Review: The Neighborhood by Stylo Fantome

The Neighborhood

by Stylo Fantome

3.5 stars

***

I enjoyed this book but it didn't have quite enough resolution for me. In this book, the continuation of the story begun in Neighbors, Katya has been betrayed by the two men she was casually dating Liam and Wulf. She considered herself best friends with benefits with Liam, but she really had fallen for Wulf. She had intended to break off things with Liam and be with Wulf exclusively, when she found out that they had both betrayed her. Now, Katya is crushed, not trusting anything either of the men ever told her. Both of them claim that their feelings for her became real and that they really do love her. Can she let go of her anger and trust either one of the men again? Will she end up with either Wulf or Liam or will be she be alone?

In this book, Katya goes from good girl to slightly bitter, angry girl. I definitely understood her feelings, and I didn't blame her as I knew she was very hurt by Liam and Wulf's actions, but I did think she was a little out of control in her feelings of wanting to hurt them back. To me, she needed to take a big step back from both of them and try to heal on her own. But she continued to try to hurt them as they hurt her. I understood it and even expected it, but it made it harder to like her character as she continued on with her behavior.

Liam, who seemed a very happy go lucky, fun-loving guy in the previous book, now comes off as a pathological liar. I couldn't trust anything that came of out of his mouth. I didn't believe his feelings were real for Katya, instead believing that he just wanted to best Wulf in the competition for her affections. Wulf still came off as a hot and cold, mysterious, but still sometimes a jerk. I didn't totally trust him either.

In truth, the whole situation and all three of them seemed like a dysfunctional mess a lot of the time.

I won't tell you who Katya ends up with. But I will tell you that I needed more from the end to feel secure in their HEA. There was so much drama, anger, bitterness, and angst in this book that I needed more happy times to balance out the bad and prove the couple could be happy long term. I needed to see so much more of them not fighting or saying mean things to each other.

Still, this book was as engrossing as Neighbors. I still liked all of the characters, despite their flaws. I just didn't love all their actions. But this book definitely kept me sucked in and entertained. I look forward to more from Ms. Fantome and this series!

Buy Link: Free on KU! Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N4OSL5Z/ref=x_gr_w_glide_ku?caller=Goodreads&callerLink=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31939200-the-neighborhood&tag=x_gr_w_glide_ku-20