Reviewed by Nikyta
Title: Forty-Two Stairs
Author: A.F. Henley
Heroes: Owen/Sebastian
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 44k words
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Release Date: June 25, 2014
Available at: Less Than Three Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Owen has been struggling with addiction since he was a teenager, but it takes a DUI involving another vehicle for him to finally face his issues. The road to recovery is a rough one, and for Owen it’s a journey made harder by bankruptcy, loneliness, and repressed memories.
His new apartment doesn’t help either. It’s small, worn, and hot as hell. The only way to reach it is a tedious stretch of stairs that seems like the final insult on top of a whole pile of misery. Thankfully, the mess comes with one bright spot: intense, pretty Sebastian, who seems to have a knack for keeping his head up and finding the beauty in everything.
Review:
Owen’s addiction to alcohol has lost him everything. Now at rock bottom, he’s got no job, no partner and a less than stellar apartment with a long set of stairs to climb but he’s finally at the point where he wants to beat his urges. The only good thing about his new life is his vibrant neighbor, Sebastian, who’s filled with both wisdom and innocence. Before long, Owen and Sebastian’s ‘just friends’ turns into something more but one of the rules of Owen’s program is no relationships. Will Owen take the chance on Sebastian even though everyone and everything is telling him not to for his own sake?
When we first meet Sebastian, he’s a flighty, odd and small man that immediately gets Owen’s attention. It doesn’t take long for Sebastian’s weird view of the universe to confuse and intrigue Owen. I absolutely loved that Sebastian was so different. With his purple hair, exuberant personality and intense eyes, he’s definitely different. At the same time, while he’s so lively, he’s also very hard on himself when he thinks he’s done something wrong. Ironically, it’s Owen that has to comfort Sebastian at those times. Considering that Owen is pretty messed up in dealing with his addiction, it was interesting to see Owen’s hesitance and awkwardness in those moments.
The two make both a bad and good pair. Bad because they both have their own issues that could spiral out of control really quickly but they’re also great together and perfect for one another because they can help each other through their problems without becoming a permanent crutch. I think that’s what is so great about this book. It’s all about how only YOU can make yourself strong and only YOU can stand on your own two feet. That there’s a difference between leaning on someone constantly and only leaning until you can get back up. Still, I liked experiencing those moments in the end where Owen really evaluated his life and how to change things so that he wouldn’t use others as a crutch nor alcohol to cope with certain things.
My biggest issue with this one is that it had way too much inner monologue that was hard to follow. Normally, I don’t have issues with internal thoughts but for some reason, the first half of the book was hard for me to keep up with because Owen’s thoughts were very chaotic. In general, the book is very philosophical, you could say, so most of his conclusions and tendency to connect two things together were just a bunch of confusing sentences for me. Beyond that, I found it awkward not really knowing what exactly happened in Owen’s past or exactly why Sebastian was taking medications. It’s alluded to but there was never actually a verbal admission to either of those, which made it hard for me to connect with either character about that.
In the end, though, while I struggled with the beginning and Owen’s internal monologue, I really liked the story in the end. The second half picked up speed and really got into the relationship that Owen and Sebastian were building. Not to mention, how Sebastian ends up helping Owen realize that what he needs most is to learn to stand on his own two feet. It’s a story with an influential underlying message but beware that some readers might find some areas of the book a bit preachy.
Overall Impression: I liked it!
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*
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