✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫

I was excited about Tristan's book! After book 1 I was curious about him and how he would get his HEA. I loved the way the author gave him a chance when in book 1 his outcome was dim. I also liked how Tristan was still flirty and happy even with his problems. Gabe was perfect for Tristan and didn't let Tristan's problems deter him from what he felt. They were super sweet and hot together. Happy ending. The narration was good. Guy Locke does a good job with these characters.

10 people found this helpful

Good story but...

I read this book when it first came out and love this whole series. I was looking forward to the audio. I enjoyed it but the narrator could have been better. He was so monotone. But it didn't ruin it. I love all Arthur's stories.

3 people found this helpful

Sweet love story

The World as He Sees It is the second book in the Perspectives series but it can be read/listened to as a standalone. Sure, the couple from the first book have a huge presence in the book and there are events referenced to that book, but it’s nothing that keeps you from enjoying and following this one. This is the second story with an amnesiac character that I've read in the past couple of days. This one though is a bit different from other amnesiac stories that I've read. I reminds me of the movie 50 first dates where the main character needs to get the love interest to fall in love with him again each and every day. Where all new memories get erased and nothing new sticks. Life for Tristan Lavalle changed three years back when he and his best friend were the victims of a gay bashing and he suffered a traumatic brain injury. Now he lives his life thirty minutes at a time before it all gets erased. To say that he feels lonely and shut out from life is putting it mildly. He desperately wants more, but don't know how, but joining his best friend and his boyfriend for a night out and a birthday celebration seems to be a step in the right direction. Gabe’s life isn’t a dance on roses either; working several jobs and taking care of his alcoholic and abusive mother. It leaves him with little time to relax and enjoy friends or relationships. One of those jobs is working as a bartender at a night club, and it is there he encounters the man he can’t get out of his head. So when he returns he takes a chance and reaches out, and the rest, is as they say history. I loved Tristan and Gabe together, they were so sweet. They had passion, trust and understanding. They were there for each other as much as they were able. Their relationship might have started out with some hot and heavy dancing and grinding, but developed over time via emails where they really got to know each other and started to build a foundation. When Tristan is offered a place in a clinical trial he gladly takes it – risks and side effects be damned. Can I just say that I admire Tristan so much, I mean living life half an hour at a time, not remembering new people, where you are, what you are talking about from one moment to the next must be so terrifying - to say the least. But that was never the vibe you got from him. Sure the frustration over the situation was there, as were the loneliness, but more than that he had this determination through it all. A true fighter. There are a couple of things that didn't really work for me, but that's all highly subjective and all on me. Let's start with the whole clinical trial and miracle medicine for Tristan's brain injury. It was too far-fetched for my tastes. Sure I am well aware that for many books you need to suspend all beliefs and go with the flow, but with miracle cures I just can't. It's too much for me. My second issue is the amount of on page sex. This book is very hot and heavy - how can it not be when one of the main characters works in the porn industry? But still, a bit too much for my tastes. But like I said, this is just me and shouldn’t keep anyone for picking up the book. Guy Locke did a fantastic narration or rather performance of this book. With a wide range of different voices and some accents it was always easy to tell characters apart and following along. And adding a whole lot of feelings made the characters come alive for the listener. Just the way I like my audios and makes me want to come back for more. A copy of this book was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes.

1 person found this helpful

Not as good as Book 1

This was one of those weird times where I didn't like the narrators' performance as much in this book as the previous book. This is Tristan and Gabe's story, two men we met in Book 1. Although technically this is a stand alone, I really don't think you can enjoy it as much unless you listen to Book 1. Noel and Shane are prominent in this story. I enjoyed MC and their courtship, Tristan's struggle with his health issues and Gabe and Noel's friction. I think the story was longer than it had to be with Gabe's family drama thrown it. But the only real issue I had was with the narrator's performance of Gabe's voice. I really hated it; he sounded like a doofus IMHO. Also, the author's overuse of the word "definitely" really grated on my nerves after a while. I kept hearing that little girl from the kid's show Dragon Tales in my head; she says definitely a lot. Granted, that is just me and probably not something other listeners will have a problem with. Overall, a good installment, but I don't think I will continue the series.

3 people found this helpful

Great Sequel

Really enjoyed this second book. Good to follow up with Gabe, Tristan, etc. Good resolutions to several themes. Recommend highly. Narrator's voice really grew on me.

Love Despite Obstacles

Every relationship has it’s obstacles, but those obstacles become even more complicated when Tristan can’t even remember what happened 30 minutes ago. Tristan has a traumatic brain injury and has to be re-introduced to the man he’s falling in love with every day. Gabe is a porn star with his own demons, but finds peace and love with Tristan. Their relationship takes work and patience, but neither Tristan nor Gabe shy from the hard work that’s required from them. This book has everything I love – protective characters, hurt/comfort, sexy scenes, hot men, and true love. The audiobook was wonderfully produced with a great narrator. I enjoyed listening to the story as much as I enjoyed reading it. Overall Rating: 5 Stars. The writing was beautifully done and the story was so well crafted. I loved the drama and romance of it.

Terrible narrator

This narrator completely ruined the book. He’s a robotic, monotone glorified reader because he most certainly isn’t a performer. Sadly this isn’t the only book I’ve suffered through with Guy Locke as the narrator and he’s been awful both times. I’ll be avoiding any book of his in the future.

Performance too slow.

This was a lovely story, but the performer read entirely too slow. I had to put the speed at 1.5x in order to listen to it.

Narration very poor

I couldn't even finish the first chapter because the narrator irritated me so much. I think maybe enough training/practice could help, but at the start of this book he seems to read most words as if they were almost separate sentences. The system forced me to rate the story but my real rating is N/A.

Enjoyably odd

This is my first book in this series. I had no trouble following along as a new reader. I had fun listening to this story but teared up a lot because Tristan’s struggles with before/after a traumatic brain injury were similar to that of a friend who had a stroke at a young age and still has a sense of humor but has trouble with things that still can catch everyone by surprise. The memory gaps seemed so be handled as consistent with the diagnosis. TBH, I love the movie 50 First Dates which is why I started with this book instead of the first in the series, and am pleased with the choice. Gabe was a good fit for Tristan, being patient & stubborn - something that is charming in him when paired with Tristan’s limitations but bad when paired with his mom’s. It’s not exactly low angst, but Tristan is so generally cheery when he’s feeling good that it is a feel good read. Steam: Medium hot, enthusiastic M/M, not kinky. Both characters have a high sex drive and somewhat low inhibitions so there are several steamy scenes. Gabe works as a porn actor, so he does have sex with other people outside his relationship with Tristan which may bother some readers but, given the context, not me. (spoilerish: It didn’t bother the characters either.) I like Guy Locke’s narration. Some other readers didn’t like his voice for Tristan, being higher and a little femme, but I think it’s adorable. He does a great job distinguishing characters. I like his narration even if he is the first person I’ve heard say vanilla as /vuh-NELL-uh/ outside the song.