This book is not for the faint of heart. It is filled with content warnings – listed below (I don’t normally list them at the top, but this was one of those rare books that warranted it) – and deals with extremely complicated topics. It is emotionally complex, exhausting, and will break your heart into a million pieces. It is incredibly intense. But if you can handle the laundry list of topics, you will absolutely come out the other side changed.
Author’s Note: Origin Story depicts and discusses sensitive topics including child sexual abuse, repressed memories, self-harm and suicidality, intimate partner violence, dysphoria, misgendering, and religious homophobia.
Content Warnings: Adult Situations, Adult Language, Mental Illness, Infidelity, Violence, Suicidal Ideation, Sexual Assault, BDSM Culture, Child Abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Transphobia, Death, Domestic Abuse, Religious Ideology, AIDS
Because of these topics, this review and post also discuss some of these topics briefly. So, as I always advise, please protect your mental health. This book will be waiting for you if, and when, you are ready for it.
About the Book
What is the Poison Cure? For Peter Edelman, it’s his alter ego in the comic book he’s writing, a mysterious anti-hero who seduces and kills child abusers-a storyline that’s bringing up his own long-repressed memories. For his co-author Tyler “Tai” Wick, a genderfluid teen artist in the group foster home where Peter is employed, it’s the social workers who will deem him fit for adoption if he will suppress his female self, which they consider a split personality from his traumatic years working the streets. And for fashion photographer Julian Selkirk, who’s trying to get Peter to say “I love you,” it’s the Christian faith that offers to help him break intergenerational patterns of alcoholism and violence but at the cost of rejecting his sexuality.
Against the backdrop of late-1990s New York City sexual politics, these characters strive to redefine home and family in ways that are strong enough to contain their truths. From a Miami comic-book convention to a Christian men’s retreat in Georgia, from an elite New Age wellness center to a BDSM dungeon in Manhattan, Origin Story follows their quest to determine the nature of healing and the price we pay for it.
My Thoughts
This is one of those books that is meaningful. I definitely enjoyed it in parts. I sympathized with several characters. I, too, as I’ve mentioned before, grew up in the Deep South with extremely religious parents. I had friends get sent – and get threatened to be sent – to re-education camp. If you thought it was an urban legend, to scare little southern kids straight, I can assure it is not. My first girl crush, who after evaluated my feelings after the fact, I realized I was in love with but was terrified of that fact for so many reasons, wasn’t allowed to go to England with us on a semester abroad because they found out her secret. The fact that we’d almost kissed a handful of times and definitely cuddled in what I can now see was way-more-than a friendly way, didn’t get leaked. While incredibly loud and proud online, and among certain circles, there are many people in my real life that will never know. So, I relate to Julian, to Tyler/Tai, and to so many others.
This book is written against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic, before they really knew how it happened, when it lurked in the world like a more selective, early herald to our generations plague. That haunting villian in the background, alongside the building of the main story with peeks into the past and present through different people’s writings was such a unique and thrilling read. And, of course, the best lens was the comic book that Tai and Peter wrote together, blending their two stories – different, but similar. Two stories of loss, but with hope for the future, even when darkness almost wins.
So many complex issues, storylines, and characters are explored within this work that it will surely be something that needs to be read more than once. Though, the second reading will have to be done at a much later date because I really need one of those really light summer romcoms I’ve been reading! This one ripped my heart right out and stomped all over it a couple dozen thousand times. So, if you need me, I’ll be getting that fixed up.
I’m so grateful to the author, the publisher, and Pride Books Tours for including me in this tour. I look forward to seeing more in the future.
About the Author
Author of the novel “Two Natures” (Saddle Road Press, 2016), the poetry collections “Bullies in Love” (Little Red Tree, 2015), “A Talent for Sadness” (Turning Point, 2003), and several chapbooks. Award-winning short stories published in Iowa Review, Bayou, OSA Enizagam, and others. 2010 Poetry Fellowship from Massachusetts Cultural Council. Working on novel series about gay men’s spiritual journeys.
Amazon US: https://a.co/d/aZ4zQqH
Bookshop US: https://bookshop.org/a/25511/9798987954157
Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/09RaYeyh
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210392691-origin-story
Author Website: https://www.jendireiter.com/
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Published by Amorina Carlton. Award-winning American author, Amorina Carlton, is currently working on her first novel. You can find more about her published work and works in progress on the home page. She also serves as the PR/Marketing Lead for Ravens and Roses Publishing, and reviews books, mostly by other indie authors, here and on Bookstagram.