Y’all!!!!
Firstly – I’m here! It’s been a very intense couple of years for me. This is my first review in a while and I declare complete review bankruptcy on anything I read during that time. No obligations, no guilt, no shame. (This review fills in the “And So It Begins” CBR11 Bingo Square)
Secondly – y’all. Y’all? Y’all. Sometimes a friend or acquaintance writes a book and I read it and it’s… well it’s bad! Sometimes it’s mediocre, sometimes it’s serviceable but not great, sometimes it’s so rough that I stop reading and just never speak of it again. I was prepared to start reading, hate it, and support the shit out of my buddy.
My internet friend and possibly yours, Aviva Blakeman, wrote two books and I bought them in support. I am a big romance reader and these are romance, but they are MC romance. I do not read Motorcycle Club romance novels because I do not like Motorcycle Clubs in popular culture. I broke that moratorium for this and I am not sorry!
I could tell you that the plot is, well in the first one, it’s a bit light, but that’s ok because things really get rolling in book two. The overarching narrative that is going to obviously take a few books to resolve is quite dark and potentially triggering, so tread with care.
I could tell you that the smut is top notch, right up my alley, squeeze my legs together and smile slyly while I hold my phone close on a crowded commute train because hot damn.
But what I really want you to know is the profound relief of seeing myself on the page. Not as the heroine, as the author. I have not ever read a book that was so close to my internal voice. It was a bit spooky. It was VALIDATING. To read words I have had wielded against me to shame my emotions, to tell me that I was a problem, and have those words and those actions explained as what they really were was freeing. I was explaining a specific term used to shame a woman in the book to a friend and it turns out the exact same term had been used to shame her as well.
It’s a profoundly effective piece of art that not only pierces the veil of loneliness but also damages the structure of that veil. To help the reader not just enjoy to moment but to effect a greater, permanent joy in life by creating a connection with community.
These were quick, fun reads. There is violence, there is sex, there is crime. There is one of the most amazing drags I have ever read and a very effective metaphor involving Skittles. There is also hope, and beyond hope, the work to bring a better world with better people into being.
I can’t wait for more.
