Mateo Was Here: A Novella

Mateo #2

by Ben Monopoli

Five years after the miraculous events of "The Painting of Porcupine City," Vinicius Bittencourt is stuck. Stuck in the shadow of his missing cousin Mateo. Stuck in a mystery that might never be solved. Stuck in a present that can't compete with his past. Each year he gives himself a new tattoo to mark the time gone by since his life made sense.


In the fifth year, Vini's careful stasis breaks down. His girlfriend leaves him. His group of friends begins to drift apart. When he's had all he can take, heartbreaking news jars him in a new direction, out of his comfort zone, toward a chance at a reboot -- if he can seize it. Along the way a young friend with surprising ties to Mateo will reveal a shocking secret that might finally help Vini learn to move on.

Genres: Gay, Fiction

ebook

First published December 30, 2018

About the author

Ben Monopoli lives in Boston with his husband, Chris. His newest book is Mateo Was Here: A Novella.

Reviews

[Ben]

I think Mateo Was Here is good, but I'm the author so take this with a grain of salt. :-D

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~]

I still don't particularly care for the magical realism Monopoli decided to toss into this universe near the end of The Painting of Porcupine City, and it's used to no real necessary effect here. It's gone as soon as it arrived, with no real explanation. I still maintain that the story would have been far more impactful to just leave all that nonsense out of it entirely. Although if you're someone who likes magical realism (how is it real, exactly? Where do these genre names come from?), then you'll probably appreciate it more than I did.

But looking beyond that, we have here a story of Mateo's cousin, Vinicius, trying to move on and make sense of the five years that have passed since TPoPC ended. He's not doing well and we see him as his life is fracturing from the years of stagnation he's been stuck in. For a short story, there's a lot packed in here and Monopoli makes full use of the page count. There's some weird switches from 1st to 3rd POV, even when it's the same character's POV, which was distracting when they happened. I tried to figure out why these switches were necessary, but they don't really seem to be.

And yet despite all that, I'm still giving this 4 stars, lol.

[Michelle]

Mateo Was Here, the sequel to The Painting of Porcupine City is a must-read for anyone who loved the first book. This one explores the story of Mateo's cousin, Vinicius, as he continues to grapple with the mystery of his cousin's disappearance five years later. As always, Monopoli's characters are colorful and three dimensional. More than anything it is a tale of coping with loss and finding a way to move on. I bonded with Vinicius and definitely rooted for him to find his way.

[Gerhard]

Mateo is gone. Rest in peace in the Big Heaven. Review to follow once I figure out what the hell happened.

[Iuri]

This was a beautiful read!
I was eager to know more about what had happened with Mateo and Fletcher and all of the Porcupine City people, so this short story was a total must read to me - and to anyone that has enjoyed the first book, really.
Both Fletcher and Ollie are kinda missing here, but the flow of the story is so good that they aren't really needed (Ollie's still my boyfriend, though).

[Andrew]

A refreshing take on grief and the toll it takes. Beautifully written as ever with any of Monopoli's works.

[Daniel]

Ok, I officially like both the sequels to The Painting of Porcupine City better than the original book.

Glad I didn't wait to read this one. It's basically an extended epilogue to The Painting of Porcupine City, which you probably know from the title if you read that one. This time it's focused on Mateo's Brazilian friends and family, mostly centered on his cousin Vini. 5 years on, Vini is not coping well. His friends and family don't know how to help.

FYI, there is no romance here, this is about endings, not beginnings, and Vini is straight. But this is a much better wrap up to Mateo's story than we got before.

I didn't really take the time to analyze it, but Monopoli's doing something a bit odd with POV here. Sometimes it's Vini first person, sometimes Vini third person, and then Mateo's mother and Tiago a couple times. It didn't feel like old fashioned omniscient. I was slightly jarred a couple times by the switches between Vini first and Vini third as I didn't really see an obvious purpose for it. It only changes between scenes though, to the best of my recollection, so it didn't feel sloppy.

While I do think you can read Ollie's book completely independently of PoPC, this one makes more sense to read after.

[David]

I don't want to spoil the fun of reading this short sequel to The Painting of Porcupine City. So, no spoilers. I will say that the level of writing was what I've come to expect from Ben Monopoli and that it is a fitting, though unexpected, extension of the original story. As usual I am looking forward to what Monopoli comes up with next.

[Martin]

Amazing.

[Rhode PVD]

Wow. This is flat out art. Every bit of it magical, and real. Thank you.

[Heidi Dover]

Beautiful and unexpected (in all ways) sequel to Painting of Porcupine City. Just lovely in characters, coping, loss, love, family of all kinds.

[Tyler]

Sometimes the most powerful stories aren't the longest ones. What a lovely ending to a lovely, beautiful story.

[Claudia]

So yeah. I never learn. When it comes to Ben Monopoli gather all your expectations and throw them out the window. He's not here for your fanfiction and your HEA and you know what? IT'S AWESOME! I didn't know I could care so much for Vinicius and his journey post Mateo's disappearance but I did. I still haven't figured out the meaning behind the first and third person narrator though... I need to go back and re-read.

[Christopher Connors]

A sequel to to The Painting of Porcupine City, this novella kept the mysticism of the first book alive, but added a grittiness to the characters and the world. The first book was about love, and this book is about loss, and I really enjoyed reading how the main character, Vinicius, works through his feelings, even as his world shifted around him. A quick read, I highly recommend it to fans of the the author’s work, and is required reading for those who read the book that preceded it.

[Mike Oaks]

A fading magic

I have loved every Ben Monopoli book. No exception here. A nice epilogue to Mateo’s story. Of course now I’m wrecked for a bit. 5.0 for signals.