Review: Reviewed by Kota for Kota's Book Kollection
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 22, 2014
When you see a Blurb with a warning such as this heed it…  I mean really HEED it – because this prologue is confronting, heart wrenching and written with such technique that it is nothing if not believable.  I suspect no one here will enjoy this prologue… but it is however essential to this story.Yes, Master is essential the story of Ryan Jenkin’s struggle with life after his repeated, violent and degrading years of abuse at the hands of someone who is trusted with the care of a child.I found this story hard to put down while I was torn with the feelings it evoked.  Predominantly from a male POV, the emotion was …  ughhhh…  still today I struggle with the emotion.  I may react to this book differently to others.  I see the techniques and behaviours of grooming and abuse on an almost daily basis with my ‘other’ job.  This book hit the nail on the head with the power abusers have over their victims, the insidious nature of the abuse they perpetrate and the perfect grooming of the adults around them that enable them access and opportunity.The emotional void that Ryan was left with, and the external shell that was his life to the outside world was so well represented of a proportion of victims.  Ms McHeyzer thank you for not sugar coating the reality of this horrendous epidemic that exists for our children past and present.Moving past how Ryan became so broken takes us to his journey from the brink to regaining some self worth.  This is where Stella, Mason, Lucy, and Jo play relevant and integral roles in this story.  Mason and Ryan have been best friends since they were very young.  Now in their mid-thirties life has been hard for them both.  Underpinning their relationship is an attraction that they have both been hiding for a number of reasons.Mason meets Stella…  who is his Domme.  Mason introduces Stella to Ryan…  and welcome to the world of Yes, Master!I found the BDSM story engaging.  I don’t claim to know about the lifestyle, but I found this story to be believable in the way it was depicted.  Watching the relationships between Mason and Ryan; Ryan and Stella and Mason and Stella develop and evolve kept the pages turning.The linking of the conflicted emotions between sex and sex acts with Ryan’s abuse and his trauma responses made these interactions full of compassion and sensitivity all the while he explored his ability to regain control over his life.This story wraps up in a perfect – karma is a bitch ending, and while there were elements of the story that I wish were unpacked further for Ryan, Stella and Mason – this one really gripped me.  It was for me, hard to compartmentalise the fact that my heart was breaking for Ryan, while simultaneously beating because of the sex…As far as I am concerned, this was a confronting story told with brutal honesty, but with compassion.  It is explicit, it contains M/M scenes in graphic details – if you are faint of heart, not a fan of M/M and details bother you – steer clear.  If you like real, gritty, confronting, sexual, compassionate stories and M/M is not a turn off give this a go…  I am rating this 4 hearts, missing the last heart solely because I needed more depth from the other characters, and more details from Ryan’s past relationships to enable me to truly celebrate this journey.[...]