Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Yes, Daddy

I flew through this book and couldn’t put it down. It was deeply disturbing but also couldn’t stop/look away. I THOUGHT it was going to lose me in the mid-20 chapter with the religious themes, but so glad I kept going because it shocked me again. I wish it was longer I wanted more from the main character. Very unique and different.

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ibeforem's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"The things we worship eat us alive."

Jonah starts out this story already full of trauma. His evangelical parents discovered he was gay and sent him to conversion therapy, which of course failed spectacularly. Now he is barely surviving in New York, waiting tables with his dreams of being a successful playwright one day. His first step in achieving that dream is to orchestrate a meeting between himself and successful playwright Richard Shriver. But when that meeting eventually leads to a summer on Richard's Hamptons compound as his boy-toy, Jonah gets a whole lot more than he bargained for.

This book went all sorts of places I wasn't expecting, and frankly I'm still thinking about it a month after I read it. I think it has a lot to say about the #metoo movement and the way victims can become perpetrators and perpetrators can become victims. Honestly, I would have given this 4 stars instead of 3 if it hadn't taken what felt like an off-course turn about 3/4 of the way through. The story finds its way back before the end, but that one turn felt extraneous.

Content warning: There is a lot of explicit sexual assault and violence in this book.

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zookie_b's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Devastating in the most perfect way. Lost .75 star because it’s hard to say I enjoyed this whole book. There were many moments where I wanted to give up due to the subject matter and trauma our characters go through but I’m glad I continued as the real artistry and insight came in the last third of the book. A hard read, sure to haunt me for a while, but one I’m glad I finished.

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readwithcarly's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

I've been sitting on this book review for a while because "Yes, Daddy" is a walking list of trigger warnings. Please please please read them before picking this one up.

We follow the story of Jonah, an ambitious playwright in his twenties who has moved from Illinois to New York City to follow his dreams. When he finds himself barely scraping by with rent each month, he seeks out Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Richard Shriver to help him get a foot in the door and make a name for himself in the industry.

They soon forge a romantic relationship, but as summer heats up and the two take a trip to the Hamptons where a handful of Richard's other successful friends gather, it takes a sinister twist.

This book is almost split into three parts: before the Hamptons, at the Hamptons, and after the Hamptons. The first part is a steep buildup toward the climax as we see the relationship with Jonah and Richard progress. The time at the Hamptons is the most brutal part of the story and was very, very hard to read at times because the content was so explicit and gruesome. The third part of the book is a relief, as everything becomes pieced together.

Themes such as abuse, power, homophobia, rape, trauma, grooming, manipulation, sexual exploitation and violence are only a few among many others explored over the course of this book. Although the content was triggering, the writing itself was done extremely well. Jonathan Parks-Ramage's writing had me hooked from the very first page and continued onward through this very intense reading experience.

Thank you Net Galley and Mariner Books for the digital advanced readers copy.

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