Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Review: What Makes a Man?: Book 1

What Makes a Man?: Book 1 What Makes a Man?: Book 1 by H.Q. Frost
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an arc of this in exchange for an honest review

As my first H.Q. Frost book, I wasn't sure what I was getting. Conveniently enough, I never knew what I was getting. The whole book kept me guessing and had me afraid for Dom and Nyla. Apparently I was afraid for very good reasons as Frost gave me the ultimate mindfuck at the end. Thanks, Frost, thanks. That cussing I refused to do earlier, well here it is. Fuck this. Seriously. I knew something was going to happen. I knew Boney was bad news, but then again most of Dom's friends were bad news. But fuuuuuuck. That ending. Ugh. Why?!

Okay, let's back up. Nyla meets Dom under unusual circumstances. Instead of runnig--which is what most normal people would do--she finds herself intrigued by the guy she saw leaving her neighbor's house. So intrigued, that when he stopped by later, she invited him inside. Their story begins on that front porch and continues from there.

There are plenty of questions and scenarios that I never thought to ask or expect. There was a lot of death, yet none of it was surprising. Frost tackles serious issues in this book, including: rape, incest, physcial/mental/emotional abuse, murder, drugs....I think that is all. I know, quite the plethora of topics, but it works, trust me.

These situations all feel real. We all hear the stories or live these lives. The lives where violence breeds violence and poverty breeds poverty. It's almost impossible to get out of your situation. Dom wants more out of his life. He works two jobs, he tries to do better than his friends, and he does what he can to make the new girl in his life, Nyla, his priority. He knows she's important to his story and he doesn't want to lose her.
"You can be a good book though, Dom. Your pages aren't written. You have your whole life."


I kept waiting for that shoe to drop. Things would be good, but Nyla seemed a bit immature for her age. I could never decide if she was just more immature than others or if it was because she had a more privileged upbringing than the others in this story. Either way, the relationship between Nyla and Dom works. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders. Which is why the surprise ending in this book left me yelling, "What the actual fuck!?!" No joke. I was pissed. And shocked. Good job, Frost, you got me.
"I won't hurt you."

I call bullshit, Frost. Bull. Shit. You did hurt me.

If you make it to the end and you haven't googled Frost's home address so you can send her hate mail, then you will be ready to hop in your car when you see the preview for book 2.
"Falling in love is easy. Letting go is the hardest thing to do."


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