Cover Image: Yes, Daddy

Yes, Daddy

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Member Reviews

Why did it take me so long to finally read and review my e-ARC of Yes, Daddy? The book came out in May 2021, and I guess I just had so many other books to read and review that summer. But I could finally start going back through my neglected Netgalley list and make headway through some of the books that had been backburnered.

So what's this book about?

Down on his luck, Jonah decides to pursue famous playwright Richard Shriver. And it works! Jonah thinks all his dreams have come true. He's found someone to help read and critique his writing. He's found someone to take him to and pay for dinner. And he's found someone who can remove him from the decrepit NYC apartment that he can barely afford. But while spending an extended stay at Richard's Hamptons compound, Jonah is gang raped by Richard and his friends. It doesn't just happen one time. And Jonah isn't the only one this is happening to.

How can Jonah escape? Who can Jonah trust? (And can they trust Jonah?) And how does his history of trauma shape the man he becomes?

This is a twisted story that, honestly, at one point, took an unexpected turn that made me go, "Excuse me, what is happening?" It starts at a court trial, and then takes us back in time to when Jonah meets Richard. Then it fast-forwards to after the trial, at a time when Jonah must finally take accountability for all of his past actions.

Yes, Daddy is published by Harper and is available to purchase now. I received a free e-ARC.

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Parks-Ramage's writing is exquisite, with a poetic quality that both captivates and unsettles. The narrative is a deeply introspective examination of the human psyche, and it delves into dark and challenging themes. What struck me most was the author's ability to evoke empathy for characters who are morally ambiguous and flawed. I found myself questioning my own judgments and exploring the gray areas of human nature as I read. The book's exploration of trauma and its lasting impact is both sensitive and unflinching, shedding light on the complexities of healing and recovery. "Yes, Daddy" is a daring and thought-provoking work that tackles issues of consent, power dynamics, and the search for self-acceptance in an unapologetic manner. It is not a book for the faint of heart, but for those willing to engage with its challenging themes, it offers a truly meaningful and transformative reading experience.

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Yes, Daddy was actually not what I expected… it wasn’t disappointing!!! Sorry thy sounded bad. I read most of it in one sitting, that’s how much the story flowed and kept me hooked. It wasn’t easy to ready, both because it was really graphic but also because it felt heavy, but that’s also the point. Even though, the writing was so good I couldn’t put it down.

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So, I had to look up ”gothic” because this book was not what I expected. From wikipedia: “Gothic fiction is characterized by an environment of fear, the threat of supernatural events, and the intrusion of the past upon the present.[2][3] Gothic fiction is distinguished from other forms of scary or supernatural stories, such as fairy tales, by the specific theme of the present being haunted by the past.” Under that definition, this book does fit the bill. It may just be my understanding of gothic fiction that may be off!

I honestly was expecting an erotic thriller. This is not erotic nor is it a thriller. It is straight up trauma from beginning to nearly the end. All the trigger warnings: abuse, rape, queer trauma from evangelical parents (if there is a more succinct way to say this, please someone let me know!)

Our main character, Jonah, is young, gay, and broke in NYC. He is a struggling writer who works as a waiter. He can’t make ends meet and spends money recklessly. He keeps relying on his mother for money. She is evangelical and does not accept him. Jonah is estranged from his father who is a preacher. Desperate, Jonah makes a calculating move to meet Richard Shriver, a famous playwright, and insert himself into his life. They soon begin a relationship which turns into hell on earth. Where does Jonah go from there? Difficult to say more without spoilers!

This book was a lot. A lot a lot. I was shocked a few times after even the most shocking parts of this book. But, it was kind of choppy and jarring the way events are written and that left me a little wanting.

I found Jonah pretty unlikeable from the beginning. I was not a fan of his plan to meet Richard and basically become his boy toy. However, I grew to root for him despite never really getting to know him beyond his traumas.

There were a lot of gay stereotypes in this book that I didn’t love and honestly made me cringe. I did really enjoy the writing, though, and the ending had a good payoff. This is a debut novel and I can definitely see that the author will have a strong career as a novelist. I suspect their next novel will be even better than this one.

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A poignant look at what happens when ambition meets abuse. This toxic tale of power broke my heart and left me reeling for days. I will never forget the story of Jonah and the decisions that shaped his life.

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I must start by warning you that this book has some serious topics in place: trauma, religion, sexual assault, unequal power in relationships, drugs, the sexualization of young gay boys, human trafficking, abusive relationships, conversion therapy, the me too movement, the power of money, and so on. So if these are things you cannot handle I recommend you stay away from this book. Now if you can handle this and want to read my review about how much I loved this book that fucked me up emotionally for days, go ahead. Just remember as cheery as I sound in my post finishing a five-star reads emotion, this is quite the dark and GRAPHIC TRIGGERING read.

It's been a few days since—this-book-destroyed-me— I finished this book. This freaking book that took me way too many fake starts to finally stick with it but once it did, it got me, and it got me GOOD. This fucking book... The most extreme rollercoaster got NOTHING in this book. The amount of whiplash it gave me has my neck still sore days later. It has more twists and turns than the road between Corozal and Orocovis and I was along for the ride. When I requested this book in Netgalley (Thank you Netgalley, the author and the publisher) I had NO IDEA what was waiting for me. That poor innocent me did not think she was gonna finish the book and ended up staring at her computer monitor for hours feeling as if their world had just gone through a massive shake-up. I recommend this book so freaking much. If you're looking for a queer thriller full of drama, trauma, drugs, sex, and all the dark things, then I recommend this book. But PLEASE check out the Trigger Warnings because LORD can this book be triggering.

Here's a list of some of the triggers as established by the readers of this book on Storygraph:

Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual Violence, Physica Abuse, Homophobia, Emotional Abuse, Toxic Relationship, Suicidal Thoughts, Religious Bigotry, Adult/Minor "relationship", Suicide, Drug Overdose, Confinement, Torture, Violence, Gaslighting, Drug Use, Domestic Abuse, Drug Abuse, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Suicide Attempt, Sexual Harassment, Alcoholism, Self Harm, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Child Abuse, Panic Attack/Disorders, Addiction, Death, Slavery, Fire/Fire Injury, Bullying, Mental Illness, Blood, Grief, Abandonment, Infidelity, Body Shaming, Murder, Incest

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Bottom line: You won't be able to put this book down. The build-up is phenomenal. The dialogue is ripping. And don't forget the characters, which are quite entertaining--a delight to spend chapters and pages with, and people (I'm sure) you wouldn't mind having dinner and drinks with. Any reader will surely find this book shocking, enjoyable, and a tale that will leave one to think about it long after the last page. A definite read.

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Holy. Fucking. Shit. Never have I been so disturbed and unsettled yet at the same time gripped so fiercely by a story that I literally did not pause this audiobook for more than 5 minutes. I started it in the afternoon of a day off and listen to the first hour or so during a drive and then the remaining four or five hours as I mindlessly played a game on my phone because I COULD NOT stop listening. It's one of those books that if you were physically reading it you would have to kind of stop and process the information but it's so much more visceral in the audiobook format which is great for storytelling and terrible for my emotional state.

Huge huge huge content warnings for this people. I'm going to list a few of them but if you are someone who is triggered easily or doesn't do well with upsetting topics, definitely skip this one. This is not a happy story. This is not a simple story. The biggest and most obvious CW is sexual assault. Additional content warnings for conversion therapy, drug addiction, self-harm, suicide, alcohol addiction, graphic sexual assault scenes multiple times throughout the book and the list goes on. I'm not kidding when I say there's a lot of content warnings.

Jonah is a gay son of a megachurch pastor and after going through conversion therapy he ends up in New York as a waiter and finds himself in a relationship with a man 30 years his senior. What starts as a passionate encounter quickly leads to absolutely horrifying experiences.

I feel like the less you know the better going into this because I was legitimately hanging on for dear life while listening to this. I didn't know what was going to happen and I was constantly sitting there with my mouth open just a shocked and horrified at the events playing out.

This is an astonishing book. It's good in the way that the storytelling is good but the content is difficult. It's been a long time since I have been so gobsmacked when finishing a book.

So it is one that I highly recommend but please proceed with caution.

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I was enjoying it up until the very last couple of pages.
I thought, why even add that when it served no purpose to the narrative whatsoever.
That part almost turned it into trauma-porn.

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This book is more graphic than I realized it would be, but the story is very compelling and horrifying. The pacing was a little difficult for me, but I'm definitely interested in reading more from this author.

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the first part of the book is very good but then the last part of the book is very fast not focusing on the MC problems and it goes without exploring i think the author could had lose a bit more time focusing on that part of the story, the book has very brutal scenes so beware for trigger warnings


my full review it will be live on October 23rd https://youtu.be/IDctUtJEWUc

3.5 stars

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In the interest of getting through some arcs I had been approved for and yet to read I set out to listen to this today... I don't know if listening to the book was the mistake or ever requesting it in the first place.

I will say that I think there was some level of promise here. There was some part of me that thought maybe with a little more fleshing out the narrative might have worked. I mean, sure I wouldn't have been able to finish the book in a day as had been my original goal, but that could be forgiven if the characters in the book had been given the time to exist to better tell the story...

My biggest complaint is the book feel shallow. Namely the beginning. Parks-Ramage is so keen on getting to the part of the book where the trauma lives that setting up Jonah as a character just felt a little foolish. Part of that is my own personal pet peeve of time skips for the sake of not wanting to flesh out a story, and boy was that on full display here as the narrative was artificially condensed into less than three hundred pages.

Maybe this is where the review is gonna feel a little victim blamey, but the way the narrative presented being gang raped in a sex dungeon as preferable to people thinking he was homeless? I was confusion. My brain short circuited and I simply couldn't get where Jonah was coming from...

I do have to say that the synopsis feels a little bit like a lie. The reader never really gets to experience how Richard was able to seduce Jonah into anything. Some of that sure was Jonah seducing himself, thinking that he had things under control when he didn't. That was all hunk dory... again, until the aforementioned logic and I had to start pumping the break.

I don't know what it is about the white gays doing coke and getting gang raped in books... but I'm definitely a little over it. If I had known that I was going to be subjected to the number of rape scenes I never would have expressed interest. If I had known I was going to have to deal with religious trauma, homophobia, I might have thought twice about if this was really the right time for me to pick this up....

I also just cannot get on board with how this book ends. In the almost three hundred pages a lot of interesting points are made, but never with the foundation or follow through to really make any of the stick the landing. There's definitely an audience for this and perhaps even Parks-Ramage's future endeavors, but I think I can definitely count myself out of that number.

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Wow - this was A LOT... it was an interesting look at power dynamics in gay culture/relationships but there are definitely quite a few graphic scenes as well. I did overall enjoy, though.

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This may be a little difficult to detail my thoughts about this book, but I'll give it a go.

I thought this was a very compelling and moving story and one that's not often told. We follow a young gay man, Jonah who begins a relationship with an older man who essentially becomes his sugar daddy. But very quickly this book takes a dark turn and Jonah is thrust into a nightmare of epic proportions.

In the age of #MeToo, we've had a lot of stories about men abusing their power over women and those stories are very important. But I feel like we haven't had a lot about men being abused by other men. Yes, Daddy is a powerful read and very uncomfortable at times. I will definitely be thinking about this book for a very long time.

TW/CW: graphic details of rape, drug use, abuse, false imprisonment/kidnapping, domestic violence and gaslighting, conversion therapy, homophobia, suicide/suicidal thoughts

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Wow!! I really am blown away. Not only was JPR's writing raw and emotional, but this story was one begging to be told. The male #metoo voice is one that deserved it's own time to be heard and answered to.
A phenomenal debut and can expect we will see more great things in the future.

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Wow! What an intense book! I couldn’t stop reading. It’s definitely very sexual but I love that. Overall 4 stars. I would recommend.

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All in all, it's not a bad example of modern pallpunk ("tabloid read") and gay gothic. There's intrigue, plot twists, rich villains, pumped-up hotties, abuse, hot sex, daddy/puppy-play, metoo, a media ethic for victims of abuse with traumas in the deep past. There's a long-awaited reunion with parents, and a bright ending (a little too American-y for my taste). There is even humour: for example, I laughed a lot with this remark: It was then I did what many anguished Americans faced with crippling anxiety do: I went to Gwyneth Paltrow for advice. I'm normally sceptical of the snake-oil start-up Goop, but desperate times call for dubious lifestyle brands.

I did, however, feel that the novel had fallen into the trap of a debut book, where you want to cram everything in. Some of the abusive misadventures here are not at all justified by the plot (such as the scene where the hero is raped again years later by a previously trustworthy man - as Caleb raped Jude in A Little Life, but in Yes, Daddy the episode leads nowhere and illustrates nothing), and the wonderful plot twists are one more than necessary - but the writing is good, cinematic and begs, according to rumour, for a screen adaptation.

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Gay people are, for better or worse, people. With the usual people-faults like greed and selfishness, the usual weaknesses like hunger for validation and sexual power. With the flaws hidden or simply not discussed, we're reduced to side characters in other people's stores; with them celebrated, we're back in the bad old days of <I>Cruising</i> or <I>The Boys in the Band</i> or...well, pick your poisonous fear-mongering. This is one of the reasons I liked <I>Bath Haus</i> despite my reservations about some of its elements.

This story? Those elements are dialed up to eleven, and then blown (!) up by even viler perpetrators! So...why is this a full-four-star review, given the (admittedly partial) CW list and the main character's self-destructive greed? I gave <I>Bath Haus</i> a little less than four full stars, after all.

The reason is simple, really. Because I want to and because it's my judgment.

What makes this reading experience so much more agreeable to me is the way I'm introduced to Jonah. From the very first pages of the book, there's nothing, not one thing, that happens in which you, the reader, can place simple trust. You know what's gone down, and you see it from a simple first-person point of view, narrated in second person to make the stakes inescapably clear. It's more effective in eliciting my sympathy than was the igniting event of <I>Bath Haus</i> so I was much more ready to put my crash helmet on and tighten up the buckles.

As we zig-zag through the darkening, increasingly menacing landscape of the story's world, no matter how high the gloss or hard the glitter, one can't forget the first pages and their stark warning not to accept anything at face value...given how many religious people there are in here, that's another clue. The simplest acts, the calmest words, all freighted with suspicion because you (narrator, reader) simply don't know which ones are lies and which ones are just...air. And there's an ending which, under almost any other regime, I'd be rattling my tin cup against my cage's bars to protest...but remember when I told you about the way Jonah is introduced to us? It's my thinking that the next act's curtain will rise soon.

When the story really reaches for darkness, really digs into the terrible truths of our society's seriously screwed-up power dynamics, it becomes a little less glib and surface-oriented, which serves the story well. It's not like we're going to be subjected to Thomas Piketty and Yanis Varoufakis lecturing us on the inherent abusiveness of capitalism. It *is* very much a carefully thought-out tale of what happens to people who, for a large variety of societally mandated reasons, simply don't matter and aren't protected. We're even granted a glimpse into the genesis of the imbalance in this particular pairing of men, Jonah and Richard, though it's not the main thrust (!) of the piece.

Bad sex puns aside, this is a very, very sexual story. It will not be for most straight readers. If #MeToo made you mad, this will make you even more mad because I can almost promise you this is more fact-based than you might think. It's really interesting that certain famous entertainment-industry older men are...silent...these days...and one wonders what's happening with the announced Amazon Studios streaming film in the past couple years.

The paperback version dropped this past Tuesday, so permaybehaps we'll get to see the darkness of <I>Daddy</i> on our screens before long. I'm not all the way sure I will be one of the early audience members. I will need to build up my courage to go back into this seriously scary, very well-crafted story universe.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of "Yes, Daddy" by Jonathan Parks Ramage.

I am unsure of what to think about this story. I thought the beginning of this story really worked for me. Jonah is a struggling playwright living in New York City and is trying to find a way out of his struggling life by attracting handsome, older, playwright Richard. The two hit it off but not necessarily in a nice way. Even through all of Richard and Jonah's story I was horrified but invested. If this part of the story had been fleshed out a bit more and then ended there I would have been satisfied.

Instead the story keeps going with how damaged Jonah is and how his life continues on after everything. There are ups and downs and lots of random problems with Jonah's upbringing and trying to find his way back into the church and more. It just started to wander for me and not in a way that kept me interested or invested in the story.

Overall it got 2 stars from me for the beginning story.

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I'm still not sure how to feel about this book. It wasn't what I was expecting, and the foundation of the entire story is queer trauma. At times I felt like it leaned on negative tropes used to condemn gay men in the not-so-distant past, but at the same time, queer authors should be able to write about anything. In this book, the author explores the types of horrors that can come from a relationship that not only has a large age gap between partners, but also a large gap in authority and power.

With that said, this book is dark and traumatic, but the writing quality kept me reading despite the horrors on the page. Jonah is a compelling narrator and I sympathized with him while also thinking he was a complete idiot at times. The situations he got himself into could be excused by his naivete and Midwestern religious upbringing, but at the same time, he was incredibly naïve. He's also a very unreliable narrator, but I liked the framework that is revealed later on in the book. I thought it a bit strange for it suddenly to revolve around his non-relationship with a side character, and the ending felt strange and little forced.

I can't say I enjoyed this book, but I don't regret finishing it either. It's difficult and does not fall under the Gothic Horror trope at all. It's a difficult read, but a mostly well-written one.

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