Brock Miller is looking for a little peace and quiet after a tumultuous 18 months. Can he ever have a normal life? Or is he destined to be defined by a past he cannot change?
Size: 431 KB (85,864 words)
Genre: Fiction
Sex Contents: Minimal Sex
Tags: mt/ft, Consensual, First, Petting, Slow
Review by Nulaak83 [other reviews by Nulaak83]
Reviewed:
This story is a great prequel to A Flawed Diamond, though I believe may have originally been intended to be a stand alone story. By itself it is worth reading, but I would strongly recommend reading the second book as well. The plot is excellent and contains several different interesting elements and layers all tied into one story.
There are quite a few times that I noticed a word missing in a sentence, but you can infer what is missing from the context of the sentence or paragraph so it isn’t a major issue.
Review by Myrtus [other reviews by Myrtus]
Reviewed: - (Review Updated: )
Having read "Daze in the Valley" and "Death and a Life in Emerald Cove" before, I couldn't bring myself to read "A Flawed Diamond" because of a single sentence beginning by : "The angry boy has become...". Usually, anger is something I frown upon because it's exploited in the most basic way. But the author was Jay Cantrell, I had to give it a chance. Only then did I realize that it was a sequel to "The Outsider" so I made a leap of faith an tried it.
I said above that I was reluctant to read about the use of anger. "The Outsider" proved me that my fears weren't justified. This is a story about anger. Justified anger, anger from injustice, anger born from irritation, anger born from suffering and pain.
This is a story about Brock Miller, a youth who went through the worst one could imagine at such a young age. He survived, of course, but not without scars. Emotional scars. So he fled. He fled to a town where no one knew him. Only, as it often happens with human beings, people began to gravitate towards him. Girls, mostly. Then girls from his past. And from each girl, a different anger emerged. A different facet of his past suffering, forcing him to confront it, her and himself at the same time.
Anger never really leaves Brock Miller but it doesn't dominate his life as one could fear it would. For him, it's a defense mechanism at first, then a tool by the time we leave him be. Pain made him hurt. Anger made him hard. But by coexisting with these girls he learned that hardness wasn't always the best solution. Don't be mistaken though : you won't see him as someone soft very often. That's simply not who he is, for he is Brock Miller. And we learn to love him for his anger.
I was afraid of being disappointed after so many successes from Jay Cantrell. I was wrong and I'm glad I was.
Now, for the marks, two things :
- I'm a french reader. You won't see me give a Technical Quality rating. It would be preposterous.
- I don't use 10. 9 is the greatest compliment I can give. There is no enjoyment in perfection. It's in flaws that I thrive; flaws that give me the height of a person's talent. Jay Cantrell definitely has some.
The Story Plot is simple, but efficient. Jay Cantrell chose a theme and stuck to it brilliantly. Nothing seems out of the range of "believable". His (Brock Miller) reactions could have been mine and his mingling with other people is mostly natural considering his circumstances. Sex is present and pleasant but doesn't sway you from the meat of the story. Usually, i would give it a 8 but Jay Cantrell's use of anger in such a masterful way made me up it a little as an apology and thanks.
Technical quality : I had no problem understanding it (and i'm french !) so there mustn't be that many flaws - if there are at all.
Appeal to Reviewer : It was a pleasant surprise. I was reluctant to read it before. Now, I regret not reading it earlier. Since it was a short story, I was afraid it wouldn't be as enticing as his other long stories but I was wrong. And once again, I'm glad I was wrong.
