Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage

21 reviews

bluehairedlibrarian's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I'm still not sure how to feel about this book. It wasn't what I was expecting, and the foundation of the entire story is queer trauma. At times I felt like it leaned on negative tropes used to condemn gay men in the not-so-distant past, but at the same time, queer authors should be able to write about anything. In this book, the author explores the types of horrors that can come from a relationship that not only has a large age gap between partners, but also a large gap in authority and power.

With that said, this book is dark and traumatic, but the writing quality kept me reading despite the horrors on the page. Jonah is a compelling narrator and I sympathized with him while also thinking he was a complete idiot at times. The situations he got himself into could be excused by his naivete and Midwestern religious upbringing, but at the same time, he was incredibly naïve. He's also a very unreliable narrator, but I liked the framework that is revealed later on in the book. I thought it a bit strange for it suddenly to revolve around his non-relationship with a side character, and the ending felt strange and little forced.

I can't say I enjoyed this book, but I don't regret finishing it either. It's difficult and does not fall under the Gothic Horror trope at all. It's a difficult read, but a mostly well-written one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

marter2001's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

dotoridoritou's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

nicsnovellife's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

kay_jax's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

andshaul89's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book was not what I expected - in a good way. It starts out very Talented Mr Ripley, but then takes a darker turn where you just keep saying to yourself “what the hell?!” You keep wondering exactly how far, and for how long this is going to go on. Very well written for a debit novel, i finished this in less than a week because I could NOT put it down at all, I needed to know what was happening and what was going to happen. 

**Look up TW before reading this book**

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Homophobia

kloft1993's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Incest

danielghurst's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage tells the story of Jonah, a young, gay, aspiring playwright in New York, who, like so many young artists in New York, is in a desperate financial situation. With painstaking precision, he leverages his youth and sex appeal for a shortcut to New York theatre's inner circle and gets much more than he anticipated. What starts as a dream scenario soon takes a dark turn that will have far-reaching consequences.

After a chilling prologue, Yes, Daddy takes the reader on a brooding and often brutal thrill ride. The clever narrative device and the heaviness of the language draw the reader into this world of desperation, sexual tension, and power plays. The first half of the book breezes by in a whirl of eerie events, odd characters, unabashed gayness, sexuality, and brutality, at times verging on camp.

The second half is more of a surprise. Several years later, Jonah has a more personal reckoning with what happened to him in the first half of the book, the others involved, and the childhood traumas that led him into such a dire situation. Mostly absent of thrills, the rest of the book moves more slowly and delves into societal critique around social media, mental health, religion, sexuality, and rape culture, particularly in regards to the gay community. Expect a more human story tinged with both despair and hope.

Non-exhaustive list of content warnings: rape, physical violence, underage drinking, sexual assault, kidnapping, infidelity, drug use, cruelty to animals, suicide, suicidal ideation, religious fanaticism

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

bookishlybrief's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book is being marketed in confusing and deceiving ways. Initially described as a gay ‘Get Out’ it is most certainly not that and in fact has a clear agenda perpetrated by the author that comes out in the later half of the book. 

The first half of the book were compelling and hard to read. It flails in the second half where the protagonist is reckoning with trauma and how to deal with it. The end was disappointing for sure given the promise of the front half.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

jonathanlynch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

*Trigger content warnings for rape, sexual/physical abuse, conversion therapy, pedophilia, and suicide.*

When I first heard about Yes, Daddy, I was intrigued because the summary reminded me of Ryan Murphy's mini-series, Hollywood. Specifically the abusive relationship between Rock Hudson and his agent. On that front, I was not disappointed at all. It's exactly about that, echoing a very real and dark reality many young people in the entertainment industry continue to face today.

In the age of the Me Too Movement, we are more aware than ever of the toxic power structures our institutions are founded on. Typically and not surprisingly, power-hungry white men abuse the power they are given to oppress and abuse others. The presence of this theme is undeniable in this book and trust me when I say, it gets heavy. There were many moments throughout reading this that I had to set my book down to remember to breathe and continually run my hand through my hair (it's a nervous habit).

Parks-Ramage is a promising debut author and this being his first novel, I am thoroughly impressed. He created a nuanced protagonist in struggling writer Jonah, who was no where near perfect, but someone you could root for and empathize with. He also created an all too convincing villain in successful playwright Richard, who, on top of being an evil pig, was the king of gaslighting and manipulation to the extent that even I felt gaslighted and manipulated.

Trauma played a pivotal role in this book. I'll be the first to admit that I sometimes think authors give their characters too much to handle. Especially queer characters. I saw this in A Little Life and more recently for me, Cleanness. This book does not escape from that, but this felt more purposeful and had something important to say. Jonah held his umbrella high to try to protect himself from the many forms of trauma he experienced throughout his young life. His Evangelical upbringing was triggering for me in a way I was not expecting. I don't doubt any queer person who reads this book will feel triggered at one point or another.

***I do want to emphasize the current trend in queer lit where gay protagonists perpetually suffer and are set up for destructive behaviors and decision making. Every queer person has a story to tell and a lot of the time, trauma is going to be a part of that story because of the way society enforces its code on all of us. However, I would like to see authors portray more healthy queer adult love stories every now and then... but that's neither here nor there.***

I also appreciated that the author highlighted the media's faults and weaknesses toward the end of this book and the type of toxicity that can exist on social media in reaction to some very hard and complicated themes. I wish that was a bigger part of it.

Most of the book was written as a quasi autobiography, or a letter written to someone else. There was a moment the plot teetered on the cusp of horror and it felt like I was descending into a queer version of a Jordan Peele film. Though that moment was short lived, it was the part of the book that had me flipping through its pages the fastest.

At times, rushed with clunky dialogue, at other times, extremely unputdownable. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to see what comes next from this author.

Thank you to the publishers, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for sending me an ARC through a Goodreads giveaway !

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Incest and Suicide