Review: Denying Yourself by Silvia Violet

Denying Yourself by Silvia Violet
Dreamspinner Press
Novel: 205pgs
3 Pants Off

Blurb:
Matt and Shane both have secrets. Matt never believed he was anything but straight, yet he’s increasingly attracted to his best friend. Shane is comfortable with being gay, but when he discovers he’s part werewolf, he hides that part of himself, fearing Matt’s reaction. Suffocated by his uptight parents and conservative hometown, Shane begs Matt to run away with him.

But starting over doesn’t help. Matt still denies his desires, and Shane abuses alcohol to dampen his wolfish urges. When Matt breaks down and kisses Shane, the pent-up passion proves too much for Shane’s self-control, and his wolf gets free. Horrified, Shane flees—into deeper trouble. Before they can hope to accept each other, Shane and Matt must accept themselves.

Review
Matt and Shane are best friends who live in a small town. Matt is straight and Shane is gay but that doesn't stop them from being close friends, only problem is that Shane is wildly attracted to Matt and its causing a few problems for him. So Shane gets lost in drinking and partying, also he hasn't been feeling like himself for quite some time. It’s like he wants to crawl out of skin, and controlling his urges almost seems impossible. So Shane begins to distance himself from Matt before he makes a mistake, like attacking his friend and ripping his pants off.

But it all changes when they run away together, and Shane begins a worst sort of downward spiral. He's drinking a lot more and dealing with the fact that he is also a werewolf; who knew? Things start to look up when it seems Matt shares his feelings and they get consumed in this fiery desire, it’s like the one thing Shane has wanted is finally coming true. There is still the werewolf thing he has to share with Matt but they have all the time in the world. Until, it seems that Matt might be regretting that he could be possibly gay and yeh that he slept with Shane. Shane goes wolf mode and scares Matt, and pulls a Houdini and disappears from Matt's life (cus you know its better that way).

The story then moves onto Shane's life on the streets, his descent into alcoholism and prostitution to feed his addiction. It’s rough for him out there on the streets, until he is saved by a Good Samaritan who happens to be a wolf who takes him into rehabilitation. Years go by and Shane is now stone cold sober and got his very own pack, but he still has to learn to live without Matt cus he still loves the crap out of him. Yet, he's learnt to live and let other people in but he knows one day he will have to find his courage and go find Matt. That day has come sooner than expected and now Matt and Shane must deal with past hurts, and maybe having a new beginning.

First, I kind of like this book, but also I kind of dislike it. It felt very disjointed and sometimes it was just too unnecessarily drama. I feel like Shane created his own problems, and dude couldn't even pick up the phone and give people a call. Yes, I would have certainly been pissed as hell just like Matt had the right to be. A little call saying "hey I'm not dead and I need some time" would have certainly gone over well. I would have loved to experience things from Matt's perspective because Shane all the time felt very after school special.

The werewolf thing, though apart of the story wasn't really integrated well into the story. I believe it would have been better if that whole theme wasn't a part of it and the author took some other routes and I would have enjoyed this one more. All in all, I didn't love this one and couldn't really get into the characters or the story. It’s a strong beginning, ‘meh’ middle, and an ok ending.

Should You Read It? *crickets cue the crickets* others might enjoy this one and find it "oh so cute" but for me it’s a pass. I'm surprised I remember enough to write this review, it’s really kind of forgettable (and somewhere a puppy perished because of my meanness).

3 Pants Off