Breaking Down

Breaking Point #2

by Shane Brown

Two years ago, James Marsh and Paul Baker suffered severe bullying at the hands of Jason Mitchell and his friends. Now, James is about to leave home to go to university, knowing that it might signal the end of his relationship with Paul. Jason has been trying to make amends for what he did at school, but his past is coming back to haunt him. And teacher Andrew Green is struggling with his mental health due to the stress of the events of two years earlier, with his boyfriend at a loss on how to help him. In this sequel to the 2019 edition of Breaking Point, they all learn to realise that the effects of school bullying will be with them for life - whether victim, bully, or teacher.

Genres: M M Romance

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 16, 2019

About the author

Shane Brown has a PhD in Film, Television and Media from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, with his thesis about representations of male queerness in silent and early sound film. His book on the same subject will be published in September 2016. In 2013, Shane published his young adult novel, Breaking Point, dealing with the subject of homophobic bullying in schools. To date, it has had over 7000 Kindle downloads. A new edition was published in 2019, along with a sequel, Breaking Down. His 2016 novel, The Lookout, is an adult ghost story set on the Norfolk coast. He has also published song-by-song guides to the music of Elvis Presley and Bobby Darin.

Reviews

[Mary Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great Sequel to Breaking Point

This book continues the tale of James and Paul, two years later. They tackle new hurdles as they struggle to stay together, the biggest being James heading off to university. The past also catches up to them and they find acceptance in an unlikely place.

This is an excellent sequel to Breaking Point, and I fully enjoyed both books. The theme, characters, situations, are all relatable and very intriguing.

Whereas the story itself is solid, much like the first book this one could use a lot of editing. Grammar is the biggest fault, and missed words. Also the jumping between perspectives with no indication thus confusion in who is saying what. There were also a few inconsistencies.

Despite the editing related flaws, I did enjoy the story as I already mentioned. James quickly became a favourite character and I'm happy to have shared in on the journey.

Thank you!

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting and engaging sequel to Breaking Point that tells how the ramifications of bullying can have long lasting effects.

My biggest criticism is the poor editing. There are words missing from sentences. Wrong spelling of words, such as “wear” when it should be “where”. “Effect” instead of “affect”. Etc. At one point, Instead of referring to the teacher and his boyfriend as Andrew and Johnathan, the author called them James and Johnathan.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did not live up to the first

Honestly I was disappointed in this second book. Characters that I liked in the first I disliked in this one. Also, part of it just felt like filler, I just don't think this one added anything to the story and was unnecessary.

[Chipper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Sequel

I thought this was great sequel to Breaking Point. Happy but predictable ending. Emotional roller coaster ride. But well done overall. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

[David Shuler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two paths

Life is full of choices. Doesn't matter how old or young we are. Many roads to travel. The journey is not always easy. But the adventure can be liberating

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This follow on joins the dots and gives the resolutions or endings of the characters as they move on. It did feel rushed towards the end but it does finish in a good way.