What do you think?
Rate this book
Gravitational Pull
Finally in his last year of university, Skyler thinks things might be working out for him. His dreams of going to graduate school and getting his PhD are well within reach, he has a small but solid core group of friends, and he has found someone who loves him – his ever patient boyfriend, Ryan.
But our pasts are never far behind us. His parents, his ex-boyfriend, and ongoing struggles with his sexuality cast shadows over his relationship with Ryan. As these forces converge and threaten to pull him apart at the seams, Skyler is going to have to solve who he is before he can figure out who he wants to be.
But our pasts are never far behind us. His parents, his ex-boyfriend, and ongoing struggles with his sexuality cast shadows over his relationship with Ryan. As these forces converge and threaten to pull him apart at the seams, Skyler is going to have to solve who he is before he can figure out who he wants to be.
380 pages, Paperback
Published August 19, 2025
24 people want to read
About the author
Ty Fox
1 book13 followersTy Fox resides in Upstate New York with four dear friends and housemates. When he’s not reading or writing furry fiction, he enjoys retro video games, number puzzles, and playing the piano.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 6, 2025
Gravitational Pull is a story that lives up to its title. The kind of story that pulls you in and is hard to leave, even after reading the final pages.
Ty’s prose here is wonderful, commanding not only great language and knowledge, but employs an interesting narrative structure that compels us to keep going. To find the answers of certain circumstances Skyler finds himself in, almost akin to the film ‘Memento’.
For some, this may be an intense read. Skyler’s journey from childhood through to his college years is filled with emotional pitfalls, physical bullying, and even an abusive relationship. But when the going gets rough, the prose shines a light of hope that it’ll all work out in the end.
Wholeheartedly do I recommend others pick up this book. I feel confident that this story will be a great addition to the furry literary canon, as it is to my library.
Ty’s prose here is wonderful, commanding not only great language and knowledge, but employs an interesting narrative structure that compels us to keep going. To find the answers of certain circumstances Skyler finds himself in, almost akin to the film ‘Memento’.
For some, this may be an intense read. Skyler’s journey from childhood through to his college years is filled with emotional pitfalls, physical bullying, and even an abusive relationship. But when the going gets rough, the prose shines a light of hope that it’ll all work out in the end.
Wholeheartedly do I recommend others pick up this book. I feel confident that this story will be a great addition to the furry literary canon, as it is to my library.
November 27, 2025
Why is it the books that I like most are ones that mix trauma and pain with sex and intimacy? Like Rhaetor Dark End's The Eternal Party last year, this was hitting all the right notes for me.
November 3, 2025
You might like this book if you enjoy:
-Realistic, relatable fiction
-College dramas
-Complex character psychology
-Lots of gay sex scenes
-Science!!!
Gravitational Pull is Ty Fox’s debut novel, and what a debut it is. Technically, this is my second readthrough of this book. I originally read the self-published version before Fenris Productions made the wise choice of picking it up. Since then, I’ve eagerly awaited an excuse to do a second readthrough, and finally that day has come. Gravitational Pull is even better the second time around. It’s a beautiful, and sometimes painfully relatable story about recovery from trauma, whether it be the trauma of a tumultuous upbringing, or of an abusive relationship. This book’s characters beautifully show how past traumas can play into one another, and how love and support can help to break that cycle.
Gravitational Pull follows a wolf named Skyler who’s studying Chemistry in college while dealing with the many traumas he’s experienced throughout his life. After totaling his car in a storm while running away from one of those traumas, he meets a coyote named Ryan who takes him to the hospital and happily gives him a place to stay while he recovers. Skyler’s story then begins to play out of order, and we start to see what led him to this point in his life, and even where his life will go in the future. What follows is a tale that jumps back and forth, to and fro, to great effect, showing how Skyler’s past, present, and future play into one another and into his developing romance with Ryan.
Some people avoid stories told this way, which is understandable. Oftentimes those stories are structured out of order simply for dramatic effect, or for seemingly no reason at all. But I’d encourage anyone who doesn’t typically enjoy this kind of storytelling to stick around. One of the reasons I enjoyed Gravitational Pull so much is that I find the shuffled storytelling absolutely essential here, and I think in the rest of this review you’ll see why.
I was impressed by how the shuffled sequence of events in the book still has a driving structure. Rather than go in order, the story instead goes more so by cause and effect. For example, soon after showing Skyler’s childhood with his neglectful parents, the story jumps forward to a chapter where Skyler has a venomous phone call with his mother a decade later. The reordering helps to lay out Skyler’s motivation for what he says in that phone call, and this is a pattern repeated throughout the book. I found that it made for a quick and deep understanding of a very complex character, not to mention making him much more relatable.
In fact, “relatable” is a word I use the most when talking about this book, and for good reason. Skyler’s traumas are, sadly, all too common in real life. As the chapters keep coming, he experiences scenes of physical bullying, bigotry, family drama, school injustices, dangerous accidents, and abusive relationships. Readers who have experienced any one of these, which I’m sure describes most readers, will easily find something to relate to from Skyler’s experiences, as well as the wide spectrum of ways he reacts to these traumas. I was blown away by how similar Skyler’s thoughts and feelings were about certain traumas I’ve experienced, such as ones stemming from dysfunctional families.
One of the most powerful traumas Skyler experiences is the abusive relationship he goes through before meeting Ryan. This relationship is depicted in such a nuanced and realistic way. The abuser dishes out as much love as he does pain, sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously, sowing seeds of doubt in Skyler’s mind about whether he actually is in a toxic relationship or not. It’s depicted so realistically, in fact, that I believe one of the strongest ways a reader might relate to this book is if they themselves are in an abusive relationship. This book could serve as a great way of helping someone recognize the situation they’re in and prompting them to start taking action to escape. It may be a bit of wishful thinking on my part, but I think even the potential for that to happen is pretty cool.
Every character in this story is also relatable for being so profoundly flawed. Even Ryan, the main love interest fulfilling the gay romance archetype of “guy who’s perfect and solves everything” is not, in fact, perfect and does not, in fact, solve everything. He even creates new conflicts at times and makes regrettable choices that threaten his relationship with Skyler. It was nice to see such flaws present in such a kind and caring character, showing that even the best people in the world who we fall hopelessly in love with can have baggage that starts a few fires.
As I describe all this trauma and relatability and character flaws, it may sound like this book has a miserable tone. Luckily readers need not worry, because the book doesn’t get bogged down in doom and gloom. I found the story often had a melancholic tone, but never one of despair. It helps that the traumas Skyler experiences never went so over the top as to suspend my disbelief. But mainly, by staggering bad moments with good ones, and by using scenes from the future to remind you Skyler makes it out okay, things stay relatively hopeful throughout.
And ultimately, that’s a big part of Gravitational Pull—the joy of overcoming trauma and recovering from the despair it can throw you into. I loved how thoughtfully that recovery was explored, and with such attention to detail. Skyler and Ryan, as well as their struggles, feel real. I’d say they’re some of the most realistic and relatable characters I’ve read about all year. With this kind of skill in character development, I can’t wait to see what Ty Fox does next.
-Realistic, relatable fiction
-College dramas
-Complex character psychology
-Lots of gay sex scenes
-Science!!!
Gravitational Pull is Ty Fox’s debut novel, and what a debut it is. Technically, this is my second readthrough of this book. I originally read the self-published version before Fenris Productions made the wise choice of picking it up. Since then, I’ve eagerly awaited an excuse to do a second readthrough, and finally that day has come. Gravitational Pull is even better the second time around. It’s a beautiful, and sometimes painfully relatable story about recovery from trauma, whether it be the trauma of a tumultuous upbringing, or of an abusive relationship. This book’s characters beautifully show how past traumas can play into one another, and how love and support can help to break that cycle.
Gravitational Pull follows a wolf named Skyler who’s studying Chemistry in college while dealing with the many traumas he’s experienced throughout his life. After totaling his car in a storm while running away from one of those traumas, he meets a coyote named Ryan who takes him to the hospital and happily gives him a place to stay while he recovers. Skyler’s story then begins to play out of order, and we start to see what led him to this point in his life, and even where his life will go in the future. What follows is a tale that jumps back and forth, to and fro, to great effect, showing how Skyler’s past, present, and future play into one another and into his developing romance with Ryan.
Some people avoid stories told this way, which is understandable. Oftentimes those stories are structured out of order simply for dramatic effect, or for seemingly no reason at all. But I’d encourage anyone who doesn’t typically enjoy this kind of storytelling to stick around. One of the reasons I enjoyed Gravitational Pull so much is that I find the shuffled storytelling absolutely essential here, and I think in the rest of this review you’ll see why.
I was impressed by how the shuffled sequence of events in the book still has a driving structure. Rather than go in order, the story instead goes more so by cause and effect. For example, soon after showing Skyler’s childhood with his neglectful parents, the story jumps forward to a chapter where Skyler has a venomous phone call with his mother a decade later. The reordering helps to lay out Skyler’s motivation for what he says in that phone call, and this is a pattern repeated throughout the book. I found that it made for a quick and deep understanding of a very complex character, not to mention making him much more relatable.
In fact, “relatable” is a word I use the most when talking about this book, and for good reason. Skyler’s traumas are, sadly, all too common in real life. As the chapters keep coming, he experiences scenes of physical bullying, bigotry, family drama, school injustices, dangerous accidents, and abusive relationships. Readers who have experienced any one of these, which I’m sure describes most readers, will easily find something to relate to from Skyler’s experiences, as well as the wide spectrum of ways he reacts to these traumas. I was blown away by how similar Skyler’s thoughts and feelings were about certain traumas I’ve experienced, such as ones stemming from dysfunctional families.
One of the most powerful traumas Skyler experiences is the abusive relationship he goes through before meeting Ryan. This relationship is depicted in such a nuanced and realistic way. The abuser dishes out as much love as he does pain, sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously, sowing seeds of doubt in Skyler’s mind about whether he actually is in a toxic relationship or not. It’s depicted so realistically, in fact, that I believe one of the strongest ways a reader might relate to this book is if they themselves are in an abusive relationship. This book could serve as a great way of helping someone recognize the situation they’re in and prompting them to start taking action to escape. It may be a bit of wishful thinking on my part, but I think even the potential for that to happen is pretty cool.
Every character in this story is also relatable for being so profoundly flawed. Even Ryan, the main love interest fulfilling the gay romance archetype of “guy who’s perfect and solves everything” is not, in fact, perfect and does not, in fact, solve everything. He even creates new conflicts at times and makes regrettable choices that threaten his relationship with Skyler. It was nice to see such flaws present in such a kind and caring character, showing that even the best people in the world who we fall hopelessly in love with can have baggage that starts a few fires.
As I describe all this trauma and relatability and character flaws, it may sound like this book has a miserable tone. Luckily readers need not worry, because the book doesn’t get bogged down in doom and gloom. I found the story often had a melancholic tone, but never one of despair. It helps that the traumas Skyler experiences never went so over the top as to suspend my disbelief. But mainly, by staggering bad moments with good ones, and by using scenes from the future to remind you Skyler makes it out okay, things stay relatively hopeful throughout.
And ultimately, that’s a big part of Gravitational Pull—the joy of overcoming trauma and recovering from the despair it can throw you into. I loved how thoughtfully that recovery was explored, and with such attention to detail. Skyler and Ryan, as well as their struggles, feel real. I’d say they’re some of the most realistic and relatable characters I’ve read about all year. With this kind of skill in character development, I can’t wait to see what Ty Fox does next.
August 26, 2024
Once I started reading this book I did NOT want to put it down. I was hooked, and I don't at all regret reading the entire thing in the two days that I did. So much emotion, to the point where I genuinely laughed, cried and took a good time after reading it to just decompress everything I had taken in. Yeah, sure, its all a fiction, but there is an immense amount of emotion in this book that just struck several cords with me that I definitely wont forget. I get it if slice of life books aren't your thing, or romance books, or sad books what have you, but if you're even slightly interested in any of the above of what this book is about after giving it an initial glance, its well worth the read.
May 29, 2024
Business aspect first: I was asked to leave this rating and review in exchange for a beta-read of an in-progress novel I'm working on.
To that end, this is not the kind of book I would normally read. While I've read my share of romance, and seen my share of romance movies, I rarely find it gripping all the way through.
This one did hold my interest for a while. I think it benefited a lot from the organization of it, which is pseudo-epistolary (by which I mean, the chapters are all dated and it's in first-person, even if it doesn't read like journal entries per se) and told out of chronological order. On a single read-through, I felt I was missing a lot of the subtleties inherent to the order it was told in, but broadly it felt like it was an emotional growth arc for Skyler, the protagonist. Which made the arc feel less constructed to me, somehow; I guess it's because in real life, we don't always think of our stories as a series of linear events. Things happen, we think about them at the time, but also we reflect on what took us to them, and we think about where we go from here. This structure nailed that feeling, for me.
I admit that the story did start to lose me a few times. But this isn't a criticism--what was getting to me was just how counter-intuitively tedious a life like Skyler's can end up feeling. All drama, all the time, which can only escalate and deescalate from a base level that's already high enough I imagine it would damage basically anyone forced to endure it. It's exhausting, being in that headspace, and so I found myself reading quickly at times to get through it and then setting it aside for the rest of the day to get back into a normal headspace.
But then again, I'm not the book's real audience. Sex scenes don't do much for me, so they always seem to go on just a touch longer than they need to. Romance doesn't do much for me, so all the tears and heightened emotions start to wear on my patience after a while. So I can't judge the book on all that. I suspect that for people who resonate with this kind of material, this book would be enthralling, and thrilling. And I say that because even though I guess I have a heart made of frozen coal, I did feel things at the end, and I was rooting for the two love-birds (love-dogs, I guess) whose dynamic comprises the plot for the bulk of the time I was reading it. It goes many, many places, and goes into them without holding back, so never once did I feel it was being manipulative or contrived or corny or melodramatic. By the end, I felt like I got Skyler and Ryan.
Plus, the book is self-published, but it was extremely well-edited and the e-book version I read was beautifully designed. The love that went into the creation of this work was obvious from page one. So if you enjoy romance, by all means, give this one a read.
To that end, this is not the kind of book I would normally read. While I've read my share of romance, and seen my share of romance movies, I rarely find it gripping all the way through.
This one did hold my interest for a while. I think it benefited a lot from the organization of it, which is pseudo-epistolary (by which I mean, the chapters are all dated and it's in first-person, even if it doesn't read like journal entries per se) and told out of chronological order. On a single read-through, I felt I was missing a lot of the subtleties inherent to the order it was told in, but broadly it felt like it was an emotional growth arc for Skyler, the protagonist. Which made the arc feel less constructed to me, somehow; I guess it's because in real life, we don't always think of our stories as a series of linear events. Things happen, we think about them at the time, but also we reflect on what took us to them, and we think about where we go from here. This structure nailed that feeling, for me.
I admit that the story did start to lose me a few times. But this isn't a criticism--what was getting to me was just how counter-intuitively tedious a life like Skyler's can end up feeling. All drama, all the time, which can only escalate and deescalate from a base level that's already high enough I imagine it would damage basically anyone forced to endure it. It's exhausting, being in that headspace, and so I found myself reading quickly at times to get through it and then setting it aside for the rest of the day to get back into a normal headspace.
But then again, I'm not the book's real audience. Sex scenes don't do much for me, so they always seem to go on just a touch longer than they need to. Romance doesn't do much for me, so all the tears and heightened emotions start to wear on my patience after a while. So I can't judge the book on all that. I suspect that for people who resonate with this kind of material, this book would be enthralling, and thrilling. And I say that because even though I guess I have a heart made of frozen coal, I did feel things at the end, and I was rooting for the two love-birds (love-dogs, I guess) whose dynamic comprises the plot for the bulk of the time I was reading it. It goes many, many places, and goes into them without holding back, so never once did I feel it was being manipulative or contrived or corny or melodramatic. By the end, I felt like I got Skyler and Ryan.
Plus, the book is self-published, but it was extremely well-edited and the e-book version I read was beautifully designed. The love that went into the creation of this work was obvious from page one. So if you enjoy romance, by all means, give this one a read.
December 4, 2025
To me, the aspect I cherish most about a good book is discovering and falling in love with wonderfully crafted characters. Ones that jump on the page, that feel like people you could meet in real life. Skyler and Ryan, as well as the whole host of characters in Gravitational Pull, are unequivocally that.
We are introduced to our main character at a loving moment, setting the book off to a strong start. Then over the course of several hundred pages, I found myself praying it would stay that way and that they would get a happy ending.
Like any relationship, Sky and Ry's can be rocky at times, with many issues stemming from Sky's challenging past relationships. Through the course of the book, Ty Fox doesn't pull punches when covering tough topics of emotional and physical abuse, rape, sexual assault, violence, and fractured family dynamics, but he does so while covering them with grace. For anyone who has faced similar challenges in life, this book may be difficult to read at times. Possibly even overwhelming. However, there is a great deal to take away from it all, and reading Skyler work through them is worthwhile.
While many will relate to Sky, I found myself particularly drawn to Ryan. A caring, handsome coyote that would do just about anything to protect our main character. What's not to love? His struggle throughout the story is initially less visible. Neglecting his needs by putting everyone else's first is something that resonated deeply within me. I really enjoyed the nuance Ty Fox brought to his character. He's easy to love from the get-go, but by the book's end, it becomes clear he is just as flawed as anyone else.
Ultimately, I feel Gravitational Pull is about the support we give one another and how even if one side needs more, it doesn't mean that the other doesn't need it too. It's about family, found and traditional, about acceptance and love. It's about healing. Skylar and Ryan have one of those relationships that you want to work, no matter what they need to do to make it right. That's what I ended loving most about this story. The love Ty and Sky have for each other radiates from the pages.
Gravitational Pull is an easy five stars, and it is an incredible debut from a new author. I eagerly await what Ty Fox has in store for us next.
We are introduced to our main character at a loving moment, setting the book off to a strong start. Then over the course of several hundred pages, I found myself praying it would stay that way and that they would get a happy ending.
Like any relationship, Sky and Ry's can be rocky at times, with many issues stemming from Sky's challenging past relationships. Through the course of the book, Ty Fox doesn't pull punches when covering tough topics of emotional and physical abuse, rape, sexual assault, violence, and fractured family dynamics, but he does so while covering them with grace. For anyone who has faced similar challenges in life, this book may be difficult to read at times. Possibly even overwhelming. However, there is a great deal to take away from it all, and reading Skyler work through them is worthwhile.
While many will relate to Sky, I found myself particularly drawn to Ryan. A caring, handsome coyote that would do just about anything to protect our main character. What's not to love? His struggle throughout the story is initially less visible. Neglecting his needs by putting everyone else's first is something that resonated deeply within me. I really enjoyed the nuance Ty Fox brought to his character. He's easy to love from the get-go, but by the book's end, it becomes clear he is just as flawed as anyone else.
Ultimately, I feel Gravitational Pull is about the support we give one another and how even if one side needs more, it doesn't mean that the other doesn't need it too. It's about family, found and traditional, about acceptance and love. It's about healing. Skylar and Ryan have one of those relationships that you want to work, no matter what they need to do to make it right. That's what I ended loving most about this story. The love Ty and Sky have for each other radiates from the pages.
Gravitational Pull is an easy five stars, and it is an incredible debut from a new author. I eagerly await what Ty Fox has in store for us next.
August 29, 2025
Gravitational Pull is an engaging and compelling tale that shines a sharp light on how our past can hinder our future. As we follow the journey of Skyler, it's hard not to feel empathy for his struggles, such is the quality of the writing. In this regard, Ryan acts as a perfect foil, helping him through some of his difficulties with an understanding that can only be based on love. That love is clear to see, with the sex scenes only enhancing this. However, Ryan is a strong character in his own right, and the tensions between the two of them were also handled well.
The story being told out of chronological order, oscillating between various stages of Skyler's life, was a clever technique that put many of his emotions into context. Perhaps some of his travails were a little repetitive, but then that mirrors the subsequent neuroses too. I thought he maybe treat his parents a little too harshly on occasions - this was the only time I struggled to relate to Skyler - but aside from this, it was clear why Skyler reacted in the way that he did. This gave the character depth and authenticity. While I certainly found myself rooting for Skyler, I found myself rooting for his relationship with Ryan even more. Again, this is testament to the quality of the writing.
The strength of this book is the characters and plot, making it one of those novels that you struggle to put down. I read it over a two-day period and it did leave me yearning for a sequel. I'd recommend picking this up.
The story being told out of chronological order, oscillating between various stages of Skyler's life, was a clever technique that put many of his emotions into context. Perhaps some of his travails were a little repetitive, but then that mirrors the subsequent neuroses too. I thought he maybe treat his parents a little too harshly on occasions - this was the only time I struggled to relate to Skyler - but aside from this, it was clear why Skyler reacted in the way that he did. This gave the character depth and authenticity. While I certainly found myself rooting for Skyler, I found myself rooting for his relationship with Ryan even more. Again, this is testament to the quality of the writing.
The strength of this book is the characters and plot, making it one of those novels that you struggle to put down. I read it over a two-day period and it did leave me yearning for a sequel. I'd recommend picking this up.
November 14, 2025
Gravitational Pull is an unflinching commentary on abuse, trauma, and healing that tells the story of Skyler, a college student struggling in the aftermath of a toxic relationship, via a series of vignettes that jump back and forth through time to strategically reveal new pieces of the puzzle that make up Skyler's psyche. The novel feels deeply personal, confronting the darkness in Skyler's past and the progress he's made to rekindle his own light. It's depressing, joyful, romantic, and sexy, culminating in a satisfying narrative about learning to live for himself again after going through hell.
The novel is a strong showing for the author's first novel, and while the scattered timeline might not land for everyone, it shows a willingness to experiment and do something fun with the medium. I'm looking forward to reading the author's future projects and watching his style develop further. Overall, it's a good time with enough emotional "meat" to leave you satisfied and perhaps even a little misty eyed.
The novel is a strong showing for the author's first novel, and while the scattered timeline might not land for everyone, it shows a willingness to experiment and do something fun with the medium. I'm looking forward to reading the author's future projects and watching his style develop further. Overall, it's a good time with enough emotional "meat" to leave you satisfied and perhaps even a little misty eyed.
May 14, 2024
I know it seems cliché to say “I couldn’t put this book down,” but it legitimately true. I read this entire book in a single sitting. I was so enraptured by the journey that Skyler takes through his life. I make no exaggeration when I say that I’ve never related to a character so personally before while reading. Skyler is incredibly sympathetic, and watching him grow and heal was truly a treat. I would recommend this to anyone!
-Schande T.
-Schande T.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews