Nope, nope, nope.
This is one of those times where I feel like I must have read/listened to a different book than everyone else. At first the banter between Dylan and Gabe was fun and entertaining, and the UST was palpable. But I didn’t like seeing so much of Gabe’s exploits on page, in that we’d see them through Dylan’s eyes, since this story was told solely in his point of view. I really did not like Gabe at all.
Once their physical relationship started, I knew it wasn’t going to be good for Dylan. He was too invested compared to Gabe, and even though he knew this going in, there’s no way he wasn’t going to get hurt.
I understand that your background can have a bearing on the way you treat people and can have a huge impact on your life, and Gabe’s childhood was awful, but there comes a point when you need to take responsibility for your actions, and I never really saw that with Gabe. There really was no excuse for the way he treated Dylan, and he got away with being a complete jerk. There was not enough groveling for my liking, especially after that Valentine’s Day stunt- I was ready to call it quit after that. But I kept on. And while I did like the epilogue/ending, I still harbor a lot of anger towards Gabe.
Joel’s narration was terrific as always.