Review: A Bit Melodramatic, But A Great Read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 6, 2014
I must say that "The Wind Your Voice, The Rain Your Tears' is more than a little melodramatic. Lots of people die I do mean LOTS of people. There are parents who disown their sons when they find out they're gay, parents who once were loving but got twisted in a latter-life commitment to religion. There are the grown children, who are discarded, who have no idea how to deal with being told their parents are sorry they were ever born.The plot revolves around a straight mechanic, Vinny, whose younger brother, Daniel (who idolized him) is the first to come out, the first to be thrown out, and the first to die. Another young gay kid killed by religious intolerance.And then there is Travis, the effeminate waiter cum convenience store clerk, who turns out to have been a very successful actor, singer and dancer in his "previous life" in New York. But in the hick town where Vinny and he meet, he's just a "queer" boy with colored stripes in his hair and eye makeup.If this book weren't so well-written, it would be torturous. Instead, it's profoundly moving, in many parts, and those who survive discover what love really means - all the different kinds of love: friendship, affection, family love and passion.It's well worth the read, and I might have given it five stars had the editing not completely fallen apart about two thirds of the way through. It's a thing with me - I hate paying for a rough draft. There's no other product on Amazon that could get away with the flaws that a poorly-edited book does. We'd shred those products in the reviews. But books are art, and we apply a different standard - if we like the characters, setting and story, we forgive much. But please. At some point, authors of gay fiction simply have to find competent editors. I assume the authors really care about their works and want many readers to read them and respond. So why do they (particularly in this genre), let second-rate editing spoil their work - almost as if the reader doesn't matter.A few examples:"But I was able to get him to focus enough and get him to turn his toward me..." (Turn his what?)"We finished out shower." (Our shower?)"I fiddled with their engine and their breaks." (Brakes, of course)"But he still needed taken care of" (To be taken care of?)You get the point. The first part of the book was pretty clean, but as it raced towards its exciting climax, the editing got worse the distractions grew exponentially. Just saying...But editing aside, the book was very powerful. It took a long hard look at families that discard their children when they come out, and at the pain and conflict the discarded children go through.Well done, and I do indeed recommend this book to all.