Ami's Hoard

** spoiler alert **

Still, there was a huge difference in the way Roan helped people and the way Holden did. He hoped Seattle was ready for it.

I think readers who expect the book to have a lot of shifting involved will be disappointed. Similar to those who want romance. Clearly this is not where Andrea Speed decides to go with the first installment of Mean Street series ... a.k.a. Holden's book (or Infected's spin-off). I think that name is more apt to describe the mood/tone of this book rather than using Infected on the title. Using Infected can be pretty misleading, IMHO.

I did love how this book turned out. I am glad that Holden stays, well, Holden, including his sarcastic looks toward the world, his negativity (especially towards the hets), as well as his penchant for vigilante and violence. Borrowing my friend, Ika's review, this is exactly how I imagine Suicide Squad movie should be. Morally ambiguous and take no prisoner.

I also don't expect romance -- so I wasn't really surprised when Scott decided to break it off with Holden. Honestly? I never really believe that Holden and Scott can make it till the very end anyway. They are two people with different needs and expectations. They might be good in bed but I don't see them as compatible partners in the long run. With Holden's unwillingness to let anybody close to him, this might not be the right time for Scott (or anybody else) to occupy that part of Holden's life and heart.

On that note, this is where I had problems. Now that Scott steps down from his role as Holden's boyfriend, I wasn't really interested to read his chapters. For me, Scott is significant because of his relationship with Holden. Without that, I don't really care about him.

Sure, Scott's relationship with Grey is intriguing, plus Grey being an asexual adds to the diverse sexuality of the book. But Scott's chapters just drag this book down for me. I was more interested to read about Holden -- even if only reading about his frustration of doing monotonous investigation process. I am more intrigued with Chai -- this additional character that ends up being Holden's partner in the private eye agency.

For sure, Holden is not Roan but he can still evolve, including probably caring for other people than he wants to in the beginning. Chai will be a good balance for him, I think. So sign me up for the next book because I am totally in for this next journey of Holden's life.