Gene Gant

College freshman Mace Danner works his way through college as an escort for a specific clientele. He seeks out those interested in domination and pain. He doesn't experience sexual urges, so it's not about sex for him. It's about the punishment he feels he deserves for causing his brother's death. And though he knows it's a dangerous coping mechanism, he feels it works for him as he keeps everyone who expresses any care or kindness at a comfortable distance.

After a job goes wrong, Mace loses the bit of control he still held on his life. Mace's resident advisor, Dex, notices this and won't let Mace push him away. He's determined to help. Of course, until Mace is willing to allow someone to help him, things aren't really going to change. And his dangerous course could prove to be deadly before too long...

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This is an intense story. It's not long, and there is a lot that happens here. And some of the subjects that come up are difficult. This is definitely not something I expected from this particular imprint, but I think it's an important story to tell. The issues here--guilt, self worth, assault, self-destructive behavior, asexuality--are things that the mainstream wants to shy away from. And it's important that we don't do that.

I'm not sure I'd necessarily call this young adult (which is what Harmony Ink tends to be), but certainly new adult or maybe an older young adult, just due to the intensity of the subject matter.

Content warnings: sexual assault

[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]… (altro)

Time travel is complicated, or so we think, since we have not yet managed to actually figure out how to do it. ‘In Time I Dream About You’ offers a look at a scenario where someone in the future has the ability to travel back into our time to help us out – except that is not as easy as it sounds. The focus of this story is on the emotional effect the opportunity to change the past has on Gavin, a high school athlete who joined a street gang, ended up in prison, suffered horrible abuse on a daily basis, and wasn’t able to be there for his critically injured father. The temptation to just make it all go away is huge – but the decision has far-reaching consequences not just for Gavin and his father, but for thousands of innocents who will die if Gavin “fixes” his past.

Gavin’s story captured me from the start. Yes, he made some mistakes, but the suffering he has to deal with as a consequence is gruesome. Becoming a member of a street gang was not Gavin’s brightest moment, but being framed for murder by a gang leader who discovers Gavin is gay, then imprisoned at sixteen is not a punishment that fits the crime, in my opinion. But it gets worse – members of his former gang torture him on a daily basis to the point that Gavin is ready to die. The injustice of nobody being in his corner when he ends up with syphilis after being raped made me scream. Knowing that this scenario is very likely, as offenders everywhere are likely to get no support from guards or the people who are supposed to protect them, made it worse. Then Gavin’s father, a security guard, is shot and Gavin cannot be there for him – and reaches his breaking point.

One of the central themes throughout the book is Gavin’s dreams, and how they change when he is in prison. His first encounters with Cato, who seems to be a guard, happen in what Gavin believes to be dreams. The gradual reveal of what is actually going on was suspenseful and kept me glued to the pages. The possibilities Cato offers Gavin are amazing and would mean none of what Gavin has gone through would ever happen. As “what if” scenarios go, this is a pretty powerful one.

But there are consequences to Gavin’s decision that mean he can’t just go ahead and “fix” his past. Thousands of lives are on the line, and Gavin’s struggle with his decision is very real and very hard. He learns how to consider others and, for the first time in his life, he begins to act like an adult. The growth he shows is amazing, and added to the twists and turns in the plot, Gavin’s journey makes for excellent reading even if you’re not a fan of time travel.

If you want to read a story that is as brutal as it is real (well, except for the time travel part), if you want to watch a young man go through hell and then mature right before your eyes, and if you’re looking for a read that is suspenseful, emotional, and has an absolutely perfect ending (even though it looks hopeless for the longest time), then you will probably like this novella as much as I do. It is fantastic in every way that matters – from the characters, to the plot, to the concept behind the story. Amazing!


NOTE: This book was provided by Harmony Ink Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.… (altro)