Review: Finding North by Carmen Jenner
Note: This ARC was provided by Give Me Books Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
North is heartbreak. North is a headfuck. North had been my whole world. He was no good for me then, and he's still no good for me. I know that, and yet I've never wanted anything more.
Wow. Just...wow. It's been several hours since I read Finding North in one sitting, and I'm still at a loss for words good enough to describe how much I loved this book! This was my introduction to Carmen Jenner's writing and with just one book, she's won me over. Here was a story about two best friends whose lifelong friendship came to an abrupt end after they crossed a line at the age of eighteen. Being gay in their small town of Red Maine, Australia was seen as an aberration, homophobia running rampant among a great number of the people there. So, when Will Tanner and North Underwood's friendship is sacrificed, out of fear and a sense of protectiveness, but that leads to twelve years of tolerating each other's existence, but in a town that neither Will or North plan to leave from, avoidance can only go on for so long for the two men.
Gah! Where do I begin with this book? I mean, it was seriously one of the best M/M romances I've ever read. There's a lot of anger and bitterness that's coming from Will's end and North has tried to live with the consequences of the choice he made at eighteen, but one thing remains true for these two after all these years: Will wants North and North wants Will. Nothing has come close to what they experienced a dozen years ago, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that the love these two shared was real and true. However, while Will refused to let his fears get the better of him even back then, North was dealing with a lot more than considering what the folks of Red Maine would have to say about his feelings for his best friend. Even after all the betrayal, not much has changed. Will still wants North and North still wants Will.
What do you do when the one person you want and need just happens to be the very person who's hurt you unlike any other? And what do you do when the one person you want and need just happens to be the very person you've hurt to the point of hatred? My heart broke for both Will and North because they deserved to be happy and that happiness could only be found with one another. Unfortunately, neither was leaving Red Maine any time soon, so they were stuck in a town that looked at homosexuality as something disgusting and a reason to treat a fellow human being like they were less than what they were. But sometimes, when you push aside the fear, the anger, and the pain, and you focus on who and what matters--the person you want to spend forever with and those shared feelings--then love, indeed, prevails.
Will and North. North and Will. This is one of those cases where one without the other doesn't work or make sense. They're a unit and I prefer thinking of them that way, so I can't really compare the two and choose which one I like better. They both have issues and they're far from perfect, but they provide one another with that sense of acceptance that allows them to feel vulnerable without the fear of being judged. Of course, it wasn't always that way, but then we can blame the twelve-year "cold war" on that. Aside from them, I also have a soft spot for Will's father, who is what every parent should aspire to be like. With characters I adore and a story I love, Finding North is a five-plus-starred highly recommended read, one that I pre-ordered on Kobo and am now the happy owner of because this book is too good to not purchase. ♥
Release Date: 25 February 2016
Date Read: 23 February 2016
Learn more about Carmen Jenner.
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