Nick Wilgus

For the last nine years, Wiley has been rocking the career of single father to a meth baby; it hasn't been easy with all of the birth defects brought on by the meth or the guilt of being the reason he was born addicted to meth in the first place. But it definitely does not make it easier as he lives in the South with a family more or less constantly threatening to call social services, just because Noah is being raised by a single gay father. Despite the hardships they face, Wiley wouldn't want his life any other way.

Well, at least not until Jackson stumbles into their lives. He's a pretty city boy from the North but it's hard not to fall hard for the caring man who seems to enjoy Noah's company almost as much as he does Wiley's. It's also hard not to picture an every day life with the three of them as their own little family. Perhaps it's not too late for Wiley, and Noah, to get a proper family? But as always, things are hardly as perfect as they seem. Wiley's family remains skeptic about how his sexuality and life choices affect his son whilst Jackson are keeping secrets...

Good lord, I enjoyed this book so much. I loved Wiley and his constant need to be funny, I loved Noah with one of the largest hearts I've ever encountered and Jackson whose pretty face will haunt me in the form of Jack Falahee. It was refreshing to read about such a father figure as Wiley; he has done a lot of mistakes and will definitely do more before his time is up but that doesn't stop him from being an above average dad who truly fights for his son, and actually cares about his interests and opinions.

I also love the total grey area when it comes to his family. There's no doubt both Wiley and Noah are both loved by their close relatives yet they don't understand either of them at all and even goes as far to consider Wiley a faggot sinner.

There's, however, two reasons as why I'm only giving it three stars. The first one is the extremely ableist language used, especially by Wiley. I get that some of it is their thing, said with love and trust, but he ventures into slurs that doesn't apply to Noah a lot and it made me feel uncomfortable even if none of these were directed at me. Like, there's such an obvious difference. For example, I completely adored Wiley's grandfather who were throwing every slur against homosexual as possible but he did it with a twinkle in his eye and Wiley obviously found him quite amusing. They had a thing based on trust. Wiley knew he wasn't just using those slurs to put him down which I can't say the same about when it comes to m*dget being used by Wiley, and such.

The other reason is that I honestly found it quite repetitive half-way through. The author kept going back to phrases and such too many times and it almost made you want to skip certain parts because you'd basically read it before. Like, we get it. They're in the South. I'm sure Jack does too. He doesn't need to hear ”You're in the South now, boy!” like fifteen times throughout the novel. He would be more than fine without it; and so would I.… (más)

This book was not pretty, this book was filling to the brim with with reality. It was gritty, and raw and honestly. Eugene! Thou art a heartless bitch but bravo to you for your misdirection! I really didn't enjoy this book because I was pissed off at most of the characters but I did like the fact that they were unfailingly honest and tried to be understanding even though they were going against what they were taught to believe. The characters feel so real in this series. I look forward to reading more by Mr. Wilgus.… (más)

Bilal Abu has a lot to say, but he's scared to open his mouth. And who could blame him? A 16-year-old Iraqu refugee, he has to contend with his immigrant family's never-ending drama and his fanatical older brother's sexual abuse. And then there's life in his sketchy neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri, where all the non-Muslim kids think he is a terrorist. When Bilal falls in love with the son of his community's religious leader, things get better - and a whole lot worse.

This is a really intense, emotional and at times very heart-breaking read. Told from Bilal's point of view, the reader experiences everything from community rejection and scorn, sexual abuse, rape, religious fundamentalism and threats to differences in social values/belief systems, homosexuality and what love is really supposed to feel like.

Bilal, and his family, have been through the wringer: A Kurdish family that has seen the result of speaking the truth under Saddam Hussein's political regime, and has had to flee to a new life in America as refugees. We see the older family members - Bilal's Ma and his oldest brother Salim - set in their traditional Kurdish ways while Bilal, his sister Fatima and his older brother Hakim are more accepting of the American way of things. As the story progresses, we learn more details about the abuse Bilal has been subject to by his brother Salim, as well as the reason they fled Iraq. No spoiler here as a glimpse into the abuse is exposed in the first chapter of the book.

At times graphic and with some profanity expressed, this story screams for attention like no other book I have recently read. My heart and soul went out to Bilal as the confusion, the abuse and the feelings of imprisonment mount. The characters, and the situations, are highly realistic - I can visualize this very scenario playing out in an unnamed city as I type this review. Our author has managed to present a myriad of conflicting viewpoints while communicating his story - confusions regarding awakening sexualities, restraining viewpoints of community members, the dismissive nature to brush off real concerns as normal traditional practices, authoritarian family structures, fear of law enforcement and foreign cultural beliefs,.... the list just goes on and on.

Highly recommended, provided you read it with a box of kleenex and a pillow by your side: the kleenex for the scenes you uncontrollably cry through and the pillow so you can punch something soft when your anger reaction requires venting.… (más)