Crucify my Love: Gay Book Reviews: [101-ENG] Review: Last Call in Wonderland

Series: -

Volume: 1/1
Publisher: Self-Published

Genre/s: Contemporary gay fiction

Length: 62000 words

Pages: 330

Read in: English
Review copy format: epub

Rate:✮✮✮✮✮✮

Life never stands still. It changes constantly, and people change with it. Whoever cannot keep up with the pace of these changes may feel lost, and hence the problems they're facing are slowly growing. Brandon, Chess, The Queen of Hearts, Jesse and Colton struggle with their lives, with their ups and downs, just like everyone else. However, the hardships of their everyday life seem to lose their significance when the sounds coming from Wonderland, a gay club in River City, change for so much different from those the people have been hearing until now.

"Last Call in Wonderland" is my second meeting with Rob Browatzke's writing, and thus with the second story he written that moved me to tears. I admit, when I decided to read this novel, I suspected that I would be deeply moved by it. However, I didn't expect that the author would be able to touch me so deeply that at the mere mention of this novel, tears would come to my eyes. "Last Call in Wonderland" is a really potent and full of depth book that evokes a lot of strong emotions in the reader. I think that this is not a novel we read and then simply move on to the next one. This story stays with us for a very, very long time. I would even say that you can't ever forget about it. While the ups and downs of strangers' lives can make us happy or sad, "Last Call in Wonderland" seems to be a story about people we really know, because we get to know them as we read this book, so eventually they are close to us. And that is why the events taking place in the novel move us deeply and make us feel this story with our whole being.

There's no doubt that the big advantage of "Last Call in Wonderland" are the colorful characters, and thus a multitude of points of view, which affect the dynamics of the story presented by the author. Thanks to this, the reader has the opportunity to get to know people who play the most important role in this novel, get attached to them, fall in love with this unique group, and as a consequence we are taken for the emotional roller coaster ride. What's more, we see the story Rob Browatzke tells us from different angles, because each of the characters is different, and thus has something different to tell and show us, and the way they see some events is also different. I think that thanks to all this, this novel's story reaches the readers' hearts, because we – the readers – are different, just like the characters, their lives and problems.

I think that reviewing "Last Call in Wonderland" it is also worth mentioning how important for this novel is the topic of the changes of the world and people, society and of passing time. Well, we cannot deny that our reality is constantly changing from many different angles and that's exactly what is shown in this novel. I think that discussing this topic it is also very important to add how much the life of an individual and even that of the whole community can change in an instant. To be honest, this is probably the thing that made the greatest impression on me. "Last Call in Wonderland" shows that life is full of major and minor changes that affect us all, major and minor dramas that shock us. So I think that the novel shows in a good way the truth behind Heraclitus of Ephesus's words: "You cannot enter the same river twice."

Another topic that plays a really important role in "Last Call in Wonderland" is the problem of hatred, which affects the lives of other people and the functioning of the entire communities. To some extent, the novel shows us that the change of a selected community members' lives often takes many years of hard work, whole group of voters and politicians, and a lot of open-minded people. At the same time, to turn one's life into hell, all you need is just one person full of hatred, one moment that seems like eternity and which consequences remain for life. Hatred doesn't affect people only physicality, as above all it affects their psyche. What's more, the author also shows us how enormous is the strength of those who faced hatred and managed to survive, as not everyone has enough strength to say with confidence: "I survived."

To sum up, "Last Call in Wonderland" is a novel that touches the reader's heart and stays in it for good. This is a greatly written story full of depth that has an enormous influence on us and really makes us cry. I recommend it to you with all my heart.

Headcanon: Every year, on the anniversary of the events that changed the lives of these who survived, they meet to celebrate life.

Fanfiction idea: Annual life celebrating meeting.

AU idea: Alice in Wonderland!AU

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Here's some more about:

Book Title: Last Call in Wonderland

Author: Rob Browatzke

Cover Artist: Alexandria Corza

Release Date: August 4, 2019

It is a standalone book.

Add on Goodreads

Last Call Is Coming

Blurb

Wonderland is the hottest club in River City, but it’s time to close. It’s a different world now, and club owner Chester doesn’t see Wonderland having a place in it. What will that mean for resident bartender and hotty bottom Brandon Sweet? Or for headliner, the Queen of Hearts? Or customers like Jesse and Colton, whose open relationship and threeways are the stuff of legend? This group of friends navigate the changes in their lives until one night when everything changes for good.

Buy Links - Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US || Paperback || Amazon UK

Excerpt

Brandon Sweet’s first thought on waking up was this isn’t my room.
His second thought was oh god, who is this?
He rolled over, facing away from the stranger next to him, in this strange bed in a strange room. He hadn’t even had that much to drink really. At least, not compared to a weekend night.
It’s the tequila, he thought. I need to stop with the tequila.
“Morning,” the twink next to him said with a moan.
Brandon rolled back over and took him in: brown curls and blue eyes and a smooth slender torso with a whisp of hair on abs that disappeared into the white sheets tangled around his waist. Whoever he was, he was certainly Brandon’s type.
“Morning,” Brandon said, sitting up in bed, letting the sheet drop to his lap. He looked down at his own body, comparing it to the twink beside him. Not bad, for thirty-one, but oh, to be twenty-one again! When he was twenty-one, he could’ve handled twice the tequila he’d had last night, and woken with half the headache. He knew he could have, because he had done just that. Week in, week out, for a decade.
Too early for that train of thought, he told himself.
“I had a really good time last night,” Twink said.
“Me too, me too. Hey, where’s my phone?” He looked on the floor for his clothes.
“Other room. You stripped off as soon as we got here,” Twink said with a smile. “So hot.”
“Hey, what can I say? I know what I want.” Don’t know your name, mind you, but I do remember how badly I wanted to get laid.
He did love a good Thursday night fuck.
“I can’t believe I finally got to fuck THE Brandon Sweet.”
Brandon smiled at him as he stood up. “Hope it was everything you expected.”
Twink reached across the bed to run his hand over Brandon’s abs. “And more!”
Brandon smiled again. “I’m going to get dressed then. Work night.”
“I’ll walk you out.” The twink stood up and yes, Brandon remembered that impressive appendage. Young, hung, and hard – check, check, check.
Had they gone to Brandon’s last night, if he’d woken up with home turf comfort, he’d be pushing Twink back into the bed and climbing aboard to go again. Here though, in a room he didn’t know, with a guy he didn’t know, he suddenly felt vulnerable.
Once he’d slid back into underwear and jeans, it was a bit better. But his phone had 3% power, 32 notifications and it was halfway through the afternoon. He had to get home.
“Hey, my phone’s dead. Can you call an Uber for me?” He hated to ask but…
“Really?” Twink asked. “You said last night you only live a couple blocks away.”
That rang no bells, but Brandon was professional. “Oh yeah, I remember now,” he said, pulling his shirt over his head. “Will you be out later?”
“It’s Friday,” Twink said. “Of course.”
As Twink walked him to the door, Brandon took in the apartment, trying to find something to jog his memory. It was simple, sparse, and wholly unfamiliar. Luckily, as he bent down to tie his Converse, he happened to glance at the fridge, where a photo radar ticket was held by a magnet. With his name in black and white.
“Ok, well, I’ll see you later then, Billy,” he said.
Twink laughed. “You don’t know my name, do you?” he asked. “Billy’s my roommate.”
Fuck. Brandon swallowed and smiled. “Sorry. Tequila. What was it again?”
“Derek.” Twink grabbed Brandon by the belt and pulled him closer, taking his hand and guiding it down. “You’ll remember this at least,” he said.
Brandon smiled again, kissed Derek’s cheek, and bolted out the door.