| Cody is sweet and very trusting, his dominant lover Vic
wants to protect him, but sometimes he's a little
overbearing in his protectiveness. That spurs on Cody's
self-destructive behavior and his fits of rebellion. Cody's
gullibility and trusting in people no matter how many times
they have proven themselves unworthy has led to him being
hurt in the worst way. His friend Jonathan was the main
person who took advantage of Cody's trusting nature and the
very person Vic tries to protect Cody from. Jonathan has
hurt Cody in ways unimaginable, he's responsible for two
sexual and brutal assaults against Cody. The last leaving
Cody in a dark place where his art and his life with Vic may
not be enough to help him recover.
Vic's joy in life is Cody, and he's also his biggest
worry. Vic worked hard to be able to buy a house for him
and Cody where Cody could have his own studio to work on his
art. In order to give Cody these things Vic had to work
long hours which took away a lot of the free time he and
Cody used to share together. After this recent assault Vic
blamed himself for not being there to protect Cody. Afraid
he's going lose Cody to the dark places within himself,
Vic's willing to do anything to prevent that from happening
and get their life back.
Aftermath took on a very heavy subject and I
felt Angel Martinez’s delivery of it was very well handled.
Vic and Cody were in a loving relationship, and it was
obvious Vic was dominant and Cody was submissive. I felt
that the author was trying to show the difference between a
D/s relationship and flat out abuse, as well as show that a
m/m relationship is not synonymous with being rough and
violent to one another for pleasure. Ms. Martinez work was
very thought provoking, overcoming sexual assault takes a
lot from the victim as well as from those around him or
her. The victim most often blame themselves for it ‘s
happening and regaining the lost feelings of control and
personal safety is hard, no matter what gender the victim
is. I liked that the author pointed out that m/m rape is an
issue, it happens a lot more than most people would probably
realize, it just rarely gets reported or talked about.
However, as much as I liked Aftermath, I did
feel the story was rushed, and Cody didn't evolve as much as
Vic did. Vic and Cody were seeing a therapist to help them
deal with the assault, and through therapy Vic was able show
Cody he too had weaknesses and fears. The changes in Vic
were obvious and they helped Cody in his recovery, but the
changes in Cody were not very pronounced. I still found him
to be too trusting and forgiving especially where Jonathan
was concerned. Other than that Aftermath is a
great story and I'm very happy I read it. |
