Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage was an interesting story, I found it really interesting and uncomfortable at times considering the power dynamics but were intentional by the author. really good!

You'll be drawn in by the breezy, sexy cover of Yes, Daddy but stick around for the story!
It's safe to say that Jonathan Parks-Ramage does a phenomenal job of creating a novel where we are startled by how realistically someone can be drawn into a dark world.

Our protagonist, Jonah, is a recent graduate with his Masters Degree who dreams of writing a successful novel or play. Waiting tables in NYC places him in the heart of the action. You can imagine Jonah's delight when he catches the eye of a renowned mover and shaker in the movie industry. Let's just say that this isn't the "happily ever after" he dreamed of.

I don't want to offer spoilers but throw away any preconceived notions about this novel and the character development expectations. Just when I thought I'd figured it all out, I realized there was so much more to the story.
Trigger Warnings include: Rape; Sexual Assault; Physical Assault; Human Trafficking

As an aside, the subject matter is indeed dark at times but please know there's a redemptive side as well and beautiful character developments.

Parks-Ramage's novel has already been optioned by Amazon Studios and I, personally, can't wait to see it unfold on screen.
This is his first novel (!!!) and I can't wait to see what he publishes next.
Thank you NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy of Yes, Daddy and the opportunity to publish a candid review.

I don’t have a lot to say about this other than WOW. This is one of the most psychologically disturbing things I’ve ever read, yet I loved it so much. The writing was intricate and gorgeous, and I could not stop turning the pages, even as I was dreading what came next. Absolutely stunning. I have a feeling this one will stay with me for a long, long time. 5 stars. I’d give it more if I could.

Jonah moved to New York City after college, full of hopes and dreams. His career goal, to be a successful playwright. His reality, barely paying the rent from his job as a waiter. Soon though, he is following another dream. He decides that Richard Schriver, an older, wealthy, and well-known playwright is the answer. Jonah has the looks Richard favors, now all he has to do is meet him.
Jonah can't believe his luck when he and Richard meet and become lovers. When Richard suggests that he quit his job and focus on his writing, it seems that Jonah will have an idyllic summer in the Hamptons. Richard and some of his friends have a compound that screams wealth and privilege.
Jonah may have nothing in common with Richard's friends(and honestly, not much besides sex with Richard) and he soon feels lonely, ridiculed, and questions whether or not he belongs. All the staff is handsome young men, not unlike Jonah, and as his relationship with Richard starts to crumble, he will soon discover his true purpose for being there.
When I first looked at this cover, I thought beach read. Looking at it again, it has a much more ominous feel. Be prepared to encounter many trigger events, as this book goes to some very dark places. People who abuse their power and privilege, young men repeatedly sexually abused, and so much trauma. Jonah didn't strike me as the greatest person on earth, but as I got to know him, all I could feel was his pain. By the time Yes, Daddy ended, I only wished that the world we live in was a better place.
We have seen and heard so many stories of powerful men abusing young women, but young men are not immune to this type of abuse. There were many times that I just wanted to look away, but the story was too powerful to ignore. Amazingly, this is a debut and I am looking forward to what comes next for this author.

I cannot rate this book highly enough. A tense, devastating look at abuse and its aftereffects, a must read

There are three father figures at the center of YES, DADDY: Jonah’s boyfriend-turned-abuser, his estranged father, and… God. All three have hurt him, but he’s still searching for their approval, constantly cycling between the three in search of love, acceptance, and salvation.

This is a hard book to categorize, explain, or rate, and whatever you’re expecting it to be, it probably isn’t that. If you’ve read the blurb, you know it isn’t the beach read the cover suggests. It isn’t some kinky exploration the title might lead you to believe. And while the copy does reference abuse and subsequent revenge, it isn’t quite the thriller you might expect. There’s a lot going on in this relatively short novel.

Parks-Ramage effectively navigates heavy themes of abuse, trauma, and revenge, mirrored in each of the three father-figure arcs. Perhaps most powerful is his commentary on the intersection of trauma and complicity, shame and silence, and the lose-lose scenario victims face when confronted with the question of speaking out against their abusers.

For those concerned about the rape scenes: They are blunt, but less graphic than I expected. The most brutal scenes have the cadence of nightmares—less vivid than Jonah’s actual nightmares; they are mostly fractal, blurry images and recollections broken up by literal fades to “black” that, functionally, shield the reader from any extended or gratuitous or descriptions.

I wasn’t always convinced by the pacing, and a few plot points felt jarring.

Overall, Parks-Ramage has delivered an ambitious, daring, and provocative novel.

What a sad and dark story! I came into this story thinking this was going to be this crazy thriller, but it was sooo much more.

This story will definitely make you feel things. While reading I felt: uncomfortable, disgusted, sad, angry, and hopeful. There are lots of TRIGGER WARNINGS: abuse, pedophilia, rape, sexual assault, graphic scenes of rape and sexual abuse, and conversion therapy.

This is a dark coming of age story about Jonah who is struggling from years of trauma from abuse. We see how he grows up and how much his experiences during his early years affected him. We see how his family dealt with Jonah’s sexual identity and how conversion therapy warped his mind into creating a lie that affected his family.

We see him struggling to love himself and find someone to love him without an alternative. We see him struggling with guilt. We also see how social media can hurt a victim and also how it can empower. I think that’s such an important message. We see how people who have such power abuse it to hurt others.

Jonah meets a man whom he thinks can save him and love him. The man already gives off red flags in the beginning with his mood swings and the play he wrote based off his mother. I can’t really say too much here without giving away spoilers... but as I was reading this, I was questioning why he continued to see this man.

Then one weekend changes everything and he is thrust into a nightmare with others in a similar position. The life stories from the other boys were so hard to read and I especially felt for Mace’s story especially, as we’ve seen his story before in the media.

Religion plays a huge part in this book drawing lots of metaphors.

I felt like this was such a realistic portrayal. Heartbreaking. The sending gave me hope and I loved how long it took Jonah to get peace considering he only really started dealing with it towards the end.

Not really sure how to rate this because it’s not something that I would normally read because I thought it was a thriller, but I’m glad I did.

Personal Rating- 9/10

I received an eARC from NetGalley and HMH books in exchange for an honest review

MAJOR Trigger Warnings for- Sexual Assault, Rape, Drug Abuse, conversion therapy, Homophobia, Self-harm, and Suicide

Tbh I have no idea how to review such a sensitive book. Although some of the triggers really hit home and I feel it is presented well, I'm not experienced enough to say so for ALL the triggers. This is an Own Voices book, so I choose to hold back any comment on how the author portrays these in his story. But please heed the warnings, some scenes and descriptions are very graphic.

With that out of the way, I really liked the writing of this author, not the style- necessarily, but the choices in the writing tools used. Some of the chapters are written in 2nd person POV as emails and diary entries or letters. These are referred to another character in the book, Mace. This worked really well for me because it added an extra layer of immersion where you have no choice but want to listen to what Jonah has to say. Even the prologue uses this 2nd person narrative, and it was so raw and emotional that it got me hooked from the beginning.

Another thing I want to appreciate about this book is the nuance and depth of the characters,

Minor spoilers and gushing (vibes, and character motivations)

Jonah is portrayed to be very unlikeable, materialistic, and self-centered. As far as I can tell, this is very much intentional. He has to create a fake persona- to fit in with Richard- to gain his attention. He creates a shallow understanding of reality and himself; for himself. Because that is the only way Life has any meaning after he meets Richard. That is his way of making sense of this whole ordeal.

Sometimes the story feels as though it's stuck in a limbo, it doesn't feel like it's going anywhere.. to me, however, this represents the lack of control Jonah has over his own life, the characters are basically pushing him around, but that is not his own fault. He is an active protagonist in the beginning but was forced to be passive- by his abusers.

Minor spoiler section over.

Although I had a lot of good things to say about the nuance and depth of this book, I do have a small qualm with it.. I really wish the side characters had more depth. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about Richard's friends.. the lack of their depth actually adds to the feeling of estrangement that Jonah feels, but- I am talking about the other waitstaff in the compound (if yk then yk). I wish they were given depth through something like a newspaper article- I don't know. But I wish we spent a bit more than a few lines on their aftermath. This is a really small part of the book, which is why, I'm giving it a 5 star, but not a 10/10.

Thank you very much if you have read this far, I'd recommend checking this book out if you're interested, and again- please heed the trigger warnings. Happy reading!

Wow is what I can say about this book! It was so heart wrenching to see this characters struggles. I got mad ; sad and happy all in one with this story. It made my eyes open to same sex relationships and the struggle of finding one’s identity!

The writing in this story is absolutely gripping. From the moment I began reading this story I knew I would be sucked in. This modern gothic tackles some incredibly deep subjects, such as growing up LGBTQ+ in the church, abusive relationships, and speaking publicly about sexual assault. This is why I felt slightly disappointed in the ending, as it felt forced. I was happy to have a dark novel inspiring thoughtful reflection, but the abrupt return to his father and the church felt unrealistic. I’m not sure how to rate this book because of it.

Overall, I think for now I have settled on a 3.5 star rating. This is, of course, subject to change over time, but I’d recommend this book to someone looking for a dark, mysterious gothic novel.

I'm grateful to Netgalley for providing a digital copy of the book, which made it possible to read and review it.

When I saw an announcement of the future release of “Yes, Daddy” for the first time, I became convinced that I need to read this book. However, I already say that I expected something different. A suspense thriller, with mysteries, murders and big twists. Reading was something very different from what I imagined. Something much more cruel and devastating.
The story revolves around Jonah Keller, a young homosexual man who moves to New York with the aim of becoming a great playwright. However, his expectations are often frustrated, having to deal with a bad job, late rent and a certain creative block.
When Jonah is faced with a photo of the glamorous playwright Richard Shriver, he is convinced that the man can be his salvation and begins to orchestrate a meeting between the two. After moments of shame in others, a relationship begins.
However, what begins as a fairy tale begins to take on macabre contours. Ambiguous conversations between Richard and friends. A luxury condo is impossible to leave without knowing the password. Young gay servants with bruises on their bodies. All signs of abusive behavior and signs that something is wrong are ignored by Jonah, and the price to be paid will be very expensive.
When I realized what the book was about, I started to get dizzy. It is a work that deals with many things. At first, one of the very present factors is religiosity as arbitrary in the lives of young homosexuals, the damage and trauma that bad experiences can cause.
The family ties required by non-acceptance, even helplessness and a wrong choice spiral. From a certain point in the book, there are very strong triggers of sexual violence, collective rapes, suicide and depression, among many other local themes.
Undoubtedly it is a book that, in my view, fulfills the function of bringing a narrative laden with suffering, which inevitably will cause different reactions from the reader, and not merely entertain. Therefore, because it is purposefully not a pleasant experience, it is a work that can divide opinions.
In the last 25% of the book, a constant disengagement of more and more painful events, continuous suffering and two specific moments in which I was speechless disengaged. When he believed it couldn't get worse, it got worse.
I finished “Yes, Daddy” very thoughtful, heavy, with an emotional charge that is not mine, but that putting myself in the position of different characters I ended up experiencing palpable sensations.
In fact, speaking of them, I lacked a deeper construction of the characters, a development of each one that would allow a greater connection. However, for a debut work, author Jonathan Parks-Ramage did very well.
In the future I want to read other works by the author, but I will have to investigate the content of the plot first because I don't want to go through all that suffering again anytime soon. I recommend it for those who are not sensitive to the aforementioned triggers and who adapt in a good moment of mental health.

Although starting with a gripping prologue, I sadly lost interest in Yes, Daddy. It felt like the book was trying hard to be literary, and as such, it came across overwritten. Eager to see if the miniseries adaptation goes through. I feel like having the extra details stripped away would cut to the very compelling heart of this story, a man eager to become the lover of a man twice his age and how the tables turn on him.

There was also a lot of obsession about dad bods, at least four mentions of Richard's slight protruding stomach in ten pages. No shame on that, but it read repetitively and bizarrely. My brother thought it read like a gay erotic story on Nifty.

When I heard about Yes, Daddy, I was so excited to read it! I always enjoy reading new queer books and especially thrillers. I was sucked into this book from the very first chapter and finished the entire novel within two days as it was very difficult to put down. The first 75% was very gripping and I was fully prepared to give this a 5/5 rating however the ending was very odd to me and felt like it had too much going on. It also felt oddly religious at the end in a way that I hadn't anticipated. All that being said though, I do feel like this is the kind of book that sparks a lot of interesting conversation and would be especially good for book clubs. One of the things that fascinated me about this book is how unlikable the main character, Jonah, is. He is very selfish and so destructive to almost everyone around him yet at the end of the book, he talks about how much injustice he's experienced, which I thought was ironic. I am fine with an unlikable main character though and I think if he would have been more likable, it would have changed the internal conflict I felt while reading what happened to him. Overall, very enjoyable book that I feel like I'm going to continue thinking about for quite some time. Thank you!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Massive trigger warnings for this one. MASSIVE.

This book was insanely fucked up. But it was compelling. And it does shine a light on some serious issues in a fictional setting that have some applicability to reality.

I felt really bad for the main character. He does make a lot of bad decisions, but he jumps from one brainwashing/control situation after another.

I'm not sure I liked it. I'm not sure I didn't like it. It was a hard to put down book.

I really have no idea how to rate it.

If you have a strong constitution and can handle a long list of potential triggers and some serious darkness, give this book a shot. It was well-written and, like I said before, very compelling. It made you want to keep reading. It made you want to know what was going to happen. It made you root for the victims, even when they were making bad decisions. It made you hate the abusers. It made you keep reading, knowing what was going on, seeing all the little steps the abusers were taking to isolate the main character and entrap him.

This book won't leave you happy. It's a rough, tough, heartbreaking read. But it's a good book overall.

3.5 stars rounded up.

This was a very immersive read, and I did enjoy reading it (and will probably watch the Netflix adaptation). At the same time, it was a bit dizzying, with so many themes and events competing for attention (conversion therapy and evangelical Christianity, self-loathing, ambition, rape and #metoo, etc.). I feel that this will work well when it's all drawn out over several hours of a series, but it felt a little overwhelming in the book. The book opening and cover suggested romance, and I was surprised how dark it became. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Jonah is living in NYC with the hopes to become a playwright and currently is a financially struggling waiter. He manages to meet Richard, a wealthy and famous playwright. They enter a May-December romance where Jonah is wined and dined with other successful men. A big weekend is planned at Richard's home in the Hamptons. On arrival, Jonah realizes this is a compound consisting of 4 homes. The weekend in the Hampton's becomes a summer in Hell for Jonah. He and other young men are kept captive and are sexually abused by Richard and his friends. Jonah manages to escape and he seeks a release from guilt of his part in ruining the lives of others by writing an expose which has consequences.

After reading some glowing reviews I knew I had to read this as soon as possible so I couldn’t have been happier when my request was approved. At first I thought this would be a dark sexy thriller but ended up being so much more than that, so proceed with caution if you want to read this as it contains every trigger imaginable.

The writing style was perfect, making it a compulsive read in spite of its dark themes. The characters are complex, especially Jonah, and despite his many flaws, you can’t help but root for him. I think while reading I experienced every single emotion, though for the most part I was disgusted and horrified. I haven’t been this uncomfortable reading a book since I listened to A little life, so you can get an idea of what to expect here.

My only issue was the last part and how it leaned heavily towards religion, but all in all this was a great debut and I can’t wait to see what Mr. Parks-Ramage comes with next.

4.5⭐️

What an incredible story. I want to say first off, this is not a thriller and not what I expected. However, it was such an incredible story of resiliency and coping with a lifetime of trauma.

Jonah was such an incredibly accessible character and the emotions in this work were an absolute masterpiece. My only big criticism would be in the pacing, however I feel conflicted because the time given matches well with the emotion attached. It truly felt like a personal journal, the experience felt real. There’s also one reference to a social media trend that briefly took me out of the story, but it did not ultimately affect my appreciation.

The masterpiece is in the emotional rollercoaster and if you read it, be on board for a peek into how trauma can lead to trauma that can lead to redemption or despair. Highly recommend this read if you’re in for an emotional journey.

CW: graphic rape descriptions, conversion therapy

Thank you #netgalley and #houghtonmifflinharcourt for the ARC

Wow. Jonathan Parks-Ramage's debut novel, Yes, Daddy, is thought-provoking, disturbing, and emotional commentary on the power dynamics in a relationship and how easy it is to find yourself powerless. It's a fascinating look at #MeToo from a gay man's perspective.

Jonah was raised by a religious family in a small town, where he was taught his homosexuality was something that needed to be cured. But when the therapy leads to a bigger crisis, he is able to convince his mother to let him go to graduate school, then move to NYC and pursue a career as a playwright.

Subletting a tiny room in Bushwick, working as a waiter, Jonah barely has any money or friends, and hasn't been doing much writing. When he spots a picture of famed playwright Richard Shriver, who has a fondness for handsome, muscular, younger men, Jonah formulates a plan to meet Richard and make him fall for him.

Jonah’s well-researched plan works and their relationship takes off, although Richard is a mercurial man to deal with. And when he’s invited to spend the summer in the Hamptons with Richard and his famous friends, who all live on a fancy compound, he feels like he’s finally being enveloped in a life he deserves.

But while the summer has its moments, often Jonah feels the subject of scorn and ridicule. He doesn't feel like any of Richard's friends see him as anything more than a boy-toy. Jonah notices that the compound seems to have a “staff” of young, handsome men in its “employ,” but he doesn’t get their role and they seem to tell him he doesn’t belong. But while Jonah thinks that’s motivated by jealousy, he realizes that there is something far more sinister happening at the compound, and when the dynamics of his relationship with Richard change, he sees the truth.

Yes, Daddy is a story about being victimized and how hard it can be to come to terms with that truth, it’s about revenge and the way we don’t always act in even our own best interests, it's about the role that faith plays in people's lives, and it’s a story about finding your own strength, your own self-belief and self-esteem. Parks-Ramage has written an unforgettable book, one that you’ll want—and need—to discuss.

(TW: sexual assault, violence, and thoughts of suicide)

NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt provided me with a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

Yes, Daddy publishes on May 18.

Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage is dark, haunting, bleak, twisted, uncomfortable, and compulsive. I read this book in one night and haven't stopped thinking about it since.