Thursday 26 January 2023

Requited by Jesse H. Reign

Title: ⟫ Requited

Author: ⟫ Jesse H. Reign

Rating: ⟫ 4/5

Blurb: ⟫ If you've read Unrequited, and have been left longing for more of Andy and West's story - you are in luck.

Requited tells the story of roommates and best friends Andy Montgomery and West Baxter from West's perspective. It is a sweeping story of friendship that turns into longing that can't be ignored.

Be warned, this isn't a retelling of the same story, rather, it's an exploration of what would have been if West or Andy had had the courage to do one teeny, tiny thing differently.

Review: ⟫ I did read Unrequited and reviewed it here and finally got over my anger at the wasted TEN YEARS in that book to read the alternate version.

I think I’m glad I read it, although I’m still not sure. Wes is pretty much obsessed with Andy but hides it because he doesn’t want to lose the friendship that they have. Some of his actions are extremely dubious whilst dealing with this obsession and it was fascinating seeing this different side to him – in Unrequited, he seemed more together, confident and sure of himself. In Requited, we see his thought processes and feelings and it quickly becomes obvious that he hasn’t dealt with being bisexual and his attraction to other men during different periods of his life.

I did enjoy the opportunity to see Andy through outside eyes – strangely enough, in Unrequited he was the one who seemed to be lacking in confidence and self-assurance, whereas through Wes’s eyes, Andy truly has got it all together.

Overall, this book had a lot of sex scenes in it, but it also had a lot of talking – the talking that should have taken place in Unrequited to be honest – and I enjoyed that aspect of it. I also enjoyed the two of them realising all of the ways in which they have revealed that they cared but were too blind to see.

The relationship with Ashleigh was also explored through new eyes, and it became obvious a lot sooner that she and Wes were not suited to each other. I think, generally speaking, I enjoyed this chance to see the other side of things and it was worth the money I paid for it.

There was a lot more sex in this section of the books, which isn’t always a bad thing. Overall, I enjoyed this alternative look at what could have been if Wes and Andy had shown some gumption and spoken up and it was different enough to make it worth reading.

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