Reviews tagging 'Violence'

In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish

11 reviews

zachzakku's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

There's almost no plot to this book, but it's exceptionally sweet. Rex is obviously the most perfect human. Meanwhile, there's a whole cast of lovable side characters (I'm really hoping there's a book starring Will) and Daniel's internal monologues are full of hilarious ramblings.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide attempt

midnightsharkist's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Homophobia

kadence75's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

The 🌶️ is immaculate
The emotions are raw and relatable

Overall it's 🤌 chefs kiss🤌

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Violence and Homophobia

galleytrot's review against another edition

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

4.25

READ: Aug 2023 

FORMAT: Audio 

BRIEF SUMMARY: 

In this contemporary romance, Daniel is traveling to an interview for a position in quiet Northern Michigan when an accident runs him off the road and into the care of Rex, a gentle giant of a man who is equal parts shy and intimidating. Months after their heated but awkward encounter, Daniel moves in from Philadelphia and goes through the culture shock of small-town-living. The moment he and Rex cross paths once more, their chemistry is electric, but old traumas and insecurities mean trust doesn’t come easily and relationships can die before ever really beginning. 

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 4.25 / 5⭐ 

This book was a fascinating turn in tone from the other books I’ve read from the same author. It’s quite a bit older than the others I’ve enjoyed, though, which might explain the unexpected level of angst. By no means was this a bad book, it was just far rougher than I had anticipated, and it wasn’t an especially great match for my mood at the time. 

Daniel is a city boy born-and-raised, the youngest son in a family of mechanics owning and operating a garage. When his interests wouldn’t align with his family’s ideals of masculinity and he eventually came out as gay, he would face years of derision subject to the butt of his brothers’ jokes, along with a father who didn’t know what to do with him. Despite his disadvantaged upbringing and a lack of support system, he forged his own path towards his education majoring in American Literature, and the job in Michigan is meant to be a stepping stone in his path to further success. 

Rex was raised with the understanding that everything is temporary – from the few fleeting people in his life (friends, family, lovers), to his home and location, to his work and education, everything can change at the drop of a hat and without any warning. A quiet and guarded man as built as he is tends to deter trouble as a rule, but can also have a harder time connecting with people, making friendships a rare commodity. When Daniel stumbles into Rex’s life, brilliant and beautiful and maybe a little bit dazed and in shock, Rex is certain that he will be temporary, too – but when Daniel reappears again six months later, maybe temporary has a chance at becoming something more. 

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 4.5 / 5⭐ 

Parrish’s storytelling is very strong in this book. There were many developments and reveals that surprised me throughout, including a particularly big one concerning Rex that was certainly set up throughout the story leading up, but never hinted at strongly enough for me to catch on that it was coming. A particular storytelling technique that I loved to see used was done within dialogue, where one character would give another their backstory using details already revealed to us, with the addition of new anecdotes we were unaware of to support and strengthen their objective. It really brought home the world-building, and fleshed out the characters’ backstories in surprising ways while avoiding redundancy. 

I’m having a hard time picking out the last book I read that paid this much attention to establishing the character’s motivations, and this treatment isn’t limited to our main leads, either. Side-characters, who in other books would be included simply to say the book has more than just two characters, are each given a respectful amount of handling and backstory of their own. They contribute, they do things, they have things happen to them in this book; they don’t just exist to get the main characters back on track when things get dicey. There is also a lot of setup being done for the later books within the series, and not all of it was as clunky or out of place (as can often happen in romance series). 

Nieman might be this book’s biggest downfall within the scope of this book’s production – his narration felt a bit under-practiced, with some of his choices in tone or inflection landing on the awkward side, but I could see potential in him to be an excellent narrator some day. The biggest issue was his lack of distinguishable voices, or dropping out of the few voices he did do back into his default. Secondary came issues with inconsistent pacing and volume; I had trouble picking a listening speed for this book and sticking with it, and there were some occasions where it sounded like Nieman would lean away from his microphone for a little while. 

FINAL THOUGHTS - OVERALL: 4.25 / 5⭐ 

I enjoyed this book, even if the overall tone was darker than I was expecting or in the mood for from Parrish. My experience with the author is largely limited to the Garnet Run series, which while still handling some heavy themes, takes a much more light-hearted approach in its storytelling. I don’t know if I would be able to handle the next book in this series – if I’m being entirely honest, the next character’s book promises to be especially heavy and potentially heartrending, and I just don’t know if I could take that degree of anger and emotional whiplash on for myself. 

This book has representation for gays. Multiple characters are described as non-white. A side-character is Jewish. There is representation for a learning disability. 

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail. 

This book contains: strained family relations; homophobia ranging from mild to extreme; toxic masculinity; infidelity; car accident; an animal in distress (broken bone, hit by car); alcohol use, mentions of alcoholism; classism; bullying; assaults/physical violence/fighting, past mugging; abortion jokes, mentions of pro-life protests; vomiting (alcohol, stress, grief); unintentional ableism; past hate crime resulting in serious injuries and death; past gaslighting; mention of past suicide, implied suicide attempt; mention of drug use; and, deaths of parents, past and present (heart attack, pancreatic cancer, other unspecified causes).

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Death of parent, Infidelity, Violence, Vomit, Classism, Cursing, Alcoholism, Bullying, Addiction, Ableism, Car accident, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Death

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Abortion, Blood, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Self harm, and Suicide

madscientistcat's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Alcohol, Violence, Sexual content, and Cursing

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

cherryblossomreads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely Amazing 🤩
Elsker alt ved den her. Okay nej, ikke helt slutningen. Jeg er godt klar over, at den skal slutte et sted, men jeg kunne godt have hørt meget mere om de forskellige menneskers fremtid.

Elsker at hovedpersonen ikke er perfekt, elsker at han år efter sin mistrivsel stadig bærer indre ar og utryghed. Elsker at smerte ikke bare er overstået fordi det ville gøre det hele bedre. Elsker, at alle er så menneskelige og uperfekte, men prøver deres bedste. Elsker de små kommentarer og indre monologer Daniel har, og elsker at der alligevel er så meget håb og kærlighed.

Okay - har lige erfaret at der er flere i serien 🤦🏼‍♀️ så giver slutningen mere mening 😂

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Violence, Car accident, and Hate crime

Minor: Alcohol and Toxic relationship

laura_rheads_too_much's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, Car accident, Bullying, Cancer, Alcohol, and Violence

Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

ashleycmms's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Hate crime, Car accident, Grief, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Violence

Minor: Suicide attempt

wanderingtales's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Death, Grief, and Hate crime

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

craftyhilary's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This was just gorgeous. My heart ached for Daniel and Rex as they struggled toward each other despite the weight of their pasts. Extremely high heat factor, beautifully written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Homophobia

Minor: Death of parent and Suicide attempt