Elaine White's Life in Books

Book – The Night Screams
Author – Devon McCormack
Star rating - ★★★★★
No. of Pages – 220

Cover – Very nice!
POV – 3rd person, one character POV
Would I read it again – Yes.

Genre – LGBT, Abuse, Kidnap, MM, Romance, Young Adult


** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK, BY THE AUTHOR, IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine


This was one heck of a story. At first, it was so difficult to read because experiencing Cal's fear, escape and memories was just so brutal, but brilliantly done that it actually felt real. I read this with my heart racing, my eyes locked to the page, time passing by me because I couldn't stop.

After about 10-15% the darkness gave way to relief, lighter moments and a chance that things might be okay again. Still, there were still plenty of times in the book where I panicked and worried about Cal's safety, because as much as he felt something was going to go horribly wrong, I held the same fear. After all he'd been through, was it too much to ask that he got a little happiness?

The fact that Cal's torture felt so real is indication enough of Devon McCormack's writing. Nothing of that time with his captor was explicit or detailed in the way that I, as a reader, felt uncomfortable or had to skim read past the details. Though it was painful to read, it was because we'd struggled with Cal, fought with him, escaped with him and by the time the very first page was over, I was invested in his character, rooting for a good future, for a lasting escape and for happiness for him.

Jake, similarly, was so much more than he first seemed and I knew that, just as Cal did, when we first met him. The growth of both the characters was beautiful to experience, because we got to be there for all the big moments, never missing anything important and yet, never loaded with too much to see or do with them. Gary was just as loveable and a really great support for Cal and Jake, neither of whom had grown up with sparkly shiny lives. Luce, on the other hand, was a dip and flow character; she showed us the difference between acceptance and tolerance, the risk of a small religious town to two young gay teens and how they'd be treated.

Though this story also touched on homophobia, it did so in a very – sadly – realistic way that can still be felt down in the South and all over the world. Intolerance should never be ignored because, like in this story, a bout of name calling can easily turn into something much more dangerous.

~

Overall, I have to give this one a 10 out of 10 for everything. For the way it handled Cal's past abuse, the torture, the kidnappings, the homophobia, the religious small town attitudes and, most of all, the way that it offered us moments of pure sunshine to drown out the dark.

Brilliant.