Review: Moving and Insightful
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 6, 2013
Cardeno C.'s moving and insightful novella, A Shot at Forgiveness, provides a rather different view of the bullying many gay and lesbian children and teens are forced to endure. In this story the bully, Isaac Jones, now 30, has become a National Basketball Association most valuable player. The boy he bullied, Rafael ("Rafi") Steiner, also 30, is an "up-and-coming" real estate lawyer. (Rafi narrates the story.)It's a dozen years after the bullying stopped, when Rafi and Isaac graduated from high school and went their separate ways, and the bully seeks out the boy he bullied. As Rafi says, Isaac is his "nemesis turned stalker." Is it credible that in some situations the bully is more confused about and tormented by his sexuality than his victim? In my own view, for whatever it's worth, that might explain more than a few cases of bullying.Without including spoilers in this review, I can say there are even more surprising turns in A Shot at Forgiveness than a famous and wealthy NBA MVP's making contact with his former victim. I can also affirm that the way Cardeno C. shapes the story makes them all believable. They certainly don't happen every day, but who'd wish to write or read about every-day matters?I must also praise Cardeno C.'s writing style. Rafi tells us: "My bed was usually a revolving door. Men came and went without fanfare or memory." At one pointRafi and Isaac agree: "The contrast of dark and light, short and tall, bulky and slender" is "hot as hell." Rafi again: "I take whatever comes my way with a grain of salt. Preferably sprinkled along the rim of a margarita glass."Rafi and Isaac's story won me over. I highly recommend it.(As originally reviewed on Rainbow Book Reviews. Please visit [...] for other reviews that may be of interest.)