Losing My Religion

by Kyell Gold, Teagan Gavet (Illustrator)

“Losing My Religion” is the story of Jackson Alley, a coyote in an all-male R.E.M. cover band trying his hardest not to grow up. Tours, he feels, are for playing music and taking full advantage of the openness of his marriage, and having a gay wingman usually helped the bisexual coyote get girls. But his wingman is dating their lead singer now, so Jackson’s left with the new bassist, an ex-Mormon kit fox named Zeb who might be gay, but knows as little about sex as he does about drinking. So Jackson’s going to have to show him the ropes, and hopefully he won’t have to learn any pesky life lessons along the way.

Genres: LGBT

136 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 27, 2015

About the author

Hi there! I am a writer of gay furry fiction--but you probably know that if you've seen my book listing here. I live in California with my husband Kit, and when I'm not writing, we like to go out to eat and watch movies. We travel a lot, too, mostly around the West Coast, but occasionally to the midwest and east.

I blog at http://www.kyellgold.com/wpblog about upcoming travel plans, upcoming books and news, general writing principles, gay rights, and whatever else seems interesting. And I co-host a podcast, called "Unsheathed," where we talk about the craft of writing and the furry fandom, sometimes at the same time.

If you have a question about any of the books, check the FAQ on my website and then ask away! :)

Reviews

[J.F.R. Coates · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best part about this book was the characters, no doubt about that. They all had their own distinct voice and personality, and it was great to see them interacting with each other. A lot of depth and history given between them all as well, despite the shortness of the book.

[Altivo Overo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting stuff. Not quite up to the level of Argaea, but certainly more to my taste than the Dev and Lee novels (football, just doesn't do it for me at all.) Music is a big interest of mine, though rock and the club scene is not. I get mixed feelings about first person narrator Jackson. He's certainly a coyote through and through, but the characters I'd really like to hear from are two other members of the band: Lars, arctic fox lead singer; and Zeb, young fox guitar whiz and apostate Mormon who still hasn't quite let go. Jackson is bi and opportunistic, while the other three band members (including Jackson's best friend Matt, the black wolf drummer and manager) are all gay. And there is the crux of Zeb's dilemma. Attracted to Jackson, who is certainly willing to play around, Zeb is still uncertain of himself and what he wants. Not to mention, bothered by his strict religious upbringing and fears of being cut off from family. This is all a slightly different angle on the same story told in the author's Waterways. The occasional illustrations by Teagan Gavet are refreshing and fun, too. Zeb and Lars are supporting characters here, but from my viewpoint, they are the most interesting.

[Jaime Ladron De Guevara · Rating 5 out of 5]

El mundo de la música esta lleno de excesos pero esta historia nos muestra que muchas veces eso puede cambiar, llendo de la mano del exitoso novelista Kyell Gold, nos adentramos en un mundo de música, amor y sexo. La historia de una banda que interpreta covers de diferentes canciones de la exitosa banda R.E.M. conocemos diferentes historias, desde aquel conformista que se harta y se supera a si mismo hasta el adolescente marcado por una familia conservadora.

El libro no solo ayuda a explorar la forma en como algunas bandas de rock ven la vida viajando a trabes del continente si no también lo mucho que nuestras decisiones nos pueden marcar, personajes que te provocan el no poder despegarte del libro y un final lleno de giros inesperados, buen ritmo de la historia y un escritura sencilla, si te sientes desolado o solo, deja que esta banda de extravagantes animales te hagan compañía.

[King Aníbal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felt it was a bit aimless at times. But entertaining none the less, if a bit weak towards the middle.
The amount of twists and turns were amusing, and that ending (spoilery bit, I guess!) was bittersweet, if oddly satisfying in its own way. After all, not all stories can have a happy ending. You must go with what you got.
For what it's worth, I enjoyed it specially the last third, when it really picks up. And the fact that most of it takes place in a van while traveling is awesome. If you're unsure about reading, I'd say do it. It's only a few hours read anyways.

[Steven Hoppe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes yes YES

This and Winter Games are the best novella's by kyell gold I have ever read, and I loved how this one was rather humorous despite the circumstances, I love the main character Jackson, he is so damn lovable, this has honestly been one of the most enjoyable reads ever, AND IT'S NOT EVEN A FULL NOVEL that's amazing to me keep up the good work, big time! <3

[Red · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, beautiful, book. The dynamic changes in the characters and the focus on Zeb finding himself rather then just, “oh let’s just have an orgy” in addition to the lack of Zeb actually being fucked and the open ending, is just, amazing.

[Lowka Borowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely good novella! Great characters and writing. I’d love to make a long, more in-depth, review at some point!

[Slyfox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the book and characters. I just wish we had more time with the characters, especially zeb

[Packwolf Lupestripe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read with strong distinctive characters and enough plot twists to keep you engaged. The central theme of the band hangs everything together and the pacing is spot on.

[Ben Levans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book so much :3

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a bad read...

Strangely enough I really didn't expect to like this book quite as much as I did. I do hope to see more of Zeb and Jackson in the future.

[Cameron Galloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming, funny, and often raunchy tale of a guy who suddenly finds the few things he has going for him suddenly start to slip and how he deals with it.

I love Kyell Gold's "Forrester" universe, and this short novella is a treat for those who like reading those contemporary stories with a furry twist. One thing I appreciate about these books is that because of the shared-world status, characters and places from other books have the chance to make fun little "easter-eggs" for the observant reader. Nothing any newcomer would be lost by, just something for fans to appreciate since many of these books don't usually get sequels and its nice to follow up on some things.

I have read other reviews that have complained about the ending, saying that it's rather abrupt. Honestly, it is just a short tale not a full length novel. Of course I would have loved an epilogue of some sort, but only because I loved reading this story and about these characters. But I think -without getting into spoilers - that the ending works fine. It's not about reaching a destination, it's about getting on the right road.

I think there could be a sequel to this story, but told from Zeb's point of view - although it's not necessary. Unlike the "Out of Position" series which had lots of characters and storylines hanging to entice readers back, I was satisfied enough with how things ended that if this is the only story with Jackson Alley, I wouldn't be losing sleep wondering what the next chapter would be.
Now there are some side characters I think have potential stories to tell. Of course, Mr. Gold loves writing short stories about the side characters of his books, so I'm sure we'll see some of them again.

[Ryft Sarri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, I have to say that I have a touch of bias in reviewing this story.

In short, I adore this story. It left me feeling inspired and I never wondered why. Jackson is a wonderful character for how he reacts to the situations laid out for him and it's exactly what I wanted out of a main character. He's a bit of a jerk, knows it, and embraces it to every feasible degree. Now, that's not to say that he's a bad person; I wouldn't go that far, but as a character he is displayed as the type of person you'd want to see in a band like REMake.

Exploring the ties between religion and homosexuality is something I take very seriously myself, and it's nice to get a fresh take on it that I haven't heard before. Well done yet again, Mister Gold.

[Jose · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending is a little open for my taste. It needs an epilogue like others stories of kyell gold.