I adore this series and love how the different perspectives and experiences of individuals in the deaf community are represented, as well as those of hearing persons who interact with them. But holy bananas I need these boys to sit down and talk with each other. The angst in this book was REAL

*4.5

Ah, the angst.

Well, this volume definitely ramped up the seriousness--but it did so in a natural way. Like, this series has, so far, done a great job with pacing. It has slowly been introducing conflicts and evolves them over the course of the series. None of the conflicts introduced feel out of left field either. They make sense both within the context of the world in general, and with our specific characters.

That is to say, this story is romance, but it is also specifically about what it is like to be Deaf, to have a disability, in a world that is built for people without disabilities. So we get both conflicts that have to do with different, nuanced experiences of ableism and discriminations and we get conflicts that arise from the personality and experiences of our characters. Kohei is used to being alone. He is used to people excluding him, treating him like a burden, and leaving him behind. And even though Taichi is not like that, even though he is different, you can't break a habit formed from years of discrimination in a day. Kohei reacts in a way that reflects the loneliness he has forced himself to accept, and Taichi (having not faced the same experiences) cannot understand why he does this.

And here we have the set-up to a pretty compelling romantic conflict. And for once a miscommunication trope that actually kinda makes sense. Because this isn't something that could be fixed with one quick exchange of info. Nobody is intentionally misunderstanding anyone, they just see the world differently because they have experienced different things. It is hard to get close to someone that is always waiting for you to leave, and it is hard to let people get close when you're already used to people leaving.

That is a lot of words to say, this series does conflict very well. It seems to be doing disability rep pretty well too. And it is nailing the romance, even if things have gotten a bit sad. Here's hoping we stick the landing!

So brb, I am running to the next volume.

5! Amé el drama. Me gusta que se hablen y se desarrolle,la historia conforme seguramente pasaría en la vida real pero me duele el cora. Ese final me dolió.