Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by talia_redhotink
Hot Head by Damon Suede
3.0
Where do I start? Well, let's start from the very very beginning, aka why I picked this book up.
I had never heard of it, never read anything by this author and honestly, had never even seen it popping up on my feed in passing. Could be because it is kind of old, being published in 2011, and considering how fast the publishing industry operates this days. Aaaanyway, I was in a bit of a book slump and usually a well written MM romance is a great way for me to get out of it.
So I looked at GR lists of best MM romances. It wasn't the first time I looked up such a list, but for some reason this was the first time I saw Hot Head pop up. After that, the high ratings and the raving reviews got me to one click this one.
If you saw any of my updates while I was reading it, then you know that I was immediately captivated. I think a lot of it had to do not only with the beautiful writing style per se, but also the perspective, as the author, who is also a man, offered a interesting and more crude and maybe realer approach to MM. I thought that both main characters were fantastically rounded and shaped, and I fell in love with the idea of these two tough firefighters growing up as brothers and eventually discovering they had feelings for each other.
They'd all looked into the abyss and it kept right on looking back, window-shopping for damnation, it seemed.
On top of that there were some very emotional chapters regarding 9-11 as seen from the main character's perspective which added depth and emotionality to what could be otherwise seen as a purely raunchy romance.
Now, the first 4th of the book, I was devouring pages and was intrigued by all the possibilities of this romance. I wondered whether Dante had any idea of Griff's feelings for him, what was going to happen next in their everyday job, etc.
But then it started to drag and conversations became repetitive, and the only way these two got closer was by shooting porn, with consequential guilt and need for space and negativity. Rinse and repeat. It was like a pattern, conflict about porn, Griff giving in, them getting all hot and bothered, and then more conflict created by what they had done. There were not that many heart to heart convos about their actual feelings for each other, which were only discussed at the very end.
At the halfway point I had still some hope that the author would bring forth some other device to move the plot forward besides the porn as I thought that would have been only a gimmick for them to initially get to see the other in a romantic light. But no, the porn was still the main focus.
There were definitely some sweet moments, but mostly in flashbacks or when discussing their childhood together. It was clear how much they meant to each other and that helped the believability of the story, but the author could have done so much more with these two.
"Your life needs an airbag. I swear, Anastagio [Dante], you should have come equipped when you were born."
Just then Dante leaned against him, brow between his shoulder blades for a moment, so tentatively Griff held his breath. His voice was almost sheepish. "Nah. Everyone knows I was born defective. They didn't instal you until later".
Another point that I want to discuss is the publication year and the overall feeling of the book. This book was published in 2011, and it is also set around that time, and we know this because of the time frame as compared to 9/11. And yet in certain situations, from the way homosexuality is spoken of, to the level of stigma associated to it, to the lack of technology (and mention of a boom box), to how their Cobble Hill in Brooklyn is considered super dangerous while it was already quite gentrified, it seemed like the book was set way before 2011.
After dragging from the first 30% to about 80% with repetitive situations and dialogues and depressing inner monologues, the last 20% was exactly what I would have wanted the entire book to be like: Griff and Dante figuring themselves out as a couple and not simply as best friends, coming out to people, starting a relationship and actually having feelings for each other beyond lust.
Now, to finish this way too long review, I'm going on a bit of a rant that is in no way fault of the author but totally caused by me being a bitter human being. Also, if you are easily triggered by rants which may be a bit controversial, please stop here.
Being Italian, I am very picky of how my culture is represented in books. Now, Dante's family is American Italian, and Dante is probably the 3rd or 4th generation, but for some reason that is never acknoledged and he is referred to as the "Italian". There were so many little details that annoyed me, like a family member named "Agosto" (which means August in Italian, like... the month, and is in no way an usual or even unusual name to have), and don't get me started on the Ciopppino! I literally called my grandmother the day after finishing the book (and just for context, she lives in the city where the original recipe was invented) and I asked whether Cioppino was another name for Cacciucco, which is what they are describing. Only to find out that no, Cioppino is not a thing in Italy, but it is in American-Italian culture. So, to end the rant, overall I was just a bit annoying by how their family was described as Italian when in reality they were American Italians, because as an Italian myself I was having difficulties understanding certain things.
I had never heard of it, never read anything by this author and honestly, had never even seen it popping up on my feed in passing. Could be because it is kind of old, being published in 2011, and considering how fast the publishing industry operates this days. Aaaanyway, I was in a bit of a book slump and usually a well written MM romance is a great way for me to get out of it.
So I looked at GR lists of best MM romances. It wasn't the first time I looked up such a list, but for some reason this was the first time I saw Hot Head pop up. After that, the high ratings and the raving reviews got me to one click this one.
If you saw any of my updates while I was reading it, then you know that I was immediately captivated. I think a lot of it had to do not only with the beautiful writing style per se, but also the perspective, as the author, who is also a man, offered a interesting and more crude and maybe realer approach to MM. I thought that both main characters were fantastically rounded and shaped, and I fell in love with the idea of these two tough firefighters growing up as brothers and eventually discovering they had feelings for each other.
They'd all looked into the abyss and it kept right on looking back, window-shopping for damnation, it seemed.
On top of that there were some very emotional chapters regarding 9-11 as seen from the main character's perspective which added depth and emotionality to what could be otherwise seen as a purely raunchy romance.
Now, the first 4th of the book, I was devouring pages and was intrigued by all the possibilities of this romance. I wondered whether Dante had any idea of Griff's feelings for him, what was going to happen next in their everyday job, etc.
But then it started to drag and conversations became repetitive, and the only way these two got closer was by shooting porn, with consequential guilt and need for space and negativity. Rinse and repeat. It was like a pattern, conflict about porn, Griff giving in, them getting all hot and bothered, and then more conflict created by what they had done. There were not that many heart to heart convos about their actual feelings for each other, which were only discussed at the very end.
At the halfway point I had still some hope that the author would bring forth some other device to move the plot forward besides the porn as I thought that would have been only a gimmick for them to initially get to see the other in a romantic light. But no, the porn was still the main focus.
There were definitely some sweet moments, but mostly in flashbacks or when discussing their childhood together. It was clear how much they meant to each other and that helped the believability of the story, but the author could have done so much more with these two.
"Your life needs an airbag. I swear, Anastagio [Dante], you should have come equipped when you were born."
Just then Dante leaned against him, brow between his shoulder blades for a moment, so tentatively Griff held his breath. His voice was almost sheepish. "Nah. Everyone knows I was born defective. They didn't instal you until later".
Another point that I want to discuss is the publication year and the overall feeling of the book. This book was published in 2011, and it is also set around that time, and we know this because of the time frame as compared to 9/11. And yet in certain situations, from the way homosexuality is spoken of, to the level of stigma associated to it, to the lack of technology (and mention of a boom box), to how their Cobble Hill in Brooklyn is considered super dangerous while it was already quite gentrified, it seemed like the book was set way before 2011.
After dragging from the first 30% to about 80% with repetitive situations and dialogues and depressing inner monologues, the last 20% was exactly what I would have wanted the entire book to be like: Griff and Dante figuring themselves out as a couple and not simply as best friends, coming out to people, starting a relationship and actually having feelings for each other beyond lust.
Now, to finish this way too long review, I'm going on a bit of a rant that is in no way fault of the author but totally caused by me being a bitter human being. Also, if you are easily triggered by rants which may be a bit controversial, please stop here.
Being Italian, I am very picky of how my culture is represented in books. Now, Dante's family is American Italian, and Dante is probably the 3rd or 4th generation, but for some reason that is never acknoledged and he is referred to as the "Italian". There were so many little details that annoyed me, like a family member named "Agosto" (which means August in Italian, like... the month, and is in no way an usual or even unusual name to have), and don't get me started on the Ciopppino! I literally called my grandmother the day after finishing the book (and just for context, she lives in the city where the original recipe was invented) and I asked whether Cioppino was another name for Cacciucco, which is what they are describing. Only to find out that no, Cioppino is not a thing in Italy, but it is in American-Italian culture. So, to end the rant, overall I was just a bit annoying by how their family was described as Italian when in reality they were American Italians, because as an Italian myself I was having difficulties understanding certain things.