Series: -
Volume: 1/1Publisher: NineStar Press
Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance
Length: 62 000 words
Read in: English
Review copy format: epub
Rate:✮✮✮✮✮✰
Isaac Twain runs away from his life he himself shattered to pieces. Not wanting to face the consequences of his decisions, he moves to another city and accepts a teaching position at the university where not so long ago a shooting took place. The ghosts of that event still haunt those who survived. This is also a place where Isaac meets a young professor, John Conlon, who quickly conquers his heart. The thing is that both men are constantly dealing with their problems - tragedy at Hambden University and Isaac's unsolved affairs.
There's no doubt that "We Still Live" is a title that perfectly reflects the content of this new novel by Sara Dobie Bauer. To a large extent, the author focuses on the topic of life, and more specifically the life "after", life after the shooting, life after personal dramas, life marked by the consequences of events taking place in the recent past, that is, life that hasn't started over but continues, and hasn't yet closed all the dramatic threads of the past. I admit that I really liked the way the author approached this topic, because she put the greatest emphasis not on the shooting itself or the scandal, but on the everyday life of the characters struggling after all these events, on their attempt to go back to normality on the one hand by closing the painful stage of life, and on the other by escaping from the problems.
One of the undoubtedly very important topics we see in "We Still Live", which I would like to mention, is friendship, in the broad sense of the word. Sara Dobie Bauer shows us a group of friends and acquaintances who try to "lick one another's wounds", support one another and heal. Some characters are very close to one another, while others not so much, but they all simply try to live, close the tragic chapter of their lives and start a new one. I think that in "We Still Live" the author showed this topic in a really nice, natural way. Instead of creating fake and falsely polite characters' relations, she builds fully natural and believable relationships.
Another topic that dominates the novel are the hardships of living after everything that happened and the difficulty with which the characters try to collect the pieces of their shattered lives. In this case, I would like to refer more directly to Isaac's and John's case. Although the problems they face are extremely different, they both do their best to leave it all behind, ignore the problem. However, while John really wants to shut the door of the past behind him, Isaac is so focused on running away that he just runs through all the doors without shunting any of them. So they both try to deal with their problems in their own way. Unfortunately, the task ahead of them is extremely difficult, so the reader sees the development of events while asking themselves: "what would happen next?".
Finally, I would like to write a little bit more not about Isaac's problem, but about his way, or rather the lack of it, of facing the music. Isaac we meet in "We Still Live" is a person who has been running away from something for many years. First he was running from the truth about his sexual orientation, then from the responsibility for his own actions. I think this character is even more interesting because in this novel he is juxtaposed with people who really try to face the dramas of their lives. However, it is worth noting that creating Isaac Sara Dobie Bauer doesn't really judge him, but only presents his story taking into account the mistakes he made and their consequences. Thanks to this way of creating this character, the author managed to give him autonomy, thanks to which we have the impression that he lives his own life for real.
In summary, "We Still Live" is a novel worth reading, in which the characters struggle with problems that will make a great impression on every reader. The author skillfully presents her story, giving us a chance to see Isaac and John not as "survivors" but above all as people who "still live". If you want to fully understand the difference between these two options, just read "We Still Live". It's worth it!
Headcanon: Isaac and John together think of a way they can release anger during their quarrels.
Fanfiction idea: Going on vacation, Isaac and John choose their destination by closing their eyes and pointing to the map without looking. Then each of them searches for attractions they want to see, places they want to visit, and they compare their lists to determine the final plan.
AU idea: Teenagers!AU, Isaac and John go to a camp for troubled youth. That's where they meet and slowly fall in love with each other.
Here's some more about:
Book Title: We Still Live
Author: Sara Dobie Bauer
Cover Artist: Natasha Snow
Release Date: December 9, 2019
Tropes: Friends to lovers, hurt/comfort
Themes: Coming out, depression, anxiety, PTSD, mental illness
Heat Rating: 4 flames
It is a standalone book.
To escape the past, accept it.
Blurb
Blurb
Running from a scandal that ruined his life, Isaac Twain accepts a teaching position at Hambden University where, three months prior, Professor John Conlon stopped a campus nightmare by stepping in front of an active shooter.
When John and Isaac become faculty advisors for the school's literary magazine, their professional relationship evolves. Despite the strict code of conduct forbidding faculty fraternization, they delve into a secret affair—until Simon arrives.
Isaac's violent ex threatens not only their careers, but also John's life. His PTSD triggered, John must come to terms with that bloody day on College Green while Isaac must accept the heartbreak his secrets have wrought.
***WE STILL LIVE is a standalone M/M friends-to-lovers romance featuring detailed adult content, graphic violence, hurt/comfort, and mental illness.***
When John and Isaac become faculty advisors for the school's literary magazine, their professional relationship evolves. Despite the strict code of conduct forbidding faculty fraternization, they delve into a secret affair—until Simon arrives.
Isaac's violent ex threatens not only their careers, but also John's life. His PTSD triggered, John must come to terms with that bloody day on College Green while Isaac must accept the heartbreak his secrets have wrought.
***WE STILL LIVE is a standalone M/M friends-to-lovers romance featuring detailed adult content, graphic violence, hurt/comfort, and mental illness.***
Excerpt
Close as they were to the foyer, Isaac was the first to notice the front door opening. A student walked inside. The kid dragged a heavy-looking suitcase behind him. Dressed as he was in a slim-fitting button-down, Isaac immediately assumed preppy, although that assumption altered and changed when taking into account the tight black jeans, Converse sneakers, and shaggy hair the color of caramel and chocolate—a mass of waves and curls that fell down the back of his neck but not quite to his shoulders.
The kid pushed his hair out of the way and looked up, eyes finding Isaac and flashing a moment of panicked nonrecognition before seeing Tommy.
“Um.” Isaac pointed toward the new arrival.
Tommy turned and shouted, “John! My man!”
Not a student, then.
Tommy wrapped John in a hug that actually lifted his feet off the ground. Isaac imagined it wouldn’t be difficult. The new guy might have been average height, but he was gangly, skin and bones.
Tommy ruffled his hair. “Have you lost weight?”
John grumbled and scratched his face with his middle finger. “What are you freeloaders doing in my house?” His voice was surprisingly resonant for someone Isaac considered “pretty.” At John’s pronouncement, crows of approval rang from every direction.
“Come meet Isaac,” Tommy said.
John wiped his palms on his jeans before reaching out to shake, and Isaac’s large hand dwarfed his.
“Isaac Twain is the newest addition to our special corner of Hambden hell. Isaac, this is John Conlon.”
John brushed more hair out of his face. “Nice to—”
“John Conlon?”
John and Tommy froze.
Isaac jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “The books on the shelf. Those are yours?”
John’s face, immobile in what looked like dread a moment before, melted into relief, tinged with a bit of blush. “Oh, yeah. You’ve read?”
“No, but I should. You’ve published a lot of books. You must be good.”
John’s nose wrinkled, and he looked away.
Tommy shook him by the shoulders. “John is an amazing writer. He had a story published in The New Yorker when he was, like, five. Are you working on anything right now?”
John glanced at the bookshelf. “Not lately.”
“You need a drink,” Tommy said.
John’s eyes widened on a big breath. “God, yes, I do.”
“Nice to meet you,” Isaac said, but John just nodded quickly, smile thin, before allowing himself to be herded farther into the house toward the sound of quiet laughter and clinking bottles.
Isaac felt it then—an outsider’s emptiness. He became a nervous-looking coat rack in the corner, a terrified tree waiting for the ax. As the party doubled in auditory volume, he bemoaned his spilled wine. Was it okay for him to leave? It wasn’t like he was supposed to make a speech. He was only there because he figured it was the easiest way to meet everyone before the first official faculty meeting, but he’d been standing around too long. He wanted to run.
Out of curiosity, he reopened John’s book from earlier and read the front flap. It was a coming-of-age story about a gay kid in the Midwest. He flipped to the back, and a picture of John stared back at him. He’d assumed the guy was tired when they first met, but no; apparently, John had perpetual bedroom eyes, and his hair was always an artful mess. He skimmed…creative writing professor at Hambden University…gay rights activist…Converse-wearer and “old-people music” enthusiast.
All arrows pointed to John’s probable sexual preference for men. A spark of interest flickered but quickly went out. True, John Conlon was what most people would consider beautiful, but he wasn’t Isaac’s type. John was the kind of man butch guys fought over in gay clubs, but he was too small for Isaac, too fragile-looking, girly. After all he’d been through, the last thing Isaac wanted was someone feminine.
A thin figure ducked into the library and literally hid against the doorframe. He took a long drink of something brown and leaned his head back. “It’s not good when you want to hide in your own house.”
“Library is the best place for it,” Isaac said.
John kicked away from the wall. “Tommy mentioned you just moved here? I’ve been in Lothos forever, so if you need anything…” He examined Isaac from his brown boat shoes to the top of his blond head. John’s large eyes, dark green, seemed bottomless—drowning pools of intellect and soul—only slightly overshadowed by his thick eyebrows.
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| Photo credit: Bill Thornhill |
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