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My Review:Title: Rabi and Matthew
Author: L.A. Witt
Published by: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: November 3, 2018
Format: eARC
Pages: 216
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, LGBT
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Adult Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Release Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 Platypire Diversity Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Winter 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound
My rating:
Blurb:A queer retelling of Romeo & Juliet, except no one has to bury their gays.
A decades-old family rivalry is reaching a boiling point as the patriarchs vie for a seat in Congress. Democrat vs Republican, Muslim vs Christian, Hashmi vs Swain — the Midwestern town of Arbor Hills is one spark away from an explosion of violence. So when two men find themselves irresistibly drawn together at a party, only to discover they were born on opposite sides of a bloody battle line, Matthew Swain and Rabi Hashmi know they should leave well enough alone.
The pull between them is magnetic, though, and it's too strong to ignore. Unable to resist, they meet again in secret. Generations of hatred can't temper the passionate love growing between them, but two men falling for each other in the middle of a war zone can't hold back the inevitable clash.
And when decades of political, religious, and personal strife finally come to a head, there will be blood.
I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.
3.5 stars — This was a diverse read that felt like it was there for more than just face value. We weren’t just told that Rabi was Muslim and Pakistani, we got to see a bit of his life and some of his traditions (such as prayer on Fridays). I really appreciated that. Sometimes I worry that the diversity will be just thrown in, but not given its due, and that was not the case in this book (at least in my straight white girl opinion, take from that what you will).
I actually really enjoyed this take on Romeo & Juliet. At first I was trying to figure out which one was which, but in the end I think the different pieces of Romeo and Juliet were split between Rabi & Matthew, so that neither one was strictly Romeo or strictly Juliet. Which was kind of fun actually, and it definitely kept me on my toes! As with the original tragedy, we really don’t get to know either of our characters super well outside of their romance, which is kind of a shame. That’s one area where I wouldn’t have minded if the author had deviated. I really couldn’t tell you much about what each of them were like outside of each other. But they were both sweet boys, just trying to survive in the chaos of their families.
The romance was pretty adorable. It was definitely quick, again just like the original, but I appreciated that the author tried to spread out their courtship over a longer period. It gave the readers time to believe in the development from crush to love. I also adored how they fumbled with each other in the steamy scenes, and how things weren’t perfect…but it didn’t matter. It was just so sweet and fun and refreshing.
As for the surrounding war between the Hashmi’s and the Swain’s? That was hard to watch. There is a lot of homophobic and Islamophobic slurs in this story, so be prepared if sensitive. I also had a hard time with all the guns in this book…but that might be my Canadianness coming out. I realize that aspects of violence would need to be present in the story, but I will never understand the whole “carry a gun to feel safe” thing. Which is neither here nor there, just a personal belief. What I did appreciate was that while I didn’t always understand the changes in attitudes at the end, they were much more gradual and not complete than I was anticipating…in other words the author really tried to make it authentic. It was a shaky truce of attempted tolerance, and given how the rest of the story played out, I appreciated that it wasn’t all wrapped up in a bow. Did I believe all of it? Eh…but I definitely believed it more than I expected to!
One other thing, I loved the note at the end of the story from the author. I was okay with her change in the ending, and was expecting it given the blurb, but it was nice to have insight into why she made the decisions she made, you know?
So yeah…solid retelling with deviations. Would have liked a bit more character depth, but I did love the sweet romance.
I love getting to see different cultures when I read. It definitely ads authenticity.
A gay retelling of Romeo and Juliet? This sounds interesting.