Reviewed by Valerie 

TITLE: Force Majeure

AUTHOR: Sophia Soames

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 114 pages

RELEASE DATE: July 15, 2022

BLURB:

Oakley Hoffman is a walking, talking natural disaster. Not only does he seem to be the only functioning adult in his family, but he also stomps around creating irrational earthquakes with every badly thought-out ridiculous move he makes. He barely survived lockdown, and with life returning to something that vaguely resembles normal, Oakley has landed himself an inconvenient infatuation with his former best friend. Well, if he’s totally honest, he’s probably nursed that crush for years. Yet, this time around, infatuation has brought a bad streak of jealousy to boot.

REVIEW:   

Force Majeure is a lovely tale of two young, complicated, inexperienced boys who grow from childhood friends to lovers to adult partners. One deals with anger and jealousy issues while the other struggles with their gender identity and self-acceptance. Together they’re emotionally codependent. This is a book all about the characters and what wonderful characters they are.

Oakley and Cem are childhood friends who live in the same building. Oakley has long crushed on Cem but their friendship has been hot and cold over the years. But even when they weren’t close, they were still the constants in each other’s life.

Oakley thinks Cem is rejecting his friendship and the possibility of something more between them. He feels he’s not good enough and that he never fits in with Cem and his friends. In actuality, though, Cem is sidetracked by self-loathing and can’t figure out who he’s supposed to be. He’s confused and only feels like his true self when he’s with Oakley, who makes him feel safe. He does, in fact, have romantic feelings for Oakley; he loves him. Oh, how I love young love with all its emotional highs and lows.

Oakley’s anger, jealousy and insecurity threaten to ruin their budding relationship. He needs to learn not to let fear take over his life. When he can trust in Cem’s feelings for him, he’s such an important calming influence for Cem. He fully embraces Cem’s non-binary identity and through his acceptance, Cem’s able to love himself. I must say that Cem’s mother’s acceptance of her son is heartwarming. She is the biggest cheerleader for them being boyfriends.

Oakley and Cem are such lovable characters. They feel so human and I find that very appealing. Sophia Soames has a unique, beautiful writing style that is a constant in all her books. I love the quirkiness of her writing; in this instance, it feels like a stream of consciousness, living inside Oakley’s head with his tumultuous thoughts. I would’ve enjoyed a dual point of view because I loved Cem so much and found his struggles compelling.

Force Majeure is a fantastic love story with a very satisfying epilogue set a few years in the future, showing the men as more self-assured adults fully devoted to each other. Soames blesses them with a sweet happily ever after. This novella is the perfect length for a one sitting read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

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