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A review by shandra
The Prince of Punk Rock by Jenna Galicki
5.0
It's good to be Tommy Blade!
Everything that I usually complain about in M/M/F stories -gay men who spontaneously find themselves attracted to women because their lover has a female lover, women who turn gay men straight because they've got magical chickbits, men who treat sex with men exactly as if it's sex with women, etc.- is absent in this book. The Prince of Punk Rock is officially the first M/M/F book where I truly believed that the characters were true to form throughout. It doesn't glorify polyamory. It doesn't shy away from hard topics like could someone enjoy watching the person they love say they loved someone else? It steps up to bat and hits it out of the park on an emotional level.
There's love and tragedy mixed together in this piece.
Everyone loves Tommy. That's why it's so good to be the prince, I suppose. It takes him a while to come to terms with that. He's never been "out" as a bisexual man. He was a football player, a jock, a hard core rocker guy, and then he married the woman of his dreams who said "It's okay to be who you are with me." Jessi loved him unconditionally. She told him to bring home men to be in their bed with them. Let him have his fun while supporting him physically, emotionally, and literally being there the whole time to make it easy on him. Enter Angel Garcia who changed everything.
Tommy had never cared about all those men he brought home. They scratched an itch. Angel? He loves. He completely falls in love with this man and watching Jessi suffer with the struggle to let him love someone else while worrying that she's going to be completely pushed aside, left behind, cast out, well, it's hard, but it's truthful.
Angel is patient to a fault. I loved a lot of his reactions to things. He's sensitive without ever being effeminate. Angel is a man who happens to be gay. He's not a stereotype. His reactions to Jessi sexually were entirely too amusing to me. As a queer person, I completely empathized with him. I get it. It's not like BOOM! He's going to suddenly want to be with a woman. It's more of a question mark of 'Could I?' since it's someone he comes to care about.
This book is a hard read because of Jessi. She's the one on the outside looking in while music bonds Angel and Tommy together, while they fall in love, while Tommy comes to embrace his sexuality. Jessi falls in love with Angel as much as Angel falls in love with Tommy and Tommy falls in love with Angel but the only one who really, truly loves Jessi is Tommy. It's not a mutual relationship on all sides. Tommy and Angel are mutually loved. Jessi? She's still finding her way which is perfectly fantastic.
I want to see where they go from here with Immoral Angel. I want to see how the band's evolution causes the relationships between Angel, Tommy, and Jessi to evolve. I want to see how it all unfolds. Fantastic work! I'm glad to give it five stars for the unique view it gave to a poly relationship and the honesty of the writing throughout.
Everything that I usually complain about in M/M/F stories -gay men who spontaneously find themselves attracted to women because their lover has a female lover, women who turn gay men straight because they've got magical chickbits, men who treat sex with men exactly as if it's sex with women, etc.- is absent in this book. The Prince of Punk Rock is officially the first M/M/F book where I truly believed that the characters were true to form throughout. It doesn't glorify polyamory. It doesn't shy away from hard topics like could someone enjoy watching the person they love say they loved someone else? It steps up to bat and hits it out of the park on an emotional level.
There's love and tragedy mixed together in this piece.
Everyone loves Tommy. That's why it's so good to be the prince, I suppose. It takes him a while to come to terms with that. He's never been "out" as a bisexual man. He was a football player, a jock, a hard core rocker guy, and then he married the woman of his dreams who said "It's okay to be who you are with me." Jessi loved him unconditionally. She told him to bring home men to be in their bed with them. Let him have his fun while supporting him physically, emotionally, and literally being there the whole time to make it easy on him. Enter Angel Garcia who changed everything.
Tommy had never cared about all those men he brought home. They scratched an itch. Angel? He loves. He completely falls in love with this man and watching Jessi suffer with the struggle to let him love someone else while worrying that she's going to be completely pushed aside, left behind, cast out, well, it's hard, but it's truthful.
Angel is patient to a fault. I loved a lot of his reactions to things. He's sensitive without ever being effeminate. Angel is a man who happens to be gay. He's not a stereotype. His reactions to Jessi sexually were entirely too amusing to me. As a queer person, I completely empathized with him. I get it. It's not like BOOM! He's going to suddenly want to be with a woman. It's more of a question mark of 'Could I?' since it's someone he comes to care about.
This book is a hard read because of Jessi. She's the one on the outside looking in while music bonds Angel and Tommy together, while they fall in love, while Tommy comes to embrace his sexuality. Jessi falls in love with Angel as much as Angel falls in love with Tommy and Tommy falls in love with Angel but the only one who really, truly loves Jessi is Tommy. It's not a mutual relationship on all sides. Tommy and Angel are mutually loved. Jessi? She's still finding her way which is perfectly fantastic.
I want to see where they go from here with Immoral Angel. I want to see how the band's evolution causes the relationships between Angel, Tommy, and Jessi to evolve. I want to see how it all unfolds. Fantastic work! I'm glad to give it five stars for the unique view it gave to a poly relationship and the honesty of the writing throughout.