The Book High

Man, these two are KILLING me! I want them to be happy so badly! As much as I've ever wished for a fictional character to be happy, I wish it for these two, but they seem just determined to not let themselves get there. And this is the first time I've wondered if at least one of them won't let the other be happy either.

So, following Bill's example, I have a confession: (and this may be letting my nerd-flag fly a little too freely, but whatevs) in my head, Wild Bill frequently has the voice of Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This is something I have no control over and cannot stop, but it has at times amused me. In this book, though, the analogy just made me sad. Bill in this one reminded me a little too much of the tragic, obsessed, self-destructive Spike who would do anything for Buffy. And my heart broke just as much for Bill as it did for Spike, seeing the situations they ended up in as they tried to make their partners happy.

I have loved Michael and Wild Bill together so much (and gushed about it in my reviews >.<) in every other book, but this one made me wonder if perhaps they aren't good for each other after all. Bill's the narrator again, but from the moment the threesome is proposed, he seems very un-Bill-like. And him giving in to Michael's every demand just made Bill seem weak and Michael seem selfish.<br/>
I was so sad for Bill when Michael kept changing things on him. The threesome Bill had in mind when he agreed was very different from what he ended up with, but he went along with it anyway to make Michael happy. I might've been okay with that if that was all he had to give up for Michael. But having Michael insist that he kiss Damien when he was well aware that was something Bill saved for him made me so angry at Michael and so sad for Bill. And then Michael telling Bill that he not only let Damien bite him, but that he thinks he wanted it after that was the very last thing Bill had asked NOT happen that night! Again, so angry! And so sad!

And the end there, with Michael walking in to talk someone into giving up their blood, for MICHAEL to drink... I definitely don't like the turns that their relationship is taking. And I still love Wild Bill so much that I kind of want to wrap him up and get him as far away from Michael as possible so he doesn't have to keep destroying himself trying to make Michael happy.

This book was so hard for me to read, but I loved getting to know more about Wild Bill and feeling like I was starting to understand him better. Like the note at the end of the book says, it was fascinating getting to be in Bill's head for this threesome and to imagine based on that how much he must have been freaking out during their first.

Now, with trepidation I'm off to read the next one and hope that JCP can put these two back together again! Somehow...