I think the big problem for me with this novel was that I didn't like either of the main characters. However, for all of that, I loved the commentary, from both sides, on heteronormativity, sexism and homophobia. I think I would have been a bit happier with all that had it not been for the main speaker against heteronormativity decided to change his mind and vote on the side of it by the end of the book.

Still, interesting thoughts were brought up in the process of this novel.

Alfie is the character through which we get the whole story. He's out of the closet, but continues to hold onto a lot of values that, as other characters point out more than once, went out of date in previous centuries. I'm generally okay with characters who hold onto values that are important to them, but there was just something about this character who rubbed me the wrong way.

He once was one of the men who bullied Fen way back when they went to high school. For this reason, Fen's character acts quite strangely when they first come back into contact with each other. However, we don't understand that this is why he's acting oddly until later on. Fen's character was the one of these two who improved on further acquaintance, but I still just wasn't engaged by them and their romance together by the end. Not an outright terrible book, just not one of my favourites by this author.

Just like the other books in the Spires series, I had already read Pansies before getting my hands on the ARC for this rerelease. The first time through, I enjoyed it a lot, though I didn’t connect with it as deeply as I did with some of the other books in the series. I’m not sure if it was because I had just finished For Real—which is one of my all-time favorite reads—or if I wasn’t quite in the right place to relate to the themes back then. Whatever the reason, I’m so glad I gave it another read because this time around, I absolutely adored it.

Pansies focuses mostly on character growth and the relationship between Fen and Alfie. It’s mostly made up of heartfelt conversations as the two men navigate their evolving roles in each other’s lives and confront their personal expectations. Alfie struggles with his traditional upbringing/values and how they fit with being gay, while Fen is dealing with his mother's passing and his past with Alfie. Watching their relationship develop was truly moving.

At first, I found Alfie’s traditional values a bit frustrating (yes, I understand it’s a product of his upbringing, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing, it's just so not me). But as the story progressed, I couldn’t help but warm up to him and his kind heart. I think the moment I really started to like him was when he said he'd wait for Fen, and actually did. (I do wonder how things would have played out if he’d had to wait for years, but I like to think he would have stuck it out.)

Overall, Pansies is a wonderful story. It’s a heartfelt, authentic read that I highly recommend.

I absolutely would not trust many people to write a book like this aside from Alexis Hall. This book was hard to read, yet I didn’t put it down because it still had everything I love about Alexis Hall books: humor, great characters, great storytelling, great discussions.

A perfect book for a rainy day, so logically, it deserves a place on my for-a-rainy-day shelf on Goodreads. This book really made me laugh, despite it being serious as well: about not being labelled, or feeling disconnected from being average, or mainstream, or... you name it. Whatever it is that makes others uncomfortable, but thankfully not all. This book reminds me it is okay to be you, no matter how you identify, either sexually, or the way you dress, you cut your hair, your hobbies, do the things you love! And yes, in this demanding and deafening world we need reminders like that, well.., I do and I am guessing I am not the only one.

I enjoyed most of the women especially, Kitty, Gothshelley, and Leyla and am hoping one of them will be in the next book in this series - which I honestly can't wait for :)

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

I'm updating this review for the new edition coming November 2024 since that one's either eluding me really thoroughly or isn't on Goodreads yet. So here goes...

Pansies has held the title of my favorite romance novel since its debut in by brain I'm not sure how many years ago and I don't know why. It probably has a lot of something to do with the trifecta of Alexis Hall's writing, the themes of death of identity and other kinds of loss and what's found on the other side, and probably very much just the non-people people that Alfie and Fen are and how their personal disasters and ultimate growth go together in some way that makes my heart thump with joy. The new Pansies and the old Pansies are much the same but different and I enjoyed all but one of the differences. I'm not going to talk about that because one, who cares what I think, and two, the new Pansies is still the pinnacle (so far, yay for new stories coming!) of the Spires series for me and everything in the review below still stands.

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I've been meaning to review this book forever but I'm scared to. I don't know how to do it justice without writing an entire essay, which I'm not going to do. People have. You can Google them.

I first fell in love with Alexis Hall's writing through Boyfriend Material. I loved it enough to do the thing where you hoover up the backlist kind of all at once. So after Luc and Oliver, I picked up Glitterland. And loved Ash and Darien even more. So, I thought, might as well go in for the Spires series because Glitterland was the best romance I'd as of yet read. Picked up Pansies and never really put it down again. I love it like cheese on bread or Cadbury mini eggs, but more depending on the time and place. I've just finished reading it for the nth time. These boys have my heart. It's a fine treatment of the bully/bullied to lovers concept wrought plausible by Alfie's earnestness and Fen's anger. Together they just have that certain unknowable chemistry (the characterizations gods smile on Alexis Hall) that hits the swoon bullseye.

I'm a writer of love stories and there's a lot that I could go on about just picking apart the craft elements and every little thing that works so nicely to make this my favorite contemporary romance novel, but I'm not going to. I'm just going to list some bullets:
* Alexis Hall shines very bright in contemporary romance, and I feel like the Spires series is somehow either very personal, or just extremely heartfelt. There's heart and soul all over these stories, but not in a gross, bloody way. They're so touching, and I just find Pansies the touchingest of all. The vulnerability of these two men, done in Hall's signature voice, which for all its sardonic consistency still spits out characters delightfully different from each other, across all books, is chef's kiss.
* That's it. I recommend this book hugely

Although admittedly the premise of this book is not something I would seek out by myself, I would read Alexis Hall's grocery list and consider it a five stars. Though there were some moments that felt like a hit or miss, overall the exploration of family, of grief, and of course, of love, weighed out any grievances I could air. Just an overall fantastic read.

Alexis Hall has become a go-to for quirky and sentimental m4m romcoms with a twist. Sometimes the characters are easy to connect to, others they are not. Pansies, the 4th in his Spires series, presents a former school bully and his victim who reconnect years later. One recognizes the other, but not until they sleep together does the second realize who his liaison really is. Fen and Alfie have several rows but find a way to fall for one another, and it's a lovely romance... but there's a lot wrong at the core. Perhaps messy like real relationships? I enjoyed the friends and family members in this one more than the two lovers coming together. But I will eagerly await book 5 and 6 in the series, already committed by the author, revolving around side characters from prior books.

Pansies by Alexis Hall was such a GOOD book. Ugh, I love Alexis Hall's writing. He definitely knows how to make you feel things. I thought the character dynamics for this book was so unique and I could definitely see how it could potentially not work but it worked so well! It's well-written, you feel for the characters and you want things to work out but at the same time, you can't help but wonder HOW can they work out? I loved it. If Alexis Hall writes it, I will read it and most likely rave about. This was no different.

I found the pacing slow and the plot a little uninteresting. I couldn’t feel the spark between Fen and Alfie. I really disliked Fen’s character. He was a little confusing with how he would react one way to Alfie and then immediately change in the next second. The writing does a poor job of setting the environment of the scene. Overall, this book wasn’t for me.

This review will not be posted on my social media.

Alexis hall has a way of telling stories that grips you, and a bully looking for redemption a decade after high school from the man he’s falling in love with is a concept that was at once adorable and tough

When I saw this next instalment of the Spires Stories was available on NetGalley (via Alexis Hall’s account), well, to say I literally jumped to request it was a huge understatement.

The Spires Stories are all stand alone books so you can read any of them in whichever order you like.

Pansies follows the story of Alfie and Fen who have a complicated history as kids thrown together by chance, desire and connection Alfie, at first doesn’t understand. Both dealing with their own problems they find comfort in each other. Can Fen learn to forgive and can Alfie prove he’s not the same boy who made Fen’s life so miserable all those years ago?

A story about love, grief, forgiveness and coming to terms with the person you are, even if that person isn’t who you (and others) thought you should be.

Alexis Hall’s books always make me feel all the emotions, I laugh, felt sad and rooted for these two to get it together until the very end. One of my favourites!

3.5/5

ARC provided by publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

PANSIES is an outlier when it comes to Alexis Hall books for me. Typically, I love their books. The Spiers series in particular has had some stand out books for me. The last one, FOR REAL, might be my favorite Hall book hands down. But I also believe that not every author writes for every one of their readers. Different topics appeal to different people and the like. Before this novel, I had never read anything even remotely close to the bully trope. I do think it differs from the enemies to lovers trope tremendously, as I think there is a more equal playing field when it comes to power and animosity. Whereas in a bully romance, the power is usually more one sided. Coming out of this novel I can confidently say I do no like bully romances.

PANSIES features many of the things people loved in Hall’s other books in the series. Two people set adrift in the world and looking for something that they find in each other. It includes Hall’s stellar mastery of the craft of writing and is chock full of emotion and grief and pining. These are all things I enjoyed in the previous novels as well as this one. I have no qualms with the writing.

What I didn’t like was the romance itself (ok that’s a lie I saw the appeal and divorced from the bullying aspect I thought it was sweet). So, what I get from a bully romance is the initial tension between the two romantic interests stems from the animosity the two had for each other. And that’s what seems to be happening here. Alfie never really apologizes for what he did to Fen and Fen reads as though he’s being bowled over by Alfie’s attempts to get with him, smothering any protests he might have had about being with Alfie. The romance doesn’t feel earned? Alfie also seems to be dealing with a healthy dose of internalized homophobia that he slowly works through throughout the novel, and it colors a lot of his interactions with the people around him. I do not blame him for feeling this way but the way he handles some of these out bursts left a bad taste in my mouth. It is also never explicitly said what Alfie did when bullying Fen all those years ago and while that doesn’t matter because bullying is bullying, it matters when Fen is bringing it up and Alfie is constantly downplaying his actions and his involvement. This is my stance on this book and this particular trope, but I loved Hall’s last romance that contained an age gape romance that many people did not like. It is all subjective.

This is all not to say I did not like the characters themselves. I think Alfie does a lot of growing throughout the novel and it’s sweet to see him reconnecting with his parents and his old friends. Fen also grows by accepting help and learning to live with the grief over his mothers passing. I liked the parts of this book that weren’t entirely focused on the romance between Fen and Alfie. The last 30% of the book did pick up but again I kept coming back to the origins of the romance.

This is my favorite of the Spires novels. I loved it years ago when I first read it, and I loved it now rereading it.

A refreshing take on a bully romance, this is a great example of Hall doing what he does best: giving us a lovingly meandering queer romance that deftly navigates realistic ups and downs. Did the third act seem a little thin, reasoning-wise? Sure, but it was still enjoyable.

I love Alexis Hall’s writing. Pansies is her latest book and it did not disappoint. This was a great book!

I loved this book and Alphie and Fen’s story so incredibly deeply! The initial twist at the beginning caught me by surprise and I was hooked from the moment onwards. The characters had complex and relatable personalities and flaws. This is the first book I’ve read from this particular Alexis Hall series and it was such a joyful experience. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants an authentic exploration of the queer experience from different perspectives.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for this eARC! I am so deeply in love with the Spires series and this was such a great addition to it. Fen and Alfie's dynamic is so complicated and layered and delicious to dive into. They have such a good balance of snapping and getting their anger out then immediately breaking down into sobs into each others arms. What a concept, your childhood bully coming back into your life and falling in love and making things right and treating you the way you have always deserved. Can't wait to add this one to my bookshelf.

I am loving the Spires series so far! I read Glitterland and immediately skipped to this ARC. I can't wait to go back and read the others as well!

This is one of those "hurts so good" kind of books. There is a lot of angst, anger, grief, tears and so much more going on in this story, but if you can power through it, there's some sunlight and beautiful flowers on the other side.

Alfie is back in his hometown for his best friend's wedding, when he hits on a man at a bar. The man has an odd reaction, but eventually, it leads to the two of them going back to Alfie's hotel. But what Alfie doesn't realize is that he's actually met Fen before.

Alfie and Fen's past relationship (I don't want to give too much away) wasn't a good one. And there's a lot of baggage for them to work through. Alfie hasn't acknowledged his sexuality as a gay man for very long, and he's grappling with who he is vs. who he thinks he *should be as a man. Meanwhile, Fen is also grieving and trying to run a business all on his own. It's a lot for anyone to handle!

Alfie and Fen are so perfectly imperfect. They hurt each other a lot. Even with the best of intentions, they say the wrong things. They snap at each other and yell and cry and walk out. And some parts are really hard to read, especially when Fen is helping Alfie challenge his outdated/incorrect views of manhood. But real people deal with these things too, and I appreciate the importance in showing that.

This book is also full of flowers, road trips, British food, disastrous DIY, and a goth teenager who made me laugh every time she appeared on the page!

I've listened to this audiobook before, but was happy to have the opportunity to read the ebook of this new edition of this book. I really love the character dynamics in this - when the characters know each other from school and one used to bully the other, there's a LOT of self-reflection and character growth needed by both parties to allow them to attempt a relationship together. Alfie goes through a lot in terms of internalised and external homophobia, guilt about his past hurting Fen, reconnecting with his family and his roots, and realising he's not happy where he is in life. Fen has to deal with the grief he feels for his mother, self reclamation, and the conflicting feelings of attempting to be with someone who once bullied him (who he'd always had feelings for and resented himself because of it). It's quite a complicated dynamic to attempt, but Alexis Hall does it so well, weaving grief, humour, comedy and drama together to make a wonderful story.

I was exhausted from work, and my head was full of cotton wool, so it was a great time to read one of Alexis Hall’s romances. Sometimes, a book is a much-needed distraction from daily life, and Pansies definitely delivered.

I know this is an older one, but I hadn’t read it yet, so when I found this one on NetGalley with the new cover, I immediately downloaded it.

Sweet. That’s the word that comes to mind when I think of this story, even though the underlying themes are darker. Alfie has bullied Fen in the past, and the setting in northern England is more gritty, but still, the cuteness is all over the book, and the flower shop adds even more sweetness. I really liked Fen, but I had to warm up to Alfie for a while. The moment I connected to him, though, I started to cheer the two of them on and smiled so many times.

3.5 stars rounded up to four.

Thank you, Alexis Hall, for clearing my head with this book!