would have been completely understandable and realistic. Their easy reconciliation actual felt unbelievable and anticlimactic to me.

[Papie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
The author tackles the very important issue of blood donations and gay men. And I applaud her for that. And the romance was beautiful and hooked me. I really enjoyed this book. But some things really frustrated me and I can’t write this review without spoilers.

Part 1 was pretty much perfect. I loved Alex and Noah so much, they were funny and sweet and watching them fall in love was amazing. Then came the big heartbreak moment (I love those, they hurt so good). I cried. It was perfect.
5 stars.

Part 2 was good, but I could have done with more build-up to the relationship instead of pretending their love was still exactly the same after 10 years. And I could have done without the accident drama. But I still enjoyed it.

Spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.


Noah has a very rare blood type, and has been donating blood all his life. He can’t donate if he has sex with a man. Noah is gay. That’s why he broke up with Alex when they were younger.

Now. My real problem is that I hated Noah’s mother so much. Her story made no sense. According to Noah, she guilted him into leaving Alex by implying he needed to be a hero and save lives. That’s really fucked up. According to her, she did it to protect him. Why the need to guilt trip then? Why not be honest? And also what kind of mother wants her child to be alone and celibate forever to protect him of a very unlikely scenario where he would need a transfusion? Be unhappy forever so you won’t die? Or turn straight?

I’m still angry.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 Stars. Rounding up.

I’m rounding up despite there being a case of insta love. Yes it was a second chance romance and while I could buy the insta love when they first got together, it worked less for me when they reunited ten years later. I suppose some would say it’s not insta love when they knew each other before. However, ten years had passed and they weren’t the same people. Things had changed. And the feelings flaring up so quickly again had me shaking my head. An eye roll or two may have been involved.

So why am I rounding up you might ask?

It’s because, despite all of the above, this was a lovely book. The writing flowed smoothly and I found myself captivated. I admit I was a tad nervous to read this since I enjoyed this author’s debut book so much. It turns out no worry was needed. Insta love aside, this was a beautiful love story. It also dealt sensitively with a subject that has always infuriated me. For spoiler reasons, I won’t say what that is. But it’s a topic that needs to be discussed more and we need to make more progress with it. I feel this book shined a much needed light on it.

I will add a bit more to this review in the next few days. Just wanted to put a few thoughts down while it’s fresh in my head.

**ARC provided by GRR in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - this is one of those books that although I didn’t particularly love it, the story deals with an important world issue that I appreciate has been written about and awareness raised for. The storyline pertaining to this was very well done, it was impactful and I learnt a lot without it feeling preachy. I really enjoyed this part.

I didn’t fall in love with the characters though and I felt in general the story was missing something, some kind of pizazz or depth. This was sweet and lovely and had some angst but I wanted more. I found my attention drifting and skimming at times which is unfortunate because the actual storyline of this is very meaningful.

[Gustaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic story of an author who’s quickly betoning a huge favorite of mine.
I have to admit that I was a little scared going in, since Project Hero just swept me off my feet, but there was No need to worry. Everything I loved in Project Hero is right there in this one too.

I won’t go too much in what this book is about just yet, you’ll have to read it for yourself, Because You should do it. Or you’ll miss out.

I got an ARC from the author and is going to write a better review when it’s released.

[kaye taz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
spice: 🌶️🌶️/5
format: audiobook
narration: 🎤🎤🎤/5

i really loved these characters and the overarching story of why noah is so “rare”. i think it was such a beautiful and important message for queer people in the medical community.

i do think part one was a lot stronger than part two. there was such a long break between the two, and them even getting back together as quickly as they did felt rushed and confusing.

even the ending kind of made me feel like we didn’t get a lot of closure about everything? i don’t know. it was a cute story and i loved alex and noah, but i just needed a bit more from them i think.

[juli✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️ 3.75 ➡ 4 Stars ⭐️


This gif sums up my whole reaction to Briar Prescott's sophomore novel, Rare -





It was a super sweet second chance romance about two boys who never forgot the life changing summer where they fell in love. While the 10 year separation was. . .a choice, with the reason being one of the more creative reasons I've ever read -





I still enjoyed reading RARE nonetheless. BRIAR PRESCOTT is definitely an author to watch and I can't wait to see what she writes next!

[Evelyn Bella (there WILL be spoilers) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so READY to hate Noah. And then my anger was popped like a balloon. Because how can you judge an 18 year old for making that decision, given the context?

“In the end, I didn’t choose you.”😩😩😩

I just hate that it happened to Alex. But given the background, it's one of the more forgivable atrocities. Dare I even say, most forgivable.

Also, Noah's mom is the antichrist. How do you put that on someone? Your own child? The weight of that responsibility is unfathomable. My goodness!

**yes, later, her reasoning also made sense BUT I'm not that open to forgiving her for the part she played.

Also. Ten years later, Alex is still jealous over the Lacey situation 😂😂😂😂😂😂he's just like me.

[Sanaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.

Whoops never trust me when I say review to come tomorrow lol. Work and everything has been kicking my ass. But better late then never tbh. This was my second book by Briar and I really liked this so much. Loved most of the story but what I didn't love was the separation. I saw it coming a mile away and really it didn't need to be like this. It kind of ruined the story for me. The second reunion happened too fast as well but that's my opinion. . Aside from that I'm excited to read more books in this series if there are more.

[Heather K (dentist in my spare time)]

Thank you for the gift, Santa's Elf with the Blue Stockings!!

[Pablito · Rating 5 out of 5]

On my shelves, it is rare that a romance novel can demonstrate a need for societal change and succeed . . . . In other words, carry a message but still make the love story its focus.

Eli Easton's Boy Shattered does this, and so too does Briar Prescott's Rare.

In the first half of the novel two 18-year-olds, one as sheltered as the other is jaded, fall credibly and irrevocably in love. But it ends. Mysteriously.

The second half of the novel, 10 years later, clears that up with somewhat of a moral dilemma; in other words, the breakup is explained, but very much unresolved. I mention this only to show how brilliantly the two halves come together and make the novel about something bigger than the love of two boys/men.

You will need to read it to see how the halves and the pieces fit together. And truly, you should. For Rare is this very rare venture in the MM romance genre: a novel as noble as it is true.

[Bookreader87(Amanda) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

This books is told in two parts.
1st part is when Alex and Noah are teenagers and meet for the first time.
2nd part is 10 years later when they reconnect.
1st part I loved seeing the two of them connecting and falling in love. With the 2nd part I needed a whole hell of lot more groveling from Noah and not such a fast reconnection. Overall a good read with a HEA.

[Shelba · Rating 1 out of 5]

When is the law not the law? When it's a recommendation.

So, one big, huge glaring issue in this is that even though in 2019, the recommendation for blood donation was 1 year from when a man last had sex with another man, the FDA's recommendation is just that, a recommendation. It isn't the law. So, if you had someone who could only accept blood from an individual with Rhnull blood, or they'd die... and there are only 9 donors in the world, you could ignore the recommendation. And if you options are "don't get a blood transfusion and die" or "get a blood transfusion and there is a low risk you could transmit a disease that can be easily and effictively screened for", most people would probably opt for the risk, recommendation be damned.

Aside from that, you have instalove, insta-reconsilation, a relationship (both platonic and romantic) that largely happens off page, etc. and some of the longest run-on sentences I've ever encountered:

Jeeves, whose actual name was Carson, but who'd earned the moniker from Alex due to the man's absolute devotion to Alex's father that had reminded Alex of Jeeve's fictional counterpart, had the usual stony expression on his face.

The sex scenes were not good. First, I don't need a four page long blowjob, especially when that's one of the longest on page interactions between Noah and Alex. Second, there's nothing wrong with calling an asshole an asshole, or a hole, but calling it "his opening" is a bit squicky. But also, I feel like the sex scenes felt like they were trying to hard. I wanted more fumbling from our virgin. I also wanted to feel like there was a speck of chemistry.

I don't like how the first half is told from Alex's POV, and then the second half alternates between Noah and Alex. I would have preferred it stay in just Alex's POV, or even just have the second half be told from Noah's POV. The way it was done lead to a very unbalanced narrative.

And I guess we're just ignoring the fact the emotional and psychological abuse Noah's mother inflicted upon him.

Also, don't go out of your way to point out Alex's location is an hour's drive from Portland and his curfew is at 11pm, only to have him go to Portland, stay at a restaurant until 11pm, and notes he was toeing the line of his curfew when they got back to the wildlife shelter. Dude, you're at least an hour past curfew. Why mention the curfew at all if the only other time it is mentioned is to ignore the fact that he has already missed curfew and should have found his ass locked out for the night?

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book!  The writing was just so good and the book just flowed effortlessly. The character development was fantastic and I especially loved Alex.  I adored his witty humor and sarcasm throughout and really felt like I got to know and understand him so well. Noah took me a little longer to get to know, he kept a lot of things close to the vest, but once we understood more about his life and the reasons driving his behavior, my heart melted just a bit. To see him finally realize he needed to choose himself and his happiness first, and the journey he took with Alex to get to that place, was so wonderful. There is some angst here but it is done in such a refreshing way. They was actual communication about things rather than needless misunderstandings, there was maturity and just open and honest discussions...I loved it! This was such a sweet and endearing love story that spans from teenagers into adulthood and I loved everything about it!

[Caz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've given this a B+ for narration and a B- for content at AudioGals.

Rare, Briar Prescott’s second novel (after  Project Hero , before  The Happy List ), is an emotional and heartfelt romance that falls naturally into two halves; one detailing the love story that blooms between two young men in their late teens, the other their second chance at love after a long separation. I’m generally a fan of second chance romances; I love the idea of two people who have been apart coming back together and falling in love all over again with who they are NOW rather than who they used to be – but sadly, the author doesn’t get that quite right here, and the book feels somewhat unbalanced. It’s well-written and I liked the characters, but the uneven structure doesn’t do the story any favours.

In part one, nineteen-year-old rich-kid Alex Ellison has got himself into trouble (again) and has spent the night in jail for being drunk, high and urinating in public. On a police car. His wealthy businessman father has so far managed to keep a longer-term jail sentence at bay thanks to his friendship with a local judge, but Alex’s latest escapade is the last straw. He’s given the choice between community service at an animal welfare centre in rural Oregon or being completely cut off financially. He’s so fed up with everything about his life that he can’t even be bothered to care.

Noah Price works at the North Oregon Wildlife Center and is planning to become a veterinarian, despite his mother’s opposition. In fact, Noah seems to have to face his mother’s opposition to a lot of things in his life, although we don’t learn why until much later in the story. He’s a good guy – sweet, kind and although a bit quiet, he’s well up to Alex’s weight in the snarking stakes. Alex notes the signs of interest in Noah’s eyes and is completely on board with the idea of a fling – but there’s something about Noah that draws him in more deeply, makes him want to get to know him and spend time with him – and that is so far from his usual MO, it’s not funny. Their romance is lovely; it’s sweet and charming and funny and I really liked the way they both bring out the best in each other. Alex encourages Noah to pursue his dreams and for the first time, Alex has someone around him who actually wants to be with him for no other reason than that he’s Alex; someone who isn’t going to leave him behind or push him aside, someone who sees the good and the bad and wants him anyway. As the idyllic summer continues on, Alex and Noah fall more and more deeply in love – until the day when it all falls apart and Noah disappears from Alex’s life.

The first part of the book – just over half – is told entirely from Alex’s perspective, so we get to see that his bravado is his way of pretending he doesn’t care and that he hides his insecurities behind layers of snark and indifference. However, Alex is such a big personality that not having Noah’s perspective means Noah is a bit overshadowed, and it means we don’t get to know why his mother is so overprotective or why she’s so invested in keeping him and Alex apart. (My guess, while it proved to be incorrect, was, at least, in the right ballpark!) It becomes clear exactly why the author has chosen to do this in the second half, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating!

The second part of the story skips ahead ten years, and the narrative here switches between Alex and Noah. A chance meeting when Alex is in Seattle for business (he now works for his father’s PR firm) brings them back into each other’s orbit; confessions are made, questions are answered and before long, Alex and Noah are picking up from where they left off ten years earlier. But therein lies the biggest problem with the story. Their second chance romance is underdeveloped and relies solely on their previously established connection, we’re told very little about their lives between point A and point B and there’s no sense that either man has grown or changed very much in the intervening years. Alex and Noah are good together and clearly make each other happy, but the drama crammed into the last quarter of the book feels just a tad contrived. I do, however, give the author props for addressing an important issue – one I was only vaguely aware of – through Noah’s side of the story, although I don’t really understand why Noah couldn’t have told Alex the truth earlier and spared them both the misery of a decade-long separation.

Iggy Toma and Alexander Cendese make a great narrating team and I’ve listened to quite a few of the books they’ve worked on together. Iggy Toma portrays Alex so he narrates the majority of the book, and he does a great job with Alex’s world-weary insouciance and waspish snark while also managing to convey a strong sense of the hurt and insecurity that lie beneath it. In fact, I suspect that Alex could have been a lot less likeable without the added depth Mr. Toma brings to the character. He differentiates clearly between Alex and Noah in their scenes together, and I enjoyed listening to the subtle changes in Alex as he begins to fall for Noah. The structure of the story means we only hear from Noah in the second part, and I liked Mr. Cendese’s interpretation of him. Noah is a solid, dependable guy and that sense of contentment and reliability comes through in his even tone and the steady pace of his dialogue. I admit I would have expected the narrator roles to have been reversed here because in most of the dual narrations of theirs I’ve listened to, Mr. Cendese generally voices the brash, mouthy character and Mr. Toma the quieter, more introspective one, but when you’ve got two such experienced voice actors on board, I suppose it doesn’t really matter who voices who because the end result will be a strong performance regardless.

I’m recommending Rare with the caveat that the first half works better than the second. Despite the uneven nature of the story, I enjoyed listening to it and the Alex & Iggy combo certainly makes a strong case for experiencing it in audio.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm on the fence about this one. I think the book contained a very important issue (you'll have to read it to find out what), but I wasn't overly enamored with the storytelling. It's always a difficult thing to try to condense a wide span of time into a reasonably-sized novel, and I don't think this one quite made it work.

The first 60% was the main couple's first meeting to falling in love to separation in 2009 at ages 18/19, and the last 40% was their reconnection/second chance ten years later. I think the back 40% is where I felt a little let down, as there was very little time spent on the actual relationship in deference to spending a lot of time on the Very Important Issue this book is really about.

Bottom line: I think it's a book that needed to be written and the issue truly is an important one, but the romance was so-so and in the end I feel a bit let down.

[Jennifer☠Pher☠ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok but I felt like something was missing with the grown up part of the story.

The secret, well, I don't know.

The message, yes, yes, yes.

[Arta reads at night · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,7 ⭐️ rounded up.
This story felt a bit oversimplified. A bit too easy.
But. I enjoyed reading it. Also, idea about a gay person with that thing one of MC has, is a good one. The issue of discrimination in that field based on sexuality is an important one. (I’m trying not to spoil very hard here 😂). Also I checked and main things mentioned there concerning the issue are true. And a bit crazy to think about.
And overall this love story was sweet and beautiful.

[Leyna]

2.5 - 2.75 stars

[Lelyana's Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has two parts. The before and after ten years later.
A way too long for Alex and Noah to reconcile their relationship.
It was barely started ten years ago when Noah suddenly walk away from Alex's life without explanation.
Then ten years later, they met again, reunion without any drama.
LOL, I like drama too much.
Rare has a good cause, about blood donation law for LGBT in USA, which I found weird, we don't discriminate people like that here in my country, especially when it comes to help people's life
Despite a good cause, this felt a little dragged and too much telling.
I like the premise of the story but didn't really enjoyed it.
Kinda a little struggled with the writing. But if you're a fan of this author and the writing style, you'll probably going to love it. Give this a try!