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Wave Goodbye to Charlie
My name’s Charlie. I’m many things, though none of them having to do with any real talent. I’m a runaway, a hustler when I need to be, a ghost when I have to scare hoodlums away from my home, and a loner who maybe reads too much. But most of all, I’m the keeper of the carnival. That’s how I see myself. I look after the place ’cause even dying things need to be cared for. Maybe it’s illegal. Maybe that rusty metal fence around the carnival is supposed to keep me out too. Or maybe me and this place were meant to find each other. Truth is, I never felt at home anywhere but here, not even in all the foster families and orphanages I was placed in as a young shit. They don’t look for me no more, those places. I suspect I ran away so much they finally just said, “Fuck! Let him go.” I am a hangnail on society’s manicured middle finger. I’m older. One year past the age anyone gives a shit.
And this is my adventure…
And this is my adventure…
156 pages, ebook
First published October 8, 2014
2 people are currently reading
198 people want to read
About the author
Eric Arvin
47 books565 followersEric Arvin resided in the same sleepy Indiana river town where he grew up. He graduated from Hanover College with a Bachelors in History. He has lived, for brief periods, in Italy and Australia. He has survived brain surgery and his own loud-mouthed personal demons. Eric is the author of WOKE UP IN A STRANGE PLACE, THE MINGLED DESTINIES OF CROCODILES & MEN, SUBSURDITY, SIMPLE MEN, and various other sundry and not-so-sundry writings.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
December 6, 2014
Some books hit you at the right moment. I'm a big fan of Arvin's writing when he writes these kinds of books. The beauty of this story stunned me. It awed me; it made me want to crawl into the mind who wrote it and dream that I could know these characters as intimately as the author did.
It's surreal and this author often questions life and death, morality, the state of the in betweens, and the choices we make.
Charlie is a runaway, a hustler with no one in his mind because he doesn't see fully the few people he has are all he needs. There is a long established gay couple, a witch that helps along the way, and the trapped "greys".
It's a story of passion, lost love, continuous love, redemption, payback, how a person who wrongs might do so because they can't let go of pain and anger.
I don't consider myself a mean person. I don't consider myself an angry person. But I am someone when I feel wronged or not listened to or hurt, and not given an opportunity to have closure one way or the other, I can't let it go. No matter how hard I try. I know that it's toxic to myself and only hurting myself, but it eats at me. Having someone leave you when you feel there is unfinished business is a hard thing to take for anyone. Whether someone is murdered, dies unexpectedly, ends a friendship or relationship, a career is over, etc. those things can eat at your soul if you feel things aren't finished. Nothing is more frustrating than holding on to things inside you that hurt because you can't talk about them.
And in a way that was part of this book. You have an angry sister who is so set on slowly plotted vengeance that she makes a descison that hurts many people. You have a man who never got to say the things he wanted to say to someone before they were gone. You have another man who doesn't understand why someone isn't in his life and his so angry and hurt that he refuses to face the other person and listen to any explanation. There is a man who lost someone horribly who has let that anger make him do horrible things to others.
But there is hope, too. There are the people who let go of the things and move on. There are bonds so strong and a fight in people so passionate that nearly nothing can break it. There is the energy of desire and life that lights up an entire carnival. There is energy that makes objects move.
This book is a journey, full of visual pieces and prose so beautiful I didn't know whether to cry or smile. It's a book that makes you think. It shows that simple actions can have dramatic outcomes. It's a cautionary tale, a story that it's never too late, a story that shows there is good in almost everyone, there is bad in almost everyone, and that life can and will always change and you just have to want some things bad enough for the good to follow.
Well done, Arvin. Excellent work.
It's surreal and this author often questions life and death, morality, the state of the in betweens, and the choices we make.
Charlie is a runaway, a hustler with no one in his mind because he doesn't see fully the few people he has are all he needs. There is a long established gay couple, a witch that helps along the way, and the trapped "greys".
It's a story of passion, lost love, continuous love, redemption, payback, how a person who wrongs might do so because they can't let go of pain and anger.
I don't consider myself a mean person. I don't consider myself an angry person. But I am someone when I feel wronged or not listened to or hurt, and not given an opportunity to have closure one way or the other, I can't let it go. No matter how hard I try. I know that it's toxic to myself and only hurting myself, but it eats at me. Having someone leave you when you feel there is unfinished business is a hard thing to take for anyone. Whether someone is murdered, dies unexpectedly, ends a friendship or relationship, a career is over, etc. those things can eat at your soul if you feel things aren't finished. Nothing is more frustrating than holding on to things inside you that hurt because you can't talk about them.
And in a way that was part of this book. You have an angry sister who is so set on slowly plotted vengeance that she makes a descison that hurts many people. You have a man who never got to say the things he wanted to say to someone before they were gone. You have another man who doesn't understand why someone isn't in his life and his so angry and hurt that he refuses to face the other person and listen to any explanation. There is a man who lost someone horribly who has let that anger make him do horrible things to others.
But there is hope, too. There are the people who let go of the things and move on. There are bonds so strong and a fight in people so passionate that nearly nothing can break it. There is the energy of desire and life that lights up an entire carnival. There is energy that makes objects move.
This book is a journey, full of visual pieces and prose so beautiful I didn't know whether to cry or smile. It's a book that makes you think. It shows that simple actions can have dramatic outcomes. It's a cautionary tale, a story that it's never too late, a story that shows there is good in almost everyone, there is bad in almost everyone, and that life can and will always change and you just have to want some things bad enough for the good to follow.
Well done, Arvin. Excellent work.
December 11, 2016
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2016-12-10: Here is the latest update on Eric's health from TJ:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
Please consider visiting making a donation, too, to help out in this most awful, unimaginable of times.
https://www.gofundme.com/um-a-mothers...
I keep thinking about me and my own Eric and how utterly thankful I am that our bumps in the road have all been insignificant in comparison. I can't even imagine what hell this would be to go through, but my thoughts are with TJ and all those who love Eric.
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Well, now. Wasn't that just... odd.
First, at least for me, this one is *not* (really) a love story. Definitely not a conventional one.
During the first part of the book, when we first were introduced to some of the pure hatred and evil in the human world, my jaw was dropping. I was pretty much like, "What the hell kind of cruel mess has Arvin just exposed me to???"
And I was just about to reach for the freaking Parental Controls for my e-reader when that shit sucked me completely in. Deep. Then I was all fangirling out about where the story was going to take me next.
And leave it to Arvin to not disappoint in keeping me on the edge of my seat. This book covered a LOT of ground. Prostitution, homelessness, love, ghosts, witchcraft, multiple gruesome murders and other unpleasantries galore.
But the light half of the story more than made up for all of the dark. It very strongly touched on true friendships and family that you may or may not have even realized you had. But when the end, the *true* end comes, they are all that you truly care about.
The book was a joy and it's KILLING ME not to just spill out the entire plot here on the page, because it was very "over the hill and through the woods", dragging my ass along excitedly every step of the way.
But, alas, I promised myself that I would resist temptation and be a good boy on this one. Although I will say that the good guys were really good and the bad guys were really, REALLY bad, with not many characters anywhere near the center divider on that particular highway. So just be warned if you're on the delicate or skittish side.
So buy the book, buckle up and enjoy the ride. Just watch out for walking houses. (“Follow that car!”)
*Shit*. I said that out loud, didn't I? Oops. My bad.
4 1/2 stars for a whole lot of unique, creepy and I dare say pretty awesome weirdness.
October 29, 2014
I love Eric Arvin. Yep, totally smitten with his words.
He is absolutely brilliant.
BUT...but...but
this was some brilliant scary shit. I am talking, sleeping with the lights on scary.
I need a light...or a couple dozen lanterns.
I need a hug....or a full body tackle.
I need a glass of wine...or a bottle.
Yeah...read at your own risk.
*4 freaky-as-f_ck stars*
He is absolutely brilliant.
BUT...but...but
this was some brilliant scary shit. I am talking, sleeping with the lights on scary.
I need a light...or a couple dozen lanterns.
I need a hug....or a full body tackle.
I need a glass of wine...or a bottle.
Yeah...read at your own risk.
*4 freaky-as-f_ck stars*
January 11, 2015
I love the way, in all the Eric Arvin books I've read, that the author has of skewing reality. He twists it into new and exciting shapes and possibilities. WAVE GOODBYE TO CHARLIE is no exception. I don't spend much time thinking about the afterlife, because frankly I'm not sure there is one. But I must say, if there is, I hope it will resemble Charlie's. That would be a real adventure, that would. I loved this book. I love Eric Arvin's beautiful command of language. I love the impossible situations that, after Mr. Arvin is done with them, don't seem impossible at all. What a rare and incredible gift it is to be able to do that.
October 29, 2014
Full review can be found at -
Charlie is a runaway, a loner. He lives at an old, abandoned carnival and makes do by hustling on occasion in order to get enough cash to feed himself. He's content for the most part with his small group of friends who are more of a surrogate family. But there are those (both living and not) who wish to cause harm not only to Charlie, but to those he loves as well.
This is by far one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. My love of Eric Arvin’s work goes way back to when I read Woke Up in a Strange Place back in 2011, and with each additional story, that love and respect for him as an author grows. He’s a brilliant storyteller and this is once again proven in Wave Goodbye to Charlie.
The cover is perfect. You’ll have to read the book to understand why, but I can’t imagine a different cover on this book.
This is not a romance and that should be noted strongly. If you’re looking for a gay romance, find another book. Wave Goodbye to Charlie is a work of fiction that can’t really be categorized into any specific genre, in my opinion. I can’t recommend it enough.
This book was provided by Wilde City Press in exchange for a fair and honest review. I will, as always with this author, be purchasing the book.
January 23, 2015
I'm actually thinking of not giving this one a star rating, mostly out of guilt. I dunno. I loved the first 25% of the book. I even loved the twist that completely blindsided me, and despite being sad I could see the point/need for it , yet then it all went ASS UP!
What was the fucking point?!?!? Everyone else loved it. I'm talking 5 stars all around. Talking about how deep it was and how it speaks to love and life and death. I was just kinda depressed and bored and pissed off. And the things that had me most fucking annoyed, was that it would have all been so easily solved. JUST.LEAVE. All of you. Fucking leave.
Okay, long spoilery rant over. I dunno. It was written well, and I appreciate what it was trying to do, and obviously other people got it. But it started going off track for me at least 50%, and that last bit was just odd and unnecessary . *sad face*
FYI: Note, this is NOT a romance. Don't go in expecting that.
P.S. I own Woke Up in a Strange Place and was excite to read it based on all the wonderful reviews... but now I'm a little scared.
Received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, reviewed for Hearts On Fire
What was the fucking point?!?!? Everyone else loved it. I'm talking 5 stars all around. Talking about how deep it was and how it speaks to love and life and death. I was just kinda depressed and bored and pissed off. And the things that had me most fucking annoyed, was that it would have all been so easily solved. JUST.LEAVE. All of you. Fucking leave.
Okay, long spoilery rant over. I dunno. It was written well, and I appreciate what it was trying to do, and obviously other people got it. But it started going off track for me at least 50%, and that last bit was just odd and unnecessary . *sad face*
FYI: Note, this is NOT a romance. Don't go in expecting that.
P.S. I own Woke Up in a Strange Place and was excite to read it based on all the wonderful reviews... but now I'm a little scared.
Received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, reviewed for Hearts On Fire
September 16, 2015
How on earth to describe this book?!
If you are not familiar with Eric Arvin's writing there are several words people always attach to his novels:
Strange.
Unique.
Original.
And this is true... you will not find anything similar in genre.
Arvin has this way of writing surreal; of creating parallel settings with fantastic elements and incorporating them into a story with compelling characters who tend to stick in readers' mind long after they finished reading.
Extremely talented author, who doesn't get nearly enough spotlight, imo.
So, Wave Goodbye to Charlie is typical Arvin delivering untypical story.
I don't want to write a lot about plot, but here are basics:
Charlie is a young men who is on his own. He hustles and occasionally does tricks when he needs money and he lives in old, abandoned carnival. But you know what are boys like him? They are vulnerable since they are perfect targets for evil people who are up to no good.
And yes, something really, really bad happens to him. :(
Little warning here: bad guys in this story are evil and terrifying and author didn't pull punches to show us that. They do terrible things and these scenes are not easy to read.
Once more Eric teases the boundary between life and death and tells an aftermath story. Can Charlie make things right somehow? Compared to Woke Up in a Strange Place his journey is more connected to real world than it's spiritual, and I personally liked it more.
Hence, book is separated in two parts: before bad thing, when we get to know Charlie and his friends, and after it when he is ghost, trying to set things straight in carnival and his friends' life.
But the writing.......
I am in awe.
"At 2:59, it all goes off again, and the night is as silent as the pause after a threat."
Entire story is told from Charlie's pov. Charlie is very unusual narrator and he will take you to an emotional roller-coaster. He is obviously living hard, but there is this childlike innocence to him; he is simple, he finds joy in small things.. I mean, he lives in carnival because it makes him happy!
So, there is this paradox I experienced: the sweetest, nicest moments Charlie had I read with this feeling of impending doom; that something bad is about to happen. And then when it does- when Charlie is hurt- his voice is still so innocent and almost cheerful you just read through it a bit dulled.
Supporting characters are the same: Leroy and Jimmy, Alfie, Nessa... they all have their pains and destiny dealt them bad cards, but they are his friends and he loves them and when we look them through his eyes it's like they are full of life, colorful and rich and they make you smile.
What I am trying to say is that although Eric dips into dark, creepy and scary waters, there is also this thread of hope through it all and I finished it feeling like he gave Charlie his happy end.
If you want to read something original with unique premise- try this.
October 12, 2014
Death. It’s the greatest mystery of life, the unequivocal unknown, and nobody writes Death quite the way Eric Arvin does, snatching hope, faith and love from the jaws of grief and offering a promise that there is an again, or perhaps it’s merely a still—in this case, an Evermore—to which we will all aspire when we expire. Wave Goodbye to Charlie is the story of Charlie Boyd, a young runaway who sells his body to survive and lives in an abandoned carnival with the ghosts that haunt it, a young man who met his end altogether too soon but who must take care of unfinished business before he can move on and find the one who went before him.
Wave Goodbye to Charlie is a story of friendships and of family, not those we are born to but those to whom we choose to belong. It is a story of love and compassion, of darkness, despair, and an evil so pervasive its signature remains legible on the fabric of reality long after its host was erased from existence. Written with a time signature so reminiscent of Woke Up In a Strange Place, The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men, Azrael and the Light Bringer, and The Demon of Jericho, this story resonates in bold and full-bodied imagery, at times magical and lyrical, then bleak and destructive, always emotionally captivating; whether it be through laughter or tears.
It’s a true art form that brings to life plain spoken folk, not erudite in the ways of book learning but eloquent in their life-learned wisdom. Arvin lulls the reader along with colloquialisms and a patois that harkens to country breezes in a rural landscape; then, with a turn of phrase so poetic as to stop the reader in their tracks to awe at its beauty, the author charms with his ability to give voice to the greatest and simplest of life’s truths or to paint a metaphor so vivid that one must take a moment to absorb it in all its significance.
Charlie; his surrogate fathers Jimmy and Leroy; his friends, Alfie and the wise-woman Nessa, star among a host of others—those who are here and those who are neither here nor there; those who are good and those whose soulless stain is still felt from the after—bringing this novel to life. Wave Goodbye to Charlie is a story that will make you question your own beliefs, perhaps fear the unknown just a little, but then, in one glorious moment, will make you believe that Death is not merely life’s final bow but its Second Act, that Death is not an end but a new beginning, not a tragedy but a miracle that comes for us not as a hooded and sickle-bearing horror but as the last someone who showed us love, compassion, affection, or a simple kindness.
With originality, imagination, and a subtle grace, Wave Goodbye to Charlie earns its place front and center among Eric Arvin’s best. It is a love story at its heart, in all the forms love can take, spiritual and uplifting in only the way a novel that explores the true ever-after can be. There is a message of joy among the sorrow, a sense of order to the chaos that is the unexpected and unknown. Charlie is a must read—to love him is to know him.
Wave Goodbye to Charlie is a story of friendships and of family, not those we are born to but those to whom we choose to belong. It is a story of love and compassion, of darkness, despair, and an evil so pervasive its signature remains legible on the fabric of reality long after its host was erased from existence. Written with a time signature so reminiscent of Woke Up In a Strange Place, The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men, Azrael and the Light Bringer, and The Demon of Jericho, this story resonates in bold and full-bodied imagery, at times magical and lyrical, then bleak and destructive, always emotionally captivating; whether it be through laughter or tears.
It’s a true art form that brings to life plain spoken folk, not erudite in the ways of book learning but eloquent in their life-learned wisdom. Arvin lulls the reader along with colloquialisms and a patois that harkens to country breezes in a rural landscape; then, with a turn of phrase so poetic as to stop the reader in their tracks to awe at its beauty, the author charms with his ability to give voice to the greatest and simplest of life’s truths or to paint a metaphor so vivid that one must take a moment to absorb it in all its significance.
Charlie; his surrogate fathers Jimmy and Leroy; his friends, Alfie and the wise-woman Nessa, star among a host of others—those who are here and those who are neither here nor there; those who are good and those whose soulless stain is still felt from the after—bringing this novel to life. Wave Goodbye to Charlie is a story that will make you question your own beliefs, perhaps fear the unknown just a little, but then, in one glorious moment, will make you believe that Death is not merely life’s final bow but its Second Act, that Death is not an end but a new beginning, not a tragedy but a miracle that comes for us not as a hooded and sickle-bearing horror but as the last someone who showed us love, compassion, affection, or a simple kindness.
With originality, imagination, and a subtle grace, Wave Goodbye to Charlie earns its place front and center among Eric Arvin’s best. It is a love story at its heart, in all the forms love can take, spiritual and uplifting in only the way a novel that explores the true ever-after can be. There is a message of joy among the sorrow, a sense of order to the chaos that is the unexpected and unknown. Charlie is a must read—to love him is to know him.
June 5, 2016
I have only read of few of this author's books and each one has been a wonder. Eric Arvin deserves a genre all of his own for books that aren't really romances and yet are incredibly romantic; books that aren't really horror stories, but are seriously creepy; books that speak of the possibility of a wonderful afterlife.
Charlie has not had an easy life. He is living on his own in a deserted carnival that comes to life for an hour a day. His family consists of the neighbors living in a strange house and who worry about him and feed him.
He looks at me like he’s gonna slap me upside the head. Jimmy does it for him from behind. “What was that for?” I say. “I apologize,” says Jimmy. “I thought I saw some delusions in your hair.”
This book is wonderfully lyrical. Amidst the weirdness of this book, there is humor, love ghosts, really bad guys, and quietly good guys.
“The dead are always watching. You know when you're naked in the bath and the thought passes through your head that, Hey, I wonder if there are ghosts here in this room watching me bathe? Or you're in bed at night shooting your wad and for the tiniest of seconds you think, I wonder if I'm entertaining some spirit. Well, don't fool yourself by shrugging it off. You are.”>
I really don't want to give any of the twists and turns of this book, so I'll just finish by saying read this wonderful book.
Charlie has not had an easy life. He is living on his own in a deserted carnival that comes to life for an hour a day. His family consists of the neighbors living in a strange house and who worry about him and feed him.
He looks at me like he’s gonna slap me upside the head. Jimmy does it for him from behind. “What was that for?” I say. “I apologize,” says Jimmy. “I thought I saw some delusions in your hair.”
This book is wonderfully lyrical. Amidst the weirdness of this book, there is humor, love ghosts, really bad guys, and quietly good guys.
“The dead are always watching. You know when you're naked in the bath and the thought passes through your head that, Hey, I wonder if there are ghosts here in this room watching me bathe? Or you're in bed at night shooting your wad and for the tiniest of seconds you think, I wonder if I'm entertaining some spirit. Well, don't fool yourself by shrugging it off. You are.”>
I really don't want to give any of the twists and turns of this book, so I'll just finish by saying read this wonderful book.
Want to read
November 5, 2016I've very recently discovered this magical world that Eric Arvin created for us. A beautiful place to get lost. A place to call home. The way he phrases things makes a desire to memorize every word on every page. It's always a delight to pick up some Eric Arvin story.
And the destiny knows its work.
In connection with 4th anniversary celebration of On Top Down Under Book Reviews, I've been honored to win the contest. These 6 of Eric Arvin's e-books are a gift of love.
Thank you very much to the donors who made the prizes possible- Wilde City Press, and of course Mr. Arvin. And Cindi love you so much!
And the destiny knows its work.
In connection with 4th anniversary celebration of On Top Down Under Book Reviews, I've been honored to win the contest. These 6 of Eric Arvin's e-books are a gift of love.
Thank you very much to the donors who made the prizes possible- Wilde City Press, and of course Mr. Arvin. And Cindi love you so much!
June 9, 2015
I would kill to have the mind of Eric Arvin. And spoonful of his talent too boot. I am never certain where he will take me or what journey he will sweep me into. As soon as I think I know where we are going, Eric opens up a whole new realm of possibilities. Wave Goodbye to Charlie is no different. Nor can it be nailed down to a certain genre of book, which I LOVE. Masterful storytelling and world building. Keep them coming, Arvin!
March 21, 2015
Yet another Eric Arvin novel that blew my mind.
I just love the way he thinks and writes
I just love the way he thinks and writes
January 8, 2015
5 star review by Vicki
Damn it! This is one of those books that I don’t feel qualified to review. I am not educated enough to talk about the writing of this book. It was amazing.
I’ve read a few books by Eric Arvin, and I have to say I haven’t always liked them. Some are so odd (Kid Christmas and Subsurdity) that I just giggled and groaned through them, some I tried to read (Woke up in a Strange Place and Mingled Destinies) but I didn’t finish them because I didn’t get them. Some (Simple Men and Galley Proof) I liked just fine. I know he’s a great writer, but some are just waaaay over my head. So I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read Wave Goodbye to Charlie. It sounded interesting, but I wasn’t sure. Then I saw the reviews start to come in, and I was more interested. I had it on my list to read, when the opportunity came up to review it for Love Bytes. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I read it. It is so bizarre and wonderful.
I don’t know where to start with the plot though, without giving anything a way. I had read bits of some reviews to see that it sounded like a creative story, but I didn’t read enough that I knew what to expect. I didn’t really have any clue about the plot, other than that it had a hustler named Charlie living in an abandoned carnival. I don’t want to be the one that gives away something that will ruin it for a reader! I said “Oh shit!” repeatedly during this book, and had no idea where the plot was going at any point. I try so hard not to “solve” a book as I’m reading it, not to anticipate what will happen next, but just to go along with the story and see where it will take me. And what a trip this book will take you on…
So Charlie is a hustler, he does live in an abandoned carnival, near a small town in the south. I never really figured out where, just that it’s hot and humid, with bugs. I don’t know when the story is set either, it’s contemporary, but I never got a sense of “when”. Neither of those things matter though. It just was. It just happened. Charlie lives this bizarre life, squatting in this old nasty carnival site, while walking in to town occasionally to have sex for a bit of money. Sometimes it is just a bit. Or a meal. He has a female client, and males ones as well, although there is no actual on page sex. This is also not really a romance story, just so you know. There is no romance, no wine and dinner, although there is love and a happy ending. The carnival wakes up every night between 2:00 and 3:00 am, the music playing and the rides turning. Charlie eventually learns way this happens as he meets the people that inhabit the carnival. Charlie has a run in with Bull, the local bully that ends badly for all involved. He finds out some really bad shit that happened at the carnival years ago, and is dragged deep in to the mess.
There are a very odd assortment of characters in this story, I can talk about them without talking about the plot. Charlie, obviously, is the main character, but he has some friends, helpers, and enemies. Trent, another rent boy and possible source of romance, but it didn’t play out the way I expected it to. Jimmy and Leroy are a couple that live in the caretakers house near the carnival, they were wonderful, and I loved them dearly. They are parental figures and friends, helping Charlie as they can, then getting all caught up in this tragic story. Nessa a local “witch” that turns out to be so much more than just the creepy lady that lives on her own. Bull, one of the bad guys, and his nasty dog. Patricia, Charlie’s client and pain in the ass. I didn’t think much was happening with her, until it did! Alfie and his big dick, Cal, Carter, the shadow man, the grays, the house, and the carnival too… It’s actually a large cast. They all fit together and make this story work, even with the paranormal parts, and a house that sprouts legs and walks. (I heard my mind pop at that part!)
I have to say I was surprised when I was setting this review up and saw this book only has 156 pages. It seems so much longer, it’s such an intense story. But it didn’t feel rushed or crowded, it just flowed so smoothly. It’s creepy and dark, there are some really bad people in this story, alive and dead. Also some really good people, alive and dead! There is death and violence, ghosts, haunting, possession, and insanity. Walking through brains and dreams, and a walking house. Hate and love. Charlie and Nessa are a odd team, but work very well together, along with the help of Alfie and Cal, saving the souls if not the lives of others. The ending is satisfying, and brought a tear to my eye.
Again I don’t have the ability to talk about the style of writing, the details, and the technique. I only know what I like, and I liked this book a lot. I was surprised how much I liked it. I think I understood it, I feel like I did. The story flowed well, the characters were interesting, the plot was creative, and it was just creepy enough, but not too much to keep me awake last night. Eric Arvin is a very talented author, and I hope with all my heart we’ll see more from him in the future.
A copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review. Please visit www.lovebytesreviews.com to see this and many more reviews, author interviews, guestposts and giveaways!
Damn it! This is one of those books that I don’t feel qualified to review. I am not educated enough to talk about the writing of this book. It was amazing.
I’ve read a few books by Eric Arvin, and I have to say I haven’t always liked them. Some are so odd (Kid Christmas and Subsurdity) that I just giggled and groaned through them, some I tried to read (Woke up in a Strange Place and Mingled Destinies) but I didn’t finish them because I didn’t get them. Some (Simple Men and Galley Proof) I liked just fine. I know he’s a great writer, but some are just waaaay over my head. So I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read Wave Goodbye to Charlie. It sounded interesting, but I wasn’t sure. Then I saw the reviews start to come in, and I was more interested. I had it on my list to read, when the opportunity came up to review it for Love Bytes. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I read it. It is so bizarre and wonderful.
I don’t know where to start with the plot though, without giving anything a way. I had read bits of some reviews to see that it sounded like a creative story, but I didn’t read enough that I knew what to expect. I didn’t really have any clue about the plot, other than that it had a hustler named Charlie living in an abandoned carnival. I don’t want to be the one that gives away something that will ruin it for a reader! I said “Oh shit!” repeatedly during this book, and had no idea where the plot was going at any point. I try so hard not to “solve” a book as I’m reading it, not to anticipate what will happen next, but just to go along with the story and see where it will take me. And what a trip this book will take you on…
So Charlie is a hustler, he does live in an abandoned carnival, near a small town in the south. I never really figured out where, just that it’s hot and humid, with bugs. I don’t know when the story is set either, it’s contemporary, but I never got a sense of “when”. Neither of those things matter though. It just was. It just happened. Charlie lives this bizarre life, squatting in this old nasty carnival site, while walking in to town occasionally to have sex for a bit of money. Sometimes it is just a bit. Or a meal. He has a female client, and males ones as well, although there is no actual on page sex. This is also not really a romance story, just so you know. There is no romance, no wine and dinner, although there is love and a happy ending. The carnival wakes up every night between 2:00 and 3:00 am, the music playing and the rides turning. Charlie eventually learns way this happens as he meets the people that inhabit the carnival. Charlie has a run in with Bull, the local bully that ends badly for all involved. He finds out some really bad shit that happened at the carnival years ago, and is dragged deep in to the mess.
There are a very odd assortment of characters in this story, I can talk about them without talking about the plot. Charlie, obviously, is the main character, but he has some friends, helpers, and enemies. Trent, another rent boy and possible source of romance, but it didn’t play out the way I expected it to. Jimmy and Leroy are a couple that live in the caretakers house near the carnival, they were wonderful, and I loved them dearly. They are parental figures and friends, helping Charlie as they can, then getting all caught up in this tragic story. Nessa a local “witch” that turns out to be so much more than just the creepy lady that lives on her own. Bull, one of the bad guys, and his nasty dog. Patricia, Charlie’s client and pain in the ass. I didn’t think much was happening with her, until it did! Alfie and his big dick, Cal, Carter, the shadow man, the grays, the house, and the carnival too… It’s actually a large cast. They all fit together and make this story work, even with the paranormal parts, and a house that sprouts legs and walks. (I heard my mind pop at that part!)
I have to say I was surprised when I was setting this review up and saw this book only has 156 pages. It seems so much longer, it’s such an intense story. But it didn’t feel rushed or crowded, it just flowed so smoothly. It’s creepy and dark, there are some really bad people in this story, alive and dead. Also some really good people, alive and dead! There is death and violence, ghosts, haunting, possession, and insanity. Walking through brains and dreams, and a walking house. Hate and love. Charlie and Nessa are a odd team, but work very well together, along with the help of Alfie and Cal, saving the souls if not the lives of others. The ending is satisfying, and brought a tear to my eye.
Again I don’t have the ability to talk about the style of writing, the details, and the technique. I only know what I like, and I liked this book a lot. I was surprised how much I liked it. I think I understood it, I feel like I did. The story flowed well, the characters were interesting, the plot was creative, and it was just creepy enough, but not too much to keep me awake last night. Eric Arvin is a very talented author, and I hope with all my heart we’ll see more from him in the future.
A copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review. Please visit www.lovebytesreviews.com to see this and many more reviews, author interviews, guestposts and giveaways!
February 15, 2015
Review can be read at It's About The Book
The Charlie from the title Wave Goodbye to Charlie is Charlie Boyd, a runaway, a young man of simple needs who hustles when necessary to keep those needs kept, a loner living in an abandoned carnival ground. The characters populating the worlds of Arvin’s imagination are all fully realised and wonderfully layered. For the most part, Charlie is at peace with his existence and feels a kinship with the strange, dilapidated carnival he calls home. Trent, another young hustler recently arrived in Devlin, whom Charlie has struck up a friendship that has the possibility to become more. Jimmy and Leroy, a couple who live in the nearby old Caretaker’s house, look out for Charlie and offer him the closest he’s ever had to family. The biggest dark spot in Charlie’s life is his other neighbour, a big, mean, bull of a man filled with nothing but hate and violence.
Eric Arvin brings his own economic, yet lyrical style to Charlie’s captivating tale of love and loss, despair and determination. Every word is necessary in building the worlds Charlie inhabits and not a one is wasted. Wave Goodbye to Charlie is a beautifully crafted story full of perfectly realised imagery and metaphor. It made my heart cry rivers of tears for characters that felt more real in that moment than the world around me, then turned around and made it soar with hope. Like Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men and Woke Up in a Strange Place, there is a wonderful fairy tale-like quality to the writing that brings another layer to both the story and the characters. Arvin is a master at portraying the essence of his characters; simultaneously simple, yet complex in their construction. Every one is painted with the individual mannerisms and speech that brings them to life in such a way that avoids becoming a distraction and pulling the reader out of the story. Instead, the reader is immersed in Arvin’s world until the very end.
Charlie is a flawed hero, whose choices broke my heart on occasion. Jimmy and Leroy’s deep love for each other was beautiful in its pseudo-orneriness, as was the understated sense of family they extended to “their boy, Charlie”. Each of the characters that populate Charlie’s world bring something distinctive and crucial to the role they play in it.
The cover is absolutely perfect. You’ll just have to read the book to find out why, but I couldn’t leave it unmentioned.
This unique ghost story of shadow men and heroes takes the reader on an amazing journey exploring the themes of death, love, hope, faith and what friendships and family really mean. The exploration of Death, what it is, what it means, is interwoven into the lives and deaths of the characters throughout the book. Is Death really the final act, or is it merely a stepping stone into a new chapter? The originality and imagination that Arvin brings to this tale elevates it above the every day and into the realm of the truly magical. I loved every moment of the adventure.
The Charlie from the title Wave Goodbye to Charlie is Charlie Boyd, a runaway, a young man of simple needs who hustles when necessary to keep those needs kept, a loner living in an abandoned carnival ground. The characters populating the worlds of Arvin’s imagination are all fully realised and wonderfully layered. For the most part, Charlie is at peace with his existence and feels a kinship with the strange, dilapidated carnival he calls home. Trent, another young hustler recently arrived in Devlin, whom Charlie has struck up a friendship that has the possibility to become more. Jimmy and Leroy, a couple who live in the nearby old Caretaker’s house, look out for Charlie and offer him the closest he’s ever had to family. The biggest dark spot in Charlie’s life is his other neighbour, a big, mean, bull of a man filled with nothing but hate and violence.
Eric Arvin brings his own economic, yet lyrical style to Charlie’s captivating tale of love and loss, despair and determination. Every word is necessary in building the worlds Charlie inhabits and not a one is wasted. Wave Goodbye to Charlie is a beautifully crafted story full of perfectly realised imagery and metaphor. It made my heart cry rivers of tears for characters that felt more real in that moment than the world around me, then turned around and made it soar with hope. Like Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men and Woke Up in a Strange Place, there is a wonderful fairy tale-like quality to the writing that brings another layer to both the story and the characters. Arvin is a master at portraying the essence of his characters; simultaneously simple, yet complex in their construction. Every one is painted with the individual mannerisms and speech that brings them to life in such a way that avoids becoming a distraction and pulling the reader out of the story. Instead, the reader is immersed in Arvin’s world until the very end.
Charlie is a flawed hero, whose choices broke my heart on occasion. Jimmy and Leroy’s deep love for each other was beautiful in its pseudo-orneriness, as was the understated sense of family they extended to “their boy, Charlie”. Each of the characters that populate Charlie’s world bring something distinctive and crucial to the role they play in it.
The cover is absolutely perfect. You’ll just have to read the book to find out why, but I couldn’t leave it unmentioned.
This unique ghost story of shadow men and heroes takes the reader on an amazing journey exploring the themes of death, love, hope, faith and what friendships and family really mean. The exploration of Death, what it is, what it means, is interwoven into the lives and deaths of the characters throughout the book. Is Death really the final act, or is it merely a stepping stone into a new chapter? The originality and imagination that Arvin brings to this tale elevates it above the every day and into the realm of the truly magical. I loved every moment of the adventure.
January 14, 2023
I thought after having read 'The Mingled Destinies of Crocodiles and Men', and 'Azrael and the Light Bringer', that I was inured to the lyrical beauty of Eric Arvin's writing. I knew I was wrong from the moment I cracked open 'Wave Goodbye to Charlie'. There is a poetry and a grittiness to this book that brought it all to life for me. It is a typical book for this author, meaning it's very far from typical at all. It is, however, a voyage into a familiar realm, a place where Eric has taken me before, and, more than likely, will again.
This is Charlie's story. A runaway, a throwaway child, a hooker. A young man who lives within the confines of a decrepit, rambling, broken down carnival. But Charlie is loved, and does love a family he made himself: Leroy and Jimmy, Nessa, and later on, Alfie. The roots of this book lie in family and love. The kind of family you aren't born to, but the kind you make, the kind that holds you when everything else disappears. The kind you fight for, no matter what. And love that weathers all, for eternity.
Please find my full review at Rainbow Book Reviews
This is Charlie's story. A runaway, a throwaway child, a hooker. A young man who lives within the confines of a decrepit, rambling, broken down carnival. But Charlie is loved, and does love a family he made himself: Leroy and Jimmy, Nessa, and later on, Alfie. The roots of this book lie in family and love. The kind of family you aren't born to, but the kind you make, the kind that holds you when everything else disappears. The kind you fight for, no matter what. And love that weathers all, for eternity.
Please find my full review at Rainbow Book Reviews
October 12, 2014
Now I want to go back and reread Woke Up in a Strange Place. I think this might be my new favorite Arvin book.
October 23, 2014
This is one of the most profound, beautiful stories I've had the pleasure to read. It's full of love,loss, horror, truth, loyalty and magic.
November 2, 2024
This book just about broke me several times but in the end there was just too much tragedy. I think ultimately it couldn't had a bigger punch if there wasn't so much. I was almost numb to it by the end, so that's why I didn't give 5 stars, but it was still really good.
June 30, 2023
Strangely enjoyable book. Reminded me of the movie Ghost.
June 9, 2015
It is so difficult to know where to start a review of this book, so I’m going to start with the cover and give praise to the cover designer and illustrator John Coulthart. It is perfect, and when you read the story you will understand why. Eric Arvin has never been an author who fears the big themes, and they don’t get a lot bigger than life and death. In the wonderful ‘Woke up in a Strange Place’ we accompany a spirit on his way through the afterlife - to his understanding that will give him his heaven, and maybe a new life. In ‘Wave Goodbye to Charlie’ we see the afterlife from this side.
Charlie Boyd is a wonderful character and devoid of the bitterness or cynicism you would expect from one so young and in his circumstances.
He is forced to sell his body and turn tricks to feed himself, but he is so full of wonder, love and curiosity that he is loved without realising it and gathers a new strange family around him. They include Jimmy and Leroy a couple who are replacement parents, Nessa the ‘witch’ in the woods a replacement grandmother maybe or mentor, and Trent, a gentle soul and similarly homeless boy, his first love. Their world has darkness in the form of ‘Bull’ and ‘The Shadowman’ epitomes of evil. There are also less defined residents of the woods and Carnival where this odd assortment of characters live, entities which are neither living or passed on to the afterlife, whether they are good, bad or neither is unclear in the first part of the book.
Charlie’s story is divided into two parts; part 1 is his life and introduction of the players in his life and their importance. Part 1 ends and part 2 begins with such sadness, but the events are necessary for this story and in order for Charlie to find his path to the afterlife or ‘Evermore’, as Eric Arvin calls it here. The narrator is Charlie until right near the end when he can’t be then we move to third person. He narrates in his patois, a simple language of country people this provides the whole story with a rural freshness and sense of being close to nature and the veil between the worlds.
There is violence in this story including some visceral descriptions that are hard to read, but they are necessary to impress on the reader the full force of the evil, which has infected the Carnival and surroundings that are Charlie’s home. In some ways this is a simpler read than ‘Woke up in a Strange Place’ in that the concepts are simplified by having Charlie, as the narrator. He is an honest young man who views life, the universe and beyond with such awe, simplicity and love that it is easy to become fully immersed in the world and philosophy Eric Arvin displays for us.
There are elements of magic realism that remind me of my favourite novel 100 Years of Solitude where one of the main characters is preceded everywhere by yellow butterflies - here Charlie in part 2, is followed everywhere by spiders. There are many incidents in, and elements to, this story I can’t include in this review, as I feel it will detract from a reader’s enjoyment to know them in advance. Beware though, this is a story that will have you filled with ideas and chewing over details wanting to discuss them with another reader, so it is in your own interest to get your friends to read this little gem.
I want to include a couple of passages in this review, as I think Eric can explain the philosophy behind this wonderful story far better than I;
and from a little further on;
This novel has laughs, sadness, tears, horror, family and love - it was hard to ‘Wave Goodbye to Charlie’. An absolute 5* read.
Charlie Boyd is a wonderful character and devoid of the bitterness or cynicism you would expect from one so young and in his circumstances.
I am a hangnail on society’s manicured middle finger. I’m older. One year past the age anyone gives a shit.
He is forced to sell his body and turn tricks to feed himself, but he is so full of wonder, love and curiosity that he is loved without realising it and gathers a new strange family around him. They include Jimmy and Leroy a couple who are replacement parents, Nessa the ‘witch’ in the woods a replacement grandmother maybe or mentor, and Trent, a gentle soul and similarly homeless boy, his first love. Their world has darkness in the form of ‘Bull’ and ‘The Shadowman’ epitomes of evil. There are also less defined residents of the woods and Carnival where this odd assortment of characters live, entities which are neither living or passed on to the afterlife, whether they are good, bad or neither is unclear in the first part of the book.
Charlie’s story is divided into two parts; part 1 is his life and introduction of the players in his life and their importance. Part 1 ends and part 2 begins with such sadness, but the events are necessary for this story and in order for Charlie to find his path to the afterlife or ‘Evermore’, as Eric Arvin calls it here. The narrator is Charlie until right near the end when he can’t be then we move to third person. He narrates in his patois, a simple language of country people this provides the whole story with a rural freshness and sense of being close to nature and the veil between the worlds.
There is violence in this story including some visceral descriptions that are hard to read, but they are necessary to impress on the reader the full force of the evil, which has infected the Carnival and surroundings that are Charlie’s home. In some ways this is a simpler read than ‘Woke up in a Strange Place’ in that the concepts are simplified by having Charlie, as the narrator. He is an honest young man who views life, the universe and beyond with such awe, simplicity and love that it is easy to become fully immersed in the world and philosophy Eric Arvin displays for us.
There are elements of magic realism that remind me of my favourite novel 100 Years of Solitude where one of the main characters is preceded everywhere by yellow butterflies - here Charlie in part 2, is followed everywhere by spiders. There are many incidents in, and elements to, this story I can’t include in this review, as I feel it will detract from a reader’s enjoyment to know them in advance. Beware though, this is a story that will have you filled with ideas and chewing over details wanting to discuss them with another reader, so it is in your own interest to get your friends to read this little gem.
I want to include a couple of passages in this review, as I think Eric can explain the philosophy behind this wonderful story far better than I;
It was a wonderful morning, the warmth of the sun and the warmth of friendship combined. I think I realized then that there is a line of beauty to every twisted thing, a perfection to everything that is broken. A thing can only flow when it is in motion, after all, and to be in motion, a thing has to break its perfect stillness. Only broken things are perfect things.
and from a little further on;
“Everything comes from somethin’,” she replied with a shrug. “Everything got some form of energy wrapped up inside it, and energy don’t die. It finds a way to exist, no matter.
“So you and me, we’re gonna live forever?”
“Yessir,” she said. “We are like gods, you and me. We are like vessels holdin’ godstuff.”
He smiled. “I like that, Miss Nessa. That’s some damn fine theology”
This novel has laughs, sadness, tears, horror, family and love - it was hard to ‘Wave Goodbye to Charlie’. An absolute 5* read.
November 7, 2014
A Joyfully Jay review.
5 stars
What a creepy and intriguing novel Eric Arvin has written. I was spellbound. The shocking conclusion to Part 1 in this story and the remarkable journey in Part 2 left me breathless. I honestly love a good horror story and Wave Goodbye To Charlie has all the makings of one and then some. First, the way in which Arvin weaves together phrases and words to create a tense and spooky atmosphere is really stunning. I felt immersed in the creepiness of the abandoned carnival and the dark and twisted woods that surrounded it. Then the author gives us inhabitants of his created world who seem just a smidge off and others whom you would never want to meet even in broad daylight. You begin to fear for Charlie and find yourself muttering aloud, “no, Charlie, go back, hide.”
And then, when you think this chilling ghost story cannot get better, author Eric Arvin presents the case for love. Suddenly, in the midst of this impeccably written horror novel, he places two men, a family of sorts for Charlie, who create warmth and comfort and a safe haven for our young hero. But lest you think they are immune to the danger that lurks in the woods, the author places them in a setting that is just as haunted and unnatural as the creepy carnival itself. Scene upon scene builds to a quiet and startling climax that pulls you up short at the end of Part 1 and forces you to plunge headfirst into the dark journey that is Part 2 of this novel.
Read Jason’s review in its entirety here.
5 stars
What a creepy and intriguing novel Eric Arvin has written. I was spellbound. The shocking conclusion to Part 1 in this story and the remarkable journey in Part 2 left me breathless. I honestly love a good horror story and Wave Goodbye To Charlie has all the makings of one and then some. First, the way in which Arvin weaves together phrases and words to create a tense and spooky atmosphere is really stunning. I felt immersed in the creepiness of the abandoned carnival and the dark and twisted woods that surrounded it. Then the author gives us inhabitants of his created world who seem just a smidge off and others whom you would never want to meet even in broad daylight. You begin to fear for Charlie and find yourself muttering aloud, “no, Charlie, go back, hide.”
And then, when you think this chilling ghost story cannot get better, author Eric Arvin presents the case for love. Suddenly, in the midst of this impeccably written horror novel, he places two men, a family of sorts for Charlie, who create warmth and comfort and a safe haven for our young hero. But lest you think they are immune to the danger that lurks in the woods, the author places them in a setting that is just as haunted and unnatural as the creepy carnival itself. Scene upon scene builds to a quiet and startling climax that pulls you up short at the end of Part 1 and forces you to plunge headfirst into the dark journey that is Part 2 of this novel.
Read Jason’s review in its entirety here.
August 29, 2018
So, I'm not entirely sure what to make of this.
It wasn't anything like what I thought it would be, and ended up more fantastical and surreal than anything else.
It honestly reminded me of Billy Martin (aka Poppy Z Brite), but without the gore; still had the same creepy imaginings and phlegmatic side characters, the same dreamy, slightly random sequence of events.
I wish we'd had a little more focus on Charlie himself instead of all the other people. I certainly enjoyed the side stories, but ended the book not knowing the main character as well as I would've hoped.
Overall, I gave it five starts instead of four because I would definitely re-read it. It's a fairly short and easy read, with a faint sense of nostalgia to it; so I can see myself a few months down the road going "Yknow what I feel like reading again?"
ETA: the pacing issue that I mentioned in my other comments as I was reading still hold true. However, by the part two, I had become rather used to the way the story was playing out and so it didn't bother me much after that. The italics stopped for the majority of the story until randomly making a last appearance toward the finale.
Still worth every star, though. :)
It wasn't anything like what I thought it would be, and ended up more fantastical and surreal than anything else.
It honestly reminded me of Billy Martin (aka Poppy Z Brite), but without the gore; still had the same creepy imaginings and phlegmatic side characters, the same dreamy, slightly random sequence of events.
I wish we'd had a little more focus on Charlie himself instead of all the other people. I certainly enjoyed the side stories, but ended the book not knowing the main character as well as I would've hoped.
Overall, I gave it five starts instead of four because I would definitely re-read it. It's a fairly short and easy read, with a faint sense of nostalgia to it; so I can see myself a few months down the road going "Yknow what I feel like reading again?"
ETA: the pacing issue that I mentioned in my other comments as I was reading still hold true. However, by the part two, I had become rather used to the way the story was playing out and so it didn't bother me much after that. The italics stopped for the majority of the story until randomly making a last appearance toward the finale.
Still worth every star, though. :)
December 18, 2014
It's a journey I didn't expect, but a journey I'm glad I took. In fact, if I could on this site, I'd love to give it another half star.
Charlie is homeless and lives in an abandoned carnival, just one of the places full of wonder and mystery in this tale. He is sometimes fed by a kind and mature gay couple, and has an unrequited love when we first meet him.
But then there are macabre and magical twists to this tale that are best left discovered by the reader. All I will say is that we get to know Charlie both as a living being and a ghost.
The other thing I need to say is that this is an author I definitely am going to read more of.
Charlie is homeless and lives in an abandoned carnival, just one of the places full of wonder and mystery in this tale. He is sometimes fed by a kind and mature gay couple, and has an unrequited love when we first meet him.
But then there are macabre and magical twists to this tale that are best left discovered by the reader. All I will say is that we get to know Charlie both as a living being and a ghost.
The other thing I need to say is that this is an author I definitely am going to read more of.
January 29, 2015
Huh. That was just.... odd. There are ghosts, spirits, a bit of witch craft, a murder or two, some old & nasty evil, a strange cast of characters, beautiful friendships, love, family and very pretty writing. Oh, and a walking house.
It wasn't at all what I thought it would be. It's tagged as fantasy m/m romance, but it isn't a romance. At all. Not sure I would call it fantasy either. And sure, the side-kick couple (if you can call them that; they are pretty essential to the story after all) are gay, but that in itself is rather irrelevant.
I liked it, though. Once I moved past the fact that it wasn't about what I thought it was about.
It wasn't at all what I thought it would be. It's tagged as fantasy m/m romance, but it isn't a romance. At all. Not sure I would call it fantasy either. And sure, the side-kick couple (if you can call them that; they are pretty essential to the story after all) are gay, but that in itself is rather irrelevant.
I liked it, though. Once I moved past the fact that it wasn't about what I thought it was about.
September 6, 2015
I can echo everyone...odd. It is an odd read. I thought the author did a really good job of bringing the story to life. I was saddened by a lot of the cruel things contained within the story, but Charlie's life was just that...sad and tragic.
Now some of what occurred I have HUGE doubts about, not really realistic in this day and age, just some was very scary in that it could be just that way. The author gives a strange read that is very entertaining. It was exciting and captivating. I thoroughly enjoy it.
Now some of what occurred I have HUGE doubts about, not really realistic in this day and age, just some was very scary in that it could be just that way. The author gives a strange read that is very entertaining. It was exciting and captivating. I thoroughly enjoy it.
November 30, 2014
A beautiful mind trip of a book. Eric Arvin paints with words. When I wasn't reading this story, I was thinking about it. It's a love letter to fantasy stories with some scary, twisted stuff right alongside swoon-worthy passages. Loved it.
October 11, 2014
May the barley always be golden. Well done, Eric.
October 18, 2014
Five big bright and shiny stars for this piece of art! This is one of those books you can't ever forget even if you wanted to.
December 5, 2014
This isn't a traditional romance story but there is definitely a lot of love in it. It was a really unusual story with a lot of atmosphere. Read it. You won't be sorry.
January 3, 2015
Beautifully written story. I loved Charlie and despite the sadness of his life I totally enjoyed reading every word of this book.
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