Title: Aaron
Author: J.P. Barnaby
Fandom: Original
Pairing: Aaron/Spencer
Genre: Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Young Adult, Romance
warning: rape/non-con references
Rating: M
Length: 238 pages
Summary:
I can’t describe what it’s like to want to scream every minute of every day.
Two years after a terrifying night of pain destroyed his normal teenage existence, Aaron Downing still clings to the hope that one day, he will be a fully functional human being. But his life remains a constant string of nightmares, flashbacks, and fear. When, in his very first semester of college, he’s assigned Spencer Thomas as a partner for his programming project, Aaron decides that maybe “normal” is overrated. If he could just learn to control his fear, that could be enough for him to find his footing again.
With his parents’ talk of institutionalizing him-of sacrificing him for the sake of his brothers’ stability-Aaron becomes desperate to find a way to cope with his psychological damage or even fake normalcy. Can his new shrink control his own demons long enough to treat Aaron, or will he only deepen the damage?
Desperate to understand his attraction for Spencer, Aaron holds on to his sanity with both hands as it threatens to spin out of control.
Why You Should Read This: I read this book before it came out in October 2012 (a privilege, for sure) and it’s still with me to this day.
If you’re ready to have your heart torn out, twisted, smoothed into shape again and put back in a better place than it was, then this is most certainly the book for you.
I could not help but fall in love with Aaron and Spencer. For different reasons (and some not so different, really), I wanted to hug these two numerous times – though with Aaron this would of course be ill-advised, considering.
There is so much that I could say about what happens here, but I’m almost afraid to for fear of giving away too much – even if I could find the words. Suffice it to say that the path these boys are on is a difficult one (and that is, in Aaron’s case, putting it very mildly), but so very worth following. Just be ready with a few Kleenex, and allow yourself some time and space to really be with them.
Trust me, you won’t regret it.