Title: Bleeding Like Me
Author: Riley Parks
Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
Length: 226 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: I do love the premise of Bleeding Like Me, and can see so much evidence of this author’s talent, but there were weaknesses in the execution that caused the story to fall short of being great for me.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: BEAUTIFUL CONTRADICTION
He didn’t paint people; the curves of their bodies and angles of their faces never interested him as much as cityscapes. The circumstances of his life had compelled him to create new worlds that he could get lost in rather than reflect the features of the people he ran from. He constructed buildings from their foundations, making them taller and stronger than he was. He adorned the edifices with countless windows, always left open or cracked so hope could pour in and fears could seep out. Tree lined streets reminded him how to breathe, pumping oxygen through the atmosphere, off the canvas, and into his lungs.
He didn’t paint people until the day he no longer desired the anonymity of his cities. The streets didn’t feel like his escape anymore, not like him. Cerulean skies gave way to pale blue eyes and bus routes to pink pouts. Evan didn’t paint people until he painted Jackson.
Review: It’s always a bit baffling to look around and realize that you seem to be the one and only reader who didn’t fall head-over-heels in love with a book—it makes me jealous too, to be honest—but there were some things, stylistic choices and suspension of disbelief leaps that I had issues with in Riley Parks’ debut novel, Bleeding Like Me, and once I recognized them as my deal-breakers, I couldn’t ignore them. Of course, that doesn’t mean these things are wrong, just that they were problematic for me though may not be for anyone else.
Evan and Jackson, the star-crossed lovers in this novel, didn’t know they were in rival gangs when they met by chance in the park one night while on the prowl for some anonymous D. Nor could they have predicted their quick obsession with each other, especially since the sex they were both after barely left the starting block, let alone crossed the finish line. Fate had its own plans for these two boys, though, and while there’s an undercurrent of hostility that flows from Jackson to Evan, based on some initial assumptions, there’s also a spark of something intangible that serves as a backdrop for the connection between them, which owes a lot to insta-lust and their thirst for that D they were looking for when chance brought them into each other’s orbit. I do like a good lust-at-first-sight story, though, and Parks made me want to see where this fixation would lead.
There’s a Romeo & Juliet/Westside Story vibe to this novel, but with a raw, contemporary edge, which I liked a lot, giving the plot a nice bite. It is still a romance, though, so there’s some heart to it too, which offsets some of the grittier and darker undertones and satisfies the romance loving reader. The story is set in the south side of Chicago and is centered within and around two rival turf gangs, which is what attracted me to the book; that and the blurb, which is beautifully written (I do wish some of its poetic style resonance had carried forward into the narrative itself, though). The gang colors, the tagging, the jumping in, the violence, the drugs, the misogyny, and the roles some of the members play in the criminal activity associated with gang life are touched on in the story, and I liked that the author captured the brotherhood aspects of it as well. Added to this, the author also made it obvious that the claustrophobia of his life in Killer Klownz was an existence Evan was never going to assimilate to—in spite of his new connections making it easier to feed his out of control coke habit.
Jackson, on the other hand, is more deeply ingrained in Dem Demonz. He’s higher up in the food chain, having been involved in the gang for years. When Jackson discovers where Evan’s really from, that he belongs to his own gang’s most hated rivals, there is an undercurrent of friction that threatens to erupt, but rather than this offering up some deeper conflict, it simmers a bit and then is swept aside in what I felt was a pretty simplistic way, the easy answer being to place the onus of the resolution on the sex they both crave. They do share one vital secret that transcends their rivalry, though: being gay gives them good reason to keep their relationship a secret.
I do love the premise of Bleeding Like Me, and can see so much evidence of this author’s talent, but there were weaknesses in the execution that caused the story to fall short of being great for me. One of the issue I had a difficult time with was the telling of certain plot and character points that would have worked so much better if shown. There are introspective moments where both Jackson and Evan reflect on their feelings, on how special their quiet, intimate moments are together, which is revealing, no question, but only in a surface way because we don’t get to witness those moments in real time. Sex scenes are great but aren’t a substitute for building a solid and believable relationship, so I wasn’t as invested in these guys as I would’ve been if I’d seen those personal and intimate scenes play out on page. It wasn’t until I’d finished the book that it struck me: Jackson and Evan didn’t have many on-page, meaningful conversations, and I needed their development in action and dialogue, not inner monologue; though, I did appreciate the effort at the deep point of view. Sadly, I just never made those all-important emotional connections I need in order to embrace a story.
I also had a difficult time believing that Jackson and Evan could spend so many nights together in each other’s territory while at the same time they feared being caught, which is where my ability to suspend disbelief was tested. Evan resented the intrusiveness of gang life, and having to be accountable to people for his actions, and yet he and Jackson practically lived in each other’s back pockets from what felt like the moment they met. I did find some satisfaction in the end, however, in that, despite both the internal and external conflicts these guys faced, they seemed to be on the right track—romantic mission accomplished—but the note the novel ends on is that this is a story of second chances which lacked the deeper gratification of redemption, and left some of my emotional payoff on the table.
I’m not going to beat this to death; while Bleeding Like Me didn’t work for me, all you need to do is have a look at other reviews as evidence that so many readers have loved it. And that’s the personal ownership of reading, in a nutshell.
You can buy Bleeding Like Me here:
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