Book Review
It Begins
By Eule Grey
Cover art by Felix Sadler
“Maybe I’m dangerous.”
It Begins hooked me immediately into its mystery, which manages to be both sexy and creepy. Unreliable narrators Sid and Byron do their best to cling to the men they love in order to escape loneliness, confusion, and the horror behind it all: the ghost of an unloved man, trapped in a room deep in Oxford University. The sex is visceral and so are the scares, and the tension in the book never lets up. The author answers all questions at the end, which I found very satisfying.
Check out It Begins for an exploration of some very unhealthy relationships contrasted with some remarkably good ones: romantic, platonic, and familial. Obsession and possession in the book are both a damning influence and the escape from it, depending on who’s pulling the strings. It’s a murky, frightening, at times disturbing story where anybody who wants a happily ever after is going to have to fight like hell for it.
It Begins
Byron, PhD student and waistcoat admirer, knows about yearning and betrayal. It’s been four years since the love of his life, Ruben, walked off without explanation. Byron dreams of midnight sex he can’t fully remember and a beloved man with dancing eyes. If only Ruben would return… But life moves on. At least it did until you-know-who unexpectedly pitches a tent in the garden, provoking ghosts from the past as well as Byron’s aching heart.
Halloween draws close, and with it comes a rollercoaster ride of sex, fear, and love. At the back of their minds, a chilling, familiar voice reminds Byron and Ruben of a game from long ago and a pact that can’t be abandoned or left unfinished.
True love never dies.
Sign up for Dannye’s free monthly newsletter and never miss a book review!