Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: A Taste of Agapi
SERIES: A Taste of #1
AUTHOR: Chris Ethan
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 190 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 26, 2018
BLURB:
A sweet, Greek romance that will hook you from start to finish.
Jimmy has a secret.
But when he meets Ren, he can no longer hide it.
Ren is an adventurous comic-book nerd.
He transfers to Thessaloniki, Greece in an attempt to find his place in the world.
What he gets is more than just an escape from his academic family.
Jimmy is a hard working man.
After losing his mother, he has put his heart and soul into finishing his studies and helping his dad through his financial difficulties.
When he is introduced to Ren, Jimmy initiates him into the coffee-and-chill culture of his Greek city.
But something awakens in both of them.
Something neither can tame.
Can the two boys be more than just friends?
And what is that feeling called? That feeling they can’t seem to shake off?
A Taste of Agapi is a sweet, low-angst, coming-out romance with some swearing, a little bit of geekiness, a lot of Greek culture and a happy ever after.
Grab your copy today and find out what Agapi means!
REVIEW:
One of the most places in the world I want to visit. Greece. So this excited me a bit to read it was set in Greece. It’s a beautiful country with so much history. This is a cute story. Sweet. Full of dealings with homophobia and bigotry, though. And learning to find oneself and admit to who you are.
Ren was with an exchange program with his university and it came up where he could epgo to another country for his studies. So he decided on Thessaloniki, Greece. When he gets there, he meets up with the people he’s supposed to and can’t quite decide what to think. The cultural differences are there but they seem like very nice people. Especially Jimmy. Who’s name is actually Dimitrius. I don’t get it but ok. But the problems start from the minute he gets to his apartment. The landlord changed the rules on him and is a dick, the neighbors, who happen to be classmates as well, are homophobic, bigots, constantly disturbing him so he can’t sleep, and threatening him. It’s not been fun for him. But one of his new friends takes him and it gets better until one drunken night he and Jimmy share their first kiss. It was fabulous, until the next day. Where things were strained. But it wasn’t until the second drunken kiss, that Jimmy completely cut him off, friends and all. And Ren has had enough. It’s time to go home. Thankfully, Jimmy’s friends step in but time is up for Ren anyway, right when Jimmy finally admits he’s gay and wants Ren. With Ren going home, they aren’t sure how it’s going to work when it just got off the ground.
I really liked Ren. He tried so hard to fit in. But no one was accepting him. Except for Jimmy’s friends. And it was just getting too much. Plus Jimmy was running hot and cold and Ren was really getting upset at trying to figure out what he keeps doing wrong. It’s hard. But I understood Jimmy’s point of view too. He’s been taught it’s disgusting to like me. It’s ingrained in everything around him but he can’t help but like Ren. It’s so complicated and so hard to decide what to do.
I think for me the hardest part about the book was that it did seem to paint a lot of Greek people in a bad light. Like they are all lazy and do nothing but drink coffee or club, and the other half are homophobic people. I do understand in a lot of countries it’s still not acceptable. And punishments for it are bad. So it’s kind of a catch 22. I get both sides and life is not always a fairy tale despite an HEA. But it’s not a bad book. See what you think.
RATING: 
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