tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21271550612909062842024-03-14T00:10:24.899-07:00Paradevo's Movie and Book ReviewsReviews of books and movies with disability themesLeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15877518326438146749noreply@blogger.comBlogger147125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-57881121818587610192014-11-23T14:01:00.002-08:002014-11-23T14:09:54.251-08:00Diving In<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/21798790-diving-in" itemprop="image" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #666600; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Diving In (Open Door Love Story, #2)" id="coverImage" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396132527l/21798790.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(221, 221, 221) 0px 5px 5px; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; max-width: 150px;" /></a><br />
Diving In<br />
<br />
By Stacey Wallace Benefiel<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
Contemporary romance. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Brynn Garrett finds it hard to fit in anywhere. She tends to opt for the road with speed humps and pot holes. Trying to avoid a party she decides to hang out on its fringes and see something that effects her deeply and never really gets over. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">While all her school colleagues head off to new adventurous lives at college, Brynn decides to learn the ropes of her family's dry cleaning business. Her life is lonely and insular until a mishap befalls Gabe Riley's mother's table cloth and a wonderful relationship develops.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I loved this book. It is a quick read for starters. The comedy factor is very fresh and nothing is off limits in this regard. The characters are fully formed and very likeable. There are a few issues that are revealed which make you think and challenge yourself as to "what would I do?"</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;">I found it highly </span>devy, the level of his injury isn't mentioned but his hands are affected so I would assume that he is a low level quadriplegic. The author isn't squeamish to go into the details. Gabe is fantastic and realistic not a depressed character but also not a Pollyanna. There isn't much sex in the book. But there is a wonderful build up which has you biting your duvet cover in frustration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It is one of those books you just wish you could wipe your memory and re-read a fresh again and again. It is a crime that it has been sitting on my Kindle untouched for so long. This book isn't going to solve world peace but it sure as heck will entertain you for a few nights.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>Trickletreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17275503287592089587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-16503216079456224242013-12-29T05:43:00.002-08:002013-12-29T05:44:20.381-08:00Imagine (2012)<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1846492" target="_blank">Imagine</a><br />
<br />
**<br />
<br />
This indie film came out in 2012, a French-Polish-Portuguese co-production written and directed by Andrezj Jakimowski. It's about a maverick teacher at an ophthalmology clinic in Portugal who wants to teach the patients there to use echolocation rather than a cane to get around.<br />
<br />
Ugh, where to start on this one..... I found watching this film an intensely frustrating experience. On the one hand, the sound design and cinematography are stunning--so beautiful and thoughtful about representing the blind experience. And almost all the secondary characters are played by blind people. But on the other hand, the plot (such as it is) is ludicrously inaccurate and insulting both to blind people and their teachers. And true to the art-house style, nothing much happens. It's unbearably slow and the ending is inconclusive.<br />
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A title at the very beginning dedicates the film to Ben Underwood, the teenager who was briefly famous for using echolocation. But it seems Jakimowski did little more than watch a 10 minute TV special on Underwood and created the rest of the story without any sort of research or mundane, boring realism. Yes, echolocation is a real thing and some blind people can do it, even to the extent of not using a cane. Underwood wasn't the only one; there are records of people doing this for hundreds of years. And yes, it probably could be taught more systematically.<br />
<br />
But the way it's handled in this film is utterly ridiculous. Rather than a thoughtful look at real issues facing blind people, the plot relies entirely on the hackneyed trope of the crazy, rule breaking teacher who actually wants to <i>help the kids, man,</i> versus the stuffy, hidebound professor who is only interested in safety and breaking the kids' spirits. <br />
<br />
And what kind of place is this, anyway? Set in a monastery in Portugal, it's repeatedly referred to as a clinic, not a school, and the kids are called patients, not students. It's a random collection of blind people from very young kids to adults, and from random countries all mixed up for no apparent reason. They aren't given medical treatment or taught anything. They seem to spend most of their time sitting around inside doing nothing, waiting for a doctor who never talks to them, and they are forbidden from going outside the walls without an army of helpers. There are also other random sighted people living there (including a monk). Even the very first schools for the blind in Europe and America over 150 years ago were better set up than this, and had more progressive ideas about education for the blind. <br />
<br />
So maverick teacher Ian (Edward Hogg) tries to shake things up, but his lessons mostly consist of sitting around the courtyard outside and sitting around doing nothing inside, only occasionally practicing pouring water into a glass. "It's hard," he intones tragically, as the children spill the water everywhere. Really? I imagine the blind kids in that scene were embarrassed to pretend to be so incompetent on camera, especially the smart-ass British girl. She would have been awesome in <i>Harry Potter</i>, but that's another story.<br />
<br />
Of course Ian and his love interest Eva (played by German actress Alexandra Maria Lara) are played by AB actors faking it. And while the students are all played by blind kids, it's telling that almost none of them have names, personalities or back stories. The camera lingers voyeuristically over their faces as they move dramatically from shadow to light (hello cliche!) but ultimately they're just symbols, not real people. The only exception is an older student played by Melchior Derouet, an awesome French actor who is really blind. He is just as talented as the leads, and far more interesting to watch. The film (or parts of it anyway) is worth watching just for him.<br />
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The other really insulting thing is the way Ian is so against using a cane. This is inane ableism at its worst, the idea that using a piece of adaptive equipment you actually need makes you a cripple and a target of ridicule, like you're giving in to the disability. I see this in a lot of misinformed novels about SCI, where the main character does everything he can not to "give in" to the wheelchair in a triumph of the spirit. Sorry, real life does not work that way. Yes, there are some blind people who don't use canes, but to have the main theme of the movie that the kids should throw away their canes in order to be free is ridiculous. <br />
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The teacher Ian clashes both with the head doctor who thinks his no-cane method is dangerous, and with the students/patients who think he is faking or lying to them. But despite this ready-made conflict, the plot never goes anywhere. At first the atmospheric scenes are nice, but they just meander on forever. None of the characters' motives are clear either; the characterization is as indistinct as the plot.<br />
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Now I am the kind of obsessive dev who will watch hours of Orientation and Mobility videos on YouTube, but even I was bored with this movie by about halfway through, and it's only an hour and forty minutes. This was such a wasted opportunity. I'm still waiting for a movie with an actual blind actor in the main role and that is more than just a bundle of centuries old cliches and misconceptions.<br />
<br />Devo Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01598615876422844043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-4254584861587220842013-11-08T18:13:00.001-08:002013-11-08T18:22:55.166-08:00Love In Touch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XrQAdpUtWuWEwgo1GpOmB1sNWbiRCXAtIQU5J-JV0kLk-X-1D46MIxaHZy9kXQtnmBRzh2QLFcvopW8coZ1L2SuWyA810oBC-Oukg4mf-_bFBleC9noeRxwZ22OzQWWMQ1LR2ynl7p8y/s1600/jakecoverseven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XrQAdpUtWuWEwgo1GpOmB1sNWbiRCXAtIQU5J-JV0kLk-X-1D46MIxaHZy9kXQtnmBRzh2QLFcvopW8coZ1L2SuWyA810oBC-Oukg4mf-_bFBleC9noeRxwZ22OzQWWMQ1LR2ynl7p8y/s320/jakecoverseven.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://devlovepress.com/press-kit-love-in-touch/" target="_blank">Love In Touch</a><br />
by Lucy May Lennox<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
Love In Touch involves a relationship between a woman named Kassie and a deaf/blind man named Jake. I've never read a book about a person who was blind <i>and</i> deaf before, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Lennox's book. I was actually very skeptical. I couldn't figure out how there could be a believable romance between an able-bodied woman and a man who can't see or hear.<br />
<br />
Well, Lennox has made me a believer.<br />
<br />
Jake is not only believable as a love interest for Kassie, he is drop dead sexy. I'm not even a dev of deaf or blind guys, but I can still attest to several devvy thrills throughout this short, sweet novel. The romance progresses slowly, but all seems very genuine. I was really rooting for Jake and Kassie to end up together throughout the many obstacles that come between them.<br />
<br />
A novel like this has the potential to get sappy or condescending, but there isn't a trace of that in Lennox's book. The dialogue is snappy and it's obvious she has a great sense of humor. Jake is a real person with real flaws, and not just some tragic hero. It's also clear that Lennox did a lot of research to make the plot realistic.<br />
<br />
I guarantee that you have never and will never read another book like this for the rest of your life.Annabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12247145375594350131noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-38917268048180332292013-06-30T07:58:00.001-07:002013-06-30T07:59:43.207-07:00Blind TrailBlind Trail<br />
<br />
by Mark Bannerman<br />
<br />
**<br />
<br />
Western. Narrated in the first person, the story starts a few months after Raoul Webster has been blinded in the line of duty. On his way to visit a doctor in San Francisco, his stage coach is attacked by bandits and his brother is killed. Vowing to take revenge, Raoul makes several forays into Apache country and then into Mexico. He also encounters Geronimo and stumbles into several real historical incidents along the way.<br />
<br />
The writing is competent and there is a wealth of historical detail, but still the story didn't fully grab me. Part of the problem is that because the story takes place so soon after Raoul loses his sight, he isn't able to do much more than tag along as things happen around him. He doesn't really do much until the very last scene. The depiction of his blindness is pretty realistic, which is commendable, since not all authors can pull off a blind narrator believably. Also there was a moment with the doctor when it seemed like a miracle cure was going to happen, but it didn't, so no worries there. But it just wasn't that devvy to me--he's just too passive.<br />
<br />
There's also a good bit of romance, but be warned this is a Western, not a romance novel. And the girl he falls for is also so passive as to be almost a non-entity. It's hard to care much about either of them. <br />
<br />Devo Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01598615876422844043noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-31081882248365046572013-03-24T05:13:00.001-07:002013-03-24T05:13:58.405-07:00Thalidomide KidThalidomide Kid<br />
by Kate Rigby<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
Set in small-town England in the 1970s. Daryl Wainwright is the Thalidomide Kid--the youngest in a family of delinquents and petty criminals, he was born without arms, his hands attached directly to his shoulders, because his mother took Distaval when she was pregnant. Celia Burkett is the quiet younger daughter of the local comprehensive school assistant head. They meet at the end of primary school and become unlikely best friends. As they continue to comprehensive school (middle & high school) their friendship blossoms into love.<br />
<br />
Despite the title, the book is as much about Celia as it is about Daryl. She feels stifled by her role as the assistant head's daughter, and all the expectations that brings, from her classmates, teachers, and family. Her father does not want Celia hanging around with Daryl, not because of his disability, but because of his low-class, criminal background. He can't see what Celia does, that Daryl's goofy, joking exterior hides great inner strength and integrity. But if Celia can't be with Daryl, she will find other ways to rebel.<br />
<br />
I really enjoyed this book, even though it's a bit heartbreaking. The details of the time and place are good, and the writing is terrific, a gritty style that depicts the early teen years without sentimentality. There is a lot of British slang, but if you've ever watched British TV shows or read Harry Potter it's easy to understand. The awkward romance between Daryl and Celia is very sweet and moving.<br />
<br />
I found the dev factor pretty high, although there could have been more scenes explaining how Daryl does things. Celia is definitely attracted to him because of his disability. Recommended!Devo Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01598615876422844043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-65844876963006875312013-02-10T03:43:00.000-08:002013-02-10T03:43:24.464-08:00Blind BlondieBlind Blondie<br />
<br />
by Scarlet Blackwell<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
Contemporary M-M romance/erotica. Sam is an artist and a heartless player who is not interested in a
relationship. One day while he's out cruising in his car, he picks up
Kieran, a blind hottie, and allows Kieran to think he's a taxi. Kieran
is not amused. They are not off to a good start. Sam has no intention of
getting involved with someone with a disability who needs his help.
Kieran doesn't want any help, certainly not from Sam. But somehow Sam
can't stop thinking about Kieran, and trying to get close to him.<br /><br />This
is more a short story than a novel, but I found it surprisingly
enjoyable. Sam is a jerk, but a self-aware jerk, and his journey towards
becoming a better person is endearing. Kieran is great, a winning mix
of independent and vulnerable. His blindness is depicted fairly
realistically, and the author manages to avoid the major cliches of
blind characters. The sex scenes were good, sensual without too much
purple prose, and there's a good balance of sex vs character
development. I just wish it were a little longer, as the ending was a
bit rushed.
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And it's super devvy! The author really knows what details to include. A fair number of her other books seem to feature injured or disabled guys.<br />
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Devo Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01598615876422844043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-51753639247889508152013-02-07T06:25:00.000-08:002013-02-10T03:43:47.172-08:00Passion Wears PearlsPassion Wears Pearls<br />
<br />
by Renee Bernard<br />
<br />
*<br />
<br />
Victorian-era romance. Eleanore Beckett is a prim and proper middle-class young lady fallen on hard times. Josiah Hastings is a frustrated painter, slowly losing his sight. When he runs into Eleanore by accident, he realizes that with her bright red hair, she is the colorful muse he must paint before he goes blind. But being an artist's model is not proper employment for a modest young lady. How can he convince her his intentions are honorable? And what if she secretly wants him to take liberties with her?<br />
<br />
I wanted to like this story, but I just couldn't get into it. If you are looking for a "wounded hero" romance this does not really fit the bill. Josiah worries a lot about losing his sight, but his worsening vision does not actually impact his activities (except in his mind) until the very end, when he suddenly, with no preparation or training, develops magical blind person skills. He can "do things no sighted man could"! What nonsense. Eleanore catches on to his condition early, in a bit of clunky exposition, but never acts on or thinks about that knowledge until the very end. Even then, her only advice to him is to keep painting, even if he has to put his nose to the canvas to see it. Uh, way to help him adapt. There just wasn't enough character development for either of them dealing with his blindness to make for a satisfying read. Dev factor was almost zero.<br />
<br />
I found the hero and heroine rather flat. Eleanore's big conflict is whether to give up propriety and give in to her desire for Josiah. But since it is a foregone conclusion that she will, it doesn't add much tension to the plot to have her agonize over this for pages and pages. <br />
<br />
The quality of the writing is average for a romance novel, and the plot is strictly by the numbers. The historical details are pretty good, although there are several jarring lapses into modern language. There is a LOT of sex, so much so that it seemed more like erotica than a romance, as character development and forward momentum of the plot were often sacrificed to long sex scenes in purplish prose. All in all, I found it rather dull.Devo Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01598615876422844043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-18194052109384333182013-01-29T12:47:00.001-08:002013-02-07T06:29:33.903-08:00Morgan (2012)<br />
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<i><b>Written by:</b></i> Sandon Berg and Michael Akers</div>
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<b><i>Directed by:</i></b> Michael Akers</div>
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<b><i>Film Distributor:</i></b> United Gay Network</div>
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<b><i>Starring:</i></b></div>
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Leo Minaya as Morgan Oliver</div>
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Jack Kesy as Dean Kagen<o:p> </o:p></div>
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<b><i>Supporting Cast:</i></b></div>
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Madalyn McKay as Peg Oliver</div>
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Darra ‘Like Dat’ Boyd as Lane Williams</div>
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Benjamin Budd as Wesley Blake</div>
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Theodore Bouloukos as Dr. Thomas</div>
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Dane Anton as Physical Therapist</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><i>Official Film Trailer:</i></b></span></div>
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<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://3.gvt0.com/vi/1cnOM_GatwM/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1cnOM_GatwM&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1cnOM_GatwM&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Synopsis</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Morgan Oliver is recently paraplegic, T-10 incomplete, as a result of a bicycle accident during a race he was competing in. He has recently returned home from rehab and he’s now unemployed and living on disability, adjusting to his new life and the new adaptive setup in his apartment. His preferred way to pass the time is drinking beer and watching television, and the main events of the film begin when he runs out of beer and neither his mother, Peg, nor his best friend, Lane, will enable him any further. They refuse to buy him more beer, forcing him to leave the house on his own. It is during his trip out to replenish his beer supplies that he meets Dean Kagen, which is where our romance begins. The dialogue seems a bit forced at first, but it gets more natural as the film progresses. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The drama unfolds once Morgan decides he wants to compete in the wheelchair division of the very same race that cost him his ability to walk, where Morgan, because of his hyper-competitive nature, caused an accident involving himself and two other competitors on a very dangerous part of the course. This same hyper-competitive nature leads to his doing things he ought not to be doing and refusing to listen to reason from Dean, his doctor, or anyone else. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This film is a journey for Morgan where he must confront his past and his present, and he must find a way to learn from his mistakes and move forward. This is also, to a lesser extent, a journey for Dean in finding a new way to live following the death of his mother. But most of all, it is a romance featuring a paraplegic romantic lead, which is something that is very rare to find. And better yet, it is a romance that delves into the issue of disabled sexuality, which we almost never see on film. And Morgan is pretty cute, too, so that helps. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><i>Fanvid by JJstrikesback1:</i></b></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So how does it fare with regard to portrayal of a disabled character and disabled sexuality?<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is a male/male romance, but it is not a coming out story; rather, the central focus of the story is Morgan’s disability. The film addresses both the disability and the romance from a variety of angles and is, I think, one of the most comprehensive films I’ve seen with regard to disability and romance. It’s a low budget film with acting that could be better, but the writing/directing/production team of Michael Akers and Sandon Berg, as well as Leo Minaya, who played the title character, Morgan, did quite a lot of research in preparation for this film (though there are certainly some important gaps). Leo Minaya is not paraplegic himself, and this was a deliberate casting decision on behalf of the filmmakers because the film originally was going to contain scenes of Morgan before his accident which ended up being cut from the final version of the film. I think that things like Photoshop and body doubles could get around the reasons they cited for hiring a non-disabled actor instead of a disabled one, but the actor they cast was very dedicated to portraying the reality of Morgan’s paralysis. There was a scene early on in the film where Dean helps Morgan with his leg exercises, and the director had instructed Leo Minaya to keep his leg up during the scene after Dean let go of it, and Mr. Minaya insisted that this would be impossible for Morgan to do and he made sure that the film reflected this. There was another particular scene that was very physically intense, and in the commentary, the filmmakers point out multiple times that Leo Minaya refused to use his legs to help him with this very difficult scene, insisting on pulling himself back up and over the wall using only his arms. A lot of actors, particularly in low budget indie films, might not have this kind of dedication to the role they were playing, and so although I think a paraplegic actor would have been preferable, Leo MInaya did a great job of being Morgan. Leo Minaya and Jack Kesy are not gay in real life, either, but they managed to do a great job with that aspect of their roles, as well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are three areas where I think the film suffered from the decision not to use a paraplegic actor –</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">First, in simple physical realism. Morgan had a lot of muscle tone, and even for a guy less than a year post injury who is still actively doing physical therapy, there are just some things you can’t fake, and the appearance of a paraplegic’s legs and abdomen is one of them. There were two scenes in particular where abdominal strength and control were slightly unrealistic. The first is a scene where he’s in the shower on a shower chair and not using either of his arms to maintain his balance or keep from falling or sliding down. The second is that there are a couple of scenes where he’s doing sit-ups, and I just don’t think that a T-10 paraplegic would be able to move the specific muscle combination necessary to do those particular exercises. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The second area the film suffered from not casting a paraplegic actor is, of course, realism regarding bladder and bowel issues. That’s something that is not touched on even one single time in the film, and Morgan doesn’t seem to use a catheter or go to the bathroom for anything other than a shower, ever. Men I’ve known with SCI have always gone to the bathroom to sort everything that needs to be sorted before coming to the bed and being intimate, and I think it’s pretty standard to have at least one conversation about bladder and bowel issues at some point in the relationship. This just wasn’t a feature in the film, but it’s something that really can’t be ignored in an intimate relationship with someone who is paraplegic. I think this would have been very different had they used a paraplegic actor in the role.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And following from that, the third area where I think the film suffered from not using a paraplegic actor was that, although they did significantly address Morgan’s erectile dysfunction, one thing they forgot about was making sure he took his little blue pills before having sex with Dean, and also, for that matter, addressing whether and how much he could feel, as an incomplete paraplegic, when having sex. Also, sex with a paraplegic guy is not a spontaneous act. It requires preparation. And also, I would have been really curious to see how they actually figured out the right positions and the best way to do things for both of them, which wasn’t really spelled out. There were one or two great conversations before they became sexually active that addressed Morgan’s erectile dysfunction and Dean’s openness to figuring things out as they went along, but nothing at the time they finally did have sex for the first time or any time after that. Also, there is a single scene in the film where, during sex, they show the scar as Dean runs his arm down Morgan’s back, and it’s not quite the Joel Brown “Personal Rockstar” video, but it is sensual and shows that they are making an effort to show this aspect of Morgan’s disability. However, I think that the film would have been more realistic in this regard if the actor playing Morgan had been paraplegic himself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Other than these areas, though, I think that the research the writers did paid off, and you really can tell that they did their homework. Also, they made Morgan and Dean both into well-rounded characters with flaws and quirks and issues that are not related to Morgan’s disability. Morgan is hyper-competitive, afraid of public displays of affection, bad with money, and drinks a bit too much. The writers say that the overarching theme for understanding Morgan’s issues is his issue with his own masculinity that dates back to when he was about 12 years old and his father left the family not long after finding out that Morgan was gay. Dean has just gone through a long period of caring for an ailing mother who has recently died, and he never came out to her when she was alive and is still getting the hang of being an out gay man. Their conflicts come not from Morgan’s disability but from his character flaws, and Dean is quite comfortable with Morgan’s disability from the very beginning. This is also not a coming out film, although Dean is more recently out than Morgan. This is a romance between two men whose major conflict is over Morgan’s hyper-competitiveness rather than his disability. The romance is complex and grows organically, and their relationship is multi-faceted and fairly realistic. Having watched not only the film, but also the deleted scenes, the Behind the Scenes Featurette, and the commentary, I’ve gotten to be quite familiar with the filmmakers’ thought processes as well as with the characters and the film itself, and I really think the filmmakers and the cast did an outstanding job at accomplishing this, despite my continued belief that the role would have been even better with a paraplegic actor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ironically, the writers got the idea for the film itself from a paraplegic actor who auditioned for another film they did together, who was kind enough to sit down with them and really talk about issues of being gay and paraplegic and dating, sex, etc. During their conversation, they even touched on the topic of guys who wanted to be with someone who they perceived as “needing” them and guys with a “wheelchair fetish”. Later on during the preparation for the film, they went to a disabled dating site and talked with two paraplegic men they connected with on there about their experiences and preferences when dating and their issues with sexuality. Perhaps this is why I have such an issue with the fact that they went with a non-paraplegic actor, but really, they did do their research, and Leo Minaya did work very hard to ensure as much authenticity as possible in his portrayal of Morgan Oliver. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682288657372361916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-82975423858728578682013-01-12T06:14:00.000-08:002013-08-06T19:38:39.187-07:00Reprobate: Amsterdam Assassin Series<a href="http://amzn.com/B0094VD7JW" target="_blank">Reprobate: A Katla Novel</a><br />
Book one in the Amsterdam Assassin Series<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwxEM3vRF9ek3Uxrmu3qA-KQKIpoTccsIcH-C6acon3Hz_Y4zUQ-Qkz2cByqxPiMrUIMon59iHgofTxgOWXqjx1w4fI-yJlxnjtLd5A5O1ETYycHV3KUOf6mNYcN6Zk2_pE5iRip_iW_y/s1600/REPROBATE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwxEM3vRF9ek3Uxrmu3qA-KQKIpoTccsIcH-C6acon3Hz_Y4zUQ-Qkz2cByqxPiMrUIMon59iHgofTxgOWXqjx1w4fI-yJlxnjtLd5A5O1ETYycHV3KUOf6mNYcN6Zk2_pE5iRip_iW_y/s200/REPROBATE.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>
<br />
by Martyn V. Halm<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Katla is a professional assassin for hire, specializing in hits that
can't be traced. When the novel begins, she is taking out the owner of a
shop selling antique Japanese swords, with his own merchandise, when
she is interrupted by a blind man who has come to pick up his order.
Katla has a firm policy of not allowing witnesses to her hits to live,
but Bram is blind, and totally sexy. She lets him go, but can't seem to
stay away from him. So begins an unlikely but fascinating partnership.
How will a cold-blooded killer and a pacifist musician find any common
ground?<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, American DEA agents are brought to Amsterdam
to help IPOL break up a drug ring run by a local gang. Katla is
unwittingly drawn in to a law enforcement sting operation by a
double-crossing client. There is some gory violence as Katla carries out
her hits, but the emphasis is firmly on procedure: descriptions of guns
and knives, techniques, and the autopsies and forensics afterward.<br />
<br />
But of course, Devo Girl was way more interested in Bram. He is a
terrific character, very realistic and SUPER devvy. He's well-adjusted and capable, but
not superhuman. He plays the saxophone, practices shiatsu on the local
yakuza, and studies aikido. He's just the right combination of strong
and vulnerable, and it's oh so sexy. And Katla pursues him with the single-minded obsession of a dev. His blindness and the scars on his face and eyes make him more sexy to her. It's awesome.<br />
<br />
There is also a second blind character who shows up in a small but great scene. And another character who is a DAK amputee, but that is very minor.<br />
<br />
I also like that Katla is a tough, strong woman who
doesn't have trauma or abuse in her past. She's just good at what she
does. It's quite a trick to get the audience to root for the killer and
the police equally, but the author pulls it off. The Dutch setting is also unusual and interesting. I'm looking forward to
the next books in the series.<br />
<br />
ETA: The sequel, <a href="http://amzn.com/B00AOR07BG" target="_blank">Pecadillo</a>, is even better than the first volume. A lot more Bram, too! <br />
<br />
Read my interview with author Martyn Halm on <a href="http://www.ruthmadison.com/author-interview-reprobate-by-martyn-v-halm/" target="_blank">Ruth Madison's blog</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />Devo Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01598615876422844043noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-37465042780559581182013-01-06T12:18:00.000-08:002013-02-07T06:28:57.352-08:00In The Eye of the Beholder by Beverly Cialone<img alt="In The Eye of the Beholder" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1257981867m/7131015.jpg" /><br />
<br />
NO STARS<br />
<br />
I really didn't like this book. The female mc was very insipid and weak. She was a thirty year old virgin who considered herself as unattractive. Her actions seem contradictory to the personality the writer had shared with us. In that she is very insecure and self-analytical but yet has confidence to wonder over to a doctor and introduce herself. That just doesn't fit with the rest of her personality.<br />
<br />
My main objection is with the male mc. The story opens with him reading a book and leading her around, he is fairly sweet but as the synopsis on the "cover" tells us he is going to be blind so when he drops his "bombshell" we aren't that shocked. But I was shocked as to how completely implausible this character was portrayed. He moved around his environment without any assistance, he managed to read books in the conventional way without any braille or speech apparatus, and carried a pager around with requires sight to read the message. <br />
<br />
I wish the author had either just made this a tale about a doctor falling for an ugly duckling or had made far more concessions to the character's disability. I do really hope that, with this book being electronic, she may revisit it at some time and make adjustments to his character.<br />
<br />
I could not recommend this to anyone because of the failings of the portrayal of disability being completely inconsequential to a persons life that it is only paid lip service. I sincerely hope that should Beverly Cialone tackle another character with disability, she does research and writes it with more realism.
<br />
<br />Trickletreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17275503287592089587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-76812159699662110692013-01-02T06:14:00.001-08:002013-01-02T06:14:48.381-08:00Young Adult<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00797MB0O/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&tag=ruthmadi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00797MB0O"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B00797MB0O&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=ruthmadi-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ruthmadi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00797MB0O" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
Dev Rating: ***<br />
<br />
The movie Young Adult with Charlize Theron was not at all what I was expecting.<br />
<br />
Being about a YA author, I thought it would be zany and fun, an upbeat comedy. It came up on Netflix and I watched it last night, discovering that it was anything but upbeat.
It's actually very difficult to watch.<br />
<br />
The main character is struggling with depression and her behavior can be very difficult to empathize with. The only thing that kept me watching was discovering a character played by Patton Oswald who has a disability.<br />
<br />
The story is that Mavis leaves the big city of Minneapolis to go back home to Mercury, Minosota when she sees her ex-boyfriend's announcement that he and his wife have had a baby. Mavis becomes convinced that Buddy, her ex, is trapped in his marriage and would want to escape with her. When she arrives, she bumps into someone else she went to high school with, Matt. She doesn't remember him, even though his locker was next to hers, because she was a cool kid. Her memory is triggered when she realizes that he is "the hate crime guy." Meaning that Matt had been attacked and brutally beaten by other kids at the school because they thought he was gay. He says because he actually isn't gay, it turns out it wasn't a hate crime. But his legs were damaged beyond repair and he walks with one forearm crutch. Mavis gets drunk and tells him her plan to get Buddy away from his wife. Matt tries to talk her out of it, but she is entirely delusional. Throughout the movie, Matt and Mavis start to become friends since he's the only one who is seeing the real her.<br />
<br />
I found his character to be deeply moving. The crutch was not something that he just carried around for its metaphorical value to the movie. He really does move with it. He has the insight that Mavis lacks and she is not able to see it when she hurts him. I was really surprised by how sensual and sexy I found him to be.<br />
<br />
There's a rather hilarious scene when they bump into Mavis's cousin who is a paraplegic and the "happiest cripple in town" according to Matt. The guy is cheerful and upbeat, telling them about his wife, his kids, his rock climbing, and how he and Matt were "rebooted for extra positivity."<br />
<br />
Overall, though, it is a really sad movie. It ended on a note of hope, but not nearly the happy ending that this American viewer loves! It left me feeling bleak. Still, it was totally worth watching for Oswald's performance. I never would have expected to find him sexy, but he really was. Just make sure you have someone nearby to cuddle with when it's over.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13195645967378589211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-78646684837398240822013-01-02T00:01:00.001-08:002013-01-02T00:01:38.980-08:00The Boy Next Door<a href="http://amzn.com/B00AMRO4MG" target="_blank">The Boy Next Door</a><br />
<br />
by Annabelle Costa<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
This is the third offering from Dev Love Press, and a book that originally appeared on Paradevo. So hopefully most of you already know it, but for any new readers, here is a review:<br />
<br />
Jason and Tasha have been best friends since they were kids, even though
Jason is kind of a nerd, and Tasha is a little teenage hottie. They go
their separate ways in college, then reconnect as adults in New York.
Somehow, without quite realizing how it happened, Tasha finds herself
still single at 32, wanting to settle down, unable to find the right
guy. Someone like Jason, but they're just friends. And he doesn't even
think of her like that, right?<br /><br />This book is so much fun to read.
The writing is snappy and funny, and the romance goes down as sweet as
candy, filled with pop culture references. In between the chapters are
clever charts that poke fun at the chick-lit genre.<br /><br />Tasha and
Jason are great characters--flawed but loveable and believable. Even
though the action takes place when they are adults, there are lots of
flashbacks to their childhood and teen years. I really liked that Tasha
slept around a lot but there's no slut-shaming. She has a slightly
embarrassing past, but it's not that big a deal. So refreshing after
reading so many prudish romances.<br /><br />Jason's disability is also
handled really well. A paraplegic from a car accident when he was 5,
it's not that big a deal to him or to Tasha, but the book does a good
job of showing how he's adjusted and how people react to him. And the
author doesn't cheat on the details. It's very realistic without being a
huge downer. The wheelchair is part of who he is, but it doesn't define
him.<br />
<br />
Having a dev author makes all the difference! Even though Tasha is not a dev herself, the narration lingers over just the right details. Even if you have read this story on PD in the past, please support Dev Love Press by buying a copy, so they can continue to bring us great dev books. Devo Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01598615876422844043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-6015816387299810162013-01-01T16:09:00.000-08:002013-02-07T06:28:16.090-08:00They Say Love Is Blind<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15786822-they-say-love-is-blind"><img alt="They Say Love is Blind by Pepper Pace" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344118927l/15786822.jpg" title="They Say Love is Blind by Pepper Pace" width="100" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">By Pepper Pace</span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dev Rating (The first half **** the second ***)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I really enjoyed this book. Victoria is an anti heroine, she is overweight, insecure, low self confidence in other words a real woman and not a barbie doll. She is plodding through her average life, going to work, slobbing in her pj's and trying to shed her unwanted pounds. On a clumsy bus journey she spots Lee and it is lust at first sight.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Lee was everything I like in a romantic lead. Hunky, funny, kind and very sexy. Victoria watches from afar, never believing that he'd ever be remotely attracted to her.... But sparks fly.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Pepper Pace faces Lee's disability head on, with a positivity that brightens up the story. A couple of places I felt her research was a little too forced fed to the reader and rather than have Tory ask loads of questions we could have had a bit more show not tell. But saying that I did find it interesting to learn what computer programme he used and was surprised at the cause of his blindness, so much so I had to have a google session. I really like the discovery of his blindness, to me it was plausible. I also got a zing out of the early dating sections and after an incident which made him lose confidence but he seemed to recover rather quickly from that.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There were enough story plots to keep me turning the page. So all in all a very enjoyable read!</span>Trickletreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17275503287592089587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-32055511471010035072012-12-23T05:01:00.001-08:002012-12-23T05:01:51.543-08:00The Art of Blindness <a href="http://amzn.com/B0092EYM1I" target="_blank">The Art of Blindness</a><br />
<br />
by J. L. Williams<br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
Abandoned in a magical forest as a baby, Sendjuit learns to fend for himself like a wild animal, until he is eventually adopted by Helio, prince of Abram, and trained to be his bodyguard and companion. Even after he is blinded in an accident, Sendjuit still manages to become a fearsome warrior, defending Helio and facing threats from the forest and the enemy kingdom of Dorcas. In many ways this is a classic hero's journey, with a big dose of romance toward the end.<br /><br />While the writing is not quite up to professional grade, this is still a satisfying read. There's a lot of misuse of language, and the medieval-ish fantasy world is not 100% internally consistent. The characters all talk and behave like young teens, which is great when they are young, but not as convincing when they are adults. There's a very high school feel to many of the interactions, especially with the few female characters. And the ending is repeated twice, kind of like two drafts of the same scenes. It really reads like something written by a precocious child.<br />
<br />
However, it is much better written than the average fantasy on fictionpress, and well worth paying for. The story is completely original, with a lot of fast-paced action and suspense. The romance is very touching.<br /><br />Sendjuit is an appealing character--although he wild and kind of bratty in the beginning, he develops into a loyal and surprisingly tender young man. The depiction of his blindness is ok but not totally realistic. He relies on a supernatural sense of smell, which I guess is linked to a curse that makes him part wolf, but he develops that power before the curse, so again, not fully consistent. However, it didn't bother me too much. And it's not just the blindness, there's a lot of "wounded hero" stuff all through the book. From the moment Send loses two fingers as a young child, he keeps getting injured over and over. I found the dev factor pretty high despite all the magic. And there's no magical cure, which is probably a first for a for a blind character in a fantasy setting. The narration is from Send's point of view, also not something authors attempt often, and it's done pretty well.<br /><br />Despite its flaws, I still enjoyed reading this a lot. I've never read anything quite like it. The writer has a lot of raw talent, but really needs a professional editor.Devo Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01598615876422844043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-89955277936586890672012-12-09T04:50:00.000-08:002012-12-09T04:50:05.464-08:00Blind ImpulseBlind Impulse<br />
<br />
by Kathryn Loch<br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
Medieval romance.<br />
<br />
Garin Swein returns from fighting in the Crusades to England, just in time to marry his childhood betrothed, Alyna and take over as baron of Kirkoswald. But just after returning, he is struck with a fever that leaves him blind. Everyone expects him to cancel the marriage and step down, allowing his sister Julia and her fiance to inherit the barony. Alyna, inspired by her blind uncle, is convinced she can teach Garin to cope. But the threat that he could be stripped of his title is real--will Alyna be able to help him? And will that be enough to satisfy the authorities and his grasping sister?<br />
<br />
The writing is pretty good for a romance. Garin and Alyna are appealing characters, and the depiction of his blindness is fairly realistic. There is some good action at the end too, but through the middle it moved kind of slowly. Garin spends way too long agonizing over things that should have already been resolved, like his doubts that Alyna is only helping him for selfish reasons. Also there's a big subplot with Julia. It paid off in the end but for a long time it felt like a distraction.<br />
<br />
The number of anachronisms really bugged me. Everything is just too dainty for a medieval setting. The characters all read and write fluently, even the women, and people exchange letters and notes as if paper were readily available. They have carpets on the floors, glass in the windows, and napkins at the table. The characters all behave in a very modern way too. It's a shame because many of the details are good, like the clothing and armor. The middle ages is a hard setting to get right because it is so distant from us. As a romance this book is pretty good, but as historical fiction, not so much.Devo Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01598615876422844043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-71294121339629835662012-12-09T04:26:00.000-08:002012-12-09T04:26:26.503-08:00AfflictedAfflicted<br />
<br />
by Brandon Shire<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
Contemporary gay romance/erotica.<br />
<br />
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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.
Devo Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01598615876422844043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-18807093639636768852012-12-09T04:22:00.001-08:002012-12-09T04:22:41.227-08:00Silence Is Multicolored in My WorldSilence is Multicolored in My World<br />
<br />
by Red Haircrow<br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
This is an unusual, somewhat mysterious book, but well worth reading.<br /><br />First,
it's not a novel. It's a collection of first person essays, maybe
originally blog posts, about an unnamed young man, collected and edited
by his partner, after his death at the age of 31. Nothing is stated
outright, there are only vague hints. Here's what we know about him:
profoundly deaf at a young age due to illness, he escaped the horrors of
a Russian orphanage and ended up turning tricks on the street as a
teen. An older foreign man bought his freedom, and brought him to
Berlin, where he settled. His rescuer was first his friend, then his
lover, and eventually his legal husband. We never find out how he died,
it's only mentioned in passing in the foreword.<br /><br />The book is
divided into sections, with essays on various topics. The first section
talks about his deafness in a very moving, poetic way. I found it super devvy! Especially the chapter where he describes going to a concert to feel the vibrations of the music. The descriptions
of his daily life in a country house are also quite beautiful. Later
sections give his opinions on homophobia, sex abuse, and gay culture. He
describes trips to the US, and comments on American and German culture.
The essays are refreshingly outspoken and personal. It's obvious too
that English is not his first language, but I found the unusual word
choice poetic, creative, and thought-provoking, not at all an impediment
to understanding.<br /><br />In all, he comes across as a fascinating,
deeply sympathetic person. Reading through what in many ways feels like
his private diary is moving but also slightly unsettling, because it is
so personal, and in the end we know so little about him. Ironically,
many of the later essays talk about his need for privacy. But in
printing his thoughts, this book invites more questions about who he was
and how he died. I would have liked at least a little more solid
information.
Devo Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01598615876422844043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-7756428905371062782012-12-06T12:50:00.000-08:002012-12-06T12:51:07.627-08:00A Slow, Cold DeathA Slow, Cold Death<br />
by Susy Gage<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ACCJM28/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00ACCJM28&linkCode=as2&tag=ruthmadi-20"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00ACCJM28&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=ruthmadi-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ruthmadi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00ACCJM28" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
Dev Rating: ***<br />
<br />
This book was sent to me by the author so I could give it an endorsement. Pretty cool!<br />
<br />
It's quite a different kind of book and I appreciate that about it. It's a murder mystery that takes place within the world of academic research, a physics lab to be exact. I have long been fascinated by the unique atmosphere of university research labs with their crazy red tape and strange rules.<br />
<br />
The characters are wild and large and a lot of fun to follow.<br />
<br />
Lou is the character in a wheelchair. He was paralyzed in a car accident that starts looking less and less like an accident as other people in his department are killed.<br />
<br />
I wish there had been more of him and more devy scenes, but okay, it's not written by a dev. There's a great bike ride that I found very devy.<br />
<br />
I like the portrayal of Lou a lot. He's realistic and believable. He shows how much a paralyzed man can still do but the narrative also shows his struggles.<br />
<br />
The author has promised more books with Lou and Lori, so I look forward to seeing more of him much like I read Meg Gardiner's books for Jesse.<br />
<br />
Read an interview with the author at my blog: <a href="http://www.ruthmadison.com/review-a-slow-cold-death/">http://www.ruthmadison.com/review-a-slow-cold-death/</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13195645967378589211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-66890873227772209412012-10-22T09:57:00.000-07:002012-10-22T11:04:50.322-07:00To Hear You Smile<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00925BZ0S/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00925BZ0S&linkCode=as2&tag=ruthmadi-20"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00925BZ0S&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=ruthmadi-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ruthmadi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00925BZ0S" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
<br />
To Hear You Smile by Gina Rossi<br />
<br />
(The title is so hard to read on the cover! Plus you hardly get any idea at all what the book is about. Bad design, if you ask me).<br />
<br />
Dev Rating: **<br />
(As a book, 4/5)<br />
<br />
I like the writing style in this one a lot. The author is clearly a pro. It's sweet, endearing, romantic, and fun. It seriously makes me want to pack up and move to a quiet English village.<br />
<br />
The only problem is that the blurb is left intentionally vague about the disability because (DevoGirl, look away!), the heroine meets the blind hero and doesn't realize that he's blind. Yes, this is one of DG's top complaints about books with blind characters.<br />
<br />
It was difficult for me to keep reading because I found that idea so silly. Oliva meets Zac three or four times, and even has a lengthy date with him, without ever figuring out that he's blind. There are little hints all over the place (and in the title, of course), but it's half way through the novella before Oliva finds out (and I guess it's supposed to be a surprise for the reader too?)<br />
<br />
If you are able to see past that conceit, the story is really charming and I would recommend it. The dev factor was lessened for me because I found the confusion about him being blind to be really irritating. If I wasn't so distracted by that I would have found it significantly more devy.<br />
<br />
I'm looking forward to trying more stories from this author.<br />
<br />
See a longer review on my website: <a href="http://www.ruthmadison.com/monday-book-review-to-hear-you-smile">www.ruthmadison.com</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13195645967378589211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-18991780160918992842012-10-17T10:36:00.001-07:002012-10-17T10:37:28.846-07:00Breath(e)<strong>Breath(e)</strong> by Ruth Madison<br />
<br />
Dev Rating: ****<br />
<br />
A sequel to Madison's first book (W)hole, Breath(e) delves into Elizabeth's experience exploring her devo-sexuality in college. After breaking up with her paraplegic boyfriend Stewart, Elizabeth attempts several other relationships with disabled men, most with disastrous consequences.<br />
<br />
All I can say is that Ruth Madison "gets it." Elizabeth's struggles are all too familiar for any devotee who has struggled to connect with a disabled partner. Her experiences and emotions feel incredibly real, from her painful confession to her parents to being shunned by her colleagues. You will find yourself rooting for Elizabeth to get her happy ending (both literally and figuratively). <br />
<br />
Much like (W)hole, this book is a must-read for any devotee. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breath-Ruth-Madison/dp/0985826320/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350495140&sr=8-1&keywords=breath%28e%29">Buy it from Amazon</a> and I promise you'll finish it in one weekend! Annabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12247145375594350131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-68986879429385553302012-09-28T12:40:00.000-07:002013-02-07T06:27:50.024-08:00Sydney Harbour Hospital: Tom's Redemption <a href="http://www.alicegibson.net/reviews-3/reviews/" title="Sydney"><img alt="" height="157" src="http://www.alicegibson.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Sydney-e1348866178484.jpg" title="Sydney" width="107" /></a>
<!-- end of #container --><br />
<!-- end of #container --><br />
<!-- end of #container -->Sydney Harbour Hospital: Tom's Redemption by Fiona Lowe<br />
My rating: 3 of 5 stars<br />
<br />
Hayley Grey is a Resident at Sydney Harbour Hospital, she is one exam away from being a qualified Surgeon. She is scared of the dark but other than that a good kick ass female main character. Tom Jordon, a Surgeon, has returned to Sydney from Perth where he had been recuperating for two years following an accident; a car banged into him when he was cycling.<br />
<br />
We learn that Tom is gorgeous, a serious person whose focus has been 100% on his carear which is now not an option for him. So he is at the stage in his life where he is looking for what he wants to do now.<br />
<br />
Enter Hayley into his life. They develop a friendship which grows to more...<br />
<br />
This book is a fast read. I didn't really feel involved in the story which I think was mainly due to the length of the book not giving the author or reader time to really engaged in the story. Likewise, these two fairly interesting characters didn't get room to grow. Their bumps in their relationship seemed to be solved before you got a chance to fret for them.<br />
<br />
The medical referencing was just enough to convince me they knew what they were doing without flowing the pages with terminology.<br />
<br />
I enjoyed the book but it was just ok.
Trickletreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17275503287592089587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-15373286720573467342012-09-17T06:36:00.001-07:002012-09-17T06:36:53.563-07:00A Life Worth Living<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A Life Worth Living by Lorrie Kraus<br />
<br /></div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0984725431/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0984725431&linkCode=as2&tag=ruthmadi-20"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0984725431&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=ruthmadi-20" /></a><br />
<br />
Dev Rating: <img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ruthmadi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0984725431" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />****<br />
(Although, it didn't get super devy for me until the last third of the book)<br />
<br />
I really enjoyed this book.<br />
<br /></div>
The first thing that really impressed me was how accurate all the details were. This is an author who definitely knows a lot about SCI (and when I interview her, I’m going to ask her about that!) From how the insurance works to ordering a wheelchair to the physical changes in how a paralyzed person knows when he needs to use the bathroom, it is all accurate. I really appreciate that real life issues of paraplegia were not glossed over.<br />
<br />
I love the message that sometimes the best thing in your life comes from your plan for your life getting completely screwed up. Good is born from bad. I think that’s so true.<br />
<br />
Ordinarily I don’t read new injury stories, as they tend to bore me. I’ve read so, so many books with disabled characters and that right-after-the-accident time tends to be all the same. I prefer a hero who has adjusted to his disability and has moved on with his life. Here, however, the little bit of a mystery about what really happened that night was enough to keep me engaged and moving forward.
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</div>
I feel like the time Matt spent with the girl who was CLEARLY all wrong for him what too long. I was getting frustrated and fed up that he couldn't see that she wasn't the right person for him until page 300. Now, at page 300 the book became great, in my opinion. That's when it really became romantic and sexy and completely enjoyable. Basically it's when he begins the process of courting the girl that we all know is perfect for him.<br />
<br />
My only real criticism is a tiny one. There's talk about how he needs to order his own chair and he resists that for a long time. When he finally agrees to do it, we never see him actually get a new chair. So it didn't become clear to me that he was no longer using the hospital chair until there's a mention of him taking the wheels off when he gets in a car. It pulled me from the story a little to be wondering about that and I would have liked to see a scene with him getting the new chair, seeing how different it was from the hospital chair and how much easier it was to maneuver.<br />
<br />
I would cry foul on how easy it was for Matt to get and maintain an erection, but because all the details of his injury were so very accurate it was easy for me to buy that he was lucky in his particular injury.
Overall I really enjoyed this book, particularly, as I said, the last third of it. I'd highly recommend this to any dev. It's what a love story should be, I think!<br />
<br />
Read a longer review at my site: <a href="http://www.ruthmadison.com/monday-book-review-a-life-worth-living/" target="_blank">ruthmadison.com</a> And an interview with the author will be up soon!
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13195645967378589211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-87697554314513072322012-09-05T17:54:00.001-07:002012-09-05T18:11:35.110-07:00Vittorio's Woman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006Y8LLVY/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B006Y8LLVY&linkCode=as2&tag=ruthmadi-20"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B006Y8LLVY&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=ruthmadi-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ruthmadi-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B006Y8LLVY" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
<br />
<br />
Vittorio's Woman<br />
by Kinberley Reeves<br />
<br />
Dev Rating: *<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
Lilly is a physical therapist, but she doesn't do it for money, she just really likes helping people. She gets a call from the sister of a man she saw once at a party and developed a huge crush on, Simon Vittorio. The sister says that Simon's had an accident and he's in despair. He needs a tough physical therapist to pull him from his depression and get him inspired to walk again. Simon has also been blinded by this accident, the characters hope temporarily. Little does Lilly know, Simon remembers her and has also been longing for her as much as she has for him. But he's driven away other psychical therapists and he's going to do the same to her by making her super uncomfortable sexually. (???)</div>
<h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; line-height: 19px;">
<span style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;">The writing is fine. No glaring errors, nothing really wrong with it, but the book definitely left me feeling "meh." </span></h3>
<h4 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">But oh my God, the cliches. Every single one of the romance genre seems to be present here:</span></h4>
<blockquote style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
-She's cute when she's angry. Whenever she's upset, Simon has to stifle the urge to laugh.<br />
-She's so special that a man-whore who has been sleeping with any girl who breathes for the last twenty years or so instantly falls so in love with her that he'll never want anyone else ever again.<br />
-She's secretly a virgin (and secretly rich)<br />
-Outrageous and ridiculous misunderstandings abound when a simple conversation would make everything clear</blockquote>
<div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
(Okay, at least there isn't a secret baby)</div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
And Simon's big plan to drive Lilly away? To kiss her. Seriously? The plot is convoluted, strange, and hard to make any sense out of. </div>
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<div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
I didn't find anything sexy about Simon personally. He is rich and Italian and passionate and (apparently) madly in love with the heroine (for no discernible reason). That's probably plenty of people's fantasy, but I found him foppish and irritating. The laughing at Lilly whenever she was upset and telling her how adorable she is when she's mad was so patronizing it kind of made me hate him. If he had felt real enough to hate, anyway.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's pretty clear from the start that a cure is likely. I don't think I can call it a "miracle cure," since his prognosis from the start is that he's going to recover. This is more of a nurse-back-to-health fantasy than a dev fantasy. But then, why is he driving away physical therapists and being bitter when he's likely to recover if he just puts in a tiny bit of effort...? I have no idea.<br />
<br />
The cover is a weird choice too. Sexy image (would be better with a wheelchair!) but you can't even read the title at all. The lack of contrast is a very unprofessional choice.</div>
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<br />
Longer review here: <a href="http://www.ruthmadison.com/monday-book-review-vittorios-woman">www.ruthmadison.com/monday-book-review-vittorios-woman</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13195645967378589211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-26087071639548686472012-08-24T05:45:00.000-07:002012-08-24T05:45:42.661-07:00A Discreet Gentleman of Discovery<a href="http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-272/Discreet-Gentleman-Book-One/Detail.bok" target="_blank">A Discreet Gentleman of Discovery</a><br />
<br />
by Kris Tualla<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
18th century romance set in Norway. Brander Hansen lost his hearing to an infection at the age of seven. Disinherited by his father, he sets himself up as a "gentleman of discovery," a kind of 18th century detective, aided by his cousin Niels. Baroness Regin Kildahl writes to him for help when her husband gambles away their estate, not knowing that Brander has been systematically buying up the debts on the Kildahl estate, hoping to buy himself a title. Brander, using his professional pseudonym Lord Olaf Olsen, agrees to help her, while also attempting to solve a string of murders around Christiania (Oslo). The plot description on Amazon goes into a lot more detail about the plot, but it's kind of spoiler-y, don't read it if you don't want to know half the story.<br />
<br />
If, like Devo Girl, you like historical fiction and a deaf hero, this is definitely one to check out. The writing is above average for romance, and the author has clearly done a lot of research. I really liked the Norwegian setting; it was original and interesting. The plot and characterization is satisfyingly rich, and the use of language is mostly appropriate for the era, something you don't find often in historical romance. It gets a bit overly cheezy toward the end, but on the whole the balance of mystery, adventure, and romance is pretty good, which is also unusual--most romance authors usually drop the other plot elements once the hero and heroine get together.<br />
<br />
The depiction of deafness is pretty good. The author clearly did research on that too, which is much appreciated. Brander and Niels use a sign language they developed together, but Brander can also read lips. He communicates using a mix of sign language, mouthing words silently, and writing. It was a nice believable touch that he can't speak well, and chooses not to. I really liked that he wasn't like a deaf superhero who can do everything perfectly (although his lipreading is a bit too effortless and perfect). I also liked that he's pretty well adjusted to his disability--I'm so tired of the injury/recovery story. But his deafness is still a big part of the story, it's definitely not glossed over.<br />
<br />
The best part is that even though this is a romance in a series, the next books will all be about Brander and Regin, not about secondary characters spun off into their own books. There are several other books about the Hansen family, but they are set in different time periods, and it's not necessary to read them to enjoy this one. The second Brander/Regin novel, <a href="http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-330/Discreet-Gentleman-Book-Two-cln-/Detail.bok" target="_blank">A Discreet Gentleman of Matrimony</a>, is already out, and the author has another three in the works. So much to look forward to!<br />
<br />Devo Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01598615876422844043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2127155061290906284.post-78160011601840018792012-08-05T02:35:00.000-07:002012-08-05T04:19:45.344-07:00Wheels of Steel Book 1 (of 3)<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13570721-wheels-of-steel-book-1" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Wheels of Steel, Book 1" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1333254680m/13570721.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13570721-wheels-of-steel-book-1">Wheels of Steel, Book 1</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5409221.Pepper_Pace">Pepper Pace</a><br />
***
I really enjoyed this book. <br />
<br />
Robin is a shy twenty one year old who is getting over the death of her father and readjusting to the new dynamic of her relationship with her mother after the loss of the buffer that kept their squabbles at bay. Having made the choice to move out and live on her own because she refused to go to college, she struggles to make ends meet. A tip from a work colleague sends her down the path of becoming a home care assistant (HCA). Her first client is an old woman who she eventually befriends. Her second client is Jason. Who on the surface is a surly student who has cerebral palsy (CP). Their friendship blooms.<br />
<br />
The only thing that I disliked about the book was that there were a few spelling mistakes. I got the feeling that there may have been something wrong with Ms Pace's keyboard as every time she meant "than" we got "then". Also, now that I think of it, I did find the dialogue a bit hard to follow as I wasn't always sure who was speaking as there would be something said but the proceeding action was something of the person being talked to which made it not too clear and required a quick reread.<br />
<br />
Now, what I liked about the book. Robin's characterisation was fantastic. A shy nervous girl who disliked crowds and being shouted at. I could really relate and the author conveyed this condition with great understanding. I also loved that although Robin was shy and nervous she had a strong side making her very dynamic. As the book proceeds we see her gaining more and more confidence and growing into herself.<br />
<br />
Jason is grumpy when we first encounter him but soon it is explained were this stems from and he becomes a very sympathetic character. The relationship between him and Robin develops in a very natural way, refreshingly realistic and devoid of M&B cliché moves and dialogue. The situation of Robin being a HCA to Jason is handled very well. The author not shying away of dealing with every detail. It was interesting to see how Robin, whose duties involved doing some pretty intimate tasks for Jason, then has to see him in a romantic light.<br />
<br />
I also loved the smooth changing of point of view between Robin and Jason. It felt good as a reader to be able to get into both of their heads.<br />
<br />
My one big tip would be, have book 2 at the ready as you will want to reach for it as soon as book 1 ends, trust me. I am really looking forward to reading the next two books in this series.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/11024991-victoria-darkins">View all my reviews</a>Trickletreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17275503287592089587noreply@blogger.com1