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Barloc
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112 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 9, 2017
About the author
E.L. Esch
5 books64 followersA contemporary MM romance author 🌈, video game junkie 🎮, and keeper of tiny dragons 🦎.
(The books Beauty in the Breakdown, Lucky Seven, and Barloc are currently unavailable.)
Find me and my books on:
linktr.ee/e_l_esch
(The books Beauty in the Breakdown, Lucky Seven, and Barloc are currently unavailable.)
Find me and my books on:
linktr.ee/e_l_esch
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 9, 2017
Review can be read at It's About The Book
Noah expected to die. Instead, he woke up in a bed and was being tended to by a grumpy hero. Noah lost his arm during the Last War and found himself with just the right person to help him get a new one. His hero, Ban, has a prosthetic leg. Ban also has a boyfriend. A crappy boyfriend. After an unpleasant night Ban gets rid of his boyfriend. Unfortunately, Ban doesn’t take the break up well. Noah is busy having to adjust to his new life in a place safe from the war as he learns a new skill that will help him pay for his new arm. Ban may be a hero, but he’s got to eat. As he works for Ban, Noah realizes how much he really likes Ban. For the most part Ban doesn’t reciprocate. There are moments where Noah sees an amazingly compassionate and wounded Ban, but that gets replaced by a hardened and angry guy who brings home a new guy every night. It’s not until Noah finally gets his new arm that he gets Ban to be honest with him about not only his feelings, but his reasons for rescuing Noah.
The world building in this book was pretty good. If there’s ever a story written about the guy from the house in the center of town I’m going to be all over that. This book, though, was a little messy. I was engaged, and liked the story, but then there’d be a comment that made no sense. Like one guy who was just described as being in a bed was suddenly sleeping on a sofa. Or the guy with one arm put his palms, plural, on something. It was a lot of little oddities that left me feeling the book maybe wasn’t wholly ready for prime time. I also had some trouble accepting Ban suddenly went from being a monogamous boyfriend type to sleeping with everyone he could get his hands on. Yeah, he had a bad break up, but by his own admission it was something he saw coming. Why was the switch flipped?
I feel as though I liked this book well enough but more for the potential it showed than for what it was itself. Ban and Noah have an interesting hurt/comfort storyline in a world where comfort can be hard to come by, but I was distracted by things like who was sleeping on what and an errant palm. I was also more interested in the guy who lived in the house in the middle of town than what fate seemed to have in store for Ban and Noah. Although fate did seem to be playing a lovely and charming long game, even if Noah did have to work really hard to get Ban.
Noah expected to die. Instead, he woke up in a bed and was being tended to by a grumpy hero. Noah lost his arm during the Last War and found himself with just the right person to help him get a new one. His hero, Ban, has a prosthetic leg. Ban also has a boyfriend. A crappy boyfriend. After an unpleasant night Ban gets rid of his boyfriend. Unfortunately, Ban doesn’t take the break up well. Noah is busy having to adjust to his new life in a place safe from the war as he learns a new skill that will help him pay for his new arm. Ban may be a hero, but he’s got to eat. As he works for Ban, Noah realizes how much he really likes Ban. For the most part Ban doesn’t reciprocate. There are moments where Noah sees an amazingly compassionate and wounded Ban, but that gets replaced by a hardened and angry guy who brings home a new guy every night. It’s not until Noah finally gets his new arm that he gets Ban to be honest with him about not only his feelings, but his reasons for rescuing Noah.
The world building in this book was pretty good. If there’s ever a story written about the guy from the house in the center of town I’m going to be all over that. This book, though, was a little messy. I was engaged, and liked the story, but then there’d be a comment that made no sense. Like one guy who was just described as being in a bed was suddenly sleeping on a sofa. Or the guy with one arm put his palms, plural, on something. It was a lot of little oddities that left me feeling the book maybe wasn’t wholly ready for prime time. I also had some trouble accepting Ban suddenly went from being a monogamous boyfriend type to sleeping with everyone he could get his hands on. Yeah, he had a bad break up, but by his own admission it was something he saw coming. Why was the switch flipped?
I feel as though I liked this book well enough but more for the potential it showed than for what it was itself. Ban and Noah have an interesting hurt/comfort storyline in a world where comfort can be hard to come by, but I was distracted by things like who was sleeping on what and an errant palm. I was also more interested in the guy who lived in the house in the middle of town than what fate seemed to have in store for Ban and Noah. Although fate did seem to be playing a lovely and charming long game, even if Noah did have to work really hard to get Ban.
June 29, 2017
A Joyfully Jay review.
3.75 stars
There is a lot going on in this story, but in some pretty interesting ways. For one thing, both Noah and Ban have missing limbs (Noah’s missing an arm and Ban’s missing part of a leg). As an angst queen myself, I enjoyed seeing Noah lament his physical imperfections when he first wakes up in Ban’s underground abode. I enjoyed that this is followed by Ban himself challenging Noah to claim missing a limb would make anyone ugly or less desirable by showing Noah his own missing leg. Even the official blurb takes pains to explain that Ban is a bionic limb maker. My expectations were that this theme of missing limbs would be a significant plot device. However, beyond the scene I’ve described above and as a means of keeping Ban and Noah employed, the fact that they’re short a limb apiece is immaterial.
This is also what happens with the upstairs/downstairs dynamic in the plot as well. Having a world split into an “upstairs” and “downstairs” doesn’t really seem to add anything to the plot beyond giving the author a device through which Ban and Noah meet. The characters themselves can’t provide any context for the Last War or how/why life above ground is actually unlivable. It just is what it is. Admittedly, this split world does account for some major angst in the story. Ban’s soon-to-be-ex-lover is incredibly jealous that Ban takes in Noah—I particularly enjoyed the ex-boyfriend character (in a love-to-hate sort of way, make no mistake, this guy is not a sympathetic character). I felt that thread was well established without going into too much detail. I liked how Ban and this guy were obviously still together when Ban brings Noah in; I liked how Noah is obviously the reason the boyfriend splits; I liked how Ban kind of goes sexually self-destructive with a series of one-night-stands rather than take a chance on starting something with Noah.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
3.75 stars
There is a lot going on in this story, but in some pretty interesting ways. For one thing, both Noah and Ban have missing limbs (Noah’s missing an arm and Ban’s missing part of a leg). As an angst queen myself, I enjoyed seeing Noah lament his physical imperfections when he first wakes up in Ban’s underground abode. I enjoyed that this is followed by Ban himself challenging Noah to claim missing a limb would make anyone ugly or less desirable by showing Noah his own missing leg. Even the official blurb takes pains to explain that Ban is a bionic limb maker. My expectations were that this theme of missing limbs would be a significant plot device. However, beyond the scene I’ve described above and as a means of keeping Ban and Noah employed, the fact that they’re short a limb apiece is immaterial.
This is also what happens with the upstairs/downstairs dynamic in the plot as well. Having a world split into an “upstairs” and “downstairs” doesn’t really seem to add anything to the plot beyond giving the author a device through which Ban and Noah meet. The characters themselves can’t provide any context for the Last War or how/why life above ground is actually unlivable. It just is what it is. Admittedly, this split world does account for some major angst in the story. Ban’s soon-to-be-ex-lover is incredibly jealous that Ban takes in Noah—I particularly enjoyed the ex-boyfriend character (in a love-to-hate sort of way, make no mistake, this guy is not a sympathetic character). I felt that thread was well established without going into too much detail. I liked how Ban and this guy were obviously still together when Ban brings Noah in; I liked how Noah is obviously the reason the boyfriend splits; I liked how Ban kind of goes sexually self-destructive with a series of one-night-stands rather than take a chance on starting something with Noah.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
January 31, 2019
A fascinating novella in a post-apocalyptic society. But rather than the unhappy and downtrodden world of your average post-apocalypse world, this is a world that has found a way to move on and once again start to thrive. It is a world of hope and chances, or rebuilding after a war and working together to get there. In this world it is possible for love to thrive, if only those people give it a chance.
Noah has been on the surface through the war and survived, but now he is going to die. Nothing remains on the surface and he is going to die. That is until he finds himself alive, underground, saved by a gruff mechanic named Ban. Ban says he will help patch him up, give him life, give him a place underground, as long as he doesn't give up. So Noah starts to see that there can be life and hope and work towards truly living again. As the two work together and Noah heals, Ban and Noah start to spark an attraction. But Ban doesn't want a relationship after the disasters he has had, and Noah doesn't want anything else.
This story focuses on these two men and how they work and live around each other, as well as how they love. Ban is hurting and unwilling to receive love from Noah. Knowing that someone loves you does not mean you love them, and Ban is not ready to love. Noah is not ready to love when he first comes down but he is grateful to Ban. As time passes he is attracted and hopeful, but Ban will not look his way. However, Ban never outright rejects Noah, leaving him lost and uncertain if he should give up. It is a sweet story that gives hope after dark times.
Noah has been on the surface through the war and survived, but now he is going to die. Nothing remains on the surface and he is going to die. That is until he finds himself alive, underground, saved by a gruff mechanic named Ban. Ban says he will help patch him up, give him life, give him a place underground, as long as he doesn't give up. So Noah starts to see that there can be life and hope and work towards truly living again. As the two work together and Noah heals, Ban and Noah start to spark an attraction. But Ban doesn't want a relationship after the disasters he has had, and Noah doesn't want anything else.
This story focuses on these two men and how they work and live around each other, as well as how they love. Ban is hurting and unwilling to receive love from Noah. Knowing that someone loves you does not mean you love them, and Ban is not ready to love. Noah is not ready to love when he first comes down but he is grateful to Ban. As time passes he is attracted and hopeful, but Ban will not look his way. However, Ban never outright rejects Noah, leaving him lost and uncertain if he should give up. It is a sweet story that gives hope after dark times.
May 10, 2017
Another example of a book missing any and all marketing from LID... *sigh*
I took a chance on this one with a new to me author because the price was right. IMO, the books from LID are usually well written and well edited so I wasn't surprised to find that this book was no exception in that department.
What I was surprised about was the lack of depth to the characters and the non plot, plot. This book was kind of about...well, actually, nothing. Maybe about fate but that part was telegraphed so early, it lost a lot of it's impact. There was no real drama unless you count the early actions of the absolute abusive asshole that is the side character, Ivan. The under world building was interesting but the dystopian apocalyptic back story was really non existent and didn't address a lot of questions so it felt too short and unfinished.
All in all, a well written tale but just not enough spice to give it any real bite. If this is the start to a run of stories set in this world, I hope there is a lot more length, imagination and information coming in any future books.
I took a chance on this one with a new to me author because the price was right. IMO, the books from LID are usually well written and well edited so I wasn't surprised to find that this book was no exception in that department.
What I was surprised about was the lack of depth to the characters and the non plot, plot. This book was kind of about...well, actually, nothing. Maybe about fate but that part was telegraphed so early, it lost a lot of it's impact. There was no real drama unless you count the early actions of the absolute abusive asshole that is the side character, Ivan. The under world building was interesting but the dystopian apocalyptic back story was really non existent and didn't address a lot of questions so it felt too short and unfinished.
All in all, a well written tale but just not enough spice to give it any real bite. If this is the start to a run of stories set in this world, I hope there is a lot more length, imagination and information coming in any future books.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews