Another great book in Alexis Hall's Spires series! A really lovely romance that explores themes of identity tied to sexuality, place, family, vocation, and how all of that sticks with us even as we change over time. One of the things I really love about this series is how important the sense of *place is. It's more than just where the story is set, it informs and grounds the characters, in both good and bad ways. And the setting in this book is particularly important; if you moved the characters to a different place, you would have different characters and a different story. There's also some really touching observations on grief, as well as great commentary on relationships and roles specific to the experience of being queer in a world that is still largely heteronormative. I also appreciate how much this book explores homophobia without ever feeling sad or depressing. That all probably makes this book sound way too serious, and while it has a lot of deeper themes, it's also very much a sweet and sexy romance. It's a story of two very horny people who shouldn't work as a couple but absolutely do. I really like Alfie's character development through the story, falling for Fen and also reconnecting with where he's from and maybe starting to figure out who he is. And Fen is such a bright spark, very much more at home with his identity than Alfie, and also strong and prickly, but also dealing with a lot of grief and in an uncertain place because of that. Though it's bumpy and there's some heartache and mistakes along the way, it's a joy to watch them fall in love.

I had read the original version of this book and was excited to receive an ARC of the updated version. I didn't notice any differences in the story but it's been a few years since I read the original and I think the changes are subtle and not significant plot changes. The author's annotations are new though and are really great, so I appreciated that addition in this new version.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC I received!

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

I very much enjoyed this book. The writing was great and the characters were well developed. I hope to read more from this author in the future.

Alexis Hall never misses with the contemporary romances. This was definitely an enjoyable read full of healing and comfort and all the emotions. I will be looking forward to the next Spires book release.

I adore Alexis Hall's books and this one holds a special place in my heart. It's the story of Alfie, an rich financier who lives in London with all the trappings of success--a high stress, high power job, a gloriously expensive apartment, an equally expensive sports car and a healthy expensive wine habit. He may have financial success but Alfie isn't satisfied. He's got two friends (both exes) and his work and that's about it. He's left his working class Northern home and family behind. He returns home for a friend's wedding and runs into a striking young man after the reception--a reception where Alfie inadvertently outed himself to most of his old acquaintances.

Fen, the man Alfie meets at a local bar, fascinates him. He's angry and all sharp edges, with a breathtaking beauty that mesmerizes Alfie. They share a night together and Alfie finds out Fen is an old classmate--one he didn't immediately recognize and one he bullied in their youth. Fen wants nothing to do with him after this night but this encounter has rocked Alfie's world--not just the revelation of who Fen is, or the memories of Alfie's old life in South Shields, but also an examination of who Alfie is and who he wants to be.

He inserts himself back into Fen's life, much to Fen's annoyance and anger but the chemistry between the two is intense and the book follows the slow evolution of their relationship--the progressive intimacy and vulnerability and love that grows between them.

There is such a tender and kind examination of grief in this book. Grief in its many manifestations and Fen and Alfie both carry grief within them. Both characters are at inflection points in their lives. The way the characters interact brings such introspection to them both and such mutual support as well.

The prose is lyrical. The descriptions lush. There is humor and laugh out loud moments. There are moments that brought me to tears. You are transported to South Shields, the locations, the environment, the accents, the town. The narrative voice is eloquent and has the hallmarks you come to expect of Hall's writing--puns and humor, classical references, literary references, and aching emotional scenes, with such eloquent writing. Alfie's POV is truly inspired. He's so earnest and funny and endearing and self deprecating. Fen's sharp, incisive wit razors off the page. The brief glimpses we get of Fen's POV hit me quite hard--the grief he embodies came through so intensely.

The cover is lovely and evocative of the original book's cover. There are recipes. And there really lovely annotations by Hall that add so much to the story.

This is one of my favorite Spires books and this rerelease, with all the added textual notes, is a triumph.

This story was really beautiful. It dealt with challenging topics in a really respectful way. I felt an amazing connection to these characters and I continue to love everything I read by Alexis Hall.

Alexis Hall is one of my favorite LGBTQ authors. His writing style is amazing. the dynamic was very interesting- former bully x victim. the plot was interesting and had me hooked. the way Hall wrote about grief was touching and relatable

Read the 2024-re-release. I felt like it's pretty obviously an older Hall-book, it's a lot slower and much more emotional than more recent releases, and the pace took me out of the story a bit too often. I'm a bit miffed that I read a re-release and somehow there were still HP references in it? Other than that it was definitely a good read, if you're in the mood for an emotional, slow book that really builds up to it.

Successful investment banker Alfie has a multi-million quid penthouse apartment, a well-stocked wine fridge, a temperamental sports car, and two really great friends (both exes). He has left the trappings and the accent of his Northern England upbringing behind—but is he really happy? When he accidentally comes out at a family wedding after being heckled about why he isn’t settling down with a nice girl, he bails for a drink at a local pub, scans through the Grindr app for a local pickup, abandons it… and meets a cute blond with pink tipped hair and spectacles who first antagonizes, then flirts with him, then takes him home, only to reveal his identity as someone Alfie bullied in school.

Gobsmacked, grown-up Alfie tries to do the right thing and apologize; Fen, once he confesses who he is and how he experienced Alfie, now wants nothing to do with him. Their chemistry—and the sex—was great, though; Alfie can’t get Fen out of his head. He takes a few days off to try to reconnect with Fen, tracking him down to the flower shop (Pansies) Fen has inherited from his mother. There’s apologies, an attempt at bathroom repair, dates, a reckless cruise down an old road, and lots of taking and processing. While I’m generally not a fan of the hooking up with your bully trope, Fen always had a little bit of a crush (in spite of Alfie’s bad behavior) and Alfie is so repentent, it works.

Alfie struggles with his heteronormativity (for a queer dude!) and narrow minded ideas about men and masculinity. The intersections of his compartmentalized life are a real problem. Fen is much more integrated and out. He’s coping with grieving his mother’s death, the loss of his career, and the trauma of his youth. Both seem to be having a quarter life crisis, but each is a comfort to the other in the breakdowns. When Alfie decides to stay on for a week and they see if they can make a go at a relationship, he can’t help but use his expertise with numbers to unscramble several years worth of accounting mess, in case Fen wants to try and salvage the business instead of returning to his career; it’s just one of the ways he tries to save him, as Fen saves him right back.

Pansies is classic Alexis Hall: witty, clever, nuanced literary writing, peppered with deep conversations and introspection, innuendo and allusions and puns, and precisely chosen details. Motifs of flowers and water are persistent. Fen, a lighting designer, is also a fan of Broadway musicals, so references to roles and songs abound—it’s fun for the reader to figure out from context what he’s singing, as Alfie (who is narrating) doesn’t have a clue.

The story is peopled with interesting and introspective characters like teenage Gothshelley who utters Art is Pain while constructing a floral arrangement described as “an experiment in negative space and triadic disharmony” and a former classmate Pete, who runs the local mechanic shop and whom Alfie is sure is going to unmask as a homophobe when Alfie comes out to him.

The story is set where Hall grew up, and the landscape, businesses and class differences between North and South are authentic and serve to illustrate the differences between the characters and their upbringings. The Geordie accent and colloquialisms from each region are carefully researched and presented, and make the story more grounded and real.

Alfie’s narrative is juxtaposed with letters Fen is writing to his (now deceased in) mother to unpack her loss and its impact. It’s a very clever device to further showcase the difference between the two men, and allow insight into Fen’s point of view.

This reprint edition has gorgeous cover art, two recipes (one from each character, in their respective voices and styles, and extensive author notes about the revision process, word choices, character motivations, and writing insights that really showcase how talented Hall is at their craft. Read as part of the Spires series or as a standalone novel, things a truly excellent examination of coming to terms with sexuality and the cultural, geographical, familial baggage that influences and informs it.

I received a free advanced readers review copy of #Pansies via #NetGalley courtesy of #Sourcebooks.

This was a classic example of a book that was not for me, but I can still appreciate the craft behind it. Alfie and Fen’s story is rooted in very specific experiences and a very specific place that I do not have personal context for and thus made it difficult for me to get into the story. However, as is always the case with Hall, the side characters are compelling and there are many funny moments that make the book worth reading. I also enjoyed the author’s notes at the end, which give great context for the choices in the writing and makes the story that much richer.

The Spires novels are among my favorite Alexis Hall books. Pansies is an even quieter romance than, say, Glitterland, but it's every bit as heartwrenching and romantic. This couple is one that will stay with me for a long time and I will definitely re-read this book in the future.

This book was a great read! The story had a great pace and the characters were well developed. It was very easy to get sucked into the story and in just a few sittings, I was done reading the book!

Pansies was my first intro into Alexis and their writing and I will certainly be reading more from them! I got choked up, I laughed, I was moved - everything I want from a solid read. There were some plot points that felt unresolved to me and I would have liked to see wrapped up better, but real life is messy and perhaps that’s what the authors intent was. Overall, I enjoyed this read and I’m excited to go back in this series and start from the beginning!

Edit: As a re-release that was edited since it was originally published, the Harry Potter references should absolutely have been removed. In light of Alexis Hall’s recent poor response to being called out on this, I am editing my review and lowering the star rating. Authors of queer books need to be accountable to queer spaces, and especially trans people as a collective. References to Harry Potter are both triggering to many trans people and perpetuate the idea that JK Rowling deserves any sort of platform after her actively hateful and harmful actions towards trans people. I would highly recommend re-releasing this release to remove any and all HP references across Hall’s books.

I received my copy of Pansies through @netgalley and this is my honest review.

I haven’t read much bully romance stories so far, but I did enjoy this one. I love a good angsty read and this one definitely delivered on that, along with some top tier banter and really well written spice.

It's almost 2025. I know the original book was published in 2016. However I read a newer edition as an arc, meaning edits were made. For some reason a very obvious Harry Potter reference wasn't removed. As a trans person I am so done with new releases still having Harry Potter references. Such references might seem small, but they do help a transphobic author's platform grow. JKR has done so much harm to many marginalised groups, specifically trans people. Why would a queer book refer to her work?

Trans people deserve better. Literally any character in pop culture could have been used to describe a character in this book, but still the author decided to go for Hermione Granger.

Heat Factor: We start with a very angry hookup and go from there

Character Chemistry: Instant connection—Alfie is very very smitten and, despite misgivings, Fen falls pretty fast too

Plot: Alfie pursues Fen and gets better at emotions

Overall: There is a lot going on in this book

Here are different one-line ways I could describe this book:
- A romance between a queer man and his high school bully
- A love letter to the northeastern English city of South Shields
- An exploration of masculinity, with emphasis on negotiating identity as someone who identifies both as gay and as a “man’s man”
- A one-sided courtship situation
- A book about learning to live with grief
- A story about being queer and also wanting the heteronormative life you grew up holding up as the ideal
- A Hallmark Movie narrative, where the Big City Investment Banker finds himself by going home and helping run a flower shop

Writing this list really brings home the fact that I do not know how to review this book, because it’s not straightforward. Sure, it’s a love story between Fen and Alfie, but so much of the book is about place and sense of self that the love story sometimes feels almost secondary. Like the love story is the plot trapping to get us to the larger point, which is exploring all this other stuff that’s going on with these two men.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is: this is not a book to pick up if you just want a sexy gay rumpus.

On the other hand, we are still firmly rooted in genre romance land. I know this because I cried when Alfie did his big love declaration. (“I was thinking maybe I could learn to cook? And we could listen to musicals. And you could drive my car sometimes. And I could suck you off every morning and fall asleep next to you every night. And you could top me whenever you wanted cos when it’s you I like it and it’s ok. And maybe we could watch The Shawshank Redemption and you wouldn’t laugh when it makes me cry.” If you don’t think that’s a portrait of domestic bliss I really don’t know what to say to you.)

Maybe the people who should read this book are the people who are snobs about genre romance, but then I fear they would be like, “Well, that one was ok, but most of them are still trite and silly” because Hall is being pretty obvious here about the themes he wants to grapple with.

Look, I really enjoyed reading this book. I think Hall is really talented, especially in developing distinctive voices for his characters. I love that his books are a bit nerdy and full of pop culture references. But I also acknowledge that that same nerdiness can be a bit much, and that not everyone wants to read a romance that’s also doing a lot of work to explore what it means to be a man.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

Alexis Hall is one of my favorite authors. Their characters and plots are unputdownable every time and this book did not disappoint!

Thank you to NetGalley for this Arc! I rate this story 4 stars and 3.5 chili peppers for spice. I have loved all the Spires books so far and I think Alfie and Fen have been my favorite love story so far! There is so much angst and I love the dramatics. Love all the edits to the original story and the wonderful content in the back of the book.

Guys with a shared past: one realizing the errors of his ways and another trying to get by after the loss of his mother.

Story: 3 Characters: 3 Engagement: 3

"He found me when I most needed to be found and helped me find myself again."

Highlights:
- 2 different lives reconciling their past
- Shows struggles of each trying to figure out the life they want
- Kindness and support and fumbles were all genuine and true to real life.
- Poignant lines about deep feelings and life

Lowlights:
- Slow moving in the first half
- So much back and forth and torturing themselves about what was right

Notable quotes:
"I only have so much space in my heart, so I have to prioritise what upsets me,"

"that's called life. Wanting things, and not being able to figure out how to get them. "

"It was at times like this that he really wished he smoked. Or did coke. Or whatever gave you an excuse to slip out of the room when you needed to."

"I don't converse. I contemplate the meaninglessness of existence."

""But it feels lonely without someone in the world who knows who I am. Not just everything I pretend to be."

"He's always been like this, this axis pulling the world into shape around him. But now it's all for me, and it feels exactly the way I used to daydream it would."

""So you're saying you admire my commitment to looking like an idiot?""

"a friendship as familiar and comforting and slightly shabby as a favourite coat,"

"Alfie, you're so much more than you pretended to be." "Well. Aren't we all?""

"Joy and sadness and pain and love collided in Alfie's chest like some kind of terrible motorway accident."

This book was kinda boring tbh. I read it and then pretty much forgot what happened. I didn’t hate it but it wasn’t meaningful