Thank you #netgalley and #smp for the advanced audio copy. Out today (09/03)
Awoken by his upstairs neighbor, Dylan, who literally falls through the ceiling onto his bed, Derek can’t handle another stressor, adding to his strained relationship with the HOA. However, it soon becomes apparent that these two must share one apartment while the repairs occur! Hello, forced proximity. Do your thing!
This book had a lot of good moments. I found the writing amusing yet warm towards the more complicated topics.
Dylan was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, and his messiness, hyper fixations, and often the brunt of family jokes felt all too familiar (it’s okay, Mom, I don’t mind, honestly). I loved the way the ADHD contributed to some social anxiety, very relatable.
Derek, a stereotypical oldest child, felt he needed to care for his family, specifically his youngest sister. I enjoyed him grappling with why he felt he had to do this and who he would be if he did not care about responsibility. Plus, he is a dog lover!
Burke’s writing flowed effortlessly from intimate moments to family drama, and despite not having read the companion novel, I felt I had a good understanding of each character. The dialogue was well-developed, and the intimate moments were descriptive and deftly delivered (like Dylan, I also love alliteration).
The narrators handled both the jokes and the more serious topics with ease. I listened to this one around 1.75x, and it never sounded too fast.
My biggest problem with this book is that I found it confusing as an audiobook with two male characters with similar names and voices. I generally prefer dual point-of-view chapters to be labeled with the individual perspective, which I think would’ve assisted here. Once I could distinguish the excellent narrators’ voices, my experience improved significantly. However, the extra layer of thinking took away from my ability to absorb the story.
