Afflicted
by Brandon Shire
****
Contemporary gay romance/erotica.
After reading so many terrible romances with blind characters completely
removed from reality, I was so happy to finally find one where the
author took the time to do research and really get the details right.
Hunter is a great character: tough but vulnerable, smart and sarcastic,
but secretly sweet. He's independent and fully adjusted to his life. The
problems he has, sometimes acting like a jerk to cover for feeling
foolish or dependent, felt very true to life.
I also loved the
attention to detail. The setting feels real, as do all the characters.
Even the secondary characters are detailed. No one's just a cardboard
cutout, and there's no neglect of the plot in favor of sex scenes, which
is usually the case in erotica. And the characters act like real men,
ie, they don't sit around talking about their feelings, even when they
really should. This is definitely real gay man fiction, not slash written by and for women.
The writing is excellent, a very cerebral and
writerly style, also unusual for erotica. Although there are quite a few
typos towards the end, including one hilarious instance of confusing
genteel and gentile.
I only had two complaints: 1. the ending
relies on a coincidence so huge it defies belief and 2. the story
clearly is not over at the end. I dislike the current trend in
e-publishing to take one novel and split it in two to double profits. I
would gladly pay more for a longer book, but I'd like to know up front
what I am getting. Anyway I still recommend this one, just be warned,
it's not a complete novel, only the first half.
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