Book 1,006: Out of This World (Browerton University #5) – A.J. Truman

As I mentioned in my Out for the Night review, I think this is probably my second favorite of the series. I would say it has to do with the England setting, and that’s some of it, but most of it is just Rafe for me. It also might have something to do with the opening line being a Pride and Prejudice parody 😀

This book takes us away from the Browerton campus (as does the next one, which I had issues with) for a study abroad program. We still get to check in on Coop and Matty, but it’s pretty removed from the rest of the stories.

Rafe was turned down by Ethan in Out in the Open and had to stand by Coop as he found love with Matty in Out for the Night, and it just felt like it was his time! He’s been out and open since he was 13 and his innocence/naivety and just desperately wanting a big love story was infectious. He meets Eamonn, his flatmate, on his study abroad trip to NOT London (somewhere outside) and they end up hooking up and it goes from there.

Rafe and Eamonn originally hook up out of convenience. They’re spending time together and Eamonn’s coming out of a breakup and Rafe just wants to punch his V-card no matter what. Then of course feelings get involved.

‘That was amazing,’ Rafe said. ‘I would totally give your dick five stars on Yelp.’
‘And I’d give your bum five stars. It’s a great place for eating out.’ (Loc. 1,899)

There was quite a bit of humor in this book that I enjoyed and Rafe’s enthusiasm for everything was just charming. My favorite scene was probably when Eamonn took Rafe shopping at Tesco and then taught him how to cook and survive because Rafe’s parents had done everything for him up until that point. As he gained independence Rafe realized he could do things on his own and that carried through the end of the novel when he got home and told his parents he wanted to get a job and make his own money to learn independence.

I loved that Eamonn went home regularly to help his mom and sisters out and cared deeply about everyone no matter how short a time he knew them.

To be honest, I wasn’t the biggest fan of all the minor characters, but they added to the story. The drama with the other two flatmates was pretty standard undergrad chaos. Eamonn’s ex, Nathan, was a total dick and I wasn’t excited he got the next book for multiple reasons, but in this book, he is an absolute villain.

The typos and grammar issues were still here, but the story kept me engaged enough that I didn’t highlight as many as I did last time. I did however find this mistake:

He had them turn down a side street that reminded Rafe of Privet Lane in Harry Potter. (Loc. 1,609)

If you’re the generation that fell in love with HP before Rowling revealed herself to be a TERF you KNOW what’s wrong in that sentence. Even if you’re not a fan of HP, if you were an author, copy editor, or proofreader, you would double-check a street name in something as popular as HP to make sure it was correct. If not, you should rethink what you’re doing professionally.

Recommendation: Definitely one of my favorites from this series. Rafe’s enthusiasm is infectious, Eamonn’s caring and loving are endearing, and overall, it’s a pretty low-angst novel. Eamonn’s ex is a dick and Rafe’s parents are WAY too overprotective, but everyone grows and learns together to be better people. I wasn’t sure about the ending until the scene in Amsterdam when I laughed my ass off. Truman really saved it for me with that scene for some reason.

Opening Line: “It was a truth universally acknowledged that Rafe would fuck any guy with a British accent.”

Closing Line: “Two hours and forty-eight minutes.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes from Out of This World
“Don’t forget. All the people who don’t drink fled Britain and founded America. All the cool people stayed here.” (Loc. 390)

“But you really aren’t the first Yank to do this. Plenty of Americans come over here, looking for their very own Mr. Darcy to shag, who by the power of his sexy British accent can pull them out of their suburban, strip mall, moribund existence. And then they leave with a story to tell their sorority sisters back home, of how for a brief moment, their lives were interesting.” (Loc. 2,127)

“He had given himself completely and came up short. Being heartbroken was so much worse than being rejected. His heart wasn’t even broken. It had been ripped apart, and he could feel every tear.” (Loc. 3,199)