Title: Not Letting Go
Author: Danni Keane
Length: 6,769 words
Publisher: JMS Books
Genre: m/m contemporary YA romance
Rating: B
Blurb:
When someone dies, how are you supposed to behave? Josh Roberts has no idea. Losing his dad has left him deeply confused. He loved his dad, so why isn’t he crying? All Josh can think about is spending time with his boyfriend, Bradley. He can’t wait to go to Uni, when he and Bradley will finally get to be alone.
Bradley wants nothing more than to give love and support to his grieving boyfriend. But Josh’s expectations of a life together next year are putting a lot of pressure on him. He’s not going to get good enough grades for Uni, especially if whenever they are in Josh’s room they don’t get round to any real studying. Why can’t Josh understand that?
Review:
This story is the sequel to the delightful Sunshine and Buttercups which I reviewed here last week. It follows on a few months from the last one. Josh’s dad has just died from cancer and Josh is struggling to accept this. His boyfriend Bradley is his lifeline but there’s a chance that their dreams of going to university together will fail because Bradley isn’t getting the grades he needs.
The previous story charted the beginning of a relationship and was filled with bright hope tempered by the worries that Josh has about his dad who had been newly diagnosed with cancer. This story is more melancholic, showing us a young man in the grips of grief and like the previous story, I felt that the author had captured perfectly the feelings of a teenager. Josh is numbed by his dad’s death and this makes him feel guilty. This aspect of the story was sad, but it was also well written and brought a tear to my eye.
The other theme within the story is the relationship between Josh and Bradley. The passion is still strong between them and I liked how they work through their problems. Having said that, they are still teenage boys and Josh is somewhat oblivious to the problems that Bradley is having. Josh is one of those guys who pretends that all will be well and this is the case with Bradley’s grades. I enjoyed seeing them together and how Bradley is a support for Josh, but also how they deal with the tension between them. It was realistic.
I didn’t enjoy this story as much as the first, mainly because of the slightly despondent theme, but I liked revisiting the main characters and seeing them together. I found the writing to be thoughtful and would recommend this story to those who like YA.