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House Of Mirrors (2011)

by Bonnie Dee(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Loose Id

review 1: I wish I could pinpoint the years this is set, but it’s the time of the old traveling carnivals in the US mid-west. Jonah staggers into the carnival seeking work, badly beaten and while Rafe isn’t exactly receptive, he doesn’t turn the kid away and gives him a chance to earn his keep. It seems that Jonah had an on-going relationship with a visiting preacher, and when his father caught them, the preacher threw Jonah under the figurative bus (they didn’t have buses yet) and he was banished by his family and beaten by some young men.He’s educated, but pretty naive world-wise, and Rafe, the owner of the carnival may be and educated noble in exile, but when it comes to gay sex, Jonah has the upper hand. I rather liked that Jonah, while in essence innocent and soaking ... moreup the whole experience of the carnival, he was the one who was more experienced in the bedroom (not that they ever had sex in a bedroom). Also seeing his wonder of the carnival and seeing the magic behind the garish surface was fun and also seeing how the carnival people formed their own family, many of them rejected for various reasons, or simply wanderers who’ve never known another life. There were the good, the bad, the grumpy, the simple.This is a rather slow-moving story. Much of the first part is simply life in the carnival, Jonah adapting, stolen moments with Rafe, as Rafe tries to keep their relationship hidden and push Jonah away. There is a bit of drama later with a saboteur in the carnival and Rafe’s family has sought him out to come home as he is now the heir and head of the family, but for the most part it’s just kind of Jonah learning about life and Rafe struggling not to get attached. I thought on the whole Jonah came across as more mature even though he was younger.I wasn’t sure how they were going to work it out if Rafe returned to England given that Jonah and the carnival folk carried on back home, but it did work out, if a tad conveniently. However I just loved Jonah and his straight forward manner. Despite his super-religious upbringing, he accepted his homosexuality and that maybe there were other ways to live and didn’t angst over it. He got on with life in a no-nonsense way, whereas Rafe seemed to be the angsty one more often than not, worrying about the past and the future, and the present.These two authors are ones I can pretty much guarantee I will enjoy when reading a historical. While the two men were cautious about being gay in the time, it wasn’t overdone and the secondary characters here played a large role, both in the story and in Jonah’s growth as a young man. So even if you aren’t into historicals much, it’s a very interesting time period and the descriptions of the rather decrepit carnival were fascinating and a bit sad, to see the tawdriness behind the glitter and glow. Well worth a read.
review 2: A young preachers son and a runaway lord. In a carnival. With random vandalism. It was good, but I found Grim's sudden change of mood towards the end too abrupt and an easy switch for his mind. He had pushed Jonah away for so long and been so absolute in the decision, the sudden adjustment to create a play hall in England and to send for the carnival seemed a little too easy and convenient. I did like characters but they talk about Grims mustache and goatee so much that he started to look like the character from V is for vengeance. The anonymous mask. I never really got the image presented by the cover. Also- the ending felt a little off kilter. I don't know if it was the ease of the performers acceptance or the lack of clear plans for how exactly they would make it work. I dislike when authors use a line like 'they would figure it out' in reference to their character's future. I kind of want to know how they figure it out and if it works. Maybe a short epilogue would have satisfied me. less

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