When Jude is seventeen he overhears something that changes the course of the rest of his life. Now, at twenty-five, he's guarded, distrustful, and determined to keep the rest of the world at arm's length. He doesn't need other people. He has plenty of issues to keep him busy.
Until a chance meeting at a rooftop party brings Blake into his life. Blake, who's sunny presence suddenly fills Jude's empty life with laughter and happiness. Blake, who breaks down Jude's walls layer by layer and brick by brick. Blake, who makes Jude break every one of his rules. Blake, who makes Jude fall in love.
But Jude's not the only one with secrets in his past, so what happens when the truth comes out? Will falling in love be enough to overcome all the challenges life has thrown in their path?
Comment: This is the second story I try by this author, although the other one I had read was not as great as I imagined. Still, I thought about giving the author another chance.
Jude is young man with a pretty stable life when, one night, he overhears his parents saying something and that is the beginning of the end of life as he has known it. Now, several years later, his life is once again stable if not very exciting but he has friends, he has his temporary jobs that give me all the attention he needs and he feels comfortable. He doesn't have a boyfriend but a chance encounter on a rooftop brings Blake to his life. They start off as only friends, but the longer they know each other, the stronger their connection... however, Blake has secrets too, and when Jude discovers them, is the fact they fell in love enough for them not to matter?
Overall, this story is quite competent and has many of the ingredients I usually like in contemporary plots. I liked the characters and their looks on life, I liked the vibe the story had and I liked it that the potential for drama was not overdone. However, the story still lacked something, and I've concluded it was emotion. Perhaps, in the attempt to not exaggerate certain things, others weren't as heartfelt as they could.
Jude is a likable character and I was rooting for him to find happiness and peace of mind. We are aware he is hiding something, which affected his life when he was 17 and I had a certain theory after the first chapters, which I bet is the one most readers would have, if they didn't have any information about the book before, as I didn't. When we learn what happened in his life when he was 17 it was still quite the surprise, and I have to say the author did think about something seemingly uncommon.
While we connect the dots, Jude has been spending time with Blake, someone he connects with very quickly, but they take their time moving forward and Blake does tell Jude he can't be with him as a couple. Since they both don't hide they're gay, I imagined something else, some kind of family obligation or something, that would stop him from having a committed relationship with Jude. Still, it gets to a point they can't hide it anymore.
For a while, they are a great couple, and around that time we learn what happened to Jude, he shares it with Blake and it feels as if they are as solid as they can be. I will say that until this moment in the story, my reading experience had not been spectacular. There were actually some parts where I was a little bored and I wondered why so many people have liked this and said the romance was great. It was sweet, but to me not that amazing. Of course, I understood everything when Blake's secret is revealed and while it wasn't this great twist - some clues had been kind of alluded to this possibility - it was still done in a way that made things seem a lot more stressful and significant.
After this, the story became more engaging and emotional, that's a fact. Jude's reaction and thoughts about what he discovers seemed very poignant and, as expected, Blake needed to apologize, which Jude didn't accept for a while. I can see why these moments convinced many readers of the emotions and feelings of the characters and, probably, why the plot merited higher grades. Part of me agrees, this part of the story was very captivating, but the rest wasn't as fulfilling.
