On the positive side: this book is very engaging. I read it practically in one sitting with a break in the middle to sleep. The relationship between the main character, his brother, and their best friend is very sweet and realistic and I loved watching the three of them interact. The political stuff was intriguing and I personally felt like it took up an appropriate amount of page time, as opposed to too little (which I often notice in books like this). The steam/smut was pretty good too.

However, it was very insta-love-y which is not my thing. And Cole got pretty annoying at times, which was unfortunate because we’re in his head (1st person POV) for the entire book. I liked the idea of him as a character, but he seriously never shuts up. The sentences in his inner monologue just go on and on and on to the point where I was wanting to skip stuff just to get to the point. 

There is also a fair amount of repetition, with Cole thinking the same things to himself over and over. And look, I get it. I ruminate too. But as a reader, I don’t need to be there for that. It gets old fast. 

My annoyance with Cole and the instant devotion to Hex was why I didn’t give this four or five stars, despite highly enjoying a lot of other parts of the book.