| Title: | All the Little Things Box Set Trilogy | |
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| Author: | B. Hollidae | |
| Publisher | Self published | |
| Publication Date: | January 13, 2019 | |
| Publisher's Description | All the little things count in this beautiful and sometimes heartbreaking romance spanning over a period of six years. From high school sweethearts to learning what it means to be in love and a relationship as broken young adults. Read the complete trilogy! All the Little Things After fleeing Miami for a new start, Akilah was the last thing 19-year-old Rafael needed. She was everything he avoided in the past with girls. Opinionated. Assertive. Shrewd. Too curious for her own good. Bold. Daring. The type you didn't want involved when you were running and had something to hide. He fell for her anyway. There are a lot of big reasons that Rafael shouldn't be with Akilah. There are a lot of big reasons why he can't be with her. But shouldn't and can't aren't in her vocabulary. And there are a lot of other reasons, little things really, that Rafael should be with her that outweigh the big things. But when his past, his abuser, the reason he lived on the streets for three years, the reason he can never go back home, the biggest reason he shouldn't get involved with Akilah, comes knocking on the door, Rafael has a choice to make. Confront it. Or lose Akilah forever. |
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| My rating: |  |
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Since the last two reviews I posted were of books that ultimately did not work for me, and in honor of Valentine’s Day, which I know some people really care about, let me recommend what has to be one of the best series I’ve read in a long time. I fully expect this trilogy to be at or near the top of my (completely imaginary, because I never post it) year end top 10 list, because I am having a hard time imagining a world in which I’d be lucky enough to read works of this quality consistently throughout the year.
I take my entertainment seriously. I’m willing to lose myself in an author’s world, but in return, I like for there to be some substance to the story that I’m reading. This doesn’t mean heavy content, just the feeling that I gained something from the process of reading the book (a joke, a new perspective, it doesn’t have to be anything serious). Often I will finish a book that I found pleasant and struggle the next week to remember what it was that I liked so much about it. This sense is the exact opposition of what I felt when I finished reading the three books in this series. I was sucked into this trilogy early into book one and actually stalled a bit when I was nearly finished with the third book, because I didn’t want the experience to be over. How could anything be this good? This painful? This real? It didn’t make sense, but I also didn’t want it to stop.
I had no idea going into the series what I would be getting into. The description for All the Little Things wasn’t vague, but I wasn’t ready. I will offer trigger warnings for sexual abuse and violence, because these things, and their aftermaths, factored pretty heavily into Rafael and Akilah’s lives. These novels never stopped being entertaining and readable, but also managed to have full conversations about a lot of important issues: abuse; living with trauma; consent; toxic masculinity; body autonomy; racism; poverty. In addition to all these weighty subjects, I also loved getting to see two smart, interesting young people fall in love with and create space in their lives for each other. When Rafael and Akilah talked about their aspirations, fears, and feelings, I felt like I knew them. When revelations were made that one or the other had not expected, I felt blindsided right along with them. I have never in my life use the phrase “book boyfriend” unironically, but if the universe delivered to me a man like Rafael, I’d probably start farting rainbows.
Were these novels perfect? To me, the answer is yes. They were engaging and entertaining and left me feeling hopeful in a way that most books never will. The sense that I had when I’d finished them was of overwhelming joy that books like this exist. That people are writing books that can tell truths and evoke feelings like this.
In terms of the storyline, this book was a 4 star read. It wasn’t without flaws, but the author wrote a compelling religious romance that I didn’t hate (and I generally can’t stand religious romances). Zenetta was a great character, and I really loved Blue’s evolution. Blue’s Beauty was surprisingly funny and possessed an underlying sweetness that touched me and made me feel more invested in what was happening than I normally do when reading romance novels. While I am not usually a fan of closed door romances, the steamy scenes in this book almost seemed de trop; the novel seemed so full to me that the scenes that raised the sensuality level didn’t actually feel necessary.
