The title character Aaron is a deeply disturbed young man. As a high school sophomore, he and his best friend were grabbed off the street, beaten, raped, slashed and left for dead. His friend Juliette died but by some miracle Aaron survived. However, he is deeply scarred, both emotionally and physically. As the story opens, it’s two years after the attack, but Aaron is still barely able to function. “Post traumatic stress” is altogether too mild a term for Aaron’s almost catatonic state. He can’t tolerate being touched, and even the most innocent question or statement can send him into meltdown.
Aaron’s family treat him like the invalid that he is, but the knowledge of just how much they have had to adjust to care for him just adds to his depression. His mother home-schooled Aaron to get his high school certificate, and now his parents want him to consider going to college. The thought of being around people, who would see his scars and think of him as a freak, horrifies Aaron, but the thought that his parents might institutionalize him frightens him more.
Spencer is another young man with his own issues. Born deaf, he can’t speak without people thinking he’s retarded, even though he is quite bright. Although he remains surprisingly outgoing, his life is rather isolated and lonely, with just his father for company. Like Aaron, Spencer is also starting college. When the two young men are thrown together for a class project, it doesn’t bode well, but there’s something about each of them that draws the other one to them.
This is an amazing book, which took me a little by surprise with its depth and realism. Most romance books that feature a psychologically damaged main character tend towards the love-solves-everything insta-cure. Troubled boy meets boy and magically all his problems disappear. Real life doesn’t work that way, and there’s an almost shocking gritty realism to this story. It seems a little odd even describing this book as a romance. This isn’t a fluffy bunny romance about two horny teenagers just trying to get their rocks off. There is an element of that, since these are teenagers, although Aaron’s sexuality is buried under a mountain of guilt, but Spencer and Aaron have to work hard to develop their relationship. That’s Romance with a capital ‘R’, baby.
“Aaron” starts off a little slowly. It can be a bit difficult to get through the first third of the book, as we get to know Aaron and just how damaged he is. You might find yourself getting somewhat depressed as the author makes it very clear how bleak life looks to the young man. The litany of despair gets a little repetitive, but there seems to be a method in even that. Aaron’s mind is trapped in a single moment of time, where it treads in an endless loop like a wild animal pacing in a cage. However, once Aaron and Spencer begin to connect, this book quickly becomes a real page turner, as you can’t wait to see how the two young men deal with each new challenge.
This is a nearly flawless work, which of course is why I’ve given it five stars. The geeky technical stuff and social media references may turn a few off, but these are not central to the story. They add to the depth and realism of a book firmly rooted in modern society, but you don’t really have to understand them to appreciate the work.
“Aaron” is available from the publisher, Dreamspinner Press or at Amazon
