Review: A Hundred Thousand Words by Nyrae Dawn
SYNOPSIS:
Tobias Jackson grew up in Coburn, a town where the gay population equaled exactly one: him. Add that to the fact that his dream guy was his best friend’s jerky older brother Levi Baxter, and it made hooking up virtually impossible.
Now home from college for winter break, Toby is a different person. He left Coburn for San Francisco, where he wasn’t the lone gay guy and the only black kid in town. And yeah, he took advantage of what the city had to offer.
Apparently Toby isn’t the only one who’s changed. Levi’s not acting like the self-centered guy with all the answers that Toby remembers from growing up. Oh and Levi’s realized he’s bisexual, which makes things a lot more interesting…
Heading back to college, Toby doesn’t expect to meet up with Levi again, despite him being in med school not far away. A surprise visit from Levi blows that assumption out of the water. As they spend more time together Toby sees Levi as more than just the fantasy. He’s complicated, unsure…he’s real. But if Toby can’t get out of the past and find the words he keeps locked inside himself, he’ll lose his chance at Levi for good.
REVIEW:
I should really know better at this point that Nyrae Dawn books are going to emotionally gut me. There is just something about Nyrae’s writing style and characters that resonate deep within my soul. And it usually ends with her pulling me apart and putting me back together.
This story was no different. A stunning, beautiful journey of love, self-acceptance, and finding your place in the world. Toby and Levi are two tragically broken men. Toby keeps everyone at arms length while being paralyzed by his past. Watching his journey throughout the course of the story left me in awe. Levi, well lets just say he touched my heart in a special way. Some of Levi’s characteristics were like looking into a mirror of my past self. His journey is much more entangled and he has to make some truly difficult decisions.
Along the way while both of these men are trying to navigate their realities, they fall in love. Honestly, their relationship was the the perfect balance of familiarity from growing up around each other but newness because they are getting to know each other on a deeper level. They share secrets, slowly open up to each other, and just insert the heart eye emoji, because that was pretty much me the entire time.
The only thing I didn’t care for was how the main drama played out. I don’t want to spoil the plot line but the fall out and subsequence ending felt rushed. I wanted more time for these characters, but this might just be me not being ready to let them go! Another amazing Nyrae Dawn book with moving characters, vulnerable moments, and a heartfelt romance that left me swooning.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
“Words are funny like that, though. They’re hard to spit out, hard to let out of your head. Feels so much safer to keep them inside of you. It’s that way for me, at least.”
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