Hate

by Leon Gandt

A GAY EROTIC ROMANCE
Hate is an emotion we reserve for the people, objects and situations we despise. Our abhorrence is a natural response to feeling of revulsion that we experience when confronted with these objects.
It is the same emotion that Richie feels for Damon - the rich, handsome boy at school who belittles his sexuality and social position. But Damon's tantrums mask a secret desire that the bully feels scared to explore - a desire that represents the confluence between hate and love. Will hate really transform into love?

Genres: M M Romance

244 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 3, 2016

Reviews

[Lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not like Richie. He gave off so many mixed signals and obviously didn't know what he wanted. He was very confusing to me. However, I am giving this 3 stars only because I loved Damon. He was a such a sweet kid, who had a hard life trying to take care of his mentally ill mother, do good in school, and hold down a job so he could pay the bills at home.

Since Damon never really had time to try and make friends, he was so happy when Richie finally decided to start being nice to him but it broke my heart the way Richie treated him. Richie continually hugged and kissed on Damon one minute, then pushed him away the next because he was so unsure of his feelings. Poor Damon was always so worried he was going to say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, look the wrong way, etc. and drive Richie away again. He was never sure if he was doing the right thing and always questioning his actions, which he certainly didn't need on top of everything else he had to deal with. (At one point, he even agreed that Richie could see other people if that meant Richie would still come back to him - he was just so desperate for Richie's love that he decided if that was the only way he could get it, he'd learn to deal with it)

I'm glad Richie finally came around but this was not my favorite story, the writing wasn't great and didn't flow very well, but I did enjoy reading about Damon's character.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* stars

This was an impulse buy, the blurb intrigued me and the cover sold it!

This is a YA story, it wasn't made clear in the blurb and it takes a while to catch up with the information but both MC's are in High School, Damon is 17 and Richie is 19.

So, Richie is the bully in the early scenes, locking on and zeroing in on Damon. Damon is struggling, coping with a mentally ill mother, working to keep a roof over their heads, attending school and dealing with Richie. The pressure from his home life is overwhelming, I felt his suffocation and no way out.....it was sobering......

Then after a strange heart-to-heart in the restroom at school, Ritchie and Damon become tentative friends....was this a touch of stockholm syndrome? What then follows is teenage emotions - angst, indecision, questions, miscommunication, discoveries good and bad.....maybe tentatively taking the first steps to growing up?

It was a slow burn mish-mash until about two-thirds of the way through and I felt like I been on a roller coaster with the dithering, the questions and suffered whip-lash with the to-ing and fro-ing. Damon did the "stupid" with no thought or consequence after his time with Richie and I felt foolishly let down by his action. Up to this point I'd given him the benefit of the doubt, he was an arse at times , blunt with his assessment, thinking of himself - but he had some serious baggage, which you only get glimpses at, but to be so cynical and closed off you can only imagine what a couple of years on his own has reduced him to? I wanted to yell at Damon to stop being so needy, so agreeable, to stop trying to compensate for the lack of affection and human comfort....from both his mother and Richie......it was heartbreaking .......

The story tentatively starts to wrap up in the last 6%, they both seem to hit rock bottom, but there was no big revelations, no neat bows or perfect packages at the end, not a bit of fluff anywhere, just a fade to black.......surprisingly for me, it was like a warm stirring of possibilities, a better tomorrow.....and not facing it alone, for now......

Overall, I felt this was very melancholy read, don't look for rainbows and HEA's, there isn't one.....this was a little slice of life on the cusp of adulthood - maybe? Self discovery, definitely.......not doing it alone?......hopefully.

[Shelba · Rating 1 out of 5]

The alternating perspective for one paragraph to the next was really disruptive to the flow, for one. Richie pulling Damon in one minute and pushing him the next, repetitively from start to finish was annoying. And while I liked Damon as a character, I feel as though the it pretty much was just a matter of Richie being the only one there for him, and it really wouldn't have mattered who it was.

[Kristy Maitz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand to be very important to read, talk or watch on tv about problems each of us got in our lives. But getting someone to read about it is harder then a writer can think. So, when you have such a story plot with boring character you can be sure the reading wont be appreciated.

All, in all a boring start and to bored to end it.

[NatNat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked the look of the synopsis but the book just fell flat. I found it really difficult to read, it didn't flow well and the flipping between characters was just not needed the amount it happened.
I managed to read until the end and was just thoroughly disappointed.

[Lene · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars erotic YA MM romance.