I hate to be the voice of discontent amidst all the good reviews, but I struggled through much of the first half of this audiobook. See Me is the third novella in the Lightning Tales series and while it can be read as a standalone, doing so may leave you slightly lost at first. The opening sequence and chapter is told from the point of view of Ric, a hero from the second book. Though it sets the scene for catching up with Adrian and meeting Adrienne, the rapid entry of four secondary characters who obviously had significant history and ties left me scrambling to connect the dots, particularly because none of those names were mentioned in the blurb. So yes, See Me can be a standalone, but I think it will make for a more cohesive story arc to read this series in order.
Once I got to the chapters with Marty and Adrian interacting, things went a little smoother and the story progressed well. However, I struggled to really empathize with Marty, particularly in the first half of the book. While he undoubtedly matured and left his bullying days behind, I found the way he pursued the queens off-putting, not to mention how he treated and thought of many of them early on. I especially was bothered by his relentless notes to Adrienne despite her repeated brush-offs over an extended period. I couldn’t really get around what I perceived as creepy behavior enough to see Marty as a hero who would be a good fit for Adrian. Despite that, the characters were unique and flushed out enough to keep me listening. What really threw me- and almost led to this ending up in the DNF pile- were the secondary characters’ reactions to Marty’s dogged, unwanted advances toward Adrienne. Ric shamed Adrian for his treatment of Marty at the drag shows, yet completely failed to acknowledge that Marty wouldn’t take no for an answer. When another “friend” of Adrienne’s suggested she just give in and hook up with Marty to get him to stop his pursuit, I balked. Again this reaction was deemed acceptable, and the reader given the impression that Adrienne is the one that is the problem while her discomfort with Marty is swept under the rug. Of course the plan to confront Marty doesn’t go as planned either, and I was left with two anti-heroes to contend with. Luckily, once the two are together, the story turned around a bit and I was able to enjoy their interactions and appreciate the character development.
As far as the narration went, it ended up being an acquired taste. I typically enjoy Mr. Leslie’s narrative style, so I was excited to see he was the narrator for See Me. Unfortunately, his adaptation of the Southern drawl and characterizations were not my favorite. That said, I enjoyed his emotional inflections and pacing and think he matched the storyline well, bringing the scenes and characters to life.
Despite my issues with some of the plot points and never fully loving Marty, I am glad I ended up sticking with See Me. The latter half of the book sufficiently redeemed Marty, and I appreciated seeing his personality develop as he faced his fears about coming out. I also grew to see this couple as a good match, and I liked seeing how they both supported each other’s growth while being mindful of their pasts. The writing itself was solid and the dialogue flowed well throughout the book, and it’s never a bad thing when a book or character can turn around from your initial perception.
*Reviewed for Alpha Book Club*