Afflicted (Afflicted, #1) in EVERYTHING BI

Nov 15, 2012 Anna (Bananas) rated it liked it

Shelves: m-m

A book written from the POVs of a blind man and a prostitute as they fall in love? Yes, I’m there! I wanted to enjoy this book more than I actually did though.

There were moments of pure reader bliss, some very hot sex scenes, genunine humor, and beautifully poetic details, especially near the beginning. In particluar I loved these:
- "What do you see?" "A deep green melancholy."
- He had a bruise on his hip that was large and fresh enough that Hunter could feel the still heat of it.
- The neck an ...more

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Nov 28, 2012 *Ja'Mecha* ~Dhevious~ rated it really liked it

Shelves: recommendations-will-read-again

So I'm finished with Afflicted

...........................

YOU'VE... GOT... TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!!
..................................................................................*Drops tablet, gets up from bed, walk down stairs, turn on the computer, logs into GR*........................................................................................................................................ *Picks jaw up off the floor* Brandon how could you do this to me? Did you really just end the ...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Jen rated it really liked it

Shelves: m-m-romance, hot-like-fiyah, this-is-not-good-for-my-rage, asshole-mc

"Loving someone gives you courage; being loved back give you strength." - Shu-shu

I have mixed feelings about this book.

I thought it was very well-written (more polished than many m/m romances), and I liked the story, even if the plot was somewhat formulaic, and the characters, all of whom I found very interesting. And the sex scenes were REALLY hot.

I have to admit that I liked Dillon more than Hunter, because as much as I appreciated Hunter's 'fuck you' attitude, I also found his belligere ...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Bookwatcher rated it liked it

Shelves: glbt-gay, disability, romance

I despise (yeah, more than didn't enjoy... I really despise it)
*Hunter "hate" against overweight people

"Yup, and I don't give a fuck. They don't want to fuck me because I'm blind, fine. I don't want fatties in my bed. I am allowed to have someone according to my own tastes, aren't I?"

When I read it my thought was "Yes Hunter you are allowed to do whatever the fuck you want, but that don't make you less fucking asshole to me".

I'm fucking tired of books that denigrate overweight people . YEAH, ...more

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Nov 29, 2012 JR rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, broken-men, favorites, deserves-more-than-5-stares

Just realized I never wrote a review of this. Wow, it was amazing, but it's been over 2 years, so I would need to read again to say much. So I will just say, I know that it was a story that resonated with me for a long time. When you read something this good, the feelings stay with you forever. ...more

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Nov 30, 2012 Kelly (Maybedog) rated it liked it

Shelves: how-ebook, what-male-protagonist, what-mm-read, what-mm

This started off really great. The descriptions were beautiful, and I felt, necessary. Shire did so well believably describing the world as a blind man might experience it I wondered if he might be blind himself. He brought up points that I hadn't even considered, like how a blind man would know he was gay if he couldn't see pictures of men. He also didn't perpetrate the fallacy that blind people's other senses are more acute. He just explained, "I'm just tuned into them more because I don't hav ...more

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Aug 31, 2012 S.B. (Beauty in Ruins) rated it really liked it

Shelves: mlm

With my only experience of Brandon Shire being his starkly-realistic tales of sorrow and tragedy, I was quite excited when he told me he had a new story, one with a "HAPPY ending" to share. I already knew him as an exceptionally strong writer, one who can capture the human soul on the page, and one who could wring the most intense of emotions from a reader, so Afflicted went into my must-read pile.

A fresh take on the 'opposites attract' theme, Shire offers up a high-priced male escort with a dif With my only experience of Brandon Shire being his starkly-realistic tales of sorrow and tragedy, I was quite excited when he told me he had a new story, one with a "HAPPY ending" to share. I already knew him as an exceptionally strong writer, one who can capture the human soul on the page, and one who could wring the most intense of emotions from a reader, so Afflicted went into my must-read pile.

A fresh take on the 'opposites attract' theme, Shire offers up a high-priced male escort with a difficult past, and a fiercely independent gentleman for whom blindness is a challenge rather than a disability. I don't want to say much more about the plot, because it is pretty straightforward, and largely what you would expect from an erotic m/m romance. What I do want to talk about, instead, is the actual writing of the tale, and the way Shire commands our senses.

For many authors, writing a character who is blind or deaf is a challenge, and one that never quite comes across as genuine. All too often a narrative voice is forced to intrude, letting us know what they would have otherwise seen, or could have otherwise heard. We're left outside that character's head, which only reinforces the sense of disability. Not so with Brandon Shire. He immerses us in his characters, and shows just how our other senses can not only compensate for the loss of one, but how they can be powerful and passionate all on their own.

The lust-cum-love between Dillon and Hunter is one of smells, sounds, and physical sensations. If you've ever made slow, passionate love in the dark, you have a sense of what that can be like - except, of course, you really don't, because that darkness is never absolutely, and never eternal. Even knowing what I did about his style and his love for poetic language, I was consistently amazed by how much Shire made me 'see' without seeing anything at all.

There is still some pain and sorrow to the tale, mostly buried in the past, but the prospect of love forces both characters to expose that pain. It's a traumatic, but ultimately cathartic experience, and the way in which the relationship develops will leave you breathless and hungry for more. If I were to have one complaint, it's that the pacing seemed to accelerate unnecessarily in the final chapters, with the end coming about much more suddenly than seemed fitting. That's a small complaint, though, and nothing that takes away from the beauty of Afflicted.

As published on Bending the Bookshelf ...more

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