Us » Book Review

Us is the sequel to Him, a dual M/M romance effort by authors Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. If you remember, I loved Him very, very much. It was the first M/M romance I'd ever read, and it's safe to say that reading Him opened up the floodgates.  I actively seek diverse romances now, and I have Bowen and Kennedy to thank.

I started reading Us about an hour and a half after it came out, at 1:35 am.  Literally, I woke up at 1:35 in the morning, thought —  Us is out! — and grabbed my kindle. Such was my excitement.

I read the book all the way through, finishing at 5 am — a quick read. It's a very good, fun thing to read a book in one sitting like that — Bowen and Kennedy definitely have pace down pat.  I couldn't tear myself away from this book.  However, once I was done reading, the critical voice in my head began to blab.

• The character of  Wes was slightly diminished, less distinct, in book 2.

A lot of the dynamic element of Wes's character was reduced in Us.  In Him, Wes does all manner of crazy things, some of which are really out there.  (Last night of hockey camp, anyone?) But in the sequel, he becomes less of a punk and more of a worrywort. I would have liked to see his character resume his antics, as it helps keep his character distinct and memorable.

• The book's humor was hit or miss — not consistently funny.

Senses of humor are diverse, so it makes sense that, as a reader, I won't find the humor in every book funny.  Some might find nothing at fault with the jokes and light moments in Us.  However, I found that the humor ran towards the cheesy.  A lot of times, I had to pretend things were funny, in order to keep my respect for the characters. I do have to say though, my favorite line in the book: "Do we have a chiweiler?" Bahaha!

• The romantic parts were explicit, but not hot.

Those scenes in Him were smokiiiin'.  And also, very relevant to the plot.  In Us, however, I felt like many of the sex scenes where tossed in because they had to be in the book somehow. And it was nothing new.  I felt like, because Wes and Jamie are now a couple, the novelty has worn off.

• Him is a better book than Us, by far.

One of the best parts of Him was its great hook.  The sequel, however, just feels like a really long epilogue.  It does not stand on its own.

Bottom line — the pace is excellent in Us, but ultimately, the book suffers from sophomore slump.