I have read this a couple of times now as buddy reads with Ilhem and Laura.

here is our joint review actually by Ilhem, lol!

ABOUT:

Does gender really matter?

Kel and Toni are damaged people trying to find answers. While Kel pins his hopes on support groups to keep him on the straight and narrow, Toni looks for absolution in a bottle of Mexican hormone pills.

Kel loves Toni obsessively, and though he supports them on the money he makes turning tricks with strangers and regular clients, he struggles with the reality of Toni’s transition and her motives for doing it.

While Kel grapples with his worries and the attentions of regular client Michael—otherwise known as the Sherbet Pervert—Toni faces different problems. Danielle, a transgender woman, best friend and role model to Toni, thinks Kel is a bad influence and pushes Toni to leave him. But Toni holds off because deep down, she knows she’s not like Danielle.

Kel and Toni’s desperate attempts to build a life together make them realize their survival is precarious. And then two unrelated events show them how easily their harsh little world can crumble, bringing them confront some difficult truths.

REVIEW:

”It is true; words are just words, but the meanings they carry, the way the world bends around them, that’s what’s complicated.”

The three of us read Filth 9 months ago and we couldn’t let the revised version be released without buddy reading it and gushing about it again!

It’s 5 stars all over again, which doesn’t mean that it is perfect (what is?). It means that we love it so much that we don’t care, that we love every single word of it, that we were given characters who will stay with us for a long time, and so so much emotion!

Kel and Toni are already an established couple when the story begins. The road to the happy ending (more an HFN) is not about following a plot that will get them together, but about spending some time in their minds and sharing their journey at the rate of 2 trains of thoughts that sometimes drag and mull over, sometimes get frantic with worry, sometimes fly with pleasure and joy. It is well and truly about words. Words and how we use them to define ourselves and our perceived roles in  life. Words to think differently with,  to see underneath and farther.

The author’s voice is strong in telling Kel and Toni; it doesn’t act as a barrier though. On the contrary, the language knows how to be in turn beautiful and blunt, it shades and lights up, deepens and amplifies, provides a denseness of thoughts and a wide range of emotions that owes nothing to unbridled angst and everything to restraint and intensity.

“[...] feel like the person in the mirror was the same person who was watching the reflection. Thinking the small voice in the dark, the one that whispers “I am”, would make itself known as more than just “I”, and become something the rest of the world could see, and believe in”

It tells gender fluidity with ever-changing pronouns, tells the pain of being unable to define oneself as dictated, the gross and scary reality of living on tricks, fears, the beauty in being able to love no matter what, the courage to love despite the fears, to be oneself, to face what the world throws at you.

Filth is about gender. It has the good taste and common sense to question and study more than answering, and it is almost incidentally so, as it is defined in the end by unconditional love and courage. Just like its characters.

Filth is not a romance, but it is one hell of a love story! One to marvel at and be envious of.

“He just takes Toni as he is, and makes every little piece of him feel loved”

Need to think on this one ....
Done thinking . ..


3.5 stars ???

First response.....damn it. Not as great or good as it should have been.
The author spent so much time trying to either educate me on comic culture or convince me he knew comic culture, that he forgot about the romance and story arc. I know comic culture, its a hazard of my line of work. I was thrilled to be reading a romance where that was the back drop. We geeks need more smexy press!!! But, the need to tell all about it, to include every comic reference possible eventually turned me off a bit. It wasn't that the book was weird or too geeky, it simply contained too many references. I did not need to be convinced the author did his homework. I wanted more of the dynamic of Trip and Silas the characters, as artists, as men, as lovers.... I was hoping for an intensely GRIPPING love story and less of a comic info dump.

I laughed plenty at the one liners and the numerable descriptions of the male genitalia . . . But i never sat in fear or shed a tear.

And the author's style of description makes me laugh and giggle! Love that! I have been trying to use the phrase "clutching his munchables" in as many conversations as I can...but I have small children so it has been limited . . .

Trip and Silas were fun, but not nearly the intensity of Griff and Dante. Sorry, but I could not help but compare. I have read Hot Head an embarrassing number of times . . . I love how they love each other . . . Lub dub lub dub . . . .

Thank you to both the author and GR for the copy of this book.

This is a collection of shorts, each a snippet of a holiday. Each short is a scene or a view into how people interact, or internalize, or react. The characterizations are well done, especially given the length of each short. Many of them sucked me in immediately. lessons learned, love lost and found, redemption, forgiveness . . .

I thoroughly enjoyed this and see myself revisiting these time and time again.

Wow.
Great characters. Primary and secondary.
Sucked me in right away. Kept me up until nearly 2 a.m.!!!!!!!
My heart ached for Ash ....
And Peter . . . I do NOT blame him. The dance of mental illness is a tough one. One many do not realize they are engaging in until they are fully caught up.
This was beautiful . . . .
I did sit worried that co dependency and fear kept them together, but was eventually convinced otherwise.
I worried that Ash and Peter would have an obstacle they couldn't overcome . . . 

The epilogue was intentionally cliffhanger-y. but I knew this was a series when I started so that did not surprise me.

was this perfect? no.

do I care? no.

The sequel holds much hope for me . . .but it could also hold much disappointment. I am hopeful the sequel in not about another character but how Ash learns to care for himself. And how Pete learns to love him in their new space . . .without the elephant. Great review.

I need the sequel. Like now. Right now.

Love this!

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I have had this on my mind for the past 2 weeks, thus upping my star rating .......

I believe i found another author whose backlist i need to check out.


September 11, 2001
If that day touched you in a personal capacity, this may not be for you.

A young man's struggle with a painful past and the burdens they place on his future.
A phone call can change everything. Can a loved one save you from beyond the grave?

The journey of healing your past while moving forward
Finding love can be a blessing but add ethnic bigotry post-9/11 and life gets complicated

Well written MCs. Even Ben with his diminished capacity. Russell. Poor Russell. So much on one person's plate.
Anat. what a refreshing female character.
The secondary characters are well done, even though some are only there for demonstrative purposes.
The struggle is heart felt and the hope for the future is exciting ....

*Thanks to Susan and Mr. Voinov...i now have a signed paperback of this! Thank you**

This is my most- reread piece of literature. I have lost count of how often i have read this . . . .


Great writing! pulled me in right away and kept me reading despite my coffee getting cold. and that means EVERYTHING!!

great character development. believable plot. believable chemistry between the main characters. could easily feel the emotions of both characters. this isn't always easily done for me with a short story.

actions scenes are done well. can feel the movement of the actions as they happen.

left me wanting for more. . . just like a good story should

will add more after the second and, most certainly, the third read . . .

second read complete (gotta love saturday naptimes) . . . what struck me this read was the nature of the intimacy, how it was written. in a short story, there are only so many words to convey the author's intention for the story. the intimate scenes here are just that, intimate while conveying to the reader the softness and emotions of the characters. not a wasted word or scene. it did not read like a sex scene thrown in for good measure!

after chatting with lisa . . . i wanted to add this part of our conversation:
i loved it!!!!!!!!!! and i do think it is a book anyone could enjoy. the history is fantastic. the characters great, and i do not usually like reading first person. i think i commented in my review that it is so well written i can feel the action scenes as they take place. i recall leaning in my seat!!!

also, i DO think it is a great read for many Americans i know . . . who do not often consider war from the view of the other sides view . . .not just the political view, but the people. it is great to read from the German POV.

wow!!! powerful, gripping, shocking.
well written, well executed. great pacing.
and i never saw it coming! no spoilers here, you are going to have to read this yourself!

what i liked . . .
great characters. depth and development was great.
the plot . . . holy cow! this is so wonderfully ORIGINAL. the details are fantastic.
the plot twists are shocking and most unexpected.
i laughed, i cried, i pleaded with characters . . .then, i cried some more. i rejoiced.

what didn't work for me . . .
nothing . . .can't think of what i would want to have been different . . .
ok, maybe it could have been longer, but ONLY because i didn't want it to come to an end . . .

it is an emotional one. the issues tackled in this work are tough on the heart strings and the mind.

nested in there is a commentary about marriage. same sex marriage. so often those who oppose marriage equality are under the bigoted delusion that the love and commitment shared in a same sex relationship is somehow different than a mixed sex relationship. the pain, stress, and anguish blaine feels when manny is missing is so palpable. so raw. anyone who has ever loved cannot help but be drawn in.

i knew from reviews/recommendations that the book was different . . . not a romance, but yes . . . i can't quite pick a genre for this . . .just a great story that was well executed. i look forward to more from this author. this was his debut book!


Update Sept, 2013....this has been optioned as a film!!!!!! Cannot wait to see this in theaters!!!!

good morning!!  i am supposed to be working, lol!!  but instead i am attempting to figure out this new place . . .