Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Yes, Daddy

First book of #pride month reading done and oh boy is it a doozy. #YesDaddy by @jprampage is an easy contender for the best book I’ve read in 2021.
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Yes, Daddy is a first person narrative told from Jonah Keller’s perspective. Jonah has moved to NYC with dreams of becoming a playwright only to find himself living in a rundown sublet, working extra hours as a waiter to make rent, and completely alone. After coming across a photo of Richard Shriver, an accomplished playwright with a proclivity for younger men, Jonah hatches a plan to meet and seduce him.
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Richard invites Jonah to spend the summer with him in the Hamptons in his iron fence enclosed compound, schmoozing industry big shots and living the life of kept man. What follows instead is the summer from hell, filled with violence and plots of revenge.
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This book is seriously f@%€ed. Trigger warnings: rape and sexual assault, violence, abuse, drug use, forced drug use, conversion therapy, trauma, abandonment. With so many trigger warnings you may be asking why Yes, Daddy has become a front runner for best book of the year for me. Well, that’s because it’s honest in its discussions on each topic. While I personally have not experienced the things Jonah has gone through, predation by older, wealthier men is all too common within the gay community. Further, though the #metoo movement has dwindled some, sexual assault within the lgbt community is often under discussed and under represented.
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Yes, Daddy is a difficult book to read, but even more difficult to put down. Jonah’s story is raw but well crafted. The writing style is unique and purposeful. It is at once a deeply moving account of trauma, a thriller focused on sex and violence, and a warning about the treachery of powerful men.
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Without a doubt, the only star rating I can give it is...
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Content Warnings

bookishlybrief's review

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This book is being marketed in confusing and deceiving ways. Initially described as a gay ‘Get Out’ it is most certainly not that and in fact has a clear agenda perpetrated by the author that comes out in the later half of the book.

The first half of the book were compelling and hard to read. It flails in the second half where the protagonist is reckoning with trauma and how to deal with it. The end was disappointing for sure given the promise of the front half.

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stayathomereader's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

caidyn's review

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

Wow. I devoured this book and I almost can't believe it. When I heard about this title, I wasn't sure what to think. It sounded fantastic and a great queer take on a common trope that we see in straight mysteries/thrillers. But this book developed into so much more. It's a hard read. It's a very hard one to stomach at times, if you can tell by all the things I marked for CWs. The story features a lot of sexual violence and, at times, blurred the lines. In that way, it reminded me a lot of Docile by K.M. Szpara, minus the futuristic/sci-fi storyline. This book is familiar to those of us who have read the stories about the #MeToo movement. It's all about how powerful people use that power and privilege to do whatever they want, harming people along the way. It's one of my favorites from the year, no matter how difficult the subject matter was at times.

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