I went into this with a bit of hesitation. The blurb spends the first half talking about street rules. Then it explains Micha has new feelings that can’t be fulfilled by a woman and builds on that by saying he meets someone and that someone makes him question if he will continue living a lie or open up to his sexuality. I can confidently say, 51 percent into this book which landed me on chapter 15, that none of this happened.
In the prologue, apparently Micha has done time and has a reputation for liking men. I dunno how this happened as it is a prologue, and I didn’t get far enough in at fifty percent for Micha saying ‘and unless you wanted to be accused of liking ‘boy pussy’ you didn’t want to be seen with me’. So Micha has done time and been outed somehow. He has also met a guy who’s supposed to be so thug no one would suspect them of liking guys. And he seems very excited to have him over. The biggest problem with this is the blurb says he has to decide if he wants to continue living a lie or risk everything to be who he is. If people assume guys seen with you want to fuck you, what lie is it that you’re living if they know this? Also in half a book I still don’t know what friendships are questionable or who Dre is because not only is he not on page yet, Micha is only 17 I think and still hasn’t been in prison. Nothing so far that I came into this book expecting has materialised.
What has happened is a lot of Drama and sex. That’s it. Micah cuts grass the older gentleman he cuts it for does sexual things with him. It’s consensual mind you but he is still underaged. Then he pays Micha way more than the yard work was worth. Micha and his girlfriend are always fighting about her not wanting to suck his dick. You could see where this was going in another galaxy. So he slips out of town to see her one day and finds her sucking some other guy’s dick. Predictable in so many ways. They have a big breakup and he ignores her for a while at school. I don’t remember any real mention of him attending school other than this instance.
He has a ‘relationship’ with Chris. It’s purely sexual. It’s mostly about them having fun behind Chris’ girlfriend’s back. Not eighteen yet Micha is dating an older woman who I think is friends with Chris’ girl so that in itself is weird. Especially since Micha is old enough to drive but always seems to be driven places. The only time he drives in the half I read was when he swung by the school and his ex apologises and wouldn’t you know, sucks his dick in this adult woman’s car. And if I remember correctly something of hers gets left behind and she comes accusing him in another scene of having a girl in there but the only person he’s fucking is Chris.
The ex-girlfriend thing was just unnecessary. If you out there sucking dick suck his too. What is the issue? Its only purpose was to get Micha out of his neighbourhood to go to her house so that Chris can offer him a ride and their affair can start. It was such an awkward breakup and felt forced. Just like him being all moody to her just so she can apologise the one time he drives somewhere, for a fight with his adult-aged girlfriend to follow.
Then there was the awkward ‘Chris’ must’ve put something in my drink’ moment. They go to a guy’s house. I think it’s the same guy Micha had his first encounter with. In any event, Chris and Micha are fucking on the low and they know this guy and the teen with him, like guys. Why does he need to be drugged to do something he’s already been doing of his own will for weeks? It seemed such an odd choice.
In 50 percent of a book, there’s sex, arguments, more sex, awkward plot choices, and more sex and that was it. No character development. Nothing to make readers connect with the characters. Nothing that looks like setup for what the blurb promised: Him finding out he likes girls, then possibly falling for Dre, and having to pick between friends or coming out. And when you add all this to the prologue telling readers people in the town assume he is gay and that he actively tried to get Dre to come over, the whole living a lie thing becomes questionable. There isn’t any real driving force for this book. Stuff just happens and the stuff that happens doesn’t have a reason for it to happen. It’s just stuff on the same level as if you’re having a good gossip sesh with a friend because you got a story to tell so you’re telling it. But beyond you and your friend, in the room, in the moment, there isn’t anything. Like most gossip or tea moments, it happens and you can have multitudes of gossip trains in one session. The real story is about the friends, how they get along while having a conversation with each other and how they live their lives beyond the story they are sharing.
That was the problem here. The outside stuff, the things that would deep dive into Micha and his connections to the people he was with and flesh out his character, weren’t there. And not just for him, the other characters too. Like I said, things just happened and you roll along expecting some sort of meaning or direction and it doesn’t come. Just a bunch of scenes are put together in a desired sequence without them being more than face-value scenes. Half a book is a long way in for nothing plot moving to happen.
To be fair it’s only the second half of the blurb that promises anything along the lines of a cohesive story, still, a little bit of plot structure, just a teeny bit would’ve been nice even if it still failed to deliver on what the book promised.
I couldn’t connect with these characters and even on a sexual level, the steam wasn’t interesting enough for me to need a cold shower. This story just felt flat, and I really forced myself to read it. Drama and sex scenes and serious editing issues are the bulk of it. That sums up my take on this. There isn’t even enough going on for my usual long reviews.
No real character development. No solid plot line that I could find beyond the Drama, and zero character development. There just wasn’t anything here to connect me to the characters or the story so I had to just embrace that and move on to another book. The nagging feeling I had leaving this though, is that there are probably people out there all about the drama and won’t care that nothing else is going on here, and I honestly don’t know how this thought makes me feel. I left this experience feeling all sorts of conflicted knowing just how many people will be all over this type of story when it doesn’t have a clear direction or most things you expect from a good book. Just… I dunno. Now that I’m at the end my entire mood has changed so I’m just going to bow out cause I have another review to type and I don’t want a spontaneous low phase ruining that.
If you live for the Drama, seriously If that is your thing, this book is for you. You will love it. I, unfortunately, need more than just scenes stuck together just because they can be.
Reading Is My Drug 
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