Genre: New Adult

ARC Review: Abroad Book 2 by Liz Jacobs

January 1, 2018 by Katie, Back Porch Reader

About the Book:

The heartwarming and romantic conclusion to the duology celebrated by Teen Vogue as “a nuanced and sexy take on growing up and learning to accept who you are.”

Nick Melnikov has finally done it — he’s come out.

To himself. To his sister. And to Dex, who listens, hears him, and understands. To Dex, who kisses him and shows him all that they could be, if Nick could only find the courage. It’s one thing to let yourself be open thousands of miles away from your family, but exchange student Nick is uncomfortably aware that his time with Dex is running out. Who will he be when he goes home again?

Dex Cartwell is as happy with Nick as he’s ever been, but he can’t ignore the shadow of Nick’s inevitable departure from London, back to his life in Michigan. Is it worth it for Dex to expose his heart to another doomed relationship with a predetermined expiration date? What does Dex really want for the beginning of the next chapter in his life, post-graduation?

Dex wants to turn to his best friend in the struggle to find a way forward, but Izzy Jones has her own problems. She’s got one friend in love with her, and when she turns to another for help things get twice as complicated. Izzy never wanted complicated, but life just keeps getting in the way — and sweeping her off her feet.

Then Nick’s mom and sister come for a visit, and he is forced to decide between living his truth and protecting himself from fear and change. It’s going to take a lot of courage and a few leaps in the dark if Nick, Dex, and Izzy are to find a way to live and love on their own terms.

The Finer Details

Narrative Arc: Series

Series Detail: Abroad, book 2

Series Arc: ensemble of relationships

Publication Date: January 2, 2018
Publisher: Brain Mill Press

Cover: Design by Ampersand Book Design, Illustration by Megan J. Smith
Length: Novel, 425 e-book pages
POV: 3rd person, limited to 3 or more main characters
Tense: Past
Pairings: Male/Male, Female/Female, Male/Female
Identities: Gay, Demisexual, Bisexual, Transgender
Age Range(s): 18 to 21, 22 to 25
Genre(s): Contemporary, New Adult

Tropes and Tags: ensemble cast, sexual identity awakening, closeted, friends to lovers, virgin
Settings & Locales: London, England
Ending: HEA

Find and Buy

Brain Mill Press | Amazon US

Add the book to your goodreads shelf.

Advance Review Copy generously provided by the publisher.

Back Porch Thoughts

Review

The first book in the Abroad duology left us teetering on the mighty cliffhanger also known as OMG WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?! Where Nick and Dex are taking tentative steps into Relationshipville. Izzy is coming to terms with realizing her sexuality while the earth quakes beneath her feet since learning about a secret crush that has the power to rock a seriously good friendship.

Book two picks up just where we left off with morning afters and more questions begging to be answered as this crew of friends navigate college life, the path to the big-time of adulthood, and trusting in the ties that bind.

Nick, a Russian-American studying abroad in London, is angst incarnate and prone to anxiety attacks that bring him to his knees when faced with the idea of coming out to his mother. He’s so in his head he can’t bring himself to confide in his amazing set of friends, or Dex in these early days of being part of a couple. Which, as a forty-something, it’s easy for me to want to shake him and tell him to talk to his people, these friends who effortlessly brought him into their fold and have surrounded him in safety and a soft place to land as he learns to accept himself. But it only takes me a few seconds of sifting back through my memories of old secrets and insecurities to get it — that fear of opening up. So instead of giving him a shake, I’d rather just hug him tight and tell him to breathe.

Dex, he comes across as one of the surest, self-aware characters with a clear-cut path to his future. He knows himself, knows what he wants, seems comfortable in his skin. But, here we get to see a little bit of a different side of him. A vulnerable spot where it comes to his feelings for Nick, wanting the approval and support from his family. He’s nearly ripped open at the seams while he and Nick work to overcome obstacles with a deadline. Because even for those who think they’ve got both feet on the ground, know what’s what, have a clear and determined picture of selfdom, the future, and their rock-solid friendships — it doesn’t take much to turn certainty on its ear.

And Izzy. My oh my how I love this darling girl. In my review of book one, I wasn’t wholly convinced we needed her story woven around Nick and Dex. To be sure, I wanted her story just…separate. Her own book perhaps. But while looking forward to book two, I found myself itching to get back to her, needing her journey as it was a little like looking in a mirror, one that had gotten sort of foggy over the passage time. She’s just lovely and most definitely the story I needed twenty-some-odd years ago.

Even though Abroad takes place in this decade and in a specific place with very specific cultural elements, it also manages to be timeless and a tale that transcends borders. I loved every moment of this rollercoaster ride of emotions. I laughed, I cried, and my heart was in a clench for these characters. This book was everything, and the two books together are simply amazing.

Liz Jacobs has proven her writing chops, yet again, with gorgeous words of introspection and the emotional journeys that dig deep into all the uncertainties of early adulthood. This is profound and masterful. Utter perfection.

About the Author

Liz Jacobs came over with her family from Russia at the age of 11, as a Jewish refugee. All in all, her life has gotten steadily better since that moment. They settled in an ultra-liberal haven in the middle of New York State, which sort of helped her with the whole “grappling with her sexuality” business. She has spent a lot of her time flitting from passion project to passion project, but writing remains her constant. She has flown planes, drawn, made jewelry, had an improbable internet encounter before it was cool, and successfully wooed the love of her life in a military-style campaign. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize for her essay on her family’s experience with immigration. She currently lives with her wife in Massachusetts, splitting her time between her day job, writing, and watching a veritable boatload of British murder mysteries.

Connect:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Goodreads

About the Cover Artist:

Abroad: Book Two features the original work of artist Megan J. Smith of the Repeal Hyde Art Project.
Megan is an artist, activist, and social worker. They founded the Project in 2011 to raise awareness and create dialogue about the Hyde Amendment. Since then, they have collected 400 birds, created over 100 shareable graphics, and facilitated 30 university-based Repeal Hyde Art Project installations. Megan has also designed artwork and materials for numerous reproductive health and rights organizations. Megan is the recipient of the 2015 Arts and Healing Network Award for Arts and Social Change and on the Board of Directors for the Abortion Care Network. They reside in Boston with their partner and their 13 year-old cat, Boxer.

ONE LAST THING before you go! Liz Jacobs popped in yesterday with a guest post — you can check it out here.

Thank you so much for visiting Back Porch Reader. I wish you all a fantastic 2018!

Release Day Review: Abroad, by Liz Jacobs

June 27, 2017 by Katie, Back Porch Reader

About the Book

Nick Melnikov doesn’t know where he belongs. He was just a kid when his Russian-Jewish family immigrated to Michigan. Now he’s in London for university, overwhelmed by unexpected memories. Socially anxious, intensely private, and closeted, Nick doesn’t expect to fall in so quickly with a tight-knit group of students from his college, and it’s both exhilarating and scary. Hanging out with them is a roller coaster of serious awkward and incredible longing, especially when the most intimidating of the group, Dex, looks his way.

Review: Heels Over Head by Elyse Springer

June 1, 2017 by Katie, Back Porch Reader

Synopsis

Jeremy Reeve is one of the best divers in the world, and he’s worked hard to get where he is. He intends to keep pushing himself with one very clear goal in mind: winning gold at the Summer Olympics in two years. That medal might be the only way to earn his father’s respect as an athlete.

Foxes, Suki Fleet

February 10, 2017 by Katie, Back Porch Reader

* Retro Review Tour & Giveaway *

When Dashiel’s body is found dumped on an East London wasteland, his best friend Danny sets out to find the killer. But Danny finds interaction difficult and must keep his world small in order to survive. By day he lives in an abandoned swimming pool and fixes electrical devices to trade for supplies, but by night, alone, he hunts sharks—a reckless search for dangerous men who prey on the vulnerable.

A chance meeting with an American boy selling himself on the streets throws this lonely existence into disarray. Micky is troubled, fragile, and Danny feels a desperate need to protect him—from what, he doesn’t know. As Danny discovers more about Micky, he realizes that what Micky needs saving from is the one thing Danny can’t help him fight against.

To save Micky, Danny must risk expanding his world and face something that scares him more than any shark ever could: trusting he will be accepted for who he is. If a freezing winter on the streets, a sadistic doctor, and three thousand miles don’t tear them apart first, that is.

Stats:

Published:
Publisher:
Cover Artist:
Series:
Genre:
Pairing:
Orientation:
Length:
POV:

February 8, 2016
Dreamspinner Press
AngstyG.
Stand-Alone
Contemporary, New Adult
M/M
Gay
274 e-book pages
1st person

See the book on Goodreads

2016 Rainbow Award Winner – Best Gay Young Adult

Review:

Suki Fleet’s writing sort of reminds me of my first experience white water rafting. It was on the New River in West Virginia — and for the time of year we went, that river is the perfect place for those new to whitewater.

Mostly I was excited, my gut tight with anticipation and the first hint of adrenaline coursing down my spine. But when a sport requires a helmet, you know things can get dangerous. So I was also just a little nervous.

When we dropped our rafts, our crew of eight plus our guide embarked on what’s best described as a lazy drift. It was gentle, effortless calm on a glorious sunny day. There wasn’t much to do other than float along the slow-moving water and enjoy the scenery. Mountains poking at the sky, a deer lapping at the water’s edge, an eagle soaring on the wing. The mid-morning sun heating my arms and just the barest breeze kissing my cheeks. It was absolute serenity.

About fifteen minutes in, without much warning, the speed of the river picked up — a nearly imperceptible bit. Boulders peeked above the surface. Eddies were swirling in a strangely syncopated rhythm. I could see where the river was dropping in what looked like steps on a short staircase. Our small craft of rubber and air was headed right for it with nothing but eight first-timers and a pro wielding plastic-tipped paddles to navigate and defend.

That was easy. Energizing.

Nothing to be scared of.

LET’S DO IT AGAIN!

And so we did.

Again.

And again. With mini breaks of tranquility.

Dragonflies. Daffodils. Mountain Laurel. Sunbathing turtles. Fluffy Clouds.

Each time we hit a rapid — if you could call them that — there was one thing, a different thing about each that made it slightly more challenging than the previous. Tiny differences that were almost undetectable. A few more boulders, a faster pace, a bigger drop, larger eddies, gurgling swells, more froth on the surface. All nuanced challenges, to be sure. Introduced in increments as they were, and with a guide who knew what he was doing, there wasn’t a single thing fear.

About midday we stopped on the edge of the river for a picnic lunch. At this particular part of the river there was a rocky cliff that rose from the water about…I don’t know, maybe thirty feet. It was a jumping rock — tried and true by thousands of people before us. I’d never jumped from a height of more than ten feet.

BUT I’D BRAVED WHITEWATER RAPIDS FOR HALF A DAY.

So of course, I jumped.

And I flew.

Gracefully.

The most elegant cliff-dive ever to have happened in the history of ever.

The Olympic high-dive team recruited me on the spot.

FINE! I stood at the edge of that fucking cliff and looked down twelve thousand feet to my ant-sized pals. Death stared back at me. I couldn’t breathe because of lack of oxygen at that great height. I willed my feet to fuse with the rock.

I became the rock.

The hand of God shoved me.

Or my friend Tom.

Whatever.

I died four times on the way down.

I hit the water with so much force I choked on my bathing suit and sprained a toe.

But I survived.

To whitewater some more.

And I’ll tell ya what, the challenge of the rapids from that point onward was intense. It was thunderous, surging, true class-five business. The kind that takes every molecule of focus and determination. When the guide tells you to lean left, by God, you lean left with everything you have. When he tells you to dig in with your paddle, you go at it like you’re in a race to unearth a fifty-pound hunk of gold. You become one with your fellow rafters and the raft, the paddle a born extension of you. Everything working in symbiotic tandem to outwit an unforgiving river without a single break to catch a breath.

On the New River in West Virginia, after miles and miles fast roiling water, it calms.

Is it just as gentle as when we started? I don’t know. Somehow it seems more serene, that last half-mile stretch. The breeze, warmed by the sun, feels like a hug. All the colors are more vivid — the trees greener, the sky bluer. The water sparkles like millions of crystals. A red-tailed hawk resting on a limb winked at us. It’s quieter too, eerily so because I swear I could hear the fish swimming under us.

We’d fought. We’d conquered.

We survived. And we celebrated.

That’s Foxes.

It is a literary experience packed with colorful characters and heady emotion. A vivid, intense, and moving journey along the most elegant words. It’s a gently flowing river that carries the soul to unexpected places and around unforeseen obstacles one nuanced step at a time.

With graceful ebbs and flows, sometimes scary leaps of faith — or unexpected nudges — it’s not so scary after all. Because even in the direst situations — ones that are sobering, ugly and gut-wrenching — there’s a glimmer of hope to fight for survival.

Getting to the end of this hard-fought journey, with Suki as a consummate guide, love and hard-won happily ever afters are even more vibrant in their simple beauty.

Recommended.