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jkh107's review
3.0
Intense, heartbreaking story about a man who has survived abuse and lost his family. He goes to college to "begin again," and living in the dorms and working in the labs bring him friendships despite his reluctance to get involved with other people again. He also secretly reaches out to two men who could become lovers. Then a horrifying assault threatens everything.
This is obviously the first in a series--a lot of plot threads are unresolved, but the book wasn't so short I felt ripped off. This would have been 4 stars but for the fact that it seems relatively unedited (some phrasing habits of the author's need to be dealt with, seriously). I like stories where the author is unafraid to torture the characters, and this protagonist has some really awful things happen to him, so the angst level here is dialed up to high.
For those who care about such things (I don't), the sex is pretty graphic; there are m/f scenes (one love interest is bisexual) and a very brief m/f/f menage scene in addition to the requisite m/m. There is also a violent (but nongraphic) rape. This doesn't really seem to be a romance at this point in the story arc, but it's a very interesting and compelling story overall. I'm hoping the prologue/epilogue story is going to become important or relevant in the next installment because it doesn't really add much to the tale so far.
NB: I also incidentally discovered that when you click "read ebook" on goodreads, you don't get this whole book. You get the first few chapters, which sucks you in and then you find yourself buying the book because by then you are HOOKED...
This is obviously the first in a series--a lot of plot threads are unresolved, but the book wasn't so short I felt ripped off. This would have been 4 stars but for the fact that it seems relatively unedited (some phrasing habits of the author's need to be dealt with, seriously). I like stories where the author is unafraid to torture the characters, and this protagonist has some really awful things happen to him, so the angst level here is dialed up to high.
For those who care about such things (I don't), the sex is pretty graphic; there are m/f scenes (one love interest is bisexual) and a very brief m/f/f menage scene in addition to the requisite m/m. There is also a violent (but nongraphic) rape. This doesn't really seem to be a romance at this point in the story arc, but it's a very interesting and compelling story overall. I'm hoping the prologue/epilogue story is going to become important or relevant in the next installment because it doesn't really add much to the tale so far.
NB: I also incidentally discovered that when you click "read ebook" on goodreads, you don't get this whole book. You get the first few chapters, which sucks you in and then you find yourself buying the book because by then you are HOOKED...
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