Chasing the Light

Note: Should be read in tandem with [b:Waiting for the Flood 89468474 Waiting for the Flood (Spires, #2) Alexis Hall https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1678797762l/89468474.SY75.jpg 43391117], whose narrator Edwin is the ex-boyfriend of Chasing the Light's Marius. This is the Alexis Hall I have been missing for a long time, since 2016's [b:Pansies 40025027 Pansies (Spires #4) Alexis Hall https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525287118l/40025027.SY75.jpg 51841846] and perhaps going back more than ten years to [b:Glitterland 60754391 Glitterland (Spires, #1) Alexis Hall https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1655387610l/60754391.SX50.jpg 24797122]. No cute rom-com, farcical fairy tale, satire of romance novel royalty, or historical fiction gut check. Just two men realizing they have found something special in each other despite their character flaws and questionable pasts. Marius actively avoids genuine emotion and uses sarcasm to keep other people at a distance, and is no kinder to himself than others. He reminds me of Glitterland's Ash, with less pretension and certifiable mental illness. The plot puts equal importance on Marius' coming to terms with the way he abruptly ended the ten year relationship with Edwin; and Marius' tentative first steps with the enigmatic, seemingly impervious to sarcasm Leo. I appreciated the fact that there was no easy explanation for Marius's difficult personality; his parents are delightful and he had anything but a traumatic childhood. Sometimes people are who they are, or as Gaga would say, born this way. I'm glad to see that Hall has several new Spires novels planned (in addition to reissues of Pansies and [b:For Real 40726183 For Real (Spires, #3) Alexis Hall https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1530809160l/40726183.SY75.jpg 45123759]). I hope they too will be vintage Hall, sans gimmicks.