Warden Red

This book was, quite simply, a joy to read. I adored the writing style; normally, it takes me a moment to click with anything written in third person past tense, but with this novel, it was only a few chapters in that I even consciously noticed that was the combination of tense and POV being used. The prose just flowed so well, and Ben’s sense of humor was right up my alley. I smiled or laughed aloud so often. I can never get enough of characters who continue being funny even when they go through rough spots, and that itch has been thoroughly scratched here. For some reason, going in I expected this to be a dual POV book, but by the time I realized there would be no switch from Ben to Pete, I was fine with it. Ben was so relatable to me, with the way he dealt with his recurring depression and anxiety, and his reasons for occasionally acting abrasive, and his relationship with his family. And not getting Pete’s side of things from his own POV allowed for some great moments when certain details of his past got revealed, or when that one misunderstanding got sorted out in that one airport scene (iykyk). As much as I loved the characterization, the relationship progression, and the writing, I do have to admit that the plot sometimes relied to heavily on standard romcom cliches. It’s very evident with the main villain, for example. Or with how Ben gets shaken out of an otherwise well-written depressive episode by an inspirational conversation, although I really loved the character who did the shaking and was delighted with most aspects of the scene itself. It’s just that I wish the way it affected Ben was a bit more realistic, and I believe it could have been done without losing the overall optimistic romcom vibe On the whole, though. it was just such a fun, funny, feel-good book with spot-on fall vibes and delicious foody moments that I totally forgive it for the cliches. It’s basically a Hallmark movie in book form, and we don’t watch those for originality, we watch those for the feels and the tropes, lol. I can imagine, however, that the excessive tropiness can be grating for some readers, so if that applies to you, perhaps pick up a different book. If you’re in a Hallmark mood, though, definitely check this one out!

This is an awesome example of character-driven slice-of-life fantasy, and it's now my dream to read more books like this. The prose is beautiful, the character arcs are among the best I've ever seen, and this is truly an incredibly compelling story, even though it's just two people traveling the land, helping others and learning to understand themselves and each other.