A college student is shocked and horrified to find out that his boyfriend, another student, cuts himself. Will his love be enough to save his boyfriend from himself?

Afflicted is an emotional tale of loving someone with self-destructive tendencies.  The unnamed narrator’s struggle to help his boyfriend overcome his cutting really rang true for me. I identified with the narrator’s frustration, anger, and helplessness. His boyfriend’s fragility and unhappiness made me sad for them. JM Snyder drives home the difficulties of trying to help someone whose problem you just don’t understand without sugarcoating the issue or pasting on a too-perfect ending.  While I wish the story had kept going rather than stopping where it did, the ending offered hope for the future of the two characters and their relationship.