This book was originally reviewed on Joyfully Jay around the time of release. However, the review has since been removed from the blog, along with all reviews of books by this author.

no stars in the world would be given for a fraud, a bully, an asshole, a fake, a liar,

This is the second book in the Community series, featuring Holden and Six, with reappearances by Nate and Trent from the first book. I really enjoyed this one, more than I enjoyed the first book in this series, especially because there was more information about what actually is going on within the Community. The main focus of the book is Holden's awakening to the reality of his father's actions. There was a good balance of romance and action, and the ending made me want to dive right in to the next book!

Reviews shared at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, V's Reads and Goodreads: https://vsreads.com/2017/10/31/getting-past-ones-oversight-a-review/

Holden Payne’s world view got skewed when he realized his father had placed people in his club, a supposedly safe space for LGBTQ psychics, in order to spot their powers and take them for experimentation. And now he fears his father, the highest member of the Community’s organization, is going to frame him for the problems. Holden’s friends were murdered, and his half-brother Chase was picked up for “realignment” at The Farm, and Holden’s beside himself.

It doesn’t help that his father has placed another spy in his club to keep his eyes on Holden. Sixtus Rossi spent a decade as a guard up at the Farm, a place Holden remembers going as a youth. It was supposed to be another safe space, where young psychics could learn their craft and become more adept to blending into society, but –Holden is now learning–it’s really a reprogramming center where undesirables are sent to have their outlook rewired through torture. And Chase, as well as HOlden’s mother, is there.

Through mutual friends of Chase and Holden, Holden learns of the true nature of the Community, to amass power by psychic means, and Six is always watching his back. Is he reporting back to Holden’s father? Or, is he just curious. Six has an Invulnerable mind, one even Holden’s empath charms cannot work on, so the attraction that seems to develop must be all-natural. And that’s unsettling. Holden first wants to trade favors with Six for any information he can provide on Chase, but Six disabuses him of this possibility. Six might be inexperienced, but he’s not a prostitute. And, he’s noticed Holden for years–mostly because Holden noticed him, first. They have a complicated history that’s only further complicated when Holden falls into the thinking of Ex-Comm members, psychics and their family survivors who aren’t happy with the way the Community is/has treated them. While it blows Holden’s mind, he’s also convinced it’s truth, what the Ex-Comm people have to say. And, when Chase’s boyfriend is taken to The Farm, Holden knows he can’t sit idle any longer.

There’s some daring rescues in Holden’s future, but this is the second book in what appears to be a trilogy. I loved how Holden really took his time to be won over by Ex-Comm. How he made his own investigations and tried to find reasonable channels for pursuit of Chase, before recognizing that he wasn’t dealing with a rational situation. That made this all the more real for me to believe. Six is a good foil for HOlden’s emotional extremes, as he’s a rock-solid guy who tells it EXACTLY like it is. Their courtship seemed brief, but they are working against a clock: Chase’s life is at risk, as is his mother’s life, too. There’s some great misdirection and interesting character positioning on the two factions going on here, which made the story that much more interesting. I don’t want to say too much more about the resolution, but I will say that Holden and Six come out of it a strong couple determined to defeat Holden’s father and release the iron control he’s built over the psychics of NYC.

I’m so looking forward to the next book in the series!!

I read a review copy provided by NetGalley

★★★★☆ 3,5 stars for this story of accepting hurtful realities and finding things you didn't know you wanted


This story is the second installment in The Community series, so if you haven't read Insight be warned, here be SPOILERS. Perhaps, I tried to keep it relatively spoiler free.


Oversight continues around the point where Insight leaves us but this time we get the story from Holden Payne's point of view. He wasn't exactly one of my favourites from book one, so I wasn't all that excited for his story. And to be honest his character annoyed the shit out of me from time to time.

After the watchdog Holden's douchebag father send is now out of the picture he sends someone new to the club to keep an eye on Holden.

Sixtus. An impenetrable (yes, you got it, he won't be penetrated, at least not physically) who is immune to psychic powers. Holden is still shaken up by all the things that happened in the last couple months and when Holden's father seems to want to blame the whole incident on him and one of Holden's friend's disappears he is forced to confront a reality he isn't quite ready to accept.

The overall story was enjoyable, but good lord Holden can be so annoying for a 30-year-old person who has at least had some life experience! Boy, I can understand that you don't want to see the thing you grew up in as evil or bad but there comes a point where the denial is so thick it must be suffocating you. It wouldn't be that bad if Holden was a real fanatic, I would have been frustrated but it would have been more understandable. Holden admitted that he knows there are some bad parts in the Community. That makes his apparent inability to see reason and question things so much more frustrating. Especially since he knows that The Farm isn't all sunshine and roses.

Well, enough about that, let's get to Six and Holden. Their interactions were nice and I really liked Six. Their relationship made more sense when you got to know some of the back story as well. Six's point of view would have been fascinating. To witness his changing demeanor towards Holden, but oh well. The third book is gonna be about Chase, so that's good enough for me.

All in all a satisfying continuation of The Community series and I'm excited to see how Sightless is gonna continue with imprisoned Chase, the ex-Comm and everything else.

3 1/2 Stars

I enjoyed Six and Holden's story, especially loved their chemistry and interactions. I do wish we could have gotten Six's POV as well.

You definitely need to read this series in order because you're not going to find a lot of world building or answered questions here.

I did feel like the last 20% was rushed, and the romance was overshadowed quite often by the suspense and whatnot, which left me generally wanting more.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~


I will be talking about the book on my next Whatcha Reading? podcast, which is now up on TBQ's Book Palace (10/14).

My favourite kind of LGBT novel is the kind that has a whole bunch of plot to it and doesn't make a big issue about the fact that some of the protagonists are queer. That is exactly what this book by Santino Hassell delivered.

Holden Payne runs a queer centre for psychics, but also happens to be the son and heir of Richard Payne who happens to be the founder of a much larger Community that keeps track of and seems to help out psychics who are having trouble with their powers and don't know where else to go.

Unfortunately, Holden doesn't have the best relationship with his father, which is why Sixtus Rossi is assigned to watch over him. This is fast becoming one of my favourite tropes, and it's done really well here.

Under Six's guiding eye, Holden has to watch out for his friends, try to see what the real motivations of the Community--and his father--are, as well as struggle to understand what the new group called Ex-Comm people want from him.

In the middle of all that, it turns out that Six and Holden have pretty much the best chemistry ever, despite the fact that he's basically the first person Holden has come across that he can't manage to manipulate with his empathic powers.

Definitely looking forward to the rest of this series, and liked the cameo from Nate and Trent towards the end.

Whew! This book was much better than the first book, i.e., easier for me to follow, but the first has to be read before this one—this isn’t a standalone. And you have to set aside time and a location to be able to focus as you read these stories since the plot is so complex and the world-building unique.

For now, I can say that if you like the way Santino Hassell can take a supposedly rough character—literally or figuratively—and create a thing of beauty, you will love this story. On the surface, Sixtus Rossi should not be a loveable character, and yet he is—both for me and for his nemesis, Holden, or should I say his initial nemesis, but later lover, Holden? I also came to really appreciate Holden as this story went on and felt sad at his disillusionment over his father’s role in the Community, his mother’s apparent rebellious nature and current mental state, and in general, the bursting of his happy bubble of what he’d thought was reality. Nothing is as he believed it was, and that’s a hard pill for him to swallow.

On the other hand, he and Sixtus have an amazing attraction—amazing because Sixtus shouldn’t have the depth of feeling and emotional attachment he has with Holden. Sixtus is an Invulnerable in the psychic world—supposedly impervious to both psychic abilities and Holden’s charms. That’s why Holden’s father, Richard, the head of the Community, chose Sixtus as his “spy.” “He has a natural mental shield that prevents him from being susceptible to psychic abilities.” And yet, Holden gets glimpses of what’s behind Six’s shields and is shocked by what he sees. The men are most definitely attracted to one another and I must say the sex between the two is off-the-charts hot and some of the author’s best to date.

The emotion between them was sweet. “Holden had never been on the receiving end of a mushy declaration, but he’d just gotten one from a man whose brain prevented him from having empathy. It had to mean something.” And as we learn as the story goes on, it certainly does.

As a bonus, at least in my opinion, we get another chance to bond with Nate and Trent from (Insight) and their role in the final chapters of the story is crucial to Holden’s and Six’s success at the impossible task they’ve set for themselves.

If you’re looking for a highly complex plot with enough MM romance and scorch-the-sheets-sex to burn out your Kindle, and yet enough plot twists and turns to make you dizzy, consider this series. This one ends with a brief glimpse into what will be featured in the next story. Not so much a cliffhanger as a definite teaser, but I’ll be in line when it comes out, for sure.

I really liked how Sixtus's character is revealed slowly. He seems very one-dimensional at first, but is a much more complex personality by the end. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Let's start this review off with how I didn't expect to like Holden Payne as much as I did by the end of Oversight.

Back in Insight (Community #1) Holden is introduced as the owner of the nightclub Evolution, the setting for some of the book's biggest scenes. He's not a bad character at all, but it was hard to get a bead on him because none of the characters really knew him beyond "wealthy and spoiled son of Community's founder". I didn't hate Holden, but then, I didn't really care about him. But Oversight fleshes Holden out to the point where I not only found myself caring about the character's survival, but about his happiness.

One of the first things that we find out in Oversight is that the relationship Holden has with his dad isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Of course Holden gets that things are less than stellar with his father Richard – the man is basically a cruel as hell ice cube of a man – but he doesn't really get how bad things are or what his father is up to until it's almost too late.

In the previous book, Holden appeared to be the posterchild for the Community. He talked up his father and the organization to Nate Black and appeared to be towing the party line 100%. In this book, things are way more complicated and I don't think that Holden has a kind word to say about his father.

(Not that the man deserves anything other than a swift kick in the bits…)

I think that Holden's journey towards being his own man – a journey that is helped along by the taciturn and mysterious Sixtus "Six" Rossi – is basically something that makes Oversight a winner for me. Don't get me wrong, I have yet to meet a Santino Hassell book that I didn't love to bits, but there's something extra special about following along on Holden's journey and witnessing his growth.

Oversight is different from Insight in that Hassell isn't introducing readers to the world of psychics and sensitives that exists alongside our own. He's returning to it. So we're dropped right into the thick of things as Holden tries to come to terms to the truths his friends are dropping about the Community and what he suspects about his own father.

Now this is a spoiler but it's nothing that someone coming off of Insight wouldn't know: the Community under Richard Payne is basically akin to the horror stories we hear from survivors of cults or from people that have escaped Scientology. "Re-alignment" a process that serves to readjust the personalities of people who disrupt the Community's day to day processes and to quell any deeper looks into how the organization really works.

As the founder's son, Holden's "re-alignment" is basically an intense grounding.

Other people aren't that lucky.

Six is one of those unlucky people.

To explain Six and his importance would rely on me spoiling like 90% of the book because he's so integral to the plot and to Holden's path forward, so I'm going to be… vague. Six is one of the people who knows firsthand how bad things can get in the Community, especially up at the Farm where "re-alignment" and other shady things run rampant. He's a mysterious figure and a presence from Holden's past who is more than he seems at first.

Without Six, the novel would go so differently.

Hassell hit a home run not just with the Holden/Six relationship (which is gold and I love how their chemistry develops), and giving more screentime to characters like Elijah, but in deepening his world. In my review of Insight, one of the things that I talked about was how the novel had characters of color as significant recurring characters that called out the things that they saw going wrong in their world.

In Oversight, I think that Hassell does a great job at getting intersectional in his worldbuilding and in talking about the oppression that marginalized, vulnerable people in this world might face.

The idea that the Community preys on marginalized people and "at-risk" children/teens is not only brought up, but confirmed. As a reader, I don't have to ask what life could be like for poor/Black/disabled psychics in the Community as it is now because it's on the page. I don't have to headcanon my existence into being because the author dropped the ball, because he didn't.  Elijah – who is a queer character of color who's been through so much – is getting a book of his own. There are female characters of color in this world (and I'm pretty sure some of them are queer as well).  I feel like I could exist in the world of The Community just from the worldbuilding Hassell did and that feels good.

I'm going to wrap this review up, but before I do, here are my feelings on Oversight in a nutshell:

Oversight pulls readers deeper into the world of the Community, unearthing buried secrets and some truly shady messes linked inextricably with the infrastructure of the organization. Holden shines as a main character and he grows on you within chapters. The relationship that he builds with Sixtus Rossi is amazing and as usual, Hassell provides readers with a relationship that has steamy scenes and intense emotional moments.

Seriously folks, if you are a fan of innovative urban fantasy and queer fiction with a darker bent to it, you need to be reading this series.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆☆
The first book in this series may have introduced a gripping new series, but this second book blew my mind. The characters in the first story were outsiders looking into The Community but in the second book, Holden, the son of The Community’s founder, finds himself questioning everything he has ever known as the unexplained murders and abductions continue.

Holden’s problems escalate when he finds himself attracted to the handler his father has sent to spy on him and ensure he adheres to Community expectations. Unable to feel empathy, Six may be impervious to Holden’s powers but the attraction and chemistry between these two is absolutely glorious.

It is almost impossible to review this story without spoilers. Holden quickly learns more than he ever wanted to about The Community and Ex Comm – the shadowy group determined to take it down. As the tension builds and the threats to Holden and his friends increase, this story becomes properly terrifying.

Like all good urban fantasy, the dystopian Community often reflects our own broken society and the author’s astute observations are eerily relevant. I love the worldbuilding in this series, I love the complicated family secrets, and the complicated relationships between characters with different powers and abilities.

My only reservation about this second story is that it really doesn’t stand alone like the first one did. Here, I was left staring at the last page in shock. I am desperate for the next book and I am thoroughly addicted to this series. I can’t recommend these books highly enough.

I was provided an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am kind of at a loss right now on how to review this book. Let's see...I really liked it. I completely enjoyed Insight, and was beyond eager to read Oversight. When Holden was introduced in Insight, I knew he would be something special. Yes, he was an ass and secretive and basically not helpful to Nate in his quest to learn the truth about what happened to his twin, Theo. But in the end, Holden proved to be an okay guy and I needed to know more about his story and who would finally tame this seeming self-centered man. I wasn't expecting Sixtus, LOL.

"Sixtus Rossi is a broad-shouldered, tattooed lumbersexual with a man-bun and a steely gaze." Ha, yeah, he is definitely that, but he is also an invulnerable, which means he has a very strong mental shield and no other psychic can read him or influence him with their talents. When Six is placed as Holden's new "watcher" by Holden's father, Holden is of course curious about Six and if he is a man to be trusted (since his previous "watcher" turned out to be a (view spoiler)).

What really brings these two men together is that Holden knew Six from when they were kids. Not in a playmate sort of way, but in a Six was basically captured by Holden's father and sent to the farm for "realignment" and tortured kind of way. When Six was "sentenced" Holden and his father were there and Holden was a teen at the time and worried for this kid who was about the same age as him. He wanted to make sure he would be okay, because he didn't have anybody else to look out for him.

Holden never forgot about Six in the 10 years that have since passed...and neither has Six forgotten about Holden. Call it destiny or soul mates, regardless - these two men were meant to "meet" as kids and to come together again as adults. (view spoiler)

All isn't what it appears and Holden is starting to question everything he grew up believing, or even things he saw. Nate and Trent return to help Holden find Chase, Elijah and Holden's mother. They are being locked away on the farm, and time is ticking because the longer they are there, the more they are tortured. With the help of some ex-Comm members (which is a group of people who are fighting to destroy the Community) (view spoiler), they risk literally everything to break into the Farm.

This does end on a cliffhanger but we know the good guys are going to win. Like, really? When was the last time you read a book about the bad guys defeating the good guys? So I am not afraid to wait because I know it is all going to work out in the end - I just don't know how much our heroes are going to be put thru (read - tortured) before the big win at the end.

I loved the intrigue and the secretes of Oversight. This is a real thriller of a story and is full of action and plotting and planning. Let's just say I am so glad this is fiction because I would not be well suited to live in a world where this was reality, LOL. I don't like to go down dark alleys, and I would be less than helpful in the stealth department when trying to sneak into a dangerous psychic Farm. Why do you think I stay in my home and read books all day? Except for when I go to work. ;) I live enough excitement just driving to the grocery store (sometimes it's amazing to make it back home in one piece - people are crazy!).

I highly recommend this story and series, but be warned that if you don't like cliffhangers, you should wait until the final book is released so you can read them all together. I plan to re-read this series myself once that happens so I can get it all in one giant psychic smorgasbord. :)

Santino is a highly talented writer and I have not been disappointed yet with anything I've read by him. Well crafted characters and story line that I think was storyboarded or something because so far I haven't found anything that niggles at me as being not quite right. Hope that all made sense - it always does in my head. ;) Please tell me if I sound crazy so I can fix it, cheers!

I didn't realize that this is an ongoing series when I voluntarily elected the book to read. I think i would have enjoyed the book more if I read the first book prior to this . It's not difficult to understand but I think the back story would of helped.
That being said it was a fast paced book that had interesting characters. Also I didn't realize it was a fantasy romance novel. It was interesting but usually not my cuppa.

Oversight was a good follow up for Insight as it let us get into Holden's head, introduced Six, and delved deeper into the Community and its secrets. What's even perfect was that I got my wish when Nate and Trent made an appearance and oh boy, did I love it!

I liked Holden in previous book and now I fell in love. He's idealistic and he believes to all the good in the Community and he genuinely wants to help his fellow psychics. Basically, he's adorable and his biggest fault was to be a bit naive. Besides the old characters from previous book, Oversight introduced Six, who was a mystery in so many ways that figuring him out was intriguing and fun. The chemistry and steamy romance between Holden and Six was definitely classic Santino Hassell, and I really loved it. It was full of suspense and doubt, but also magnetic bull and secrets that changed everything.

The only negative thing I have to say about Oversight is that there were a few moments when it felt a little bit rushed off. I felt like some scenes needed a little bit more page time (and honestly, I wouldn't have minded if I'd get fifty more pages of Holden and Six). Otherwise the book was perfect mix of suspense, romance and paranormal.

I just can't get enough of this world! Paranormal is not my go-to genre but this series is addicting and definitely a very good paranormal. I do recommend this for anyone who likes paranormal, suspense, romance and mysteries - or even if you're not biggest fan of paranormal, this would still be a really good read. Although, in order to read this, Insight has to be read first to avoid spoilers and to know what's going on.

As amazing s the first book in the series. I have loved this author and his writing since he broke onto the scene. What a great book!

Something that’s weird: Santino Hassell is my favorite romance writer, but even though I liked the first book of his The Community series, I went into Oversight 100% expecting to not like it that much, but surprise!, I actually enjoyed this one far more than Insight.

Let me explain: I hated Holden in the first book (in the same way I hated Caleb in his other series, Five Boroughs), so when I saw the second book would be about him I wasn’t that excited (same thing happened when I saw Caleb would be the protagonist of First & First). Hassell did manage to make me go from hate your guts to you’re kinda nice, I guess when it comes to Caleb, but there is a reason First & First is close to being my least favorite Five Boroughs book. So yeah, I wasn’t expecting to love Holden in this book.

And… I didn’t, to be honest. Holden is fine and I like him more than I like Caleb (lol), but he’s very far from making the list of characters I really like. The same can be said of Six, the love interest. They are both nice, I enjoyed their romance despite finding it to be a little instalove-y, but what made me love this book was the plot and the world Hassell created. I find everything about the Community to be so interesting and I really enjoyed how the book portrayed both the bad apples and the good apples within it. And honestly? I can’t wait to see how everything will go down once everyone finds out about the Farm/about what a piece of shit Holden’s father is. That’s one of the reasons I’m so excited for the next book.

The other reason is that Elijah is absolutely my favorite character in this series. I wasn’t that invested in Nate/Trent (despite liking Nate a lot) or in Holden/Six (despite being kinda okay with both), but I do think I’ll like Elijah/Chase, if only because Elijah is just precious. And Elijah/Chase already has a history, which will really help me like them, I think.

In conclusion, Oversight is a really enjoyable book that caught my attention from the first page and didn’t let me go until the end. It’s one of the most interesting paranormal romance books I’ve ever read and I can’t wait to see where the series is going. 4.0 stars.

While Insight and Oversight follow two different narrators, they are both part of the same overall story. Therefore, it’s important that you read Insight first in order to understand the psychics and the world they live in. Holden Payne’s father is one of the top people in The Community, a group of psychics looking out for and taking care of each other. Holden has always seen the more positive aspects of the Community, including the club he runs that gives LGBT+ people – psychic or otherwise- a place to go.

In Insight it’s obvious that not everything is what it seems when it comes to the Community. Holden plays an important part in that book, but it was great to get his actual point of view in Oversight. I liked that characters from the first book were back, even if they didn’t all have as large of a role. Oversight continues to unravel the Community, making it a book readers are sure to fly though. There is a burgeoning relationship, but if you tend to shy away from romances, definitely think about reading this series still. The romance just adds to the story, but it never overtakes the overall plot of mystery, suspense, and the paranormal.

Hopefully this will entice you to check out the series! I didn’t want to give away much since Insight is important to read first. There are only these two out at the moment, but a third is on its way, so get started!

The Community series is about people with different types and levels of psychic abilities. Holden and Six are the main couple in Oversight. Readers met Holden in Insight. He's able to recognize how people are feeling. He can literally experience their senses and send vibes affecting their awareness. Because of his special abilities and the way his father has treated him, he isn't sure if anyone is truly attracted to him or simply reacting to the vibes he's sending them. Six is impenetrable, which is a downer to Holden at first but is actually good for his self-esteem. While these guys are getting to know each other, the mysteries surrounding the psy population are growing. People disappear. Things are happening at the Farm. It's difficult to know who to trust and what to believe.
Oversight delivers the suspense and romance. There are plenty of secrets to sort and emotions to experience, and the guys' hook ups are beyond sexy. I recommend it for sure and can't wait for the next book.

In book 1, Holden comes across as aloof and wilfully ignorant of the Community’s failings. However, from his POV readers learn that Holden has his doubts, and he isn’t as clueless as he seemed. Yes, he’s a spoiled rich kid, but his heart’s in the right place.

Six is an enigma at first. As an Invulnerable, Six is impervious to psychic powers and has trouble picking up on social cues. He’s a one-man fortress.

I loved him from the start. His straight-forwardness was funny and sweet, and I just <i>knew</i> that his tough exterior was hiding a big old softie on the inside.

Though Six and Holden aren’t particularly fond of each other, there’s a very obvious attraction between them that grows slowly.

When the two finally crack and fall into bed together, they do so with conflicted feelings. They click, physically and emotionally, but trust is almost non-existent between them.

It takes a lot of hard work for Holden and Six to let down their walls and allow them to care for each other. Both spent most of their lives lonely and wearing masks.

But these two were so good together. I swooned a bit each time one of them bared part of his soul to the other. Holden and Six were so clearly meant to be together.

The mystery revolves around the motives of the Community, particularly Holden’s father. There’s a sense of impending danger as the story progresses. I won’t give anything way, except to say that this was a highly entertaining and gripping plot. And I can’t wait to see what happens next!

I really enjoyed the first book in this M/M, PNR trilogy. It has a great combination of paranormal elements and romance. I think Oversight was even better than Insight! More action, more romance, more revelations about The Community. Think of this series as X-Men (an underground community of people with special powers) and Scientology. Once you’re in The Community – your loyalty is to the community and it’s quest to change the world. If you deviate – you go to the *farm* for reprogramming.

We met Hayden in book one and as an empath he didn’t always use his power for good. He wasn’t exactly a bad guy but he did use his abilities to influence and stay ahead of others. Hayden was so not what I was expecting. He was a total arrogant douche in Insight. It was fascinating to read just how vulnerable he is and how much he was shielded from the truth as the son of The Community founder. He went through so much character growth.

Six was…gah…loved him!. Strong, silent and awkward when it comes to human emotions and feelings. As an invulnerable, he is also impervious to Hayden’s attempts to get in his head. He has next to zero social skills and no empathy but when he talks in his matter of fact way it’s so much sweeter than any purple prose, manufactured bullshit. My hero catnip!

There’s a lot to love about this series. It’s just plain fun! but also has a lot of deeper messages and metaphors for today’s society (if you wish to see it – Hassell doesn’t hit you over the head with them).

I don’t recommend reading this series out of order. There is a lot of overlap with characters and plot so start with Insight before picking up Oversight and get ready for Sightlines – the conclusion to the trilogy – out October 9th, 2017.