Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS. Rating: 9/10
PROS:
- Very well written. Very. I probably reacted more delightedly toward the abundance of English professor-related pithy remarks than most readers would (I teach college English), but the writing is just spot on. I tend to earmark pages that contain particularly clever comments and/or well written sentences, and I had to stop doing that with this book because there are so many. The book is brimming with one-sentence observations that are caustic and concise and simply perfect for the situation.
- Funny on a number of different levels. The boys/pets are ridiculous and cute almost constantly, and the Doms' reactions toward their boys are amusing. Dr. Fell also provides a running commentary on his own relationships with the other characters and on their interactions with each other, and his comments are dry, witty, and at times, razor sharp. The story in which he helps out a troupe of young actors struggling through a Shakespeare scene is priceless.
- Surprisingly individual characterizations of a large number of characters. The different stories in the book run very smoothly from one to the next (although I can imagine being extremely frustrated if I had had to read them separately in their original electronic formats), and McGinley is clever in the way he introduces the characters a few at a time. For the most part, the reader has the opportunity to get to know the current characters fairly well before they move to the background and new characters are brought to the forefront.
CONS:
- The book is written in present tense. This isn't necessarily a bad thing: it provides a sense of immediacy to the story that past tense doesn't, and present simply makes the stories sound different than most other books out there, the vast majority of which use past. The problem (and it's a slight one) is that McGinley slips up just a few times in his/her use of past tense vs. past participle to describe events in the past. Present tense muddles the already difficult grammatical puzzle of how to relate flashbacks, but I have to give McGinley credit for attempting it at all; I don't have the nerve ever to write fiction in present.
- The book is sad. Impressively so. I marvel at McGinley's ability to create a truly heart-wrenching story in which the tragedy occurred many years before the story starts. I almost cried--CRIED--several times, and I'm still (2 days later) a little depressed at Dr. Fell's isolation at the end of the book. (I'm hoping, however, that since this is called "Volume 1: Lost" that there is a forthcoming "Volume 2: Found" in which this problem will be solved and at the end of which Dr. Fell will live happily ever after with his own boy.)
- In one of the novellas contained in this volume, the number of characters is overwhelming. There are 10 boys at Dr. Fell's cabin for one week, each of whom has his own Dom, and although not ALL of them are referred to by name, many of them are, and I had to read that part of the book rather slowly to allow my brain time to process the identities of the different characters.
Overall comments: This is an excellent read, despite Dr. Fell's depressing situation and my nitpicky comments about the writing. It does contain some heavy BDSM, so if you're not into that, stay away. But Syd McGinley, with this one book, has established a place on my list of favorite authors within this genre.
Product Description
Homeless after his mother's funeral, John Fell can't stop mourning his murdered lover, Rob, and he clings to his goal of fulfilling his and Rob's dream of completing his PhD to become Dr. John Fell.Looking after his best friend's sub, Charlie gives him the resources to write his thesis and fight his homophobic father for his inheritance.John retreats to his cabin in the woods, but pet-sitting Charlie has shown him a new path. Putting aside his doubts, he finds solace in helping boys learn to serve their owners, and for owners to be worthy of service. Dr. Fell's poverty, pride, and loyalty to Rob hinder his quest for a new boy, but his sense of duty can't let him walk away from someone in need.Forced to confront his responses to abuse and neglect, dispirited by the imperfect relationships of his fellow doms and their subs, and struggling to make ends meet, John gives up the academic dream that sustained him through the lean years with Rob. Time and again, Dr. Fell is drawn back into the outside world by boys in need and by the irrepressible Charlie, who just won't let him be. The center of a growing circle of family and friends, John slowly returns to life.But is all that enough to help him find his 'forever boy'? Will John Fell, PhD, be smart enough to let his past go and make a new future for himself?
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