Barricades (World of Love) by Dem Had at Dreamspinner Press
Genre | Gay / Contemporary / Romance |
Reviewed by | Serena Yates on 24-May-2019 |
Genre | Gay / Contemporary / Romance |
Reviewed by | Serena Yates on 24-May-2019 |
They were raised to hate each other, but love has other plans.
When introverted bookworm Orestis escapes his homophobic parents and abusive home for a night out with friends, he meets artist Emir, and the passion between them is instant and explosive. But Orestis is a Greek Cypriot and Emir is Turkish, and neither society nor their families will accept their love. If they want a romance that lasts beyond one fiery, forbidden night, they’ll have to face the backlash.
A romance with obstacles of the social, political, and homophobic varieties, this cross-cultural love story is set in modern-day Cyprus. This is not a place I am familiar with other than reading about it, so this novella was a great introduction to what it looks and sounds and feels like to live there. But I got more than a sampler of what a tourist might see – Orestis and Emir are two young men from opposite sides of this Mediterranean island that has been divided into a Greek and a Turkish part since 1974. They should hate each other on principle, instead they fall for each other on sight.
Orestis is an introverted bookworm who has no idea what his future will hold now that his two best friends are about to depart to study in Britain. His family is as homophobic as they come, and he has been raised to expect nothing good from life because he is what they call a “deviant”. He is barely on speaking terms with his parents, but since he still lives at home, he has no choice. They try to run his life at every opportunity and his father is physically abusive on top of everything else, so I can’t blame Orestis for wanting out. He is nineteen, for heaven’s sake, and should be making his own decisions.
Emir is an artist, a painter, and he is proud to be a Cypriot – never mind which half of the island he was born and raised on. He has moved away from home and makes a living selling his work online, but he is lonely. Even though his family wants to see him happy, they will never accept that his ideal life partner is a man. He rarely goes to see his parents and sister because they have very different ideas about how he should run his life, but he does not let them make decisions for him any longer.
There is never really any question that Orestis and Emir will get along physically. But everything else is up in the air, and they face an uncertain future never mind how they decide to handle their growing feelings. Admitting how much they mean to each other is one thing, but being open about a relationship will expose them to all kinds of abuse from their families as much as from society in general. And it isn’t even homophobia that is their only enemy – the cultural barriers between their Greek and Turkish backgrounds alone could easily doom a shared future. Yet not being together will leave them fundamentally unhappy…. Which is a dilemma nobody in love should have to face.
If you like love stories with tons of obstacles, misunderstandings, and significant cultural conflicts, if you think that two young men who have been raised to hate each other can overcome prejudice, bigotry, and physical violence to find a future together, and if you’re looking for a read in an interesting setting with a realistic outcome and a very hard-earned happy ending, then you will probably like this novella.
DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.
Format | ebook |
Length | Novella, 85 pages/26620 words |
Heat Level | |
Publication Date | 24-May-2019 |
Price | $3.99 ebook |
Buy Link | https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/barricades-by-dem-had-10478-b |