Control and Vulnerability: between the lines, hypnotic.
INTENSE! I feel out of my element, not sure what to say. The silences between Theo and Dominic, the spaces in the story, not quite knowing what is happening between them at any time yet knowing something is seething underneath. Ryan Moore has left so much of this story off the page, and yet you know it is there, angry and smoldering, controlling and hypnotic; give me more. Yes, hypnotic is the word as the author entices his reader, gives a bit of emotional play and past reminiscence and then back to the power plays. Dominance and control, but this is no S/M story, not the dear Marquis De Sade nightmare. Both characters are looking for something, and in the denouement it is clear that they have found it in each other, perhaps HFN.
While reading I found myself in-and-out of the story, trying to reconcile my own feelings and the characters’, trying to come up with possibilities for the story and for Theo and Dominic; it was like trying to guess the ending of a mystery story and not having a butler to pin it on. So good! Have to read the bonus background ‘freebie’, and I’ll get back to you.
OK. Just read ‘Dominic’s Story: Paper Hearts’, Moore’s ‘freebie’ background. Now I understand more about the game, more about the themes of control and vulnerability. “He reached out, hand settling at the nape of Theo’s neck—not possessive, but grounding.”
No games, no running. A little sigh/sob from me, ok maybe another little tear in my spackled-together loner’s heart. I’m satisfied again by this writer.
