Powerful men, desperate young adults, and the twisted lies that take them from beside the pool partying to a drug-filled dungeon. Yes, Daddy follows Jonah, an aspiring, but poor writer, as he takes his chance to become the newest hot young thing on famed Richard Shriver's arm. He meets to all of Richard's influential friends, is spoiled with money and clothing, and soon taken on a summer trip he could only dream of before. But what started as a passionate, tumultuous relationship soon turns into a nightmare Jonah could never have imagined.

I am a dark reads lover, most often I love to see a novel from a f'ed up villain perspective, but I also love the journey of an individual into and out of the darkness. Yes, Daddy is one of the darkest, but also provocative, relevant, and heavy novels I have had the pleasure of reading. A work of fiction that captures true-to-life experiences in an honest, gritty way. Jonathan Parks-Ramage doesn't hide away from the raw, harsh truth of evil sugar daddies and the young men they prey upon. It's a me too novel at a time when society still shies away from recognizing that rape and abuse affects young men, too. It also touches on the negative religious upbringings that many LGBTQ+ come from and the continuing fear and self-hatred that follows.

What really works for this novel though, beyond being so relatable, is how Parks-Ramage presents the story. His writing is descriptive and we are given glimpses into the past and present from the perspective of Jonah. His emotions spill from the page, leaving me cringing in horror at times and literally crying the entire last 25% of the book. More than a thriller, Parks-Ramage delivers a gay gothic drama that is both heartbreaking and hopeful. From brazen fun to vicious cruelty, Yes, Daddy is a compelling, powerful read that I cannot recommend enough. If you can handle the darkness, this is the book to dive into.

4.5 stars

I knew Yes, Daddy was going to a challenging yet rewarding read when I started crying three pages into the prologue. Although at times extremely bleak, Parks-Ramage’s prose is always lyrical and it’s clear he wrote his ass off in this stunning debut. I found myself highlighting so many passages that are beautiful, haunting, or spoke to me. I won’t be the first to make the comparison, but if you thought highly of My Dark Vanessa, then you should definitely check out Yes, Daddy. Both are literary fiction narratives with detailed character studies and each exploring power dynamics, victimhood and complicity nuances, and the Me Too movement.

When readers are first introduced to Jonah, he has already survived a great deal of trauma due to his Evangelical upbringing. Forced into conversion therapy by his preacher father, Jonah learns to hate himself and his gay identity. Because of this, he doesn’t believe he is worthy of love nor anything better than being guilt-tripped by his mother for wrecking their family or putting up with workplace abuse. It isn’t difficult to consider why later Jonah so willingly enters a toxic relationship with Richard, a man whose love he so badly wants to win by pleasing him.

Prone to tempers and belittling Jonah when a bad mood strikes, Richard soon reveals himself as an abusive partner, although Jonah is all too happy to receive Richard’s makeup affection and gifts. Even besides the fact that Jonah is so hungry for the love he never felt from his parents, he is also penniless and lacking any friends or family, so to speak. If he isn’t dating Richard, he has nothing, a fact Jonah reminds himself often, even following his first horrifying assault at the Hamptons estate. Eventually, this justification dissolves into just ‘this feels normal,’ and finally, ‘this is normal,’ once the abuse reaches an all-encompassing point in his life.

I absolutely loved this book and only knocked down half a star for its conclusion, which didn’t quite work for me in some aspects, but definitely did not color my overall perception of the book and still think Yes, Daddy is amazing. While Jonah’s abuse and trauma at the hands of Richard is ugly and disturbing, the novel is overall hopeful as it chronicles Jonah’s resolve (whether wearing thin or not) to survive. Once exiting the situation, Jonah doesn’t always make the right decisions for his mental health or act as an ally for other abuse survivors but never did I grow to dislike him. It is through the author’s great care in presenting the subject matter, as well as the complexities of Jonah that readers are always able to empathize and identify with him.

It is not until near the end of the book that Jonah begins to realize the damage he has inflicted upon himself by self-medicating and therefore hindering his recovery, as well as on others for not speaking out against his abuser. It is through forgiving himself and seeking therapy that he is able to does conclude the novel in a much happier place than where it began.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for a review.

This was an extremely well written and complex debut!

Unfortunately I just didn’t love it as much as I was hoping but this is partially my fault. I went in with such high expectations and thought it was more of a dark and juicy thriller than what it actually was; an intricate and emotional journey of redemption and self discovery.

I appreciated and applaud the way it addresses the #MeToo movement and the long term consequences and trauma experienced by victims of abuse.

Was it still a good book? Absolutely. Jonah was so well developed as a character and I was totally immersed in his life feeling his pain and struggles as I continued to read. It was intriguing and had a great story and message that will leave you still thinking about it long after you finish.

This ones out today and I recommend everyone give it a shot as it explores some pretty heavy and important topics!

3.5 rounded to 4 ⭐️ for goodreads

Yes, Daddy grapples with sexuality and spirituality alignment in a Hampton’s horror show. It has tragedy, trauma and toxic masculinity. It will be like no other book you will read this summer.

The book follows 20 something Jonah, who was raised in an evangelical household in Illinois. He confesses to his megachurch pastor father that he’s gay. Jonah goes through conversion therapy, which leads to a discovery that transforms him and his family forever. Soon after, he moves to NYC to pursue his playwriting dream. He stalks and meets his older, successful playwright crush, Richard. The two start dating, and in the summer of 2009, Richard invites Jonah to stay with him at his Hampton’s compound with his other successful Broadway friends. Jonah’s summer to be remembered quickly turns into a summer he will never forget …

About halfway into the novel the inciting incident happens and Richard gives Jonah a choice. The proposition IMO wasn’t believable enough for me and I started to turn on Jonah. It took several chapters for me to get back on his support train. I would have rated this book higher if it wasn’t for this scene.

The novel moves at an extremely fast pace and spans almost 10 years. It never drags and it will have you guessing which direction Ramage will take Jonah next. There are a lot of emotionally charged scenes that include abuse and rape, which some will argue are gratutious. This book also has a lot of commentary about evangelical Christians in regards to sexaul orientation.

This title won’t be for everyone, BUT if you are interested in a queer thriller you should definitely add this one to your TBR.

The story follows Jonah, a young barely-making-it-by New Yorker trying to catch his big break and Richard, a successful award winning playwright. The two form a relationship that quickly moves from the city into the Hamptons and that’s when things take a turn for the worse.

Talk about a book hangover! I was shooketh! I didn’t know how to feel once I was finished. Jonah was a little problematic for me and his behavior at times was atrocious. But once Jonah became a victim it was hard for me to sympathize for him. Of course he didn’t deserve the abuse but he also didn’t seem to want to hold the men accountable even if it meant saving someone’s life. Jonah was very broken and whether the author intended him to be unlikeable it’s up for debate. I still very much enjoyed this because it definitely makes you question what you would do to survive. The ending for me took a little bit of a hard left turn that ultimately provided some sort of healing which I could appreciate.

Yes, Daddy shines the spotlight on the subject that is all too familiar; older, rich men who abuse their power on younger victims. In this case we’re exploring a MeToo story in the gay community and it’s not for the faint of heart.

Rating this 4.5 stars

Even after all of the reviews I read for Yes, Daddy, I was still not prepared for this book. This started as a very dark thriller where I found myself holding my breath as I read, hoping that our main character, Jonah Keller, would make it through unscathed.

As the story progressed, it seemed to become less of a thriller and more of a narrative around the effects of trauma. Reading Yes, Daddy felt like peeling back the layers of the story to discover there was more to grapple with the further in we went.

Jonah’s journey through the story is often painful, but explores tough topics in a brutal, eye-opening way. Yes, Daddy reminds readers that trauma follows us and is something we need to grieve and understand in order to fully process.

I had so many mixed emotions while reading this. I loved the writing and thought the way that the author framed the narrative was absolutely perfect. This was a book I didn’t want to put down, but simultaneously didn’t know if I could keep reading.

There are a lot of triggering events in this book, so I encourage you to check out the content warnings on my review and others. Please be sure to also check out #ownvoices reviews as well!

CW: sex, rape, drugs, alcohol, domination, homophobia, conversion therapy, suicidal thoughts, suicide, trauma, arson.

Jonathan Parks-Ramage took us for a ride with his debut Yes, Daddy. With the title and premise, I had an idea about how things might turn out, but I was not prepared for the reality of this book. Steamy and brutal at the same time and thought provoking with the themes of sexual assault and the use of social media. The way Jonathan wrote this book was refreshing to me. A crucial choice was made in the structure that adds a very personal touch to the story. The setting of the book of course stood out to me. While books set in NYC are common, to have one set on (yes, on) Long Island is very exciting to me. And yes, Hicksville is a real place here.
Jonah’s life takes many turns, especially in the second half of the book, but it made me think of the many turns a person’s life can actually take in such a short period of time. As my 30th birthday is approaching this summer, I am reminded of the turns I went down, and how I somehow ended up as a semi-functioning human adult.
Jonathan packs some incredibly tough topics into Yes, Daddy that many queer people will be able to relate to. Buckle up kids, and make sure you have a swimsuit.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. It is set to be published in May 2021.

"Yes, Daddy" by Jonathan Parks-Ramage is a difficult book to review, just as it was a difficult book to read.
I can't say I enjoyed it in the true sense of the word because the themes are simply too dark and the story too full of despair, but it was certainly a gripping read, and beautifully written.
The characters - including the protagonist - are chillingly horrifying, the plot is perfectly crafted and the language is deliciously refined.
The only thing that didn't sit well with me is the huge gap that separates the first and second part of the book, not only with regards to the topics covered but also with regards to the pacing (the first part starts off slow then steadily speeds up, the second one brings the pace back down and never accelerates again). The atmospheres are also completely different, so much so that the reader gets the impression to be catapulted into a completely different novel.
I have to admit, I liked the first half (the gothic/thriller part) much better than the second one (the drama/redemption part), because the former felt raw and authentic, whereas the latter felt fake, like wishful thinking. If the novel had only dealt with the events of 2009 (or maybe 2009-2011) I would have given it 5 stars.
Anyway, I'm definitely intrigued by the author's style and I'll be sure to check out his next works, as well as the Amazon adaptation of this novel.

A page-turner which I could put down. The plot didn't let up at all in emotional gut-punches and brutality. This was a novel that interrogated internalized homophobia in a brutal unrelenting fashion. I'm not one to read gothic novels, and especially not psychological thrillers. I appreciated that there was a real purpose in the sexual violence, in the novels unpacking of queer trauma.

YES, DADDY by Jonathan Parks-Ramage tells the story of Jonah, a young, gay, aspiring playwright in New York, who, like so many young artists in New York, is in a desperate financial situation. With painstaking precision, he leverages his youth and sex appeal for a shortcut to New York theatre's inner circle and gets much more than he anticipated. What starts as a dream scenario soon takes a dark turn that will have far-reaching consequences.

After a chilling prologue, YES, DADDY takes the reader on a brooding and often brutal thrill ride. The clever narrative device and the heaviness of the language draw the reader into this world of desperation, sexual tension, and power plays. The first half of the book breezes by in a whirl of eerie events, odd characters, unabashed gayness, sexuality, and brutality, at times verging on camp.

The second half is more of a surprise. Several years after the events in the first half of the book, Jonah has a more personal reckoning with what happened to him in the first half of the book, the others involved, and the childhood traumas that led him into such a dire situation. Mostly absent of thrills, the rest of the book moves more slowly and delves into societal critique around social media, mental health, religion, sexuality, and rape culture, particularly in regards to the gay community. Expect a more human story tinged with both despair and hope.

I have to say the marketing for this book has done it somewhat of a disservice. Readers expecting a dark and sexy thriller will be in for a surprise, possibly a disappointment, with the back half of the book. YES, DADDY is more of genre-bending story, which I think is extremely well done. The ideas and themes here are not exactly new, thanks to the #metoo movement, but they're presented in a wholly original way. I hope readers are pleasantly surprised the way I was.

Non-exhaustive list of content warnings: rape, physical violence, underage drinking, sexual assault, kidnapping, infidelity, drug use, cruelty to animals, suicide, suicidal ideation, religious fanaticism

Yes, Daddy follows Jonah, a young ambitious gay man who just moved to NYC and is trying to make it as a playwright. Jonah meets Richard, a very rich and successful playwright. Jonah is lured into Richard’s glamorous life. They start a passionate love affair and Jonah thinks this could be his big break as a playwright. What he gets is a summer of horrific and traumatic experiences on Richard’s Idyllic Hamptons compound that drastically impacts the rest of his life.

I found this dark and twisted story so compulsively readable. It was very interesting to hear a Me Too story from a young gay man’s perspective. The toxic power dynamic between young men and older established men is sadly very prevalent in our culture, yet can be overlooked. This story felt very raw and unfortunately realistic. It touches upon religion and homophobia, sexual assault and the media, and toxic/abusive relationships in general. I found Jonah’s character to be very dynamic and well developed. We witnessed him endure so much trauma throughout his life but also get to see him navigate processing everything and grow.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Jonah Keller would be an unsympathetic narrator of Jonathan Parks-Ramage’s debut novel, Yes, Daddy, but for the circumstances by which his life begins to spiral into chaos, and the resulting horrors that spring from it. This book asks much of its readers as we examine what is and is not understandable, what is and is not forgivable, who is redeemable, and how deeply our empathy runs for a character who consciously defies what are, by and large, considered moral and ethical absolutes, principles that should be black and white but which are clouded by gray areas that mean we question if he was pushed into the seemingly bottomless well of poor choices he makes, or if he deliberately jumps in with eyes wide open.

Jonah’s story is, at its heart, a cautionary tale about a son whose downfall comes at the hands of his parents’ Evangelical fervor and their belief that he must “pray the gay away” to redeem his soul and earn his eternal salvation. The ways in which Jonah’s mother and father betray their son’s trust for his own perceived good, not to mention how Jonah is manipulated by their chosen method of “help”, leaves the family wrecked beyond reconciliation, the result of which is the impetus for every bad decision Jonah makes from then onward. Whether this exonerates Jonah in the end is for the reader to decide.

The cast of characters surrounding Jonah are, with few exceptions, despicable creatures. Frankly, that’s putting it mildly. Jonah’s ambitions to become a successful playwright means he’ll stop at nothing to achieve that dream, which includes fleeing to New York City and subsequently seducing the much older Richard Shriver, a famous playwright himself, who can connect Jonah to the right people to help him achieve his goal. To say Jonah jumped from the proverbial frying pan into the fire is much too cliched for the series of events that occur once he has firmly ingratiated himself to the man he sees as his ticket to fame and fortune. Jonah’s plan comes very near to ruining his life as he is used and abused and abused some more, until his already depleted sense of self-worth is exhausted.

To say Yes, Daddy is a story about people with Mommy and Daddy issues might be oversimplifying the plot, and yet there isn’t a healthy or fully-functioning parent/child relationship in it, which imparts a certain level of insight into the dysfunction of its characters while not at all excusing the vile and horrendous situations Jonah finds himself in, or the horrors perpetrated against him when Richard reveals a darker side to his character. Jonah accompanies Richard to his Southampton compound for what was supposed to be a romantic getaway and a relaxing retreat from the city. The crimes committed on Jonah there—and to the other young men acting as house staff—means strong Content Warnings should be heeded for rape, conversion therapy, human trafficking, abuse, suicide, and, least of all, gaslighting. To say that the people who exist in Richard’s sphere are a pack of psychopathic narcissists bereft of anything resembling basic humanity and decency is not overstating the truth in the slightest.

Parks-Ramage delivers a story in Yes, Daddy that’s part horror, part psychological thriller, and part cautionary tale about the sort of damage that can be wrought by elevating religion to the point of rejecting compassion and reason. I was by turns fascinated and repulsed by both the characters and the story, which is to say the author has penned a successful debut that drew me in, kept me in conflict, made me feel things I didn’t necessarily want to feel, and left some evil deeds unsatisfyingly unpunished. In the end, however, there is redemption, albeit by way of so much loss and destruction, and a reconciliation that one could feasibly call a happy ending if looking at things from a hopeful point of view.

Wow what to say about this book! This was heavy and dark and very emotional. I felt like the characters were developed so well and i felt for Jonah. Every emotion he felt was conveyed on the page and he felt like a real person. They all did. Even the minor characters had a story and it’s like you could picture yourself there with them throughout the whole thing. I felt angry, hurt, sad, heartbroken!

Jonah endured so much in his life and i just wanted to hold him and tell him it’s ok. This is a devastating story but it’s real and raw and unfortunately things like this happen far too often and victims are always put on trial just as much as the monster committing the crimes & i think that’s a powerful message in the book. The public can be so damning and hard to face to where a victim can’t get justice or they’re too scared to try.

I feel like this is a book that will stick with me and haunt me for a long time.

🌟Book Review🌟 Yes Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5. I was not prepared for this dark and very unsettling debut.

There is a lot to like about this story of an aspiring actor who begins dating a famous, older playwright, only to discover that he is a mega-predator in the vein of Harvey Weinstein (but even worse). The author does a nice job of layering in insights about growing up gay in a religious family, trying to make it in the entertainment industry, and celebrity click-bait culture. Ultimately, though, I was not the right reader for this. I have discovered that stories about abuse are really, really hard for me to read and I should have paid more attention to the multiple trigger warnings on this one (rape, physical and sexual assault, abusive relationships, accusations of incest, human trafficking, suicide, drug use, homophobia, conversion therapy). The story was darker than I was expecting it to be based on its marketing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to Instagram (@sanfranliterarygal) and Goodreads.

I thought the book was interesting to read. Some of the more graphic parts were unsettling, but that was the point. The author did well to make me feel unsettled at the beginning, horror in the middle and conflicted at the end, I liked that I wasn’t sure how I felt about the main character. He wasn’t a hero but a protagonist. However, the end fell a bit flat for me.

This is exactly what I expected based on the description. I was hoping for something innovative in this storyline.

I found this book extremely compelling. I could not stop reading and finished it in one day. It was very well-written and I found Jonah's internal dialogue especially compelling. The plot was paced well and scary.

I also think the author did a good job addressing many of the serious issues Jonah faced and the different ways victims of sexual assault care react/behave. I did start to feel that there were maybe too many traumatic incidents towards the end of the book (for example, the rape by Matt).

Overall, I think this is a well-paced, well-written compelling book and I would read future work by this author.

I had a really hard time rating this one. The writing is so good it borders on beautiful but I think this just isn't my kind of story. It was really heartbreaking while also being really heavy and dark. For being less than 300 pages, there were trigger warnings abound: rape, alcoholism, drugs, homophobia, conversion therapy, religion, BDSM, sexual assault, murder, abusive relationships...It definitely is for a very particular audience.

TW: sexual harassment, sexual slavery, sexual abuse, drug use and addiction, pedophilia, mentions of incest, conversion therapy, violence, depression, suicide.
Thanks to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for this ARC.
Yes, Daddy follows the story of Jonah Keller, a waiter in NYC with an evangelical background that dreams of becoming a playwright, but can't even pay his rent. That's when Jonah discovers Richard Shriver, a famous (and rich) playwright that can make his dreams come true.
Jonah orchestrates their meeting and they engage on a passionate affair.
On summer, Richard invites Jonah to his estate in the Hamptons with some of his closest friends. That's when Jonah starts to realize there's something wrong: young waiters with bruises on their bodies, one of Richard's friends, Sandro's underage boyfriend, but decides to ignore it since Richard's "little family" is everything he has. But it doesn't take long for Jonah to get thrown out of Richard's inner circle and becomes one of the waiters in Hamptons.
Yes, Daddy was really different from what I expected but it was not disappointing. The narration was fluid, the narration kept me hooked and I think the chapters were perfectly divided. I ended up reading half of the book in one night. Even though I do understand the reason of the amount of graphic scenes but still felt so hard to read it. Still, I have to praise Jonathan Parks-Ramage writing, I just couldn't stop reading it once I started the book. Yes, Daddy is an amazing book but I don't think I'd have the strength to read it all again.

3.5/5.0 ⭐

This book put me through the wringer and I do not say that lightly. Trigger warnings for <spoiler> Rape, Conversion Therapy, Sexual abuse, indentured servitude, suicide & drug abuse. </spoiler>.

I should've known that this was not going to be a fun escapist dive into "daddy-boy" dynamics the highly misleading title suggests after reading the prologue. The prologue that, after finishing, had me taking a step back to calm my raging temper because I thought, "f&ck that narrator for real" .

However, as I continued to read on (because why not?), I realised that this was a dark, deeply disturbing and tragic story of a young man that had to endure nightmarish things, just for the chance to experience a sense of belonging and acceptance.

Also, I read the things that kept happening, even in places one was supposed to be "safe", I went from wanting nothing to do with our protagonist, to pitying, sympathising and finally actually rooting for him to get help for the horrors he'd been through. Yes, some of these were due to his own actions or inactions but when trauma comes into the equation, it's difficult to place blame solely on a person.

Writing-wise, this was very well done with the story managing to keep me hooked, even at the horrifying moments I wanted to give up. The structure of the book also helped with the flow of the storytelling and even with the tentative ending, I felt it was realistic enough to make me satisfied.

Very well done to this debut author!!