Audiobook Review ~ Northern Star by Ethan Day

Audiobook Review ~ Northern Star by Ethan Day

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Blurb:

Deacon Miller never had it all—he never really believed he could. Growing up in a broken home with an alcoholic mother and a revolving door of truly pathetic father figures taught him to keep his expectations low. Now at twenty-seven, on the night before Christmas Eve, his life is turned upside down yet again; his boyfriend has dumped him, he just fled the holiday family reunion from hell, and now to top it all off, a blizzard has left him stranded in an airport hotel.

Steve Steele has spent the better part of his forty-four years living a lie, ignoring his attraction to other men in an attempt to fit into the mold of the man he thought he should be, instead of living life as the man he knew himself to be. Recently divorced after coming home from work one day and coming out to his wife, Steve has floundered over the past year, desperately attempting to wade through the guilt and find the courage to start again.

That’s when a chance meeting in a hotel bar brings two lonely men together… and what should’ve been a one night stand turns into something much more than either one ever expected. 

Deacon had a rough life growing up. His alcoholic mom was single and had men coming and going. And she certainly did not approve of him being gay and didn't want him around. She blamed him for all that was wrong with her life. He escaped when he could and only saw her around holidays. But then everything goes wrong for him. He's decided to leave his mom's home on Christmas Eve because he can't take it anymore. He gets an e-mail from his boyfriend dumping him and telling him to have his stuff moved out. A blizzard hits and he's stranded in a hotel. And, to top it off, his mom is in a wreck caused by her drunk driving and his teenage sister needs him to pick up the pieces. While at the hotel bar drinking away the misery of his dumping, he meets an older hot guy, Steve. Steve and Deacon plan for a hook-up but as Deacon's life falls further apart, it becomes much more.

I didn't hate the characters but I also didn't love them. I thought Deacon had a lot of potential and found him amusing when he was getting drunk in the bar. I was horrified by what he was saying to Steve, only because I thought he would be but it was funny. He was definitely putting good effort into drinking his ex away. But that was about the end of the feel-good emotions for me. The rest of it just seemed depressing, which is probably how Deacon felt as well. I don't know that I ever come to have strong feelings about Steve. At first, I really liked him but then he got on my nerves regarding the way he acted towards Deacon. Almost parental, instead of as a boyfriend.

The narrator of the story is Jason Frasier, a first-time narrator for me. He had an easy-to-listen-to voice, was able to give many characters voices and didn't have weird pauses in his narration. He brought the story to life and expressed emotions appropriately. Though he did give individual voices to most characters, I wasn't a fan of his young girl voice. And I'm sure it's just me, but I was not a fan of the kissing noises he acted out. It just felt awkward, but again, probably just me!

This is the first book I've read/listened to from this author and I've had a hard time writing this review. I've read books with much heavier topics and didn't feel the level of sadness that I did with this one. I felt bad for Deacon, but maybe if he spent less time in his head running through everything negative that had happened in his life, it may help him. And, maybe if I'd read/listened to it at a different time, I'd feel different. This is a book that you should judge on your own. If you read reviews, you'll know my thinking is the minority so don't let my confusion over my feelings stop you from checking out this book!

Overall: 4 stars

Performance: 4 stars

Story: 4 stars