Yes, Daddy

by Jonathan Parks-Ramage

"A gut-churning, heart-wrenching, blockbuster of a first novel . . . Parks-Ramage is an extraordinary new talent and Yes, Daddy is truly something special." —Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things

A propulsive, scorching modern gothic, Yes, Daddy follows an ambitious young man who is lured by an older, successful playwright into a dizzying world of wealth and an idyllic Hamptons home where things take a nightmarish turn.

Jonah Keller moved to New York City with dreams of becoming a successful playwright, but, for the time being, lives in a rundown sublet in Bushwick, working extra hours at a restaurant only to barely make rent. When he stumbles upon a photo of Richard Shriver—the glamorous Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright and quite possibly the stepping stone to the fame he craves—Jonah orchestrates their meeting. The two begin a hungry, passionate affair.

When summer arrives, Richard invites his young lover for a spell at his sprawling estate in the Hamptons. A tall iron fence surrounds the idyllic compound where Richard and a few of his close artist friends entertain, have lavish dinners, and—Jonah can’t help but notice—employ a waitstaff of young, attractive gay men, many of whom sport ugly bruises. Soon, Jonah is cast out of Richard’s good graces and a sinister underlay begins to emerge. As a series of transgressions lead inexorably to a violent climax, Jonah hurtles toward a decisive revenge that will shape the rest of his life.

Riveting, unpredictable, and compulsively readable, Yes, Daddy is an exploration of class, power dynamics, and the nuances of victimhood and complicity. It burns with weight and clarity—and offers hope that stories may hold the key to our healing.

Genres: LGBT, Fiction, Thriller, Queer, Contemporary, Mystery Thriller, Adult

293 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 18, 2021

About the author

JONATHAN PARKS-RAMAGE is the author of the new book IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD, which has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "a wild ride of a novel," and selected by The New York Times Style Magazine as a pick for Best Queer Summer Fiction. His debut novel YES, DADDY was named one of the best queer books of 2021 by Entertainment Weekly, NBC News, The Advocate, Lambda Literary, Bustle, Goodreads and more. He is co-creator of the Off-Broadway musical THE BIG GAY JAMBOREE, which was nominated for five Lucille Lortel Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, and three Outer Critics Circle Awards.

Reviews

[Michael David (on hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this would be a dark and juicy thriller, but there is way more going on in this one than meets the eye.

Jonah Keller is a young man who has dreams of becoming a playwright. He moves from a small Illinois town to NYC, and ends up working as a waiter and living in a crap apartment while trying to figure out how to make his dreams come true.

Enter Richard Shriver, a famous and award-winning playwright. Jonah orchestrates a way to meet him, in hopes of seducing the older man (old enough to be his father) and possibly jump-starting his own career.

They begin a lustful and turbulent affair. Things intensify when Richard invites Jonah to his compound in the Hamptons. Richard and his friends like to entertain there during the summer. There’s alcohol, drugs, and waiters who are all young, buff gay men. Things take a dark turn when Richard breaks up with Jonah...and Jonah finds out why he was really invited to the Hamptons. Jonah can’t stop thinking about dangerous revenge.

My first thought when I read the title: Ewww!
My second thought (moments later): I think I want to read this.

I thought it sounded kind of like a gay male version of The Lion’s Den by Katherine St. John, but it goes much deeper than that. It’s a dark drama that simmers in suspense, and is told in a shocking and graphic fashion. There are characters I liked, and many characters I didn’t like. My empathy for Jonah wavered as he made some horrible decisions and did some terrible things. He doesn’t always treat people the best, and then seems to want forgiveness. As the story delved deeper into Jonah’s past, as well as what happened to him after that summer at the Hamptons, it made it easier to sympathize with him. He’s a very complex character who went through horrifying experiences.

The book also shows another side to the #MeToo era, in which older men prey on younger victims with broken pasts...this time in the gay community. I also appreciate the social commentary in regards to conversion camps and homophobic colleges like Wheaton College, which is a real college in Wheaton, IL and WAS definitely anti-LGBTQIA. Not clear what the current situation is.

Though it can be cringe-inducing and uncomfortable, Jonah’s journey though everything in his past, a thirst for revenge, and possible healing and absolution, creates a powerful and important story. A promising debut by author Jonathan Parks-Ramage. 3.5 stars.

TW: Rape, drug use, and more that I won’t specify due to spoilers.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Kim ~ It’s All About the Thrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh wow! I need the 10 star button! I could not put this book down! It has been a long time since I have flown through a book in less than 24 hrs but here it is! This is a killer debut! This book is very dark, emotional and full of triggers but it is so addictive.

Jonah...you told your story so well..the very first chapter we are hit with a shocking court scene...and it only gets more shocking from there. A Sugar Daddy- they prey on the young, beautiful and often desperate...it is almost like they can smell them from a mile away....

My heart broke for you Jonah...as you faced the rejection from your family..they didn't want to love you for who you were. They wanted to " pray the gay away" by sending you to conversion therapy. They made you feel not worthy of their love, guilty of the "shame" they claimed you would bring to your minister father and his family. So you fled to NYC to become a star....

Who can blame you for plotting out how to land your Sugar Daddy Richard..you had a plan...but don't be naive...Richard had a plan too...you see you weren't his first...and you won't be his last...

Wow this was a dark and wild ride. I know many of you will judge Jonah but remember...he did what he did to survive. He was 25 and a lost soul. He wanted to make it to the top as a playwright but I honestly think he wanted to be loved even more...

I wanted to scoop Jonah up and bring him over to my house and binge watch Netflixx sipping hot cocoa. My heart broke over and over for Jonah. This literally kept me up until 4am as I could not get enough. It was suspenseful, twisted, dark...very, very dark...however I am pretty certain there are alot of Jonah's out there ...right now...

I can't recommend this book enough! The writing is absolutely brilliant. I really hope Jonathan Parks-Ramage is turning out another book as we speak! I can't wait to read whatever he comes up with next.

Huge shoutout to the author and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for this stunning gifted copy! The cover is sooo gorgeous and PINK!! This is out tomorrow! Grab yourself a copy!

[Larry H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Jonathan Parks-Ramage's debut novel, Yes, Daddy , is thought-provoking, disturbing, and emotional commentary on the power dynamics in a relationship and how easy it is to find yourself powerless. It's a fascinating look at #MeToo from a gay man's perspective.

Jonah was raised by a religious family in a small town, where he was taught his homosexuality was something that needed to be cured. But when the therapy leads to a bigger crisis, he is able to convince his mother to let him go to graduate school, then move to NYC and pursue a career as a playwright.

Subletting a tiny room in Bushwick, working as a waiter, Jonah barely has any money or friends, and hasn't been doing much writing. When he spots a picture of famed playwright Richard Shriver, who has a fondness for handsome, muscular, younger men, Jonah formulates a plan to meet Richard and make him fall for him.

Jonah’s well-researched plan works and their relationship takes off, although Richard is a mercurial man to deal with. And when he’s invited to spend the summer in the Hamptons with Richard and his famous friends, who all live on a fancy compound, he feels like he’s finally being enveloped in a life he deserves.

But while the summer has its moments, often Jonah feels the subject of scorn and ridicule. He doesn't feel like any of Richard's friends see him as anything more than a boy-toy. Jonah notices that the compound seems to have a “staff” of young, handsome men in its “employ,” but he doesn’t get their role and they seem to tell him he doesn’t belong. But while Jonah thinks that’s motivated by jealousy, he realizes that there is something far more sinister happening at the compound, and when the dynamics of his relationship with Richard change, he sees the truth.

Yes, Daddy is a story about being victimized and how hard it can be to come to terms with that truth, it’s about revenge and the way we don’t always act in even our own best interests, it's about the role that faith plays in people's lives, and it’s a story about finding your own strength, your own self-belief and self-esteem. Parks-Ramage has written an unforgettable book, one that you’ll want—and need—to discuss.

(TW: sexual assault, violence, and thoughts of suicide)

NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt provided me with a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

Yes, Daddy publishes on May 18.

Check out my list of the best books I read in 2020 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2020.html.

Check out my list of the best books of the last decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no business reading a summer 2021 book in November 2020, but I couldn't resist. I mean, look at that cover! Well, I'm happy to report that not only did I judge a book by it's cover, the book exceeded all my expectation. Yes, Daddy is Jonathan Parks-Ramage's debut novel, but this will certainly not be his last. If you liked My Dark Vanessa by Keri Elizabeth Russell or The Arrangement by Robyn Harding, put Yes, Daddy on your reading list now!

Trying to make your dreams come true in New York City can be difficult, trust me I know this as a New Yorker. Our main character, Jonah is a waiter and struggling to pay rent for his Bushwick, Brooklyn, sublet apartment. Jonah aspires to be a writer, but is struggling to find the connections to make it happen. That is, until he meets famous playwright Richard Shriver. The two meet and instantly forge a romantic connection. Ignoring the fact that Richard is very much older than Jonah, Jonah knows that his physical appearance will cement Richard's affections. As the two venture into a new relationship, Richard invites Jonah on a trip to the Hamptons—a trip that will end in destruction. I will know go into anymore detail because the story truly is one to read on your own and discover.

Disclaimer: This book has some trigger warnings, including rape and drug use.

Yes, Daddy is one of the most f'd up books I've ever read. Truly. And yet, it's powerful as well. Ugh, when you read it, get back to me so we can talk more. This book made me cringe, made me tear up, and made me applaud. I've never rooted for and against characters so passionately in my life. Although this type of destruction has never happened to me, the subject matter is definitely prevalent in my community; where toxic older men prey on younger, insecure victims. Oh wait, no matter what community, this topic is prevalent. These are the types of books we need to see in stores and keep the conversation going. In a world of the #MeToo era, we need to have these painful, yet cathartic conversations more openly. This book, as well as others that have come out, will help those victims immensely. The darkness of this story truly will spark conversation amongst readers—a conversation that definitely needs to happen. I will keep this book in my thoughts for a very long time. Thank you Jonathan Parks-Ramage for this book.

[Shile (Hazard's Version) on-hiatus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Time of death 70%

Audiobook - 4 stars

Story - ??? between 0 and 2 stars

It is me not the book.

Umm! what the what??? This is supposed to be modern gothic??



Jonah is an awful unlikable ambitious character. I have met this type of character before in A Ladder to the Sky his name is Maurice. Maurice is unlikable but very entertaining. Jonah on the other hand! Lawd! exhausting.

When you think about all the Gay clichés, then think this book. All the trigger warnings?? then think this book. Think Harvey Weinstein scandal, #MeToo movement and you get this book.

I was ready to give it a chance but it became ridiculous, the writing is stilted and the use of multiple POVs didn't help at all.

[Alexis Hall]

**Oops, forgot to say, book received from NG, no idea why**

I’m having a hard time processing what I thought about this because it’s such a viciously unpleasant read – and I think sometimes we can overstate the value of something that was just hard to get through.

I do, however, think there’s genuinely something here, although I’m not sure its billing as a gay gothic really works for me. Yes, there are modern takes on gothic elements: an socially isolated protagonist without means of his own, a geographically isolated house where bad things happen, a retributive fire, to say nothing of explicit references to du Maurier’s Rebecca. Except most of the modern gothic books I’ve read recently (Mexican Gothic for example) have used the tropes of the genre to illuminate their own themes. Whereas I felt the notion of gothicness was a distraction here: a way to elide some of the more disjointed plot elements. And to mind, Yes Daddy was at its most powerful when it was straightforwardly occupying similar ground to that of My Dark Vanessa: a book about trauma, abuse, power and complicity from an explicitly queer perspective.

The story here revolves around Jonah Keller, the estranged gay son of an evangelical pastor. He moves to New York, hoping to be playwright, but soon falls in with Richard Shriver—an old, and much more successful writer. Needless to say, bedroom games soon become a lot darker, and a summer with Richard friends at The Hamptons turns out to be … about as fucked up as you’d imagine from a book with this title, this premise, and these themes. I think what’s especially effective here is that The Terrible Things That Happen At The Hamptons, for all its narrative impact, is actually a relatively minor part of the book: before and after are as significant as during.

Essentially, Yes Daddy presents abuse not an isolated incident, but part of a broader social context. For all Richard and his friends are appalling people, who use their status, money and power to abuse the most vulnerable members of their own community, we cannot escape the fact that this is power they have been given. When we reject our queer children, when we teach them shame and self-loathing, we create the system that not only permits their abuse, but tells them it is all they deserve. So, err, that gave me some major feelings.

In some ways, more harrowing that Terrible Things At The Hamptons are the chapters of the book given over to Jonah’s experience of conversion therapy, not least because they are non-sensationalised (especially compared to the extremity of the scenes of sexual abuse). Obviously, I’m not saying that scenes of sexual slavery, group sex and non-consensual BDSM are unrealistic but I will say they felt traumatic-by-numbers compared to these sections, which had a specificity and a clarity to them that was absolutely devastating. Not least because nobody involved has any notion of their own profound cruelty. There are few things more horrific than cruelty committed in the name of love, and the book is absolutely merciless in its exploration of the harm caused when someone has been repeatedly forced to conflate the two.

Needless to say, the #MeToo movement features heavily in the second half of the book. While I felt the psychological explorations of complicity were very moving, I felt the more political aspects of the topic were less successful. I felt there was a bluntness here and a lack of nuance, similar to that which I’d felt in the portrayal of Richard, his friends, and Terrible Things At The Hamptons. For example, there’s a journalist who is determined to make the narrator a villain for, you know, clicks and content while the “in” topic is sexual abuse and sexual abuse survivors and I feel the choice to make her a woman touched upon some complex intersectionalities. I definitely think there’s a lot of ground to be covered when it comes to queer men (as survivors and abusers) and #MeToo but I’m not sure turning a woman into a figurehead villain for the more negative aspects of the movement isn’t playing into problematic propaganda. I don’t know, though. This is out of my lane.

In terms of Richard and his friends, I think what’s difficult is that they are stereotypes, without depth or subtlety, and villainous to the point of being cartoons. And while I think it’s important that queer people are permitted to be as fictionally awful as straight people, especially in books by queer writers, I am aware that if I’d encountered this presentation in a different book by a different author I would likely be complaining about homophobic cliches right now (I mean Richard, even has a troubled relationship with his mother, for God’s sake, what is the 1950s?).

I also occasionally found the book kind of … it’s hard to describe. You know those 19th century novels where people behave out of step with the values of their time, but it’s totally okay because in the end they are returned to the fold of normative society? Either through death or marriage or God? Eventually, our narrator reconciles with his father and, indeed, with God (because the book is called Yes Daddy, do you see?) on account of his father now being involved with a progressive, LGBTQ+ friendly church. On the one hand, I was kind of relieved some kind of meaningfully … happy isn’t the right word … but meaningfully hopeful ending could be found for Jonah Keller. On the other hand, I did feel kind of God-jumped by it. Although that might just be a me-thing (since my rift with religion of any kind is irreconcilable). Plus, there’s no way getting away from the fact the book is unavoidably shamey on the whole kink thing: I mean, yes, obviously Jonah is seeking sex as punishment because of the entire clusterfuck that his life, and that’s a totally personal thing, but the fact that Richard et al are into it as a kind of “we are bad people” default left me feeling mildly awkward. I mean, once you’ve got into Terrible Things At The Hamptoms territory, being into whips and chains as well feels kind of superfluous.

All of which said, while I did struggle with the cavalcade of queer misery that was this book, I did think it was a cavalcade of queer misery with important things to say. And I came out, on balance, thought-provoked, to some degree spoken to, and glad I read it. This line in particular will stay with me (although ironically it does not come from the narrator, but from a character who does not deem himself eloquent):

Trauma is like a gift. The shittiest fucking gift in the world. Coal in your motherfucking stocking. But the minute you receive it, it becomes yours. And it’s your responsibility, what you do with it. And you can use it as an excuse to destroy life and destroy the lives of people around you, but you shouldn’t.

Anyway, all the trigger warnings for basically everything, particularly homophobia (internal and external), parental rejection, and sexual abuse out the wazoo.

[Jessica Woodbury · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have spent a few hours now trying to think of a good explanation for why this Modern Gay Gothic did not work for me at all and I don't have it down to a one sentence wrap up quite yet. My current theory is that the Gothic Novel (by which I mean the older, pre-20th century gothics, which this is much more similar to than the modern versions) requires a kind of detachment when so many bad things happen, one after the other. They are a heightened, melodramatic reality even if the evils in them are rooted in the real world. For a while it seems like YES, DADDY may have that heightened atmosphere, but it doesn't last. Its horrors don't allow you to slip into a glossy, heightened reality, but the fact that it's trying to do that means it can't be a serious novel about processing and dealing with the weighty traumas it contains. So instead it just made me deeply uncomfortable and upset.

Big trigger warnings here for rape (multiple! with multiple perpetrators! on the page!) and conversion therapy. Queer suffering is always something I want to make sure I note in my reading because it's a big ask for a lot of queer readers. They are such tough subjects for so many people that there is a need to root them in real emotion, but this book never did that. Our protagonist, Jonah, never feels like a fully-realized person, he is simply an object on which trauma is inflicted over and over again. He is occasionally acting at the beginning of the book but after a certain point it is only reacting.

Once I understood the concept of this novel as Gothic it made more sense to me. Before that I felt wrenched around by its plot, and wondering why I couldn't understand who Jonah was. He chases this older, successful man, sure okay, but how does he actually feel in the relationship? Does he actually care about this person and why? Is he just about the surface level stuff or is there something deeper? It never goes deeper and it can't, really, because if we gave Jonah some real consideration then he would have to be a character who would do, think, and feel things and that just doesn't happen all that much here. It doesn't feel like Jonah lives in the real world. How does he have not one single friend? Apparently he has gone through life never engaging with a single person, it defies understanding... unless the point is to create a Gothic-style plot where he can be so entirely isolated that he has absolutely no recourse for anything that happens to him and thus never acts.

I was in a 3-star place with this book for a while, then moved to 2.5 rounded up, but when it moved into the #MeToo section that was when I really started to sour on it. I have seen more than a few novels now where MeToo is a plot point and it doesn't have to be done badly (MY DARK VANESSA used it effectively in a way that felt honest) but it's easy to get it wrong and most of them do. Parks-Ramage dabbles in the bad narratives that can arise around victimhood but doesn't really address it, he doesn't spend much time at all considering the ways in which male victims have a uniquely difficult place compared to the dominant narrative, instead it feels like a plot point.

Actually, every horrible thing that happens here feels like a plot point. Just like an 1800's gothic novel where forcing a woman into marriage or throwing her in an asylum was a plot twist. And I can't fully explain to you why it hits different when it's rape and conversion therapy in the 21st century, but it does. Maybe there's a way to make it work, but this book was nowhere close to that for me.

The thing is I would *like* to read the book I thought this was going to be, the book about how a young man uses a sugar-daddy-style relationship to further his own career and has to deal with the repercussions of that, a slick and sharp take-down. But this was not that. There are four wealthy, successful older men who are the villains of this book, and they never feel like anything except villains, in the most mustache-twirling sense of the word. That also keeps us in that weird hyper-reality state which I probably would have been just fine with if it wasn't for all the rape. (So much rape.)

But it is extremely difficult to create a story that is both slick and biting while also being serious about trauma and abuse. And this attempt, at least, is a failure for me. Am I being harder on this book because it's queer? Yes, probably. But the queerness is part of its selling point, it's why I kept reading when I would have put it down otherwise.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal Debut!!!!

Jonah was raised in a strict evangelical family, his father a minister, so imagine their shame when they discover that Jonah is gay. They send him to conversion therapy and they try to pray away the gay never realizing what effect this is having on Jonah himself. He makes his escape after college to be a successful playwright in NYC but what he becomes is a struggling waiter which discourages him even further.

Then he meets the successful playwright Richard Shriver and they hit it off. After a few months of dating Richard invites him to his compound in The Hamptons. Jonah can't believe his luck. He feels as if his life is finally taking a turn for the better and that the love of Richard will be what saves him.

He couldn't be more wrong.

"The things we worship eat us alive."

I can't even begin to tell you how very dark this book is. It's excruciating at times. I was cringing and squirming while reading several scenes all the while my blood was boiling and my heart was breaking. That is no easy feat for an author to pull off but Jonathan Parks-Ramage did it effortlessly. This man was born to write and with that I have no doubt. While religion does play a heavy theme I found it very well done and I came to appreciate it as this was the world Jonah grew up in. The ending was bittersweet and I turned the final page with tears in my eyes. Be forewarned that this book is very graphic and there are triggers galore if you should decide to read this. ALL THE STARS!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for my copy.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s probably about time I try to put some actual words to the page about my feelings toward this new release. Simply put . . . .



I mean, damn son, this is some next level page turnability here.

Yes, Daddy is the story of one unforgettable summer back in 2009 that Jonah spent in the Hamptons with his wealthy, older lover Richard. An aspiring playwright, our leading male was willing to take the groping and harassment that came along with working at an upscale gay restaurant in New York City in hopes of achieving his dreams. Robbing Peter to pay Paul he foregoes his overdue rent in order to acquire the perfect Paul Smith suit/Ferragamo loafer combo for a meet/cute he has been planning for months with Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Shriver. What follows is a whirlwind romance where Richard is flipping the bills and eventually encouraging Jonah to quit his job in order to summer with he and his friends. But all that glitter isn’t gold – something Jonah finds out in short order upon his arrival.

This book is the epitome of “Black As Mitchell’s Heart.” If you are triggered, stay away. On the other hand, if you want to say you were part of discovering a fresh new voice who delivers pulpy content I haven’t experienced since Bret Easton Ellis, then you too might end up wanting to track Jonathan Parks-Ramage down in order to say . . . .



I actually first heard of this book after its publication date and immediately went to the library begging them to purchase a copy. They eventually did (probably because they’re terrified of me), but not before I scored a copy from NetGalley and was able to start immediately. Thank you, NetGalley!

ORIGINAL “REVIEW:”


Holy shit. Hopefully I’ll be able to do more than barf out expletives at some point in the near future, but I literally just read this cover to cover over the course of only a few hours and my mind is blown. And the book hangover? Oh she is REEEEEEAAAAAAAAL, kids. Fucking phenomenal! Every Star.

[Juan Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE GAY SUNSET BOULEVARD—a neo-noir literary fiction about the repercussions of ambition and desire.

First of all, let's appreciate the cover. Would you look at that saccharine, cotton-candy pastel motif? If you think that this book would be a tale of kinky, BDSM, erotic romance—I mean no disrespect with the subgenre—go away! Because this ain't it, yo! This book is UGLY, REPULSIVE, but RELEVANT and TRUTHFUL.

To keep the summary short and non-spoiler-y, it's about a young, aspiring playwright, Jonah Keller, who hustles his ass off the city of New York, taking an odd-job as a restaurant waiter, to support himself. His world changes when he gets entangled with Richard, a successful playwright whom he looks up to. Jonah aspires to infiltrate Richard's life, hoping he could be as successful as him. They develop this fling, this instant romance, and as their unbalanced relationship grows bigger, more and more people from Richard's circle gets involved, up until to the point that everything devolves into a complete nightmare.

There are a lot of things that I liked with this book. First of all, the writing. Parks-Ramage prose are just too intricate, deep, and poignant without leaning to purple prose. His usage of words and organization of sentences made me finished the story in a short amount of time. Also, since this was written by what I presume was a gay man, I could feel the authenticity of the characters. The way they talk, act, and think.

Plot-wise, I could say that even though this is a literary fiction, it was engaging and unpredictable. A lot of things happened that kept me interested, to say it lightly. In terms of characters, I could say that Jonah, as the main protagonist and narrator, was an interesting one. He was deep and complex. Although he could be so unlikeable at times because of his backstories (the trauma he had experienced as a child and as a gay person), he still was a flavorful character. The antagonists (not gonna tell) and the side characters were also fascinating to the point that I willingly followed their stories. There was this constant battle of emotional, mental, and physical manipulation between the ignorant and highly self-absorbed rich gay bitches and these poor, desperate, yet handsome young gay men.

The themes and messages of the story were inoculated in a profound, yet subtle manner, without being too didactic. The author gave us some specks of history of LGBTQ+ community, a delectable family dynamics—a father and mother who were GREAT and RIGID believers of the ascetic principles of the church, great character and psychological analyses of people who experience trauma, conversion therapy, sexual abuse, and homophobia, and lastly, a nuanced portrayal of the #MeToo movement in this highly-digital era of opinion exchanges.

Despite my raving review of this book, I couldn't help to notice some of its flaws, minor and major. Usually, they were more concerned on Jonah as a character. There were just some inconsistencies with his character as the plot moved. Some moments showed that he would actually fall as playing the victim, instead of doing something that could have prevented a whole series of fiasco (I don't want to specify this because I want my review to be spoiler-free). Perhaps these misplaced or delayed responses to certain plot points were intentional since he was a 'damaged' person. There were also some plot lines that, in my opinion, didn't serve much purpose in the development of the characters, but instead were used as a ploy for audience shock value. And I think because the book attempted to enlighten the viewers with a lot of relevant issues in a span of 290 pages, some of the issues were not explained in a more detailed manner. Had the book been longer, I would have been much happier.

Trigger warnings: homophobia, sexual abuse, fetishization of a religious figure, depression, suicidal thoughts and act, gaslighting, drug abuse, cyber-bullying.

In conclusion, I would really recommend this book to ANYONE who are interested to literary fiction and thriller. This debut novel is a force to reckon with in 2021!

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review. This is my first time so I wish I could receive more books in the future *wink wink*

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Positively wicked, suspenseful, and bleak. I tore through this book with an eagerness that I haven’t felt in a good long time. Note: The story can be extremely triggering, so content warnings for sexual assault and pedophilia.

At first glance, one would think this book to be a more lighthearted affair, but let me tell you: ‘Yes, Daddy’ is darker than black! It takes a neo-noir approach to queer thrills, which is hard to come by these days (let alone a good one!).

Some might take issue with the main character, Jonah, who is at once ambitious—to a fault—, shockingly naive, and a brainwashed apologist. He enters into a toxic “relationship” out of sheer necessity; he’s working as a “piece of meat” waiter at a problematic restaurant/bar, far behind on the rent to his grungy studio apartment, and struggling to make something of his playwriting. It’s not easy to like Jonah, but it’s even more difficult not to root for him once he enters the upper echelons of gay NYC society, which in and of itself is a swirling mass of privilege and excess—a toxic monstrosity. I won’t say much more about the story, for it takes some devastating turns, but the villain(s) feel like real people, and the plot feels like it could be ripped out of the headlines.

Where the book really excels is in the writing, for Jonathan Parks-Ramage crafts a thrilling story that’s oftentimes hard to read (in terms of subject matter), and keeps it rolling to the last page. I was frequently uncomfortable, and that’s the mark of a good book when it can elicit such strong feelings from me. It takes a truly adept author to keep you reading even when the plot makes you cringe and gasp.

So, bravo for giving the literary world a worthy queer thriller that is truly dark, devious, and wholly addictive. I’m eagerly awaiting whatever comes next from Jonathan Parks-Ramage.

**Look for ‘Yes, Daddy’ to hit shelves this May!**

[nark · Rating 4 out of 5]

"come forward. i hate that term. when you tell your story, you don’t come forward — you let people in. into the dark place you’ve occupied for years. and what happens when the public enters? maybe they rush to you with open arms, tell you the things you’ve longed to hear. or maybe these people stomp inside with their muddy boots, accusing you of crimes, confirming your worst fears about yourself."

✦ dark, well written, tough to read at times. definitely a great read overall. the fact that this is a debut novel is pretty spectacular. will keep an eye out for more of this author's work.

[Book Clubbed · Rating 2 out of 5]

A modern, post-#MeToo thriller that works more cogently as a critique of capitalism than it does at generating any, well, thrills. This novel lays out, quite clearly, how young artists are ripe for exploitation (sexual or otherwise) and uses dramatic heightening to raise the stakes. Like any good critique, it reveals the exploitative system undergirding the seemingly random acts of abuse.

In the second half of the book, the parallels between the #MeToo era and the plot start to merge into a single line, Parks-Ramage a little too on-the-nose with his choices. The scenes summarizing online backlash or the media cycle are pale imitations of the real thing, and do little to create tension or characterize our protagonist. The scenes are recognizable, of course, descriptions an amalgamation of real cases, and offer us no new insights into the swift decapitations of mob justice.

Overall, I found the mystery/thriller aspect of the narrative arc lacking. If you read the summary of this book, you understand the broad strokes, and Parks-Ramage does little complicate that narrative or surprise us. The clues of abuse and cultish behavior are foreshadowed, reinforced, discussed, and then hammered on just as we expected them to play out. We rely, at times, on too much overwrought language or sensationalism to cover for the predictability.

The second half of the book gave me emotional whiplash. Is this a meditation on abuse? A hyperactive Tarantino revenge story? A justification of the structure, which had previously contributed nothing to the story?

The tension is let down by the writing at times. In the second scene, the MC talks to his mother, a classic “Midwest mom frets about her gay, artists son trying to make it big in NYC” tête-à-tête. It’s a familiar argument, and Parks-Ramage does nothing to defamiliarize it. There is not a striking phrase, an unexpected turn, or any subtext to draw us in. Similarly, the initial seduction between the two leads is deeply boring. There is supposed to be tension, because we are told as such, but the entire meeting seems inevitable, neutering any stakes.

At other times, the writing is sharper, especially when the dialogue turns to flirtation, sex, and desire. The tricks of the abusers are convincing enough, and the anguish that the MC feels certainly leaves the reader sick over his predicament. I admire his willingness to go dark, refusing to his us easy closure or peace at certain moments. While there other moments of this admiration—such as tackling this difficult topic or showing how victims can unwittingly extend their abuse to others—the novel as a whole fails to engage.

Listen to the full review athere

[Bridgett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting Yes, Daddy to be an erotic thriller - it's actually more a coming-of-age confessional.

Jonathan Parks-Ramage's debut novel is, at times, gripping, and it does a beautiful job of giving a heartbreaking glimpse into the other side of the #metoo movement - the blatant abuse of young, gay men.

Jonah was a difficult character for me to get fully behind. While he's definitely sympathetic, I also found him to be not terribly likeable... though I think that was intentional on the author's part, as we learn so much more about Jonah's mindset in the final third of the book.

I did feel this story frequently became too preachy. There were untold pages of God and religion and scripture. I also felt some sections ran too long; they became repetitive and mildly boring. Overall, though, a strong debut offering.

**Rape plays a key role in this story, so if that happens to be a trigger for you, I'd suggest skipping this one.

Available May 18, 2021.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for my review copy.

[Lyn❤Loves❤Listening to Real Voices Only!!!!❤️🎧📚 Addict ON HIATUS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio - 4 Stars
Story - 4 Take from the devil and pay with your soul Stars

This book left me ragey and depressed. Overall a very bleak read that didn't satisfy my vengeful side.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Tour de Fierce!

Sorry, I couldn't resist. But this book truly is a tour de force and a sensational debut. Calling “Yes Daddy” an important #MeToo book only scratches the surface of this powerful, riveting and heartbreaking work. “Yes Daddy” is not just about the powerful playwright Richard who seduces, gaslights and eventually horribly hurts and abuses Jonah - it’s also about evangelical religion, the “ex-gay” movement, conversion therapy, love, power, privilege, and ultimately, the literal father/son relationship.

This book is unflinchingly honest - you can feel its truth at a gut level. Powerful, thoughtful, and at times hard to read, it’s an excellent OwnVoices / LGBTQ contribution as well as a story of childhood made human and relatable to all folks, whether or not you’ve gone through what Jonah has. I fell in love with Jonah as a writer, a New Yorker, and a broke, ambitious kid who had no clue what he was getting into with his crush on that accomplished and sophisticated older gay writer. The book has hints of Bright Lights, Big City and Rules of Attraction at the beginning before descending into something much darker and more visceral.

I loved reading this talented author’s work and can’t wait for his next. I expect big things from Jonathan Parks-Ramage, and I’m happy to have discovered him on his way up. 4.5 stars for a fantastic novel from a talented and compelling novelist with even more room to grow and shine.

Big thanks to the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, NetGalley, and this talented author the the ARC I am pretty sure will make my Best of 2021list.

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. I am so sorry that I don't have a more positive take to offer.

This book sounded totally up my alley, and I fully expected to love it: a noir-ish gay(-er) Sunset Boulevard vibe? A queer #MeToo era story of a young playwright and his famous lover during a Hamptons getaway when things turn out to be far from what they seem? Sign me up!

But whoa, this was a nasty story, deeply and irredeemably unpleasant, full of violent rape (and more rape, and still more rape) and chased with loads of suicidal ideation -- truly no fun at all. Well, okay, a good book can be about unpleasant things, so how's the writing? Not good enough, unfortunately, to bear the weight of the subject matter.

Jonah, the protagonist, has a blinding ambition to be… well, it’s not really clear what. When we meet him, he’s unkind to everyone (his landlord who has the audacity to expect the rent, his poor mother whose money he is spending on designer clothes and then demanding more to pay said rent), he’s bizarrely fixated on starting a relationship with an older man he picked out of an event listing. He’s not very likable. Worse, he’s not very believable. He’s supposed to have just received an MFA in playwriting, having spent his grad school years writing experimental plays, but he’s so thinly drawn, so much less savvy, curious, or passionate than I’d expect a young experimental playwright to be. He's impossibly credulous and aimlessly ambitious in ways that don't really fit his (few) biographical particulars. Jonah doesn't respond to the events around him in a way that seems authentic or plausible, and this is one of the fundamentally frustrating things about this book: I couldn’t ever really even settle into disliking him as a character, because I just never bought him as a character.

Let’s try out the premise that this is a book about the perils of ambition: (one of the characters unsubtly says as much about Jonah’s self-referential story-within-the-story that figures unsatisfyingly into the first half of the book). If so, it’s a really odd straw-man version of ambition. Nothing the characters do seems well-motivated -- what do they want so badly? Some nebulous idea of success? Jonah doesn’t really seem to want anything tangible, and he is frustratingly easy to dupe. Richard, Jonah’s lover, is similarly one-dimensional -- Richard doesn’t have much of an arc, to put it mildly.

On top of that, Jonah’s passivity -- oh my word, Jonah almost never makes a choice, almost never encounters a complication that enlarges our understanding of his world. He sets out on a course, he does what he plans. Someone tells him he cannot do something, he listens. Reality is in front of him, and we’re supposed to believe he doesn’t see it. Someone tells him he has to do something, he complies, sometimes feeling the barest whisper of an internal conflict, but then quickly talking himself out of even that small resistance. Buffeted along by the bad events of the story, his choices rarely have meaningful consequences, and he rarely makes choices at all. Passivity may be an understandable adaptation to the kind of abuse he suffers, but passivity is not usually a great dramatic choice for the main character of a thriller.

The second half of the book takes a weird turn toward religion, which is handled with all the subtlety of a Chick tract. The religious arc of the story seems like it may come from the author’s own interest in “ex-vangelical” ministry (based on the book's acknowledgments). I feel like I may be missing some evangelical cultural reference points that would make that part of the book more satisfying. It’s certainly possible that this storyline speaks to folks in that community more than it spoke to me. (If I’d have known that’s where this was headed, I probably wouldn’t have been interested, so consider this the heads up I wish I had gotten: evangelical religion is, eventually, a big topic of this book.)

One nice thing I can say about this book is that some sections were well-paced and absolutely propulsive. There’s a lot happening, and occasionally some real momentum, despite the shortcomings. And hey, a queer take on #MeToo, sex trafficking in the entertainment industry, the horrors of conversion therapy, these are all important and timely subjects; it’s a shame that, wading into those waters, this book didn’t have more serious and satisfying things to say about them.

[Emmett · Rating 2 out of 5]

*I received a free ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one started out strong, but hit a rapid decline after halfway through. I would even say that I found the final third to be a bit torturous. At first all the stereotypical bitchy gay dudes taking jabs at each other was fun, but then it just got annoying… almost in the same way that hanging around a bunch of stereotypical bitchy gay dudes taking jabs at each other in real life gets boring. Who would’ve thought?

I was very excited to read a book billed as a “scorching, propulsive modern gothic” involving queer characters, but overall ended up feeling disappointed. There was just so much of this book that felt stereotypical, problematic, or just plain ridiculous. That is not to say that there aren’t fun & juicy parts, but man- so many things in here made me roll my eyes. An exasperated “oh my god” WITH an eye roll did escape my lips in the latter part of the novel.

A few of my teeny, tiny issues with the novel:
Jonah. What an absolute TOOL. Honestly just THE most deplorable protagonist. Also lame. Also an idiot. It’s impossible to feel sympathy for any of the things that happen to him because he is just such a piece of shit.
All of the other characters. Every single character in this novel falls into the category of bitchy bitchy bitch bitch or ew, yucky. Everyone’s motivations also just feel incredibly shallow. If this is a true reflection of humanity then I pray for a meteor to just end us all.
Stereotypes. Just… I am not even going to get into this here. Everyone is a walking stereotype.
Petty Details. Yes, I may be petty here… but the main character drowns himself in bottles of wine to try to black out in some parts of the novel, but then gets wasted off 2 Campari & soda’s in another scene. Campari is an aperitif… like what? This guy does coke constantly and parties all the time, but cannot drink 2 Campari & soda’s? Cool, makes sense.

Also, just the fucking pastor raped him too? HONESTLY.

All considered, I am giving the novel 2 stars as the first half was still pretty fun, even if the latter half made me gag and NOT in a good way. Not “yaaaas I am gagging”, but “there is a bad smell and thus I gag.”

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The light of love, healing and redemption triumph over obsession, betrayal and the twisted pull of deviance and perversion in this extraordinary LGBTQ debut novel “Yes, Daddy” (2021) written by Jonathan Parks-Ramage. As an author, editor and writing instructor, Ramage has lectured at Fordham University—his writing has been featured in several notable publications: Vice, Slade, Literary Hub, W, Atlas, Electric Lit, Elle and others. He lives in Los Angeles, with his partner.

The novel is narrated in first person by Jonah Keller, a handsome graduate from Wheaton College, and server at a Chelsea eatery that catered to rich, lecherous, older gay male clientele. Barely able to pay his living expenses, estranged from both parents, the possibility of losing his Bushwick sublet and becoming homeless was a close reality. Jonah’s obsession with the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Richard Shriver provided relief from his anxiety. Jonah carefully studied every single detail available online about Shriver, and orchestrated meeting with the celebrity after a public reading. Soon. Jonah became Shriver’s mysterious young boyfriend that was trailed by the media, and visited (while working) by Shriver’s friends.

Jonah couldn’t help but be impressed and star-struck by Shriver’s wealth, prestige, and exclusive estate in the Hamptons. Jonah didn’t think twice about accepting Shriver’s offer to leave his unhappy life and low wage job and become his live-in lover. Since the story opens with a courtroom criminal trial, we know in advance that Shriver was not the generous older gentleman that he appeared to be. In post #MeToo this is an important timely read (contains trigger warnings). "Yes, Daddy" is one of the most exciting books released so far this year, also a likely prizewinner for this exceptionally gifted author! Bravo! **With thanks to the Seattle Public Library.

[luce (cry bebè's back from hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

❀ blog ❀ thestorygraph ❀ letterboxd ❀ tumblr ❀ ko-fi ❀

3 ½ stars (possibly to be rounded up to 4)

Dio mio, this book was so stressful.

“Desire places people in dangerous positions. This was a fact I'd yet to learn and something Richard knew all too well.”

Equal parts gripping and horrifying Yes, Daddy is one hell of a debut novel. This is not the kind of book one enjoys reading. In fact, most of the things that happen in this novel are horrific. Yet, thanks to Jonathan Parks-Ramage's superb writing skills, Yes, Daddy is the definition of unputdownable. The more alarming and distressing the story gets, the more impossible it was for me to tear my eyes away. Given the novel's explicit nature and painful subject matter, I would recommend it only to those who are willing/prepared to be disturbed by what they will read.

In the novel's prologue Jonah Keller, our protagonist, is a witness at a high-profile trial. One of the accused is Richard Shriver, a celebrated playwright and former boyfriend of Jonah. The story takes us back to 2009 and recounts the events that lead to that courtroom. Jonah is a twenty-five-year in badly of a break. He's an aspiring playwright who works as a waiter at a horrible restaurant where he is routinely bullied and groped by his boss. Jonah's relationship with his mother is strained, understandably given that his parents sent him to conversion therapy. In an attempt to improve his circumstances Jonah orchestrates a meeting with Richard, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright in his fifties. Their relationship is intense, and soon Jonah becomes acquainted with the more disturbing aspects of Richard's nature.
When Richard invites Jonah to spend the summer with him in his Hampton estate, Jonah jumps at the opportunity. Richard's estate however proves to be the opposite of haven. Not only is Jonah forced to spend time with Richard's horrible friends who take any opportunity to toy with him (expect many painful dinner scenes) but Richard begins to exhibit some alarming behaviours.
Soon, Jonah begins to feel that something sinister is going on. Why does Richard's staff entirely consists of young and handsome men? Why do some have them have bruises? And what this all this talk about a basement? .....aaaaaaand here the story takes a nightmarish turn.

I will not say much else about the novel's plot as I do not wish to spoil other readers' experiences. Suffice to say: 'bad stuff' goes down but you will be unable to tear your eyes away from the page.
The novel ruthlessly explores the realities of being a victim of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Jonah's time at the estate irrevocably changes him. And yes, he, later on, makes some selfish choices, terrible even. But why should we expect victims to be paragons of virtue? If their trauma manifests itself in ugly or disturbing ways, what, they are no longer deserving of empathy?
Through Jonah's story Parks-Ramage challenges this kind of thinking and I really admire him for it. He also shows that movements like #metoo have their limits/flaws and how easy it is for anyone to play judge, jury and executioner on social media.

If I had to rate the first 40% of the novel it would have probably been close to a 5 star however a major character in this novel (who Jonah addresses as 'you') really didn't ring true to life (his character seemed to serve the role of a plot-device). And I also found certain other characters a bit OTT, so much so that they would have been at home in an episode of American Horror Story. There was also a son-mother relationship in this book that was a bit too a la Psycho and I can't say that I believed in that much either. Lastly, towards the end, the narrative takes a direction that I wasn't too enthused with. By then I had grown a bit wary of seeing Jonah suffer and I just wanted him to be left alone.

All in all, I found this to be an edge-of-your-seat kind of read. I was immediately drawn in by the narrative's gothic undertones and won over by the story's nods to The Talented Mr. Ripley and Rebecca. The more I read the more perturbed I became. In spite of its cover this novel is dark, disquieting, upsetting, and by no means an easy or enjoyable read. Still, I found Parks-Ramage's prose captivating and I appreciated the way he combined an electrifying narrative with a thought-provoking commentary (on trauma, power, abuse, class, forgiveness, #metoo, the way the media treats victims of sexual violence). As debuts go this is an impressive one and I can't wait to see what Parks-Ramage has in store next.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Gerhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the review copy of a book only due to be published in June next year. I can honestly say this was my only read of 2020 that kept me up until the wee hours, it is that compulsive. I expect it is also going to court quite a bit of controversy for its lurid take on some hot-button gay issues.

With a title like ‘Yes, Daddy’, which makes it seem like a M/M romance novel, combined with that weirdly disturbing cover image, the reader is immediately alerted to the fact that this is one strange fish of a book. Also, you would be hard-pressed to rank Jonathan Parks-Ramage with the likes of Garth Greenwell and Edmund White, two pillars of contemporary gay fiction (the former a wunderkind and the latter the old codger propping up the establishment).

The book is not even out yet, and Amazon Studios has announced an adaptation. Having read it, I can easily see why. Parks-Ramage is a very visual writer and his story has such broad strokes that it is ideal streaming fodder. Not to mention that a large chunk takes place in the Hamptons, which seems to be getting a bad rap for the place to be where privileged people behave badly.

It will be interesting to see exactly how the adaptation deals with some of the racier content, which very much revolves around its shock value. If you skirt around it, you run the risk of diluting it. But if you go balls-to-the-wall, you’ll probably end up with a weird gay hybrid of ‘Mommie Dearest’ and ‘Showgirls’ (please God don’t let Paul Verhoeven anymore near this book).

It is also one of those books the less you know about, the better a reading experience it will be, as it was for me. So I sincerely hope that all the Goodreaders who managed to nab a review copy do not reveal any spoilers. Which is difficult, because as soon as you have finished reading that ending, and you have stopped screaming at the sheer audacity of it, you immediately want to tell everybody about it! So … just read the bloody thing and then we can all argue about it later.

I remember the following line in an article in The Atlantic that caught my eye: “After the Harvey Weinstein news came out, everyone thought Bryan Singer would be next.” That was written in March 2019, and Singer seems to have disappeared from the radar entirely since, despite the fact that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was such a massive hit. Well, silence speaks volumes, I suppose.

Anyone who reads ‘Yes, Daddy’ will immediately see the not-too-subtle parallels with the Singer saga. If by any chance you live under a rock (actually, we all do nowadays due to this fucking virus and its lockdowns), Parks-Ramage kindly trowels on the Singer/Weinstein/#MeToo vibes in spades. This is one of the things I really like about the book, and which I think is going to be a big turn-off for a lot of people: The deliriously giddy OTTness of it all.

And just because I am enough of a gay literary snob to declare that Parks-Ramage is no Greenwell or White, from a technical and narrative point of view, it is deviously clever and exceedingly well-written. Despite the broad brushstrokes of the main plot, the thematic doubling is intricate and nuanced. I was worried for a minute near the end that the entire house of cards would fall in on itself, but Parks-Ramage ups the ante and really nails the ending.

Of course, as the title implies, the reader is forced to confront not only the complex dynamic of fathers and mothers in families with gay children, but authority figures in general, especially those in the church (here ‘father’ takes on a rather different meaning). Parks-Ramage goes completely Old Testament here. Being a bit of a reprobate myself, I quite enjoyed his sheer brazenness, but I can equally see how a lot of people are really going to be rubbed up the wrong way. Also, given that diehard evangelicals lack any sense of humour (or testosterone), it is a no-brainer that this will probably cause the most number of people to splutter in indignant outrage.

There is a particular coding in the phrase ‘Yes, Daddy’ that refers to the tendency of the elderly and well-off to prey on the weak and vulnerable. It is certainly not only a gay tendency, especially when you consider the number of young girls exploited by dirty old men. Parks-Ramage makes it abundantly clear from the outset that the young and eminently desirable Jonah Keller is on the prowl, and that Richard Shriver is his perfect target. The tables quickly turn though on who is the hunter and who is the prey. Both men are equally unlikeable, but it is a testament to the skill of Parks-Ramage as a writer that we never lose sight of Jonah’s innate humanity.

Richard and his Hampton gang can’t escape being stock villains, and retain a sense of mystery and allure well up to their inevitable fall from grace. But the attention span of the media, and the gay community itself, invariably seems shorter than that of a goldfish’s memory. One just has to consider how quietly the Singer saga got buried, and how the testimony of key witnesses who came forward was subtly discredited, to realise that there are very dark forces out there hellbent on unravelling the fabric of what we hold most dear and sacred.

Does the author step over the line of good taste? A lot of people are going to say yes, but they will be looking past the very valid questions posed here, specifically in the form of a sordid potboiler that will be quite easy to dismiss and be muttered at for all its craven excesses. I honestly think Parks-Ramage gleefully and deliberately pushes all them damn buttons, simply because they are so darn pretty and inviting!

[Frank Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodness, was I surprised and most definitely not ready for this one! A fantastic debut that had me gasping out loud and clutching my pearls more than once! I confess, going into this read, I committed the ultimate sin and judged this book by its cover AND title, thinking it would be fun, catty, and most definitely GAY, which for the most part it was, but then again it was so much more! I absolutely loved it! This author has an astronomical amount of potential, IMO. This read in parts like a suspense, a mystery of sorts, a drama, and definitely a psychologically horrifying tale of abuse. Abuse of socioeconomic status and power that had my emotions flaring! Jonah is our protagonist who was incredibly flawed and at times incredibly unlikable. A preacher's son from a small Midwestern town, with a traumatizing childhood, who has recently moved to NYC with ambitions of becoming a successful writer. Almost immediately he sets his sights on wildly successful and famous older fellow gay writer Richard (forget his last name, it's not important!). Jonah knows he is beefy and cute and just Richard's type, so he orchestrates running into him at an appearance of his, and sure enough they connect, going out to dinner afterwards. At first Richard comes across as wise, witty, and charismatic which immediately pulls Jonah in, resulting in a whirlwind relationship. That was pretty much the beginning of the end, folks!! Jonah soon finds himself in a position several young ambitious gay men seem to find themselves in when dating older successful men - he drops everything and moves in with Richard, surrendering his independence and giving Richard all of the financial control, and ultimately power, in their relationship. Almost immediately after doing so the dynamics of their relationship change. While out at Richard's beachside compound a series of events escalate and Jonah finds himself in an incredibly dire predicament in which he cannot find his way out of, essentially becoming a sort of indentured servant / sex slave / punching bag of Richard's and his wealthy friends'. This book had so many cringsworthy scenes and at times I found myself screaming out loud in frustration! I blamed Jonah for putting himself in the circumstances he was in and I loathed Richard up until the very last sentence! There's much more to this story, but that's pretty much all I will say without spoiling major plot points, but suffice it to say this was the type of book you find yourself hating and loving, and just cannot put down! This is a book I would recommend to my fellow psychological thriller enthusiasts, with caution, as there are major triggers!! I'm interested to see how this book will be received by the end of 2021, it just might be that controversial polarizing book that makes many end of the year lists! If I had to give any sort of negative critique, I felt like there was a weird shift in the storyline towards the very end, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. All I do know for sure is I will be keeping my eye out for this author moving forward!

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Massive trigger warnings for this one. MASSIVE.

This book was insanely fucked up. But it was compelling. And it does shine a light on some serious issues in a fictional setting that have some applicability to reality.

I felt really bad for the main character. He does make a lot of bad decisions, but he jumps from one brainwashing/control situation after another.

I'm not sure I liked it. I'm not sure I didn't like it. It was a hard to put down book.

I really have no idea how to rate it.

If you have a strong constitution and can handle a long list of potential triggers and some serious darkness, give this book a shot. It was well-written and, like I said before, very compelling. It made you want to keep reading. It made you want to know what was going to happen. It made you root for the victims, even when they were making bad decisions. It made you hate the abusers. It made you keep reading, knowing what was going on, seeing all the little steps the abusers were taking to isolate the main character and entrap him.

This book won't leave you happy. It's a rough, tough, heartbreaking read. But it's a good book overall.

3.5 stars rounded up.

[Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbing, discomforting, repulsive, depressing, I can go on for a while. But also powerful, emotional, important, painful, raw.

This is a story I’ll never forget, and it’s difficult to write down my thoughts. Because it triggers so many of my feelings at once. Trigger warnings are absolutely necessary before reading this book. There are so many that I don’t list them but be careful if you get triggered easily and even if you don’t get triggered that easily. This story is rather graphic and has a lot of disturbing scenes.

So don’t judge a book by its cover. In this case, it’s absolutely not a nice, sweet, and sexy story; it’s incredibly dark with many, many layers. I didn’t particularly like Jonah, but on the other hand, I rooted for him at times because he just wanted to belong and to be loved while chasing his dream to become a playwriter and burying his past far, far away. And then Mace, OMG, sixteen-year-old Mace.

The writing is poignant and captivating. Although I cringed many times and got nauseous sometimes, I wanted to read more and more. It doesn’t happen to me often that I like and dislike a story at the same time. Well, to be honest, I think that only happened to me while reading ‘A little life’ by Hanya Yanagihara. And that one I DNF because I couldn’t take it anymore. I never thought about DNF ‘Yes, Daddy’ though. Therefore, maybe dislike is the wrong word; it’s just because Jonah’s world is so fucked up. Made by his own beliefs, by his parents, and many other people in his world.

I liked the reference to ‘The talented Mr. Ripley’ where Jonah calls himself ‘A talentless Mr. Ripley’. I saw the movie a long time ago (in New York as a small-town Dutch girl visiting the Big Apple for the first time), and I can see the resemblance, the loser who dresses himself well to impress and to get what he wants. This story is so much more, though.

Although this story is ugly and upsetting, I want to add there’s also hope in it. I think people will love or hate this book; there’s little in between. For me, it could have been a little less graphic and a little less painful, but it’s an important one that will be talked about, I’m sure of that. And I just found out that Amazon is currently adapting this book for television. I’m very curious about that because it could turn out in a beautiful and important series or be horrible and distasteful. Of course, I hope it’ll be the first.

I received an ARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars — I guess we can consider it "progress" that gay authors now feel free to cram this many broad caricatures and toxic stereotypes into their work? At least that's what I kept telling myself while reading this.

But I also couldn't shake the sense that this could just as easily be one of Jerry Falwell's feverish wet dreams. Something my younger self might have pulled off the shelf of my conservative preacher father’s library 40 years ago. Queer culture as a dark, seedy underworld of rich, predatory older men, drug-fueled orgies, younger gay men with "Daddy" issues, older gay men with "Mommy" issues, rape, domestic violence, self-loathing, suicide, etc. The rampant sex negativity here all feels a bit jarring and outdated in 2022.

Jonah Keller is a young, handsome, ambitious aspiring playwright struggling to keep up with the rent for his tiny Brooklyn sublet by waiting tables. In a kind of gay twink version of All About Eve, Jonah strategically arranges a "spontaneous" meeting with Richard Shriver, an older, successful gay playwright he hopes to seduce as a possible stepping stone toward future financial stability and artistic success.

Their passionate, dubious May-December "romance" takes a dark and menacing turn, however, when Richard invites Jonah to join him and several of his obscenely wealthy older friends for a summer getaway in the Hamptons, and the extreme power imbalance in the relationship starts to become painfully, dangerously clear.

Those of you familiar with my reading tastes know I don't usually shy away from dark or disturbing subject matter. But there's a difference between "dark" and brutally cynical, and too often this felt like the latter to me. Take, for example, this following characterization of my current home city:

New Yorkers are reliable in this way - there is not a single person who'd miss the L train to save someone else's life. It's a selfish city, to be sure. The perfect setting for suicide.

Just about every character in this novel is bitchy and conniving and selfish, which made me feel somewhat relieved that they're only broad caricatures rather than multi-dimensional human beings I could imagine hanging out with in real life.

The book jacket promotes this as a "propulsive, scorching modern gothic," which I guess justifies why so much of it feels hyperbolic and hysterical. Had that delirious, fever-dream energy been sustained throughout, I probably would have warmed to this more than I did.

But like his main character, author Jonathan Parks-Ramage can't seem to make up his mind about what he wants his debut novel to be, wildly shifting tone about halfway through to become a calmer, more contemplative meditation on gay sexual trauma and recovery in the modern #MeToo era. This too might have worked for me, had there been any well-developed characters worth caring about.

This is a novel of broad strokes and "big ideas" about class inequality, sexual power dynamics, and the countless queer #MeToo stories that too often get silenced or ignored. It's a bold and provocative project, to be sure. But the lack of a strong foundation in believable situations and authentic, relatable characters, too often kept these sweeping themes at a disappointingly safe, sterile distance for me.

[jut · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf @ 32%

it's actually homophobic that i've had to read such horrible thing during pride month.

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Gay people are, for better or worse, people. With the usual people-faults like greed and selfishness, the usual weaknesses like hunger for validation and sexual power. With the flaws hidden or simply not discussed, we're reduced to side characters in other people's stores; with them celebrated, we're back in the bad old days of Cruising or The Boys in the Band or...well, pick your poisonous fear-mongering. This is one of the reasons I liked Bath Haus despite my reservations about some of its elements.

This story? Those elements are dialed up to eleven, and then blown (!) up by even viler perpetrators! So...why is this a full-four-star review, given the (admittedly partial) CW list and the main character's self-destructive greed? I gave Bath Haus a little less than four full stars, after all.

The reason is simple, really. Because I want to and because it's my judgment.

What makes this reading experience so much more agreeable to me is the way I'm introduced to Jonah. From the very first pages of the book, there's nothing, not one thing, that happens in which you, the reader, can place simple trust. You know what's gone down, and you see it from a simple first-person point of view, narrated in second person to make the stakes inescapably clear. It's more effective in eliciting my sympathy than was the igniting event of Bath Haus so I was much more ready to put my crash helmet on and tighten up the buckles.

As we zig-zag through the darkening, increasingly menacing landscape of the story's world, no matter how high the gloss or hard the glitter, one can't forget the first pages and their stark warning not to accept anything at face value...given how many religious people there are in here, that's another clue. The simplest acts, the calmest words, all freighted with suspicion because you (narrator, reader) simply don't know which ones are lies and which ones are just...air. And there's an ending which, under almost any other regime, I'd be rattling my tin cup against my cage's bars to protest...but remember when I told you about the way Jonah is introduced to us? It's my thinking that the next act's curtain will rise soon.

When the story really reaches for darkness, really digs into the terrible truths of our society's seriously screwed-up power dynamics, it becomes a little less glib and surface-oriented, which serves the story well. It's not like we're going to be subjected to Thomas Piketty and Yanis Varoufakis lecturing us on the inherent abusiveness of capitalism. It *is* very much a carefully thought-out tale of what happens to people who, for a large variety of societally mandated reasons, simply don't matter and aren't protected. We're even granted a glimpse into the genesis of the imbalance in this particular pairing of men, Jonah and Richard, though it's not the main thrust (!) of the piece.

Bad sex puns aside, this is a very, very sexual story. It will not be for most straight readers. If #MeToo made you mad, this will make you even more mad because I can almost promise you this is more fact-based than you might think. It's really interesting that certain famous entertainment-industry older men are...silent...these days...and one wonders what's happening with the announced Amazon Studios streaming film in the past couple years.

The paperback version dropped this past Tuesday, so permaybehaps we'll get to see the darkness of Daddy on our screens before long. I'm not all the way sure I will be one of the early audience members. I will need to build up my courage to go back into this seriously scary, very well-crafted story universe.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giveaway Win!

4.5 Stars!

Content Warnings: Rape, Suicide, Drug Addiction, Kidnapping, Gay Conversion Therapy, Torture

This book was A LOT!

I'm not gonna say much about this book because I think you should let it unfold as you read. I had no clue where this book was going but I just went with it. At times I thought that the story seemed far fetched but then I remembered that if you read the stories of Harvey Weinstein's many crimes and R.Kelly's many crimes without knowing who they were, you would also think they were far fetched. But we all know that those stories are very very real.

This book isn't for everyone. In fact I think that a large segment of people will not like this book at all. It's a grim read. Some truly horrific things happen in this book. Iloved it though, I devoured this book. I would have read it faster but I'm sick and took lots of naps.

I just can't believe this is Jonathan Parks - Ramage's debut novel. Its people like this that made me give up writing. What's the point? I'll never be on this level.

A Must Read for a certain type of reader.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, this book was A LOT! This was an audiobook read for me, and maybe that's why it seemed to be so much, but whatever the reason, it was definitely a mixed bag for me.

I liked the start of the book - a tense courtroom scene set in 2011, with Jonah Keller giving testimony in a rape trial. You know from the prologue that Jonah recants on the stand and doesn't back up the accuser as expected. Then the book goes back two years previously, 2009, with Jonah living in New York City, after escaping a nightmare childhood complete with "conversion therapy" and severe, evangelical parents. While he dreams of becoming a successful playwright, in reality, he lives in a rundown sublet, working as a part-time waiter, barely making rent. Jonah thinks he may have found his golden ticket when he stumbles upon a photo of a Pulitzer Prize playwright, Richard Shriver with a much younger companion, similar to Jonah in many ways. He schemes and finally finagles a meeting with Richard, and as per Jonah's vision, a passionate affair ensues. A summer trip to the Hamptons and Richard's compound leads to Jonah befriending a childhood movie star, Mason, which is the catalyst for the events that follow. All is not well at the Hamptons compound and shocking, violent abuse begins between Richard and Jonah, the house staff, and the male neighbors and guests. The rape scenes were graphic and heavy and should come with serious trigger warnings.

That was not what I took issue with though. My first gripe was that the format was all over the place. Parts of the story were told as letter, others as journal entries, others as straight narrative. There were odd time jumps too, especially near the end of the book - so odd that I kept looking at my phone to see if my audiobook was skipping chapters i.e. the fire at the compound chapter. The formatting just seemed fractured, which took away from the overall effect. Not to mention, there were WAY too many long, detailed food descriptions. Again, maybe you pick up more with an audiobook, but the dinner scene at Ira's with the oysters and the dripping butter and half-chewed chunks flying around the table in an out of several mouths, seemed to go on and one and turned my stomach.

I also had a problem with the characters. I didn't feel that they did justice to the gay community. Every primary gay character was a victim of childhood trauma, and most of them were sexually depraved. I just felt like it gave off the wrong vibe. The "villains" were beyond reprehensible with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I also didn't connect with Jonah's character. While awful, vile, traumatic things were done to him; he played the victim card to the nth degree and in turn, he did awful, vile things to other people too, and I just didn't empathize with his reasoning. I just thought there was a missed opportunity to fully explore what can happen to those who experience repeated trauma, and the weird, religious "rebirth" Jonah experienced at the end just didn’t do it for me.

The subject matter is important and significant, and I appreciate Parks-Ramage tackling a difficult topic; but I didn't walk away from this one feeling all that hopeful about Jonah. On a good note though, I thought the narrator was excellent, and listening to this one renewed my love of audiobooks, and I am already deep into my next audiobook.

[Creya Casale | cc.shelflove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Ugggghhhhhhh. Why did THAT have to be the ending? I went back and forth with assigning stars for this one, but I’ll settle at four because I really loved the beginning ~75% or so. After that? MEH.

Yes, Daddy is DARK. We follow Jonah as he seduces and falls in love with a successful New York City playwright, Richard. One summer, he is invited to Richard’s compound, and things get twisted. I mean, SERIOUSLY fucked up. This book is extremely graphic and is not for the weak.

Parks-Ramage sheds raw lights on abusive relationships and the homeless LGBTQIA+ community. I don’t think I’ve ever read a character as controlling as Richard. My heart was racing during several scenes, and I truly wished for the best outcome for Jonah.

Where this book falls short is its ending. After so many scenes of bondage, torture, and revenge, the book takes a turn to forgiveness and God? I just wasn’t expecting to read a journey to Christ. It gave a sort of weird imbalance to the book: raw and emotional versus healing and unicorns? It really just wasn’t my thing. The momentum dropped and I was left a disappointed reader. I expect to see mixed reviews all over the board for this one!

For books with similar themes, check out Tricks and Traffick by Ellen Hopkins.