Review: Scarred by Mia Kerick
Note: An advanced reader copy (ARC) was provided by NineStar Press via NetGalley.
I've read a number of Mia Kerick's books in the past, but it has been a while since I last read something of hers, and Scarred was the perfect reminder of why I enjoy this author's writing. This standalone isn't a lighthearted read that's mostly fluff. This carried with a heavier load, one that deals with post-traumatic stress disorder as well as gender identity phobia. Both the main characters have scars--the kind that can be seen by the naked eye and the deeper ones that aren't immediately seen but are far more difficult to heal from, if ever at that. If you want a book with depth and aren't afraid of angst (being the angst addict that I am, I'm constantly surprised there are readers who purposely shy away from it!), this is a worthwhile read.
Scarred is the story of two men who choose to be, for all intents and purposes, alone in one form or another. Twenty-one-year-old Vedie Wilson's gender fluidity is just one of the reasons he decided to make the move to Placida Island. The lack of acceptance from his family was one thing, but there was so much more to his decision to leave than that. Meeting thirty-something Matthew North--Matt to everyone else but nicknamed "Mateo" by Vedie--was supposed to lead to nothing more than a possible but still highly improbably hook-up. Who would have thought that these two guys would become each other's lifelines, tethering them to the here and now while contemplating a future beyond the shackles of their respective pasts? Before either can truly move on, they'll have to confront the ghosts of their pasts that refuse to die.
This book was originally released in 2017 but was re-released at the beginning of this new year under NineStar Press. I never got to read the first edition of the book, but no matter since I was quite taken by this second one. Mia Kerick knows how to write books that neither tiptoe nor stomp through darker topics and issues, and that's just one of the reasons why I like her writing. She doesn't underestimate her readers, encouraging them to contemplate what's actually going on in her stories and to her characters. The bottom line is that they do get their happily-ever-after and it being hard-fought gives Scarred well-earned 4.5 stars. ♥
Date Read: 01 January 2019
Learn more about Mia Kerick.
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