This is one of the most emotional and hearbreakingly beautiful books I have had the pleasure to read in a long time! Outstanding!...



I am not sure I can even begin to explain or even do justice to the words of Ms. J. P. Baranby! This book touched my heart in so many ways. Being in the mind of Aaron, his soul so utterly and completely shattered was devastating! but the heartwarming journey for his chance at 'normal' and the two families involved, who themselves were stretched to breaking point w More...

This book doesn’t work for me, in fact it got me upset and almost angry for all the wrong reasons. The authors speciality is very obviously in computer technology and not counselling, but if choosing such an emotive subject as a characters rape to be central in a work of fiction, I feel it should be thought out carefully and treated respectfully rather than for shock value.

At one point there is a whole page of what I assume is coding, I don’t expect that in a work of fiction, I don’t know coding More...

This book was one of the most hard-hitting emotionally I’ve read in a while, but sometimes it’s okay to stay up late, crying over your kindle and wondering if there is any junk food in the house, right?

Two years after being brutally attacked and left for dead, Aaron is a psychological wreck. He can barely function. He doesn’t interact with his own family, and has traumatic panic attacks if he’s touched. Before the attack (view spoiler)[ which included the murder of his best friend (hide spoiler)] Aaron was a confident, popu More...

Keeping all ya'all in suspense;)

Clue #1 - I have read it three times.

Clue #2 - Aaron is beautiful and tragic. You will feel him throughout this book. The author did an amazing job with pace.

Aaron was a touching romance, no doubt, but I`m not so easily sidetracked by gentle kisses, tears and deep emotions.
When I read a book dealing with serious issues - in this case PTSD after being brutally attacked (Aaron) and dealing with everyday life when being deaf (Spencer) - I want to have the feeling that authors know what they are talking about, because - what do I know about severe trauma therapy, medication and how a character feels in the aftermath of an attack - next to nothing.

There More...

It started off pretty good well (*shrugs I tend to think more in terms of a label rate-it-from-bad-to-good type thing, so that's why I typed "pretty good". *shrugs Oh, well. w/e [lol]), actually, but a little forced. I mean, I could see where the author was going for subtlety, but it still came off as rather forced "subtlety." For a while it was actually good. I was getting chills. And then shit happened.

The first thing:
"I am not stupid enough to be lured into a goddamned van, tearing my whole f More...

This is a story of emerging from the wreckage of the past and going through the painstaking process of reclaiming life as it's meant to be lived. It's about a friends whose strengths and needs complement each other. It's about finding true comfort in the least expected places. It's definitely a heavy read, but it's worth it.

Book #6 On My Faves of 2012 at On Top Down Under Book Reviews
http://bookreviewsandtherapy.blogspot...

Okay. I had a tussle with this book in the beginning. My status updates are arguementative :) I had to adjust to the MC's ages, the writer, and writing style.

Aaron is a beautiful book. Made so by the special characters that J P Barnaby has brought to life here. Having said that, it is also an intense read, with some hard, hard moments and some will not be too keen to read them. The MC's are wond More...

4.5 stars

Heartbreaking and beautiful.

Title: Aaron
Author: J.P. Barnaby
Cover Artist: Pride Media
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Reviewer: Sean
Buy Links: Publisher | Amazon | ARe
Genre: Contemporary
Pairing: Gay
Length: Novel
Heat Rating: ♨♨♨
Rating: ★★★¾

Read full review here More...

This was quite a hard book to read and a lot harder to review.

Aaron Downing is an eighteen year old young man who suffered a terrible act of violence and is learning to pick himself up from the aftermath. The story basically focuses on how he struggles to cope with the resulting trauma of this horrible incident while nurturing his growing feelings for his new found friend Spencer Thomas. It's quite a simple plot but it focuses heavily on how a person recovers from trauma and depression through t More...

4.5/5

I’ve been wanting to read a J.P. Barnaby book for quite a while. I’ve slowly started collecting the Little Boy Lost series but have yet to actually start reading them. I love books in a series but I have a compulsion to read the entire series at once. As Aaron is a stand alone, it provided me a chance to get a feel for the author without having to commit to a large series.

It took about two pages for me to realize that this was going to be dark… really dark. I like dark but this hit the leve More...

I know I am a sucker for damaged men but damn this was harsh. Aaron is a beautiful tragedy and I was unsure if this story could possibly have any kind of happy ending. As luck would have it, he meets Spencer. A wonderful, patient, loving and deaf young man who has dealt with his own issues but still has enough love and compassion in his heart for Aaron. Two of the saddest but sweetest guys ever.

Aaron's mom was amazing in how she was always there for her damaged son, but her inflexibilty at the e More...

This is several steps up from the Little Boy Lost books, which I couldn't stand, but it still had problems. Yes, it's touching. Yes, it's got heart-wrending trauma and damaged characters struggling through life. But it also has, in no particular order:

1. unrealistic dialog;
2. unrealistically rapid improvement in Aaron's PTSD;
3. IMHO an unrealistically isolated deaf character (Spencer) -- I have known deaf lip-readers myself (some deaf people read lips, some don't), and really, Spencer didn't hav More...

Damn book ended too soon!

I mean, I did like the ending. A lot. It was really the only way the story could have ended that would have been true to the characters and what they'd been through. My problem is that I got completely wrapped up in these characters, so naturally I want to see more of their story. I want to see the rest of Aaron's progress, bumps in the road and all. I want to see him and Spencer actually get to be together in more ways than one. Mostly, I think what I really want is th More...

J.P. Barnaby did a wonderful job with this book. Aaron, was one that I had been nervous about. Two difficult issues were dealt with in this, both were tackled head on and done very well. The abuse and rape character versus the deaf character felt very natural. I enjoyed this read and have read it a few times since.

Arron was trying to deal with issues he has since an attack that left him psychologically scarred and his best friend dead. I loved the way he was portrayed, everything was a battle fo More...

This book was probably one of the best reads I have come across in a while. The follow-through and the emotional insight were amazing. I have to admit that the book isn't just for anyone because it reviews some topics that might be considered disturbing by some.

The only reason I'm giving the book 4 stars is because it felt incomplete to me, in other words - there wasn't the final closure I would have liked.

I'd love a sequel, btw :)

The heartbreakingly beautiful love story of Aaron, a broken 18 year-old and Spence, his deaf savior.

I felt I was going to love this book as soon as I started it, and when doing anything other than reading it felt like an interruption, that was confirmed.

Wow! Just Wow!! Not much else I can say really...without sounding trite...

Borrowed from Nan for the Bookie Nookie 2013 Scavenger Hunt

This story sure looks sad.

UPDATED

I'm not going to attempt to write a review, not even my Spanish /English dictionary will help me to write a review this story truly deserved.
I just going to say, it was beautiful, stunning, heartbroken..the author did an amazing job!!!
This is coming from someone who doesn’t read this kind of stories and is out of my comfort zone.
I'm so glad the mother was portrait as a wonderful, caring and supportive, I have read so many stories where the mother or Father are j More...

A book which tugs the heartstrings and is not for those with a week stomach. Aaron has gone through a horrific experience which has shattered his life. JP Barnaby always delivers on the angst.

Way too much telling instead of showing. Yes, thank you, Aaron feels guilty for surviving and for being a burden on his mom. I'm glad the author did her research. Unfortunately, none of this makes me care about the characters at all.

You can find my full review of Aaron on my web site.

This is without a doubt one of the best books I have read. The delicate way in which JP Barnaby handles a devastating situation just blew me out of the water. Usually, books dealing with trauma always has you on the edge of the seat with all the angst, but this book didn't kill me with angst. Other books I've read usually follows the "dick fixes all the troubles" MO. This book actually looks at the realistic aftermath. It shows the night terrors, the insecurities, the depression, the hope, the g More...

Very good book. The events leading up to the current day were horrendous, but were brought in slowly and not overwhelmingly. I wanted to read about the characters... not just what happened to the characters, so this story was just what I was looking for. We were told enough to allow us to understand without all the grisely details which often cloud my enjoyment.

Aaron's life was a shambles and there didn't seem to be anyone who could help him, even his family. But his mom was there gentley encour More...

Yes, I love broken characters. Yes, I love deaf characters. Yes, I love college guys. Although this book has all of these things, I didn't love it. It started off bad for me when (view spoiler)[ Spencer has sex with a postal delivery guy for no apparent reason other than to throw in some sex right away. I thought maybe he was going to be a slut or something from this but then the author goes and says he's really shy and lonely. The online chat/sex I could deal with because it did illustrate a sense of emptines (hide spoiler)] More...

This is an unusual and terrific book! The characters are well-drawn and the response by all of them to the horrific trauma that nearly ended the life of now-eighteen-year-old Aaron is very heartfelt and believable. Without giving away any spoilers, what happened to the 16-year-old left him scarred physically and emotionally (probably for life) and has shut him off from the entire world, including the family who loves him and wants to help but doesn't know how. The parents and Aaron's brothers ar More...

Title: Aaron
Author: JP Barnaby
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press, October 2012
Rating: B List
Blurb: 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 More...

4.5 Stars

“Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.” – Aristotle

J.P. Barnaby’s Aaron is the story of a boy, Aaron Downing, who, at the age of sixteen, suffered through a crime so horrific that it left behind untold scars, both on his body and in his mind. Lying on the cold and unforgiving floor of a filthy garage, Aaron became lost forever to the boy that was and was reborn a mere shadow of the son, the brother, the someone with so much potential and promise in his future. Now, at eigh More...

I picked up Aaron last night...and I finished it last night.

This story is not full of rainbows and love songs....it is real and tragic and heartbreaking at times. Don't get me wrong, there is laughter and smiles too but the heart of the story is about a survivor of a horrific assault and how he tries to cope with life after.

Aaron was so beautifully damaged and Spencer, so unhappy and needing someone to love him made me feel for the characters right away. The story starts with just a little glimm More...