Hey there, Readers! How’s March treating you so far? Ready for a brand new Spring Fling? I might have just the book for you.
Full disclosure, I was somewhat involved in the process for this book; got my own space on the Acknowledgments page and everything! I wanted to get this out in front of the review so that if you should pick the book up, spot my name, and wonder, you’d know for sure. I provided some minor editing notes on the first few chapters and am super grateful that, despite this limited involvement, I warranted a mention. In fact, the copy that I’m reviewing is a pre-release copy provided for me by the Author, signed and everything!
So, without further ado, power up your Kindle or grab your paperback copy and let’s go back to school with Daren and Rory.
Book Stats
- Author: Esteban Q. Mathieus
Formats: Kindle and Paperback.
Price: $2.99 for Kindle and $12.99 for Paperback.
Length: 199 pages.
Number of books in the series: One at the time of writing with more on the way.
Basic Premise
We meet Rory Liddel on the first day of the rest of his life. He’s from a little town somewhere in Kansas and it was a place he never felt he fit in. He’s smaller in size, dresses extremely well, is creative, sensitive, and gentle by nature. No wonder he found it a challenge, growing up in a town full of salt of the earth farm-boys and alpha male jocks. Still. He’s cut free from that life by virtue of starting college in New Jersey. A fresh start is just what he needs to get his life on-track. He’ll miss his little brother, of course; Alastair was the one thing back home that he loved and could rely on… but it’s time for his life to really begin and that’s something the limbo state of a small town can’t offer.
We meet Daren Stone in a bar. Like Rory, he’s ready to get on with his life. An exceptional baseball player, Daren has never felt out of place a day in his life so far as we can tell. He’s bold, athletic, muscular with the kind of appearance that lights up any room he happens to swagger into. He’s starting college too, but on a full-ride sports scholarship. He’s the sort of fellow who enjoys the single life; no commitments, no strings. Right after we meet him he’s lured out of the bar by a cute little thing he’s managed to attract over the course of the, oh, ten minutes or so he’s been there.
Obviously, the best course of action the universe could take at this juncture is to make sure that these two gentlemen are thrust into close quarters. Rory, meet Daren. Daren, meet Rory. You’re now roomies.
Doesn’t help that Rory’s introduction to Daren is a basketball to the face as soon as he enters the room they’re going to be sharing. (It was an accident. But you know what they say – you only get one chance at a first impression.) Considering his general problems with the sporting-class back home, we can forgive Rory for being a little heated over this instance of Deja-vu all over again.
Despite Daren’s over-eagerness to be pals and Rory’s standoffishness, a relationship does begin to form. Daren convinces Rory to start using the gym and Rory gets Daren to expand his wardrobe options beyond tank-top and shorts. It’s an uneven and fragile friendship, but it’s a start. They even wind up going to a fraternity party together! And this is where we get into the meat of the story. Daren’s propensity for casual flings and Rory’s somewhat sheltered nature start to collide. Small collisions at first, but the people on the periphery of the pair each have their own take, and their own stake, in Rory and Daren. We meet Max, who becomes the first real friend that Rory makes in this new place. Max isn’t a student, he’s just a young man who lives in this college town and enjoys showing new people around. He has a history with Daren, though, and it affects his new friendship with Rory in unforeseen ways. How do you manage multiple, conflicting relationships in a world where the social aspect of college life is just as important as the academic?
Can Rory and Daren pull it together to make their first year in college bearable? Or even fun? Wonderful? Or a glorious dumpster fire? You’ll have to pick up a copy to find out!
My Take
Sticks & Stone is a little different than the usual stuff I tend to review here. There’s no aliens, no monsters, it doesn’t take place during or after an apocalypse, no-one is secretly a superhero (Or if they are, their secret identity game is On Point.) but it’s an excellent read with engaging, vibrant and real-feeling characters. Not a read for younger folks, though. The subject matter ranges from sexual situations, alcohol abuse, and some violence towards the end. If that’s all within your wheelhouse and you like stories that are a slice of life, this is a book you’ll thoroughly enjoy.
I’m a sucker for Found Family narratives. I’m an absolutely firm believer in the idea that you’re born (Or adopted.) into one family and that they’re irreplaceable, for better or worse… but as you grow and meet people and find out your own likes and dislikes in regards to how people are, you carefully assemble a second family throughout the rest of your life. Just because blood isn’t a factor in these relationships, that doesn’t make those ties any less important. Stories about finding that place are wonderful.
The trick, though, is that without characters who you can believe in, these stories fall flat. When the characters don’t take on a life of their own within your mind as you read about them on the page, it’s hard to care. Or when the progression of those relationships feels forced or unnatural, you won’t ever be able to connect the dots to arrive at the point where, yes, you believe that these people mean something to one another. The heart of the story has to sit firmly in place before your head is going to follow along.
Does this story accomplish that?
Absolutely yes.
From the moment I met Rory Liddel, I knew who he was and empathized. It wasn’t in Kansas, but I did grow up in a small town where I never felt like I gelled with most people. Creative, nerdy, sensitive in a town where it was difficult to be any of those things and retain any kind of peer-level respect. I didn’t have it as bad as Rory – I assembled my own small Found Family over time, but it wasn’t easy. And I did eventually leave before feeling like I had license to get my life started for-real. And I’m sure that there are people who will read Daren’s chapters with the exact same level of understanding.
Because these characters have to live in the author’s head as real people before they can come alive in ours. That’s the trick. (Or one of the tricks, anyway.)
All in all, I highly recommend Sticks & Stone. It’s Esteban Q. Mathieus’s debut novel, and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.
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