I wanted to love this as much as I did Path to You, which was nothing short of phenomenal. Yet, somewhere along the way, the narrative began to unravel, drifting in multiple directions at once while failing to fully commit to any. It’s hard to say when it started, but the pacing and coherence faltered, and by the time the story wrapped up, the ending felt jarringly rushed. This was especially disappointing after a hiatus of more than a year—it left me wondering how the story ended up here after all that time.
That said, I did enjoy the unexpected layer of complexity brought by Yoen and Vince’s history. It’s not a dynamic I would normally fancy, but it worked to add depth. I even prepared myself to be devastated for Arryka, loving Vince all this time while he had loved someone else first. I anticipated a compelling, emotionally fraught journey where Vince would truly prove his shift in feelings, making it clear that Arryka had his heart now. Instead, there was barely a struggle, barely any weight to his change of heart—it simply…happened.
It’s not a bad story, but it’s also not remarkable. Coming from someone who delivered such mastery with their previous work, it feels oddly unpolished and lacking the emotional resonance I’d come to expect. It’s difficult not to hold it against the standard Path to You set, and sadly, this one doesn’t come close.
I wanted to love this as much as I did Path to You, which was nothing short of phenomenal. Yet, somewhere along the way, the narrative began to unravel, drifting in multiple directions at once while failing to fully commit to any. It’s hard to say when it started, but the pacing and coherence faltered, and by the time the story wrapped up, the ending felt jarringly rushed. This was especially disappointing after a hiatus of more than a year—it left me wondering how the story ended up here after all that time.
That said, I did enjoy the unexpected layer of complexity brought by Yoen and Vince’s history. It’s not a dynamic I would normally fancy, but it worked to add depth. I even prepared myself to be devastated for Arryka, loving Vince all this time while he had loved someone else first. I anticipated a compelling, emotionally fraught journey where Vince would truly prove his shift in feelings, making it clear that Arryka had his heart now. Instead, there was barely a struggle, barely any weight to his change of heart—it simply…happened.
It’s not a bad story, but it’s also not remarkable. Coming from someone who delivered such mastery with their previous work, it feels oddly unpolished and lacking the emotional resonance I’d come to expect. It’s difficult not to hold it against the standard Path to You set, and sadly, this one doesn’t come close.