Reviewed by Stephen K.
TITLE: Tik Tok No
SERIES: Friends Zone #1
AUTHOR: Lucy Ravens
PUBLISHER: Heidrich Author Services
LENGTH: 98 Pages
RELEASE DATE: February 23, 2021
BLURB:
Will
Lucas Bentley has been in my life almost as long as I can remember.
The boy next door. My sister’s short fling. My best friend.
And while we have been inseparable like brothers for years now, I have been loving him at a distance in my heart this whole time. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s a tatted, skateboarding bad boy from my dreams.
Now that we’re adults, I want to be out of the friend zone, but after putting myself there for damn near 20 years, I’m not sure he will ever see me another way.
So, like the love sick fool I am, I’m going to show him how I feel with an audience of thousands and hope I don’t crash and burn back into the friend zone.
If you love it when best friends become more, big romantic gestures, a new kind of bromance, and lots of sarcasm, scroll up to start the first book in the Friend Zone series!
REVIEW:
Lucy Ravens tells a good story here. Problem is, she tells it somewhat ineptly. Will is a young aspiring MMA fighter, the straight-identified only son in the Fairchild family. The Fairchilds, Will , his sister Sharon, and their parents have sort of adopted the neighbor kid, Lucas, the son of a single mother who never had her life in order enough to spare time for him. Lucas even dated Sharon briefly before “figuring out” he was gay. Aspiring film-maker Lucas’s gender preference is an open secret and while the Fairchilds have been accepting about that, he’s worried that they may not be so understanding if it becomes known that he’s been crushing on their only son for pretty much… ever.
Strangely, when Will decides that he reciprocates those feelings and makes a grand gesture to reveal this to Lucas, Lucas reacts badly and their whole relationship is imperiled. How will the MMA world react to having a gay fighter? How will the Fairchilds react?
While these are valid concerns, I couldn’t get my head around Lucas’s reaction. Will’s decision to make the grand gesture does seem over-the top, but Lucas’s immediate angry reaction seems unmotivated and incomprehensible to me. Yes, the author spends the next few segments explaining/justifying the reaction but I’d rather not be jerked that forcefully out of my willing suspension of disbelief. In my experience, friends who’ve grown up together develop a means of communication and an understanding of how each other might react that might not make dramatic fiction, but is all the same satisfying to read when well done.
This book also suffered from inexpert changes in POV between the two young men. Often we see He said/She said (or on our case He said/He Said) POVs alternate between chapters. Here the author sometimes has two chapters in a row from the same POV. While there’s nothing inherently wrong in that, it did add to my confusion. Instead of being swept along by the story, I was continually trying to remember…”which character is the previously straight one and which character is the openly gay one again?” Pronouns in M/M fiction can be unclear and skillful use in such prose takes some mastery in order to maintain clarity while not getting in the way of the story. This author failed in this aspect enough that it further interrupted the story for me.
Another issue for me with this title might be termed “data dumping.” At several points in the story, where I would have expected dialogue between the two characters, I found large chunks of back-story (sometimes not directly related to what the two MCs were talking about) that might have been skillfully woven into a more engaging story. Instead I’m confronted with chunks of story that don’t seem like they belong where they are in the narrative. It’s sort of the literary equivalent of finding uncooked bits in what might otherwise be a satisfying stew. It certainly interrupted the “movie in my head” that all really good books can create.
Unfortunately I cannot recommend this tale to people who read for pleasure. At several points I found myself checking to see how much more there was to read. When that happens in a 98 page book, that’s indicative of a problem. I would recommend it to screen-writers in search of a good story to adapt into a good short film or even a movie. The characters are engaging, the situation would resonate with many folks and young love and coming out are evergreen subjects for film & TV. There’s a good story here. Unfortunately, it’s just not the one set down by this author in its current form.
RATING: 
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