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axelgrcia's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Minor: Homophobia
aely's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Parks-Ramage managed to write realistic characters who go through SO much trauma, with a bittersweet ending that left me feeling… complicated.
My only critique would be that the book felt so depressing and hopeless that at times it was very hard to return to the story.
Other than that, the book is a grim cautionary tale about abusive relationships and sexual assault. It was very emotional and well written. I hope that Jonah is able to live happily after the books ends. That is all.
Graphic: Alcohol, Child abuse, Cursing, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Classism, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Death, Murder, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Stalking, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Blood, Trafficking, Dementia, and Abortion
alexmorex3's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Suicide
roughdraftofmylife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Drug abuse, Trafficking, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Sexual violence, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Suicide attempt
freddybingsu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Homophobia, and Rape
Moderate: Gaslighting, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Addiction and Fire/Fire injury
123aah456's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Drug use, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Homophobia, and Suicide
mangofandango's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
I read the discussion guide in the back because I found I finished the book somewhat unclear as to the author's intentions here. Like, it's a story about an ex-evangelical who was forced into conversion therapy, it's got lots of "you deserve this sexual assault, rape and abuse because you're gay" stuff going on because of that, it's trauma after trauma, and the specter of evangelicalism doesn't ever really leave - it gets a kinder re-brand toward the end. So I honestly couldn't tell if this book was operating on stereotypes, playing into some of the poison it represents, or intended to be an exploration of the ways spiritual, sexual, and emotional abuse plays out in these contexts. The author says he was trying to diversify the idea behind #MeToo and bring gay voices and an imperfect victim into it, so it's more the latter, but I didn't find that it was a very strong statement of anything because I couldn't quite tell which side he was on sometimes? Though now that I think about it, it is in some ways a sort of systematic way of telling the story of how someone might fall into an abusive situation, be traumatized, and find potential for healing afterwards.
Overall, I did like the book well enough and feel invested in the story. But I didn't love it. And if...any triggers around spiritual abuse, sexual abuse, rape, false reporting, relationship abuse, isolation etc etc. are an issue for you, I think you should steer clear of this one.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Alcohol
sayitagainjen's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Drug use, Violence, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
forrestalexander's review against another edition
- 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
I have mixed feelings about this book. I didn't know what to expect and I like the concept, but in my opinion, it didn't follow through.
As someone else said, the book is too short to properly address the multitude of issues it presented.
The book touches on:
- a gay main character with unaccepting parents
- religious trauma
- conversion therapy and the resulting trauma
- domestic abuse, toxic and abusive relationships
- manipulation and general abuse
- rape, sexual assault, and casual sexual harassment
- drug abuse
- suicide, suicidal thoughts
& more. There aren't enough pages in the book to have us become invested in the characters and touch on all of the above topics and do them justice - instead, it half touches on all of them and is just busy and feels cluttered. It is trying to do too much at once.
Because it was trying to cram so much into each page, I wasn't invested in the characters and it made me care less about the story overall.
Also, coming from a queer man living in bushwick from somewhat similar circumstances, I hated the main character. He relied on everyone else and did nothing but pity and feel bad for himself instead of trying to do anything to change his life. He was selfish and self-centered, and how he acted in court destroyed the lives of others to the point of no return. How I am supposed to feel any level of empathy for him, or happiness when he finally sort of gets his shit together at the end, is beyond me.
The religious trauma was a bit trite for a gay character, and I understand the second half was supposed to set it apart from other stories with similar themes - but the second half felt forced, strange, and left me weirded out. I am still not sure what the message was supposed to be, it didn't translate.
With all of that being said, I think if a few of the themes were left out and the author focused on one or two things, it could have been great. For that reason, I have no doubt the author has potential - but I hope in his next book, it feels less crammed.
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Body shaming and Bullying
dalmavatai's review against another edition
However, I think this book is just poorly executed. The characters and the relationships are not developed well enough for me to believe in them, and the dynamics of an abusive relationship are equally poorly written. It feels like the author read a blog post about Abuse 101 and clumsily inserted every point at random intervals throughout the story. Like, all the dynamics - Jonah gaslighting himself and his experience of abuse, Richard compensating with meaningless shopping sprees after something bad happens - feel disingenuous, insincere; I just wasn't convinced by the author that these characters and relationships are real. They feel very one-dimensional, pawns to illustrate the author's point but lacking in development and depth.
This is really my main issue with the story but I also wanted to mention that of course it's really important to shed light on how old men can coerce younger men into playing out their BDSM fantasies - but BDSM is not inherently abusive. I think Jonah's daddy issues stemming from his homophobic father and wanting to please both him and God in his deeply Christian family is really interesting and will no doubt resonate with a lot of people's experience, but I think it's important to note that wanting to be dominated in sex is not inherently 'pathological', and even if it stems from mommy/daddy issues, it's still a valid sexual preference and people can engage in BDSM and have it be a healthy dynamic (that doesn't mean that we can't or shouldn't interrogate cultural trends around daddy issues, but it does mean that we shouldn't pathologize individuals with these sexual preferences because that doesn't help anyone).
Also, if you still want to read this book, please please look into trigger warnings, this book covers very heavy subjects and all the things I listed under 'graphic' content warnings are indeed EXTREMELY graphic.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcohol, Confinement, Drug use, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, and Violence