Reviewed by Taylin

TITLE: The Boy Who Loved Wicked

AUTHOR: C P Harris

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 245 Pages

RELEASE DATE: March 4, 2021

BLURB:

“The madness of love is the greatest of heaven’s blessings.” ~Plato 

Day 1 of senior year at Denwin High was not supposed to end with my thoughts consumed by the new AP Philosophy teacher. I’d impatiently waited three years to take the course, but from the moment he strode in with his sad eyes that mirrored my own, I was intrigued by only him.

Dr. Sebastian Wicked.

Intrigue turned into obsession, and common interests set the stage for a tentative friendship with the enigmatic man. In time, every line put in place became blurred as what we shared sparked the flames of a forbidden affair. An affair that should’ve never been, a wrong that the universe sought to right.

There was only one possible outcome—we were both going to burn. Would our love rise up from the ashes? Or would it smolder in the ruins?

My name is Phoenix Michaelson, and I am the boy who loved Wicked. 

REVIEW:

Philosophy – How do you know who you are if you don’t know who you are not? Love is not the cure for life’s pains. Those are two of many aspects of life that Phoenix and Sebastian must answer. The moment Dr. Sebastian Wicked walked into the room, Phoenix was entranced and somewhat obsessed. The man was beautiful, but his soul spoke to Phoenix, too. They bonded over philosophy, but surely, they could never be together when one was the teacher and the other his student.

Wow-what a story. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions. So, before I get into the tale itself, I’ll get the technical aspects and cast details out of the way.

The story is told in the first person from the viewpoints of Phoenix and Sebastian. Phoenix is a member of the geek squad. They are fantastic friends, brutal in their assessments of situations, and have some interesting quirks. Sebastian is a lonesome soul surrounded by a world of hurt.

Technically, everything is good. There are some unqualified autonomous body parts that are generally an editorial no-no. E.g., ‘my arms tightened around him,’ which without a qualifier like, ‘as if they had a mind of their own,’ should be, ‘I tightened my arms around him.’ Other than things like that, nothing caught my eye as being drastically wrong.

The story starts with Phoenix recounting melancholy memories of a great dad – this sets the tone of the story as a tearjerker. Yes, I cried more than once. But the geek squad provides moments of levity. Also, the philosophical teachings of Plato and Socrates play a huge part in Phoenix and Sebastian’s journey, which also gave me much to reflect upon.

Both men are starved for affection, have suffered loss, and they bond over debating subjects like Shakespeare and other topics. The author spends some time establishing the ‘matched souls in different body’s aspects of the story and goes to great lengths to show the mental anguish of entering into such a relationship. I was thankful for this because the parent in me found parts awkward to read. Not because of the writing style. But because I felt what was happening between them was wrong, and although Phoenix is rather determined, I wanted to chastise Sebastian. I guess it is ingrained that some styles of relationship are more acceptable later in life than earlier. Nevertheless, I wanted them to be together, and I couldn’t stop reading until I finished.

The past plays a large role in the story, too. In their individual ways, Phoenix and Sebastian are broken. They must come to terms with the past and make peace in the present before moving forward, which creates some wonderfully written angst. The story contains loss, guilt, and healing. Sebastian doesn’t believe that he deserves anything good.

By the end, the cleverly written awkwardness of reading the early chapters disappeared, and I was a pile of goo, firmly raising my pom-poms for team Phoenix and Sebastian.

I doubt this will be a story that I’ll repeat read because the supermarket will run out of tissues, but I feel privileged to have read it.

RATING:

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