Reviewed by Donna

TITLE: Escaping Indigo

SERIES: Escaping Indigo #1

AUTHOR: Eli Lang

PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing

LENGTH: 221 Pages

RELEASE DATE: July 17, 2017

BLURB:

Micah thought he’d always be in a band. All he ever wanted was to play drums and make great music, but when his best friend and bandmate passes away, Micah is left adrift. The thing that’s always lifted him up is now a reminder of everything he’s lost.

In an attempt to put his life back together, Micah takes a job as roadie for his favorite band, Escaping Indigo. He’s always admired the lead singer, Bellamy. On stage, Bellamy is confident, glittery, and radiant. But as the two grow closer, Micah realizes that in person, Bellamy is quiet, introspective, and a little uncertain. And that’s the person Micah is falling for.

Micah is determined to know all of Bellamy, both the rock star side and the side hidden from the audience, the side that creates music that touches Micah’s heart. Bellamy has secrets of his own, though, things he doesn’t want to share with anyone. And trying to uncover Bellamy’s truths might be the thing that ends up pushing him away.

REVIEW:

I think the blurb for this story is pretty vague. You know that you’re going to be reading a story about a rockstar and his roadie, but you don’t get any real indication of what the conflict is going to be. And that’s fine, that’s not a complaint. Sometimes I like to go into a story having no idea what I’m in for – although occasionally that can end badly. What this story delivered wasn’t what I was expecting. If you’re looking for one of the usual mega-star, body guards, stalker fans, and death threats type books, then you aren’t going to find that here. Instead, for all that one of the characters was a semi-famous musician, this is actually a quiet sort of romance. And I enjoyed it immensely.

Micah is a roadie for his favourite band, Escaping Indigo. His dream had always been to play in his own band with his best friend, Eric. But Eric died, and Micah’s dream died along with him. Eric’s older brother demands that Micah drag himself out of bed and get back on with living his life, which is how Micah finds himself on a tour bus with sexy lead singer Bellamy and his bandmates.

The story is told from solely from Micah’s point of view, and while sometimes I prefer the perspectives of both main characters, Micah’s angst was enough here. What the blurb doesn’t tell the reader, and what I think readers need to know, is that this book focuses on mental health issues. To be honest, the direction this story took wasn’t an issue for me. I was surprised that it was heavy on the mental health issues, but like I said, I enjoyed it. However after checking out other reviews on this book, I can see that many readers weren’t happy with the fact that they didn’t get what they were expecting. So I hope no one sees it as a spoiler – it really isn’t – but I thought I’d best mention it in my review. While Micah is struggling to deal with the loss of his friend, Bellamy is struggling to get through life dealing with anxiety and depression. The angst isn’t heavy, but there’s a constant feeling of sorrow throughout the story.

What stood out for me in this book was the level of grief that Micah experienced at the loss of his friend. Usually authors go with a lover or even a family member if they’re going to portray grief to that depth and it was just a nice change that Micah hadn’t been secretly pining after Eric for all those years. As for Bellamy’s issues, well, I’m undecided how I feel about how they’re dealt with. If a character has a physical disability and it’s not treated as a big deal, I think it’s great. But when it comes to mental health problems…I don’t know. I felt like it was kind of ignored, when that’s really dangerous. And I also realize that just because the characters chose to largely ignore the problem doesn’t mean that the author agrees with their actions…hell, I’m torn on this. I guess it’s something that readers will have to judge for themselves.

This story is the definition of slow burn. While the two characters are already acquaintances from the beginning of the book, they slowly become friends and confidants before they explore anything more. Much of the story is spent in conversation between the two men.

I realize I’ve made this story seem pretty depressing, and I guess it was to some extent, but there’s also a strong feeling of hope that Micah and Bellamy could be what each other needs to deal with their issues.

This is one story that I know I’ll be reading again, and I can’t wait to get into the rest of the series.

RATING:

BUY LINK:

Riptide Publishing

Amazon