Review: Inseparable by Sloan Johnson

Title: Inseparable (Port Java: Book One

Author: Sloan Johnson

Publisher: Self-Published/Kindle Unlimited

Length: 209 Pages

Category: Contemporary, New Adult

At a Glance: As good and realistic as this journey was, I felt, at times, the story was a bit labored, spending much too much time on Trevor’s worries and not enough time on moving the story forward.

Reviewed By: Sammy

Blurb: Trevor and Gabe never knew life without the other. As only children, they grew up as close as brothers, but their love grew to something more. Something they couldn’t talk about because their parents wouldn’t understand.

Gabe is gay and unapologetic about his sexuality. He refuses to live his life in the shadows, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t harboring secrets.

Trevor is his parents’ miracle child and he doesn’t want to hurt them. Coming out, admitting he’s in love with Gabe, could ruin everything.

Heading off to college was supposed to finally free them to be together, but nothing is as easy as it seems. Can they find a way to navigate this new world, living and loving openly?

Review: Inseparable is the latest offering by author Sloan Johnson. It is a coming of age/coming out novel that easily fits into the Young Adult category given it’s tendency to have most intimate scenes fade to black, allowing for very little actual on-page sex, but has been labeled New Adult. What this story may lack in graphic sex it makes up for by exploring the emotions of its two main characters, their home lives, and their very different concerns about coming out to their families.

Trevor was the miracle baby for his parents. His mom, in particular, wanted many children but discovered fairly early on that getting pregnant was nearly impossible. When Trevor came along, they knew he would be their only one, and that’s when his mother began inserting herself in her son’s life to the point where it became stifling. As an only child, Trevor felt the weight of his mother’s expectations for him to get a good education, meet and marry a nice girl and give her grandkids, pretty heavily. Unfortunately his heart had other ideas, and when he realized he was gay and, worse yet, in love with his best friend, he panicked. What if Gabe found out that Trevor had a crush on him and rejected him. What if he lost his best friend?

It turns out that Trevor had no need to worry, for Gabe was just as interested in him. However, unlike Trevor, Gabe’s parents knew that he was gay, and were very accepting. What they didn’t know was that Gabe was in love with his best friend—the one who lives just a few houses away, and whose parents were as close as the boys were. To compound the weirdness, it turns out that Gabe and Trevor are related, not by blood but by their widowed grandparents remarrying each other, making their mothers stepsisters, and Gabe and Trevor step-cousins. If your head is spinning a bit, join the club, for mine was as well.

Everything comes to a head when the boys leave for college. Suddenly they must adjust to being able to be together but still keep it a secret, for fear of it getting back to their parents. Neither boy is quite ready to tell their folks, but it ends up that Gabe turns that corner well before Trevor, which makes their new relationship rather strained. As time passes, more and more truths crop up that the boys must face—openly communicating their fears and worries is tantamount and pretty hard to do. Before long, the future for our two young lovers is looking uncertain, and the idea of coming out becomes even more critical if their love is to survive.

There was much to appreciate about this novel. First and foremost was the way in which the author chose to allow the reader to experience all the many emotions that Trevor and Gabe grappled with as they maneuvered through this new chapter in their lives. It was so effective to have the boys realize that whereas college should have been this amazing time of living together openly, they still had to hide due to the fact that Trevor was so afraid of letting his parents know he was gay, especially his mom. She defined the idea of a controlling parent, and I was thrilled to see Trevor grow so much during the first year of university that he was able to combat her persistent negativity.

Gabe was the epitome of a typical college freshman, really not aware of what he wanted to do with his life. From trying to not push his sensitive and fearful boyfriend into a physical relationship that neither was fully comfortable with, yet to simply finding his way through a year that was alternately boring and unsatisfying, Gabe was swamped with all the uncertainty one might expect. While his parents might support him being gay, he was not quite so sure they would approve of him settling for the best friend he had grown up with as his first boyfriend. But it was Gabe’s sensitivity toward Trevor that really made this novel so very sweet.

Gabe took care of him, tried his best to be open and supportive, and put off coming out to everyone because of him. Trevor was always appreciative and fully aware that his fears were holding both of them back. When things came to a head, and Trevor accidentally blurted out more secrets than he ever meant to, it was staggering to him to realize what a weight had lifted once everything was out in the open. Even then the author didn’t give her men an easy road. Rather, it was a realistic one fraught with all the emotional upheaval one can expect.

As good and realistic as their journey was, I felt, at times, the story was a bit labored, spending much too much time on Trevor’s worries and not enough time on moving the story forward. I also felt that Trevor’s reaction to Gabe’s secret was a little over-the-top, as was his own mother’s response. It was just a bit too dramatic when most of the novel was really spot-on in its attempt to depict real life problems facing both young men. In the end, I felt the quick final resolution to most, if not all, of the problems facing Gabe and Trevor was just too easy. It took away from all the hard work both boys had done when wading through the pitfalls of a new relationship. However, Inseparable still provided a realistic and compelling view of the many emotions and decisions that accompany coming out today.

You can buy Inseparable here:
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