There are so many twists and turns in this story...some thought provoking and some heart-breaking. Nate and Adam have to come to terms with what has happened between the two of them. Adam will have to truly look deep and see what it is he wants from Nate. Nate will have to find himself and learn to stand up on his own with no one to help. Nate will find a friendship that means a lot to him and he will experience love outside of Adam that scares him. The book causes you to take another look at love and relationships in view them in an entirely different light. You'll ask yourself how is it that you can love someone so much that you will put your entire life on hold for them? How is it that a new relationship can open your eyes making you see that what you had right in front of you could have been a lie? The author has done a fantastic job with this story. When the last sentence has been read and the covers have been closed, you will without a doubt love these four guys. ( )

I thought this was a remarkable book. I have read a lot of reviews criticizing the author for a variety of reasons and I would like to address some of them.

1. J. H. Trumble isn’t a gay man. So? Are we really not beyond this yet? Men have been writing female characters forever!

2. Some people claim there are two many “tropes”. You know why? Partly because the book was written almost a decade ago. And because those tropes are true. I have a nephew who has been bullied mercilessly at school because some rotten kid decided he is gay. He isn’t gay, but that doesn’t change that fact that homophobia is real and violent. If you think “gay bashing” is a cliche that simply doesn’t happen anymore then you need to get your head out of your ass.

3. The main character, Nate is an unlikable character because he is too messed up. He’s “manipulative” and overly jealous. The criticisms are endless. And the criticisms must come from people with no experience with trauma or recovery. I have met “Nate”. Trumble’s character is raw and on the edge of likability because that’s what’s going on in the characters mind. He hates himself.

This book is good. If you have ever really wanted to try and understand someone who has suffered a trauma or wanted to know what was going on in their head then read.

No, it’s not pretty. That doesn’t mean it’s not accurate.

My only regret about the book is that it didn’t go into greater detail about how Nate and Adam resolved many of their issues.

If you don’t want to read books about homophobia and gay bashing because you think it’s “not a big deal” anymore .... read the news. 2018 hasn’t been all that great a year for the LGBTQ community in many places. ( )

I thought this was a remarkable book. I have read a lot of reviews criticizing the author for a variety of reasons and I would like to address some of them.

1. J. H. Trumble isn’t a gay man. So? Are we really not beyond this yet? Men have been writing female characters forever!

2. Some people claim there are two many “tropes”. You know why? Partly because the book was written almost a decade ago. And because those tropes are true. I have a nephew who has been bullied mercilessly at school because some rotten kid decided he is gay. He isn’t gay, but that doesn’t change that fact that homophobia is real and violent. If you think “gay bashing” is a cliche that simply doesn’t happen anymore then you need to get your head out of your ass.

3. The main character, Nate is an unlikable character because he is too messed up. He’s “manipulative” and overly jealous. The criticisms are endless. And the criticisms must come from people with no experience with trauma or recovery. I have met “Nate”. Trumble’s character is raw and on the edge of likability because that’s what’s going on in the characters mind. He hates himself.

This book is good. If you have ever really wanted to try and understand someone who has suffered a trauma or wanted to know what was going on in their head then read.

No, it’s not pretty. That doesn’t mean it’s not accurate.

My only regret about the book is that it didn’t go into greater detail about how Nate and Adam resolved many of their issues.

If you don’t want to read books about homophobia and gay bashing because you think it’s “not a big deal” anymore .... read the news. 2018 hasn’t been all that great a year for the LGBTQ community in many places. ( )

Don't Let Me Go is a story about a romantic relationship, and chronicles several years while the protagonists, Adam and Nate, are in high school. The main story occurs in the "present," with a partner story that takes place in flashbacks. The flashbacks contain important moments in Adam and Nate's relationship, e.g. how they met, and focuses on a traumatic event that happened to Nate that Adam helped him get through. In the present, Adam is going to New York for his dream job, while Nate is staying behind. They try to stay together and emotionally close even with the distance, meddling roommates, other needy boys, family issues, personal insecurities, etc, etc. Essentially: THERE IS A LOT OF DRAMA.
The flashbacks were done well; by that I mean that they usually had a logical jump off from the present day, and they informed and fleshed out the present storyline and characters. Nate's trauma was handled well. We get a terrifying sense of what he went through, without it being too much, or getting too close and personal. Nate's recovery is made possible by his support system, his friends and family, and it was heart-warming to read, even while showing the complexity of recovering from something like that.
The characters were VERY real in this book; relateable and likable while still having their flaws and quirks. I loved how we see Adam most of the time through Nate's eyes, so he's basically perfect, but there are hints of Adam's flaws, and when Nate realizes that Adam needs him as much as he needs Adam, it was an inevitable realization and totally great. And satisfying.
The supporting cast is fun, especially Daniel, a few years old who becomes Nate's straight BFF. He was totally impervious to drama that infects literally EVERYONE ELSE IN THE STORY, and his life experiences were another perspective on what happened to Nate; it all connected very well, in a believable way, instead of seeming contrived: he is trying to help others avoid what happened to his family, and that leads him to Nate. I also had a fondness for the Roommate of Temptation. Luke, a boy who is very similar to who Nate used to be, was really annoying. But Nate's rebound to him was believable drama.
BUT SERIOUSLY I JUST WANTED TO SLAP EVERYONE DURING THE WHOLE BOOK. I HAD A LOT OF FEELINGS.
I disliked the time jump near the end. If you read this, you will know which one I'm talking about. It gives a cliffhanger to the drama, skips forward a few years, and then spends a few pages drawing the suspense out of how the cliffhanger was resolved, and finally explains it all in a brief, reporter manner. ARGH. I have no idea who made that structure choice or why.
This book is kinda long, too. There was a LOT of drama, and it was sometimes painful to read. I liked the past stuff more just because those were more focused on what we needed to know, rather than spinning out the suspense of the drama. This is just one of those romantic books where you KNOW they're going to end up together, but that just makes you scream at them more every time they do dumb things or cause miscommunications or make bad choices or break up or whatever. However, it was still a jolly, well-written, character-driven story.

(review also posted on my blog, bahnree.blogspot.com) ( )

Don't Let Me Go is a story about a romantic relationship, and chronicles several years while the protagonists, Adam and Nate, are in high school. The main story occurs in the "present," with a partner story that takes place in flashbacks. The flashbacks contain important moments in Adam and Nate's relationship, e.g. how they met, and focuses on a traumatic event that happened to Nate that Adam helped him get through. In the present, Adam is going to New York for his dream job, while Nate is staying behind. They try to stay together and emotionally close even with the distance, meddling roommates, other needy boys, family issues, personal insecurities, etc, etc. Essentially: THERE IS A LOT OF DRAMA.
The flashbacks were done well; by that I mean that they usually had a logical jump off from the present day, and they informed and fleshed out the present storyline and characters. Nate's trauma was handled well. We get a terrifying sense of what he went through, without it being too much, or getting too close and personal. Nate's recovery is made possible by his support system, his friends and family, and it was heart-warming to read, even while showing the complexity of recovering from something like that.
The characters were VERY real in this book; relateable and likable while still having their flaws and quirks. I loved how we see Adam most of the time through Nate's eyes, so he's basically perfect, but there are hints of Adam's flaws, and when Nate realizes that Adam needs him as much as he needs Adam, it was an inevitable realization and totally great. And satisfying.
The supporting cast is fun, especially Daniel, a few years old who becomes Nate's straight BFF. He was totally impervious to drama that infects literally EVERYONE ELSE IN THE STORY, and his life experiences were another perspective on what happened to Nate; it all connected very well, in a believable way, instead of seeming contrived: he is trying to help others avoid what happened to his family, and that leads him to Nate. I also had a fondness for the Roommate of Temptation. Luke, a boy who is very similar to who Nate used to be, was really annoying. But Nate's rebound to him was believable drama.
BUT SERIOUSLY I JUST WANTED TO SLAP EVERYONE DURING THE WHOLE BOOK. I HAD A LOT OF FEELINGS.
I disliked the time jump near the end. If you read this, you will know which one I'm talking about. It gives a cliffhanger to the drama, skips forward a few years, and then spends a few pages drawing the suspense out of how the cliffhanger was resolved, and finally explains it all in a brief, reporter manner. ARGH. I have no idea who made that structure choice or why.
This book is kinda long, too. There was a LOT of drama, and it was sometimes painful to read. I liked the past stuff more just because those were more focused on what we needed to know, rather than spinning out the suspense of the drama. This is just one of those romantic books where you KNOW they're going to end up together, but that just makes you scream at them more every time they do dumb things or cause miscommunications or make bad choices or break up or whatever. However, it was still a jolly, well-written, character-driven story.

(review also posted on my blog, bahnree.blogspot.com) ( )