Christina Sturgill's Reviews > Cali Boy

5 / 5 Stars
3.5 / 5 Steam

I just knew I was going to love this series. I had this feeling...no idea why it took me so long to actually read the books. I have 4 editions of this book physically - that's how much I KNEW I was going to love it.

Anyway, it follows Finn and Oliver. Finn loses his mom in a terrible car accident, and it changes him completely. He's never had a great relationship with is dad, but the accident makes it much worse. They have so little communication that Finn doesn't know his dad is remarried until he moves the new wife and her son into their home.
Oliver is Finn's new stepbrother. He's happy for the move and a fresh start after coming out to his friends at his previous school and them reacting terribly.
That's as much as I'll say to avoid spoilers.
This relationship is so sweet! It's a bit of a slow burn. Oliver knows he's gay, but Finn has never been attracted to guys before. I loved that him realizing his attraction and following through with it wasn't overly dramatic. He took it with stride and handled it well, in my opinion. The biggest issue for these two is that they are newly stepbrothers and what it could mean if they act on it. Obviously, they can't deny their attraction to each other and eventually give in. And when I say they give in... they really do. The steam, just so hot. This book gives off the innocent and sweet vibes until around the halfway mark and then BAM! Trust me.
I absolutely loved how attentive Finn was right from the very start. There was no animosity, hatred, or misplaced aggression between Finn and Oliver. Finn immediately became protective of Oliver and Oliver was smitten with Finn right away. I loved it.

There is some definite bullying in the book from other characters directed towards Oliver and it's heartbreaking to see it play out. But it's handled well, in my opinion.
The dad never quite warmed up enough for me. I'm glad it worked out and they got their moment to really talk things out, but it didn't satisfy me enough to bring me around to him.

This is a really beautiful story, an incredibly strong debut from Charli, and a story I'll definitely come back to and read again for comfort.