Review: So much more than a coming out or coming of age story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 21, 2014
I noticed this novel on Amazon because I am also a writer and I saw that customers who bought The Race for Second had also bought Awesome Justice. When I read the summary and saw that Ethan's story involved being an exchange student in Germany, I knew I had to read his story. I've been living in France this last year and, even though I am a middle-aged straight woman, I felt such a connection with Ethan's struggle to adapt to a different culture despite how he so eagerly anticipated the experience. I get that! Chase Potter's descriptions of Frieburg were vivid enough to help me picture the city, yet not overdone. And I loved the description of Colmar and his comments about France. I was laughing out loud as I read those scenes. What surprised me about this novel is how the story is not a straight-forward romance. I really enjoyed how Ethan's story is so much more than one of coming out or coming of age. His is a story for anyone who's lived abroad. On a deeper level, because he is gay and not fully out to his college friends and not fully accepted by his mother, Ethan is a foreigner in his own country. I hope this novel gets the wider attention it deserves.