Jaime Gray's Reviews > Someone Like You

Shut up. SHuT Up. SHUT UP.
This was the most insufferable thing that I've read in a long time. Here is the thing, I went into this hesitant based on the trigger warnings listed (main character has PTSD from being sexually assaulted while he is in high school by an older classmate). The way that the author chose to portray the nuances of being SA 'ed by a peer was so poorly done. First off, we are told the the main character Issac has PTSD from what happened to him, that is understandable. The way that his trauma manifests is that he doesn't want anyone to touch him without his permission, totally valid. Where this starts to get me is when the first (and second, though less so) time we meet the love interest (Brody) the first thing he does is physically comes onto the main character by invading his space and LICKING HIS EAR...what?! It is one thing to make a very heavy pass to someone that you find physically attractive, it is another thing entirely to invade their space and touch them when they tell you to back off, and then because that wasn't enough, he licked his ear which is so bizarre.
All of this is followed up with the fact that Isaac didn't seem to mind that this strange man was being overtly sexually predatory, because he makes him feel safe somehow?
We do get a scene near the beginning where we see how his PTSD makes him act out, but it was so poorly done. The love interest grabs him AGAIN without permission knowing that the main character doesn't like to be touched, and said main character goes absolutely ballistic. He is screaming, crying, and physically attacking the love interest in the middle of an auto-mechanics waiting room. This meltdown is immediately followed by Brody scooping up the main character (which is really easy because he is so smol and precious) and bringing him into a backroom where he proceeds to try and calm Isaac down by, you guessed it, touching him. He rubs his back, combs his fingers though his hair-hands are everywhere and this...calms him down?!
We leave this situation with Isaac feeling soothed and protected by Brody-and it's just kind of like..what?
There was zero development of trust, there is no reason that Isaac should feel this safe with a man that he just met-there is no realistic way to spin how he was able to breakthrough so much trauma and trust this dude he just met. The way that sex was approached in this book made me so uncomfortable because he swung from being abstinent only for safety to hypersexual in like..a week.
Also, there was a very strange and uncomfortable feeling of Isaac being infantilized because of his trauma and PTSD- constantly being called 'beautiful boy' and constantly being told that he is so pretty and small and ew (even him being constantly called baby was too much for me).
Listen, I've read some poorly written mental health representation, but this is by far the worst. This didn't need to be slow-burn, but I would have expected to get to AT Least 30% without any overt sexual feelings/content. This was terrible and isn't really worth anyones time